Frank Lino

Frank "Curly" Lino (October 30, 1938 – August 2, 2023) was an American former caporegime in the Bonanno crime family who later became an informant.

Lino first became associated with the La Cosa Nostra at the age of seventeen, and operated the local floating card games controlled by a Genovese crime family made soldier.

Lino was a no-show school bus driver for the Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union and employed by a mob-owned bus company Atlantic Express Transportation Corporation that was awarded contracts from the New York City Department of Education, located at 7 North Street in Port Richmond, Staten Island which is still in operation.

He became a made man of the Bonanno crime family on October 30, 1977, on Elizabeth Street in Little Italy, Manhattan at his capo Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato's apartment.

Lino and four other people including Jerry Rosenberg took part in the robbery of Borough Park Tobacco Company in Brooklyn on May 18, 1962.

[1] After undercover FBI agent Donnie Brasco had his assignment ended in July 1981, Dominick Napolitano, who was one of the men responsible for bringing him into the family, on August 17, 1981, Lino and Stefano Canone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting.

Napolitano was greeted by Frank Coppa, then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.

Over the years he had been a loanshark, bookmaker, drug trafficker and contract killer for which he took part in the gangland slayings of six men including his cousin's drug dealer Michael "The Bear" Aiello and the notorious murders of Bonanno captains Alphonse Indelicato, Dominick Trinchera and Philip Giaccone.

On the pretext of working out a peace agreement, Massino had invited them to meet with him at the 20/20 Night Club in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

The ambush was set in the club store room, with Salvatore Vitale and three other gunmen wearing ski masks hiding in a closet.

When the capos arrived at the 20/20, Massino and Bonanno mobster Gerlando Sciascia and Lino escorted them to the store room.

[13] On June 23, 2005, Massino, then a government witness to avoid the death penalty, pleaded guilty to several murders including those of Giaccone, Trinchera, and Indelicato.

[19] In 2003, Lino was arrested along with Massino, underboss Salvatore Vitale, and fellow capo Daniel Mongelli on a sweeping RICO indictment.

[23] Lino's testimony implicated Massino in four homicides and featured the first full eyewitness account of the murder of the three captains.