Who is Mikey 'Scars' DiLeonardo, how was he linked to the Gambino Mafia family and what happened to
MICHAEL "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo was the ultimate mafia supergrass.
His brave testimony against members of the Gambino crime family in court led to 80 successful convictions.
Who is Mikey 'Scars' DiLeonardo?
Born in 1955 in New York City into second generation Sicilian family, Michael DiLeonardo grew up in an Italian neighbourhood in Brooklyn.
Aged 10 DiLeonardo was attacked by a dog which inspired his nickname “Mikey Scars”.
Throughout his teens he was a member of violent street gangs.
Later on he was to testify at the trials of members of the Gabino Mafia family.
DiLeonardo and his family now live in secret under the federal Witness Protection Program.
How was he linked to the Gambino Mafia family?
During his misspent teens DiLeonardo began running errands for associates of the powerful Gambino family - who hired him aged 21.
From then on he was heavily involved in racketeering and various other nefarious operations.
Gabino boss Paul Castellano was assassinated by John J Gotti in 1985 who then became chief - ushering in a violent era in which DiLeonardo was heavily involved.
But after being busted in 2002 - and facing life in prison - DiLeonardo began revealing secrets of his life inside the upper echelons of the New York Mafia.
He even implicated himself in two murders and a host of other crimes along the way.
But his testimony - described by prosecutors as “nothing short of historic” - secured convictions of 80 mobsters.
DiLeonardo meanwhile received three years - despite admitting to being a full on Mafia gangster.
What happened to his wife Toni-Marie?
In 1985, at age 29, DiLeonardo married 19-year-old Scilian-American Antoinette "Toni" Marie Fappiano.
She was a cousin of Gambino family under-boss Frank DeCicco.
During their marriage she blocked out her husband’s racketeering and aimed to have a quiet family life.
DiLeonardo had one son with Fappiano called Michael DiLeonardo Jr.
But after 12 years of marriage, DiLeonardo started an affair with Madeline Fischetti.
He kept the mistress in a rented apartment in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
DiLeonardo eventually divorced Antoinette and married Madelaine and they have a son Anthony.
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