Johnny Sack
| John Sacrimoni | |
|---|---|
 Vince Curatola as John Sacrimoni | |
| First appearance | "Pax Soprana" (episode 1.06) |
| Last appearance | "Stage 5" (episode 6.14) |
| Created by | David Chase |
| Portrayed by | Vince Curatola |
| Information | |
| Aliases | Johnny Sack |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Consultant for Essany Scaffolding/Waste Management Consultant of Cinelli Sanitation |
| Title | Underboss of the Lupertazzi crime family (Seasons 1-5); Boss of the Lupertazzi crime family (Seasons 5 & 6) |
| Spouse(s) | Ginny Sacrimoni (wife) |
| Children |
Allegra Sacrimoni (daughter) Catherine Sacrimoni (daughter) |
| Relatives |
Anthony Infante (brother-in-law) Eric DeBenedetto (son-in-law) |
John Sacrimoni, commonly known as Johnny Sack, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos, played by Vince Curatola.[1] He was the longtime underboss and later the boss of the powerful Brooklyn-based New York City Lupertazzi crime family.
Career
Operating out of his construction company or social club, Johnny Sack was a major player in the New York crime family formerly led by Carmine Lupertazzi. Johnny was Carmine's underboss for many years, handling political payoffs and bid-rigging for the organization. He ultimately became boss after Carmine's death. Johnny was also a friend and contemporary of Tony Soprano. Johnny worked to maintain the peace with the other families, reasoning that peace between all the families led to mutually-increased prosperity. However, he had a much darker side that sometimes revealed itself. Sacrimoni is a Machiavellian strategist who sowed dissent and suspicion among the ranks of the DiMeo crime family. His scheming and political manipulation escalated shortly after becoming boss; Sacrimoni shed much of his earlier rationality and aversion to violence as he ruthlessly eliminated rivals and potential threats to his power.
Johnny Sack was very sensitive about his wife, Ginny who was obese. Johnny became violently angry when any remarks were made about her weight. He once ordered a hit on Ralph Cifaretto for making one such off-color joke, although he later cooled down and called it off. This saved Ralph's life, and also, although unknown to Johnny, his own, since Tony had obtained approval from Carmine to hit Johnny to protect the highly valuable Esplanade project to which Ralph's involvement was key.
Johnny cultivated a friendship with Paulie Gualtieri, making use of him as a source of information about Soprano family business. The relationship began when Paulie felt sidelined by Tony over the Esplanade construction project and proved most fruitful when Paulie was imprisoned in 2002, a time when he felt particularly neglected by his friends. Johnny lied to Paulie, telling him that Carmine held him in high regard and often asked about him. This encouraged Paulie to place more faith in his friendship with Johnny than in the loyalty of his friends in the DiMeo crime family. Through Paulie, Johnny learned about Tony's Frelinghuysen Avenue property windfall and HUD scam, allowing the Lupertazzi crime family to demand a piece of the action because their mutual interests made both projects possible. Paulie told Johnny about the insult that Ralph made about his wife. However, after a chance meeting with Carmine, Paulie discovered that Carmine didn't even know who he was. Angered by John's deceit, Paulie became one of his biggest detractors.
Johnny Sack sometimes chafed under Carmine's leadership of the family, particularly over Carmine's apparent plans to name his son Carmine Jr. (aka Little Carmine) as his successor. During the abortive war with the Soprano crew over Tony's Frelinghuysen Avenue operation, Johnny authorized Tony to arrange to assassinate Carmine. Much to Johnny's chagrin, Tony accepted Carmine's offer of settlement and canceled the hit.
After Carmine died of a stroke in 2004, Johnny's crew engaged in a bitter war over the family leadership with Carmine's son, Little Carmine. More violence was threatened upon Tony's New Jersey family following the unauthorized murder of two of Johnny's men by Tony's cousin, Tony Blundetto, on Little Carmine's behalf. After both New York factions suffered heavy casualties, the conflict ended when Little Carmine surrendered control of the family. This was followed by a tentative reconciliation with Tony, who had personally taken the life of Blundetto. However, the moment was cut short when Johnny was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation after the family's consigliere, Jimmy Petrille, turned state's evidence. Johnny remained in control of the Lupertazzi family while in jail awaiting trial.
In the sixth season, Johnny entrusted Phil Leotardo with the role of acting boss while he was in jail. Johnny's brother-in-law Anthony Infante acted as a back channel for communications to reach him while he was imprisoned. His wife remained supportive, often visiting him in prison. Johnny was portrayed as becoming more selfish while imprisoned, commonly disregarding the problems of others, stating that his "situation" should take precedence. He ordered Phil to maintain a good relationship with Tony and avoid starting a war over any business disputes, particularly the new office park construction project, another shared venture.
After Dick Barone died while Tony was recovering from a gunshot, Lupertazzi front organization Cinelli Sanitation tried to buy Barone Sanitation, a Soprano front, from its naive new owner Jason Barone. John mediated negotiations about Tony's compensation for this from prison, through Phil. Phil told Tony that Johnny was in a panic state over his finances while in prison. Phil agreed to a solution with Tony, perhaps better than he had been expecting because of Tony's new outlook. Johnny later asked Phil to reach out to Tony to organize a hit on Rusty Millio, but Tony refused, saying he needed to set some boundaries.
Johnny was granted a release from prison to attend his daughter Allegra's wedding. However, he had to cover the cost of U.S. Marshals and metal detectors for the wedding and would have six hours maximum. Johnny seemed to enjoy the wedding despite covering its huge cost personally. When the time came for Johnny to leave the wedding he was reluctant to go, wanting to wait until his daughter and her new groom left. However, the marshals blocked her limousine and dragged Johnny away in handcuffs, causing him to break down in tears. Later, his crew discussed this show as a display of weakness. Tony was the only one to stand up for Johnny,[2] saying that when it comes to daughters, "all bets are off."
While at the wedding, Johnny took the chance to talk business, personally asking Tony to perform the hit on Rusty Millio because he was worried Rusty would again act as a kingmaker, and try to replace him while he was away. John hinted he was worried Rusty might nominate Phil. Tony agreed to take the job and contracted it out to a two-man crew flown in from Naples, Italy, Italo and Salvatore, who executed Millio and quickly returned to Italy.
Johnny's efforts to maintain control of his family ultimately proved futile. His lawyer, Ron Perse, floated the possibility of cooperating with the FBI, but Johnny dismissed this. However, as the trial neared, Ron arranged a deal with the government. Facing a massive asset seizure that would have left both him and his wife destitute and a case he could not possibly beat, Johnny pleaded guilty to 47 RICO predicates in exchange for a reduced sentence of 15 years and a fine of $4.1 million — effectively ending his position as boss (but still leaving Ginny enough money to live comfortably). As part of the deal, he was also required to allocute and admit he was involved in organized crime. Though he did not reveal the names of any associates, the allocution angered members of both the Soprano and Lupertazzi families who believed John should have stood trial before admitting anything regarding La Cosa Nostra. Johnny, now serving 15 years in federal prison, was now considered persona non grata among his former associates.
During his incarceration, Johnny developed a highly malignant form of lung cancer brought on by a 38-year smoking habit. He was held at the Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury in Danbury, Connecticut and later transferred to the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners when diagnosed with cancer. When news spread to the Bada Bing and Tony's crew that Johnny had passed, they saluted him. A picture of Johnny was placed next to portraits of Carmine Lupertazzi Sr. and Billy Leotardo on the wall in John's social club, now owned by Phil, to commemorate him.
Personality
Unusual for a Mafioso, it was implied that Johnny Sack was always faithful to his wife, whom he loved deeply. If so, this would make him one of the only two married wiseguys in The Sopranos to stay monogamous, along with Bobby Baccalieri.
Johnny drove a Mercedes-Benz S500 and later bought a Maserati Coupé and dressed stylishly. His usual calm demeanor and respectful way of carrying himself made him suitable for the role of underboss. He was also almost always seen smoking a cigarette.
Johnny's enigmatic expressions while deliberating were contrasted by his decisive expression when giving out orders. He would rarely visibly display his rage or irritation, except when his wife's reputation was involved. Johnny was extremely protective of his wife's honor, and nearly had Ralph Cifaretto killed for a joke he made in public on Ginny's weight. In most other cases, Johnny chose not to show his feelings but rather acted behind the scenes to take his revenge or undermine people. This would mean he was invisibly pulling strings in certain situations to sabotage people or deals. Also, his loyalty, even in an organized crime context, can be seen as flexible. Depending on the opportunity, he was prepared to either help or at least not try to prevent hits on Junior Soprano, Tony and Carmine. When disputes between the Soprano and Lupertazzi families occurred, John was publicly almost always the voice of moderation. When Tony and Carmine both declined to back off in their dispute on the Esplanade deal, Johnny tried to convince Carmine to still change his mind and not resort to violence.
Johnny's personality sees a noticeably darker shift when Carmine dies. Locked in a brutal power struggle with Carmine Jr., he is no longer a cool and calm pragmatist. He orders hits and mock executions on Carmine Jr's faction without hesitation, frequently flies off into shouting rage at remarks, like at Christopher for merely suggesting making a compromise with little Carmine. With Tony Blundetto killing Phil Leotardo's brother Billy, Johnny threatens "raining a shitstorm" on the entire Soprano family (including a threat at Christopher as an eye for an eye) unless Tony Soprano delivers his cousin Blundetto to them. However, as he is incarcerated and facing complete financial crisis, John shows that nothing is more important than his personal family, crying when he is humiliatingly escorted back to jail out of his daughter's wedding end, and giving an Allocution that admits the existence of Cosa Nostra, acts which cause him to lose huge levels of respect and dignity among his mob associates (particularly Phil), although it is shown that he regains some in time.
