Vincent "The Chin" Gigante: The Mafia's "Oddfather"

In the world of the Italian American Mafia, an organization that has seen its fair share of odd and quirky characters, there has never been a man quite like Vincent "Chin" Gigante. In a "career" that saw him go from lowly crime associate and muscle man for Vito Genovese, a well-known and highly-feared Mafia Don, all the way to being the supreme godfather of the Genovese Crime Family, Vincent Gigante's career was defined for its unbelievable longevity and for the clever ploys he used to evade law enforcement scrutiny.The last of the old-school mobsters, Gigante was an organzied crime relic; a man who came of age during the Mafia's heyday, and a man who died as the Mafia was being decimated by extensive and unrelenting federal prosecutions.

As Vincent "Chin" Gigante lay dying in a prison hospital in Springfield, Illinois, in 2004, technically still the godfather of his crime family, it was one of the few times in his life that Vincent had spent any length of time being incarcerated. In 1957, when, as a lowly crime associate, he botched a hit attempt on Frank Costello, a mafia godfather that was impeding Vito Genovese's rise to the top spot, Vincent Gigante was arrested as the shooter who couldn't shoot straight and only grazed Costello in an ambush that was ordered by Vito Genovese. Costello, fully aware that his time as godfather was over, decided not to identify Vincent as the shooter and sailed happily off into retirement. A protege of Vito Genovese, Gigante was promoted for his "services rendered" and his standing in the Genovese Crime Family rose. During this time in his life, Gigante stumbled upon a tactic that would serve him well throughout his criminal life. A former professional boxer during his late teens and early twenties, Gigante learned the value of feigning mental illness and incompetence. Whenever law enforcement became overly interested in Gigante and his activities, Vincent would routinely check himself into a mental facility where he would undergo "treatment" and "tune-ups" for one of his many supposed mental deficiencies. It was widely believed and perpetuated by those closest to Gigante that he had taken one too many punches to the head; his hard wiring was a little loose!

The frequent trips to the mental institutions were only part of Vincent's ploys. Never known for his fashion sense, Vincent began strolling through his Greenwich Village neighborhood in ratty bathrobes and slippers, mumbling incoherently and slobbering on himself. It was a common sight to see Vincent, while strolling the neighborhood, to stop suddenly, open his pants, and start peeing in the middle of the street. Usually, he would be accompanied by one or two burly bodyguards who would gingerly guide Vincent as he crossed the street and made his way to his favored hangout: The Triangle Social Club. There, surrounded by loyal mafiosi and criminal associates, Gigante would be catered to and fussed over. After spending a few hours at the club, he would be driven back to his residence - an apartment he shared with his elderly mother. It was at this apartment, during the height of Gigante's reign as godfather, that FBI agents, who arrived to serve him with a subpoena, found him standing in the shower, fully clothed, holding an umbrella over his head! The guy was surely insane. Once, during a competency hearing, he was asked if he needed a court-appointed attorney to represent him. Gigante smiled and responded that "Jesus is my lawyer"! Gigante, who was a millionaire many times over, had an entire army of doctors and professionals who would testify again and again as to his mental deficiencies. Vincent, who no doubt had the skills of an Emmy-Award winning actor, managed to fool a whole sleuth of government-appointed psychiatrists and mental health experts into believing that he was mentally incompetent. The diagnosis were varied: organic brain disease, schizophrenia, personality disorder, dementia, e.t.c. It was hard to charge and convict Gigante of any crime when the government-appointed doctors were convinced of his incompetence!

But law enforcement knew it was all a charade. There were too many reports from informants and too many wiretapped conversations of various mafiosi over the years that had alluded to Vincent Gigante being the boss of a powerful criminal organization to ignore. The problem was penetrating the layers of insulation that he had surrounding him. A careful and shrewd boss, Gigante forbade any of his men from using his name in conversation. Whenever someone needed to refer to him, instead of speaking his name directly, they were to simply point to their chins as acknowledgment of Gigante. Unlike flashy mobsters who reveled in public attention - guys like John Gotti and Al Capone - Gigante knew full well the pitfalls and ramifications of attracting unwanted attention. For all the world knew, Vincent was a down-on-his luck, mentally deranged elderly gentleman who did nothing more than wile away his days strolling the Greenwhich Village streets. But law enforcement knew better. It wasn't until a series of criminal associates - many of whom were close to, and trusted by, Vincent Gigante - were arrested, charged, and facing lengthy prison sentences that Gigante's protective shields started to dissolve. One guy decided talk, which in turn implicated another guy, and that other guy decided to squeal; a series of events that, ultimately, led to the man at the top: Vincent Gigante. Complicating matters for Gigante was the ensnarement of his own son, Andrew, in the prosecution of Gigante and his criminal associates.

Gigante, showing that he was not just a calculating and cold-hearted godfather, decided, as part of a deal with federal prosecutors, to admit his ruse of faking mental insanity for the better part of four decades in exchange for leniency for his son. He was sentenced to a total of twelve-years in prison; nine years for racketeering and bid-rigging, plus an additional three-years for his "crazy man" act. After evading and conning both law enforcement and the many mental health professionals who had evaluated him over the years, Vincent Gigante was finally behind bars. Barely five years into his twelve-year reign, Vincent Gigante died of heart disease in a federal prison hospital. His death marked the end of an unbelievable Mafia odyssey that had spanned the better part of five decades.