Anthony Gurino a longtime member and captain in the Gambino crime family has passed away according to reports.

The 76-year-old was an established member of the New York Mafia families powerful Sicilian faction. Gurino has a long history within the crime family and was reportedly a close friend of former Gambino boss John Gotti. He was an old school mobster that was known for being a moneymaker and a stand-up guy. Anthony had multiple run-ins with the law dating back several years but refused to talk too much less cooperate with law enforcement. Unlike Gotti, Gurino quietly made his way up the ranks of the Cosa Nostra family avoiding unnecessary attention and the limelight.

“Anthony Gurino”

Even after the Gotti era had come to an end his stock within the family continued to rise. In 2013 he became a member of a three man security panel along with fellow mobsters John Gambino and Joseph Juliano. The panel helped to run the NY Mafia families day to day operations and acted as a buffer for the rest of the families hierarchy.

The panel of three helped to insulate current Gambino boss Domenico “Italian Dom” Cefalù and now deceased underboss Frank Cali from the prying eyes of the feds. John Gambino passed away in 2017 and Juliano is now in his 80s so the status of the security panel is uncertain.

Since reports of his place within the families administration surfaced in 2013 he has remained low key and under the radar. It’s not clear as to what his current status and or position was leading up to his death. The loss of Anthony Gurino along with the untimely death of Cali is consecutive blows to the Gambino’s Sicilian faction. But the Sicilian’s are still firmly in control behind Cefalu and new underboss Lorenzo Mannino.

The mafia families stability at the top has allowed for a bit of a resurgence in recent years it will be interesting to see if the loss of key guys like Cali slows that progress.

This article was originally posted here