Louis Manna, Who Ordered John Gotti Hit, Denied Early Release Once Again

Louis “Bobby” Manna was denied an early release two weeks ago, on November 16. This is not the first time he has petitioned for a “compassionate release,” and not the first time it has been denied. The mobster was initially convicted in 1989 for his involvement in the murder of Irwin Schiff and conspiracy to commit murder. His intended victims? John and Gene Gotti, fellow mobsters from a rival family.

The same Gotti who is the namesake for Berner’s new album, which isn’t the first time a rapper has been inspired by the Mafia. Visit our home page for more stories about the famous and the infamous.

The Makeup of a Mob Family

To understand the magnitude of Manna’s conviction, knowing how a Mafia Family generally operates is necessary. Initially, a single man controls the Families. Though they acted largely independently, one man called the capo dei capi, or the Boss of Bosses held absolute power. This made that man a target. In the 1930s, Salvatore Maranzano overthrew the current capo dei capi and took the role for himself. He formed the Five Families and expected them to pay tribute. This, in turn, led to his own murder, arraigned by Lucky Luciano. Lucky realized that if he were simply to take the title for himself, it would only be a matter of time before he too was murdered. Instead, he abolished the capo dei capi and created The Commission.

The Commission was an organized council consisting of the bosses of the Five Families and the Boss of the Chicago and Buffalo Families. This radical restructuring aimed to reduce violence between the Families by creating an official forum to discuss disputes and enforce rules. For example, no man could become a Boss without approval from The Commission.

The Family Tree

On a Family level, the Mafia maintained a regimental hierarchy. The three positions of command in the Family were called the Boss (or Don), the Underboss, and the consigliere. Typically, the Boss held most of the power in the Family and made all the final decisions. No one argued with the Boss, except for the consigliere. A consigliere acted as an advisor to the Boss.

In many cases, his job was to argue with the Boss to ensure the Family made the most profitable decision. The Underboss was the second-in-command of the Family and was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Family. If the Boss was someone incapacitated or arrested, the Underboss usually took over.

The Mafia Hierarchy

Finally, we have the caporegime, or capo, a term meaning “captain.” A caporegime was the leader of a specific crew of soldiers within the Family. Each crew largely acted independently from the rest, but all were loyal to the Family.

Louis Manna in 1987

Image Source: Reddit

The original crimes of Manna occurred quite some time ago. As is the case with many mobsters, the true extent of his crimes will never be known. However, the FBI eventually convicted him on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Two of his reported targets were brothers John and Gene Gotti, members of the Gambino Family. Manna himself was a member of the Genovese Family, and a high ranking one at that. He was consigliere to the Family and personally lead four caporegimes. The Genovese Family had the majority of their holdings in New Jersey. Louis Manna operated primarily out of an eatery in Hoboken.

It was no secret that Manna loathed the Gottis. They themselves are a particularly infamous pair, John Gotti being the Boss of the Gambinos. Eventually John would become known as one of the most powerful Bosses ever and gain the nickname “Teflon,” because the police couldn’t get crimes to stick to him. But at this point, he was merely a rouge. Just a capo, John Gotti managed a hostile takeover of the Gambino Family. He arraigned the murder of his Boss and was hastily installed as temporary Boss, however a meeting of 20 Gambino capos ended in them electing him permanent Boss. All of this, was done without approval from The Commission, and this infuriated Louis Manna.

From 1987-1988 the FBI was able to monitor 12 conversation between Manna and his subordinates. Using these recordings as evidence, they were able to convict him. To this day, Manna’s lawyers maintain that the evidence was fraudulent, and used to put him away for his affiliations.

The Fate of Irwin Schiff

Although those crimes never had a chance to be carried out, one man named Irwin Schiff was murdered in broad daylight. According to reports from the time, Schiff and a party of 20 were enjoying themselves at a restaurant. Schiff had already paid and was finishing up dessert when a man entered through the restaurants side, fire door and shot him twice in the back in of the head. While these kinds of brutal executions weren’t unusual for mob related incidents, the victim himself was. For starters, nobody could seem to agree on who the man was.

8 August 1987, Genovese associate Irwin “Fat man” Schiff (photo: Vincent Arps)

Man of Mystery

Oh he was well-known and his identity wasn’t a secret, but people held vastly different opinions of him, and they never quite fit together well. To many, he was kind, generous, and loved to laugh. Though they held him in admiration, some noticed that he was wealthy, but never seemed to work. One Hank Schwartz said, “He always seemed to have plenty of money, but I never knew his source of income.” What kind of work Schiff was employed in would never quite be pinned down. Legally, Schiff was the owner of the Construction Coordinators Corp. of Queens, a business that somehow managed to operate with no offices and no telephones. Furthermore, the IRS indicted him on charges of tax evasion. He reportedly facing fines of up to $1 million, which would be around $2.3 million today.

Where exactly all this money came from, nobody could say. Several anonymous sources disagree on the motive behind the hit. One source claims that Schiff was a loanshark, and had owed money to the Families. Another claims that he was lending money to the Families and somebody didn’t want to pay up. One final source suggests that Schiff was turning double agent and had begun to spill secrets to the FBI. Really, the only facts that can be confirmed from the case are that Schiff was indeed killed, his personal bodyguard (which is totally normal for a construction worker to have) said he wasn’t supposed to have gone out that night, and that only one of his party of 20 was ever seen again.

The Decision Against Louis Manna

In April of 2020, Louis Manna’s daughter filed a request for the early release of her father,

My father is no threat to society. He has been a model inmate. He has a loving family who misses, loves and worries sick about him everyday. I am terrified for my dads health and well being. I dont feel he could survive Covid 19 virus. Please consider releasing my dad based on his age, health, and 30+ years time served so he does not die. My dad is my world.

This request was denied by the Warden, who believed that COVID was an inadequate reason for early release. Shortly thereafter, Manna put forth his own, judicial request, using similar arguments. In short, there are two requirements for a granted “compassionate release”: The inmate has to demonstrate that he has followed administrative procedure before resorting to judicial action, and the inmate must have, “compelling and extraordinary reasons exist to justify compassionate release.” One such extraordinary reason would be terminal illness, and although Manna is currently receiving treatment for cancer, it was ruled insufficient.

In October, argued that Manna had “paid his debt to society,” but on November 16, 2021, Manna was once again denied a compassionate release. Louis Manna’s current sentence last until 2054. At the time of release, Manna would be 124, essentially, a life sentence.

By Chris Colasurdo
@cfcolasurdo on Twitter