Boiardo was born in Naples, according to his birth certificate, and was raised in the town of Marigliano in the province of Naples. His recorded birthdate is December 8, which may not be accurate, as it is also the date of the Feast of Immaculate Conception. He was placed in an orphanage as a child; Catholic orphanages often assigned the dates of important holy days to children whose actual birthdates were unknown. His biological parents also were unknown. He later claimed that he was the illegitimate son of an Italian nobleman who was a descendant of Matteo Maria Boiardo. Boiardo later became known as “The Boot”, a nickname which he developed in his youth had been said to have derived from the heavy footed way he disposed of his gang land foes.
Criminal career
In the early 1930s, Boiardo was ambushed and seriously wounded with 12 buckshot pellet wounds. He survived. At the time, the press suspected Abner Zwillman was responsible, but later evidence pointed to the members of another rival gang led by the Mazzocchi brothers, whom the Boot subsequently had murdered. “None of Ritchie’s gang is above suspicion of planning the murder of their leader,” the Newark Evening News reported. “There are also said to be men who would like to see Ritchie out of the way because of certain women who favored him with their regard.”¹ Other likely suspects included the Mazzocchi brothers, Willie Moretti, and even close friend Al Capone. The number-one suspect, however, was Abner “Longy” Zwillman, a man sometimes referred to as gangster number two. When the Boot's thirty-eight-caliber revolver fell to the hospital floor, after the attempt on his life, prosecutors had a case against him. It was an unusual one that appeared to be putting the victim of a crime on trial, rather than the perpetrators; the men who tried to assassinate the Boot were never found, at least by the authorities. The police were convinced the Boot knew who was behind the shooting. In his hospital room they gave the seriously wounded gangster descriptions of the men who had allegedly shot at him; the Boot shrugged and said he didn't know. In the 1930s, Boiardo became a made man, or full member of the Luciano crime family established by Lucky Luciano. In 1957, this family became the Genovese family under boss Vito Genovese. With Zwillman's death in 1959, Boiardo became the undisputed mob boss of Newark. Boiardo also owned residences in Havana, Cuba and Florida, where he had major gambling interests. In April 1969, Richie Boiardo was convicted of conspiracy to violate gambling laws. Accordingly, Boiardo was sentenced to 2 ½ - 3 years in State Prison and fined $1,000. He was incarcerated on November 18, 1970 at the New Jersey State Prison, Leesburg, New Jersey. The Boiardo family's association with Newark's Mayor Hugh Addonizio led to Addonizio's conviction, in 1969, on racketeering charges. This eliminated Addonizio as a contender to become the next governor of the State of New Jersey. Addonizio was sentenced to ten years and served 5 years and 2 months in a federal prison. The same federal grand jury that returned an indictment against Addonizio, also indicted 14 others including Richie Boiardo's son Anthony Boiardo, also known as "Tony Boy" Boiardo. The younger Boiardo is believed to have been in control of the Newark underworld at the time. During the criminal proceedings Tony Boy suffered a heart attack. He was never found by the courts to be healthy enough to stand trial on his extortion and conspiracy charges. Throughout the years Boiardo maintained a stable tenure as Newark gangleader and received money from all sorts of enterprises. He owned a demolition firm and also owned the Vittorino Castle, an Italian restaurant frequented by NY Yankees star Joe DiMaggio. He also had stakes in hotels and casinos in Miami, Las Vegas and Havana. With his money he bought a property in Livingston where he built himself a large Transylvanian-like castle. The property was soon the talk of the town. The large iron gate in front was guarded by armed men and next to the entrance stood a couple of colorful statues which represented himself, his kids and grandkids. In his old days he most of all liked to work in his garden. He even had a sign hanging on the entrance saying "Godfather's Garden".
David Chase, the creator of the HBO TV series The Sopranos, said the Soprano family was based on the Boiardo crime family, and their crews.
Richard Linnett's biography of Boiardo, In The Godfather Garden: The Long Life and Times of Richie the Boot Boiardo, is based on archival material, classified and unclassified FBI and police files, interviews with Boiardo's family and friends, and the personal recollections of the Boot's grandson Roger Hanos.
