Joseph "The Eagle" Gatto, a reputed Genovese capo who allegedly inherited the northern NJ gambling rackets from his late father Louis "Streaky" Gatto, has died of undisclosed causes at 65 as reported by Justo Bautista for The Record:
Tall and heavy set, Gatto took over the crew once run by his father, who reportedly controlled a multimillion-dollar gambling empire, when the elder Gatto was sentenced to 65 years in prison June 1991 for racketeering and murder conspiracy. At the time, Louis "Streaky" Gatto, a captain in the North Jersey Genovese family, was said to be a favorite of late Genovese boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante. "Streaky" Gatto died in prison in 2002, after a battle with prostate cancer. Joseph Gatto's brother, Louis Gatto Jr., died in 2000 while serving in federal prison. At a New Jersey Commission of Investigation hearing in 2003 on organized crime in the state, Joseph Gatto was identified as a capo, or crew leader, of one of five main Genovese crews in New Jersey. The Genovese family has long been the dominant crime family in Bergen, Passaic and Hudson counties, running the largest bookmaking and loan-sharking rings in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area.
