Former celebrity chef David Ruggerio has said that he was a Gambino foot-soldier
A celebrity chef who once ruled the peaks of New York City‘s restaurant scene has admitted to being an active member of the Gambino crime family and committing shocking crimes at the height of his powers in the 1980s and 90s.
David Ruggerio, 59, who once ran the kitchens of top Manhattan restaurants La Caravelle, Maxim’s and Le Chantilly, came clean with the shocking admission in an interview with Vanity Fair published on Thursday.
Ruggerio — a former Food Network star who largely dropped out of sight after a 1998 arrest on credit card fraud charges — admitted in the interview to a staggering range of mob crimes, including heroin dealing, truck hijackings, loan-sharking, bookmaking, extortion, and even participating in gangland murders.
As he lived a secret double life, few realized that he was actually blood related to the ‘boss of bosses’ Carlo Gambino — though the FBI was not unaware of his ties, particularly after he hosted the ‘Teflon Don’ John Gotti’s 50th birthday party in Maxim’s luxurious dining room.
Now, though he refuses to speak about the crimes of any other living mafioso, Ruggerio is breaking the seal of omerta, the mob’s code of silence, saying he regrets his life of crime.
‘I wouldn’t have wished my life on anyone. I hate to sleep. The nights are very long and filled with nightmares,’ he told Vanity Fair. ‘I didn’t want to be a criminal. I want you to…
