He Refused to Pay the Lucchese Family — They Beat Him With Golf Clubs

Vincent “Jimmy Sinatra” Craparotta was a Lucchese associate with interests in New Jersey’s lucrative video-poker business. But when a dispute erupted over the machines, their profits and money allegedly owed to the Jersey crew, the Mafia decided to send him a brutal message. On June 12, 1984, Craparotta was confronted at his car lot on Route 9 in Toms River, New Jersey. Lucchese soldier Thomas Ricciardi and his accomplices attacked him with metal-headed golf clubs. Witnesses reportedly heard Ricciardi shouting about debts and machines while the blows shattered Craparotta’s arms, legs and skull. The beating may have been intended to frighten Craparotta’s relatives into surrendering control and paying the Lucchese family. Instead, Jimmy Sinatra died from his injuries only hours later. Who authorized the attack? How much money was hidden inside the video-poker operation? And did the Lucchese crew intend to execute Craparotta—or did a violent warning become an uncontrolled murder? This is the true story of Vincent “Jimmy Sinatra” Craparotta, the Jersey mob’s video-poker dispute and the golf-club beating that exposed the brutality of the Lucchese family’s New Jersey crew. #JimmySinatra #VincentCraparotta #LuccheseFamily #JerseyMafia #MafiaHistory #OrganizedCrime #TrueCrime #StreetFiles