Two longtime members of Italian organized crime syndicates have given the maximum allowed contribution to Democratic Senate hopeful Patrick Murphy, according to the Smoking Gun.
John Staluppi and John Rosatti, both identified in FBI documents as members of the Colombo organized crime family, have already given $5,400 this election cycle to Murphy, who won the party's primary on Tuesday and will face Republican Sen. Marco Rubio in November's general election.
Staluppi and Rosatti, both Brookyn natives who are now residents of Palm Beach Gardens, were involved in the mob wars of the 1990s, according to FBI documents obtained by the Smoking Gun.
Rosatti’s and Staluppi’s involvement with the Colombo gang is detailed in FBI debriefing reports with an assortment of mob turncoats, including former ranking members of the crime group.
During the deadly early-90s fight for control of the Colombo family, Rosatti and Staluppi initially sided (and financed) insurgent forces seeking to oust imprisoned boss Carmine "The Snake" Persico. But the pair subsequently switched allegiances mid-war after paying a visit to jailed Colombo captain Dominick "Donny Shacks" Montemarano, a staunch Persico supporter. The duo’s charge of heart is detailed in an FBI report of a debriefing of Salvatore Miciotta, a crime family captain.
The Rosatti-Staluppi flip was later the subject of a bugged conversation between Persico allies. "We got those two guys with us, Staluppi and Rosatti. They’re with us now, right?" one hoodlum asked. "Yeah," a second wiseguy replied.
Carmine Sessa, a former Colombo captain, identified Rosatti and Staluppi as members of a crew headed by Theodore Persico, Carmine’s son, according to an FBI report. During an NYPD surveillance outside a Brooklyn catering hall, detectives spotted Rosatti and Staluppi attending the wedding reception of another Persico son (along with numerous other Colombo family figures).
In 1988, Gregory Scarpa, a Colombo captain who doubled as a top echelon FBI informant, told his handlers that Staluppi was a member of the crime family and a "man to be taken seriously." Referring to Staluppi’s interest in several large auto dealerships, Scarpa said that he "was brought into the family because of his legitimate enterprises."
Both Staluppi and Rosatti are specialists when it comes to yachts, which could be the tie that binds them to Murphy, who can often be found on his father's 97-foot super yacht "Cocktails."