[2] Tieri lived in a modest home in the Bath Beach section of Brooklyn with his wife and two granddaughters.

However, most experts now believe that Tieri was merely a front for the Genoveses' actual boss, Philip "Benny Squint" Lombardo.

[clarification needed] Tieri was considered a low-profile and diplomatic mobster, a good earner for the family who believed in sharing wealth with his capos and soldiers.

The State of New Jersey had announced the introduction of legal casino gambling in Atlantic City, and the New York families wanted to open operations there.

In March 1980, Tieri sent a message to Philadelphia's consigliere, Antonio Caponigro, that the Mafia Commission would support him as boss if he assassinated Bruno.

[3][4] Federal prosecutors eventually charged Tieri with being the head of a crime family that was involved in racketeering, extortion and illegal gambling.

[5] On January 23, 1981, the ailing Tieri, using a wheelchair and an oxygen tank, was convicted of violating the RICO Act.