CT Post February 15, 2026

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By Name Withheld by Request

For more than two decades, Mr. Gambino appeared immune to pressure — from rivals, from prosecutors and from the steady churn of federal scrutiny — while living under the name James “Jay” McMinn. Public records also reflect the use of a second alias, Carlo Mangano, during overlapping periods.

During that time, the Mafia family he allegedly ruled was estimated at roughly 2,000 men, divided between inducted members and associates. Its operations — gambling, loansharking, hijacking, narcotics trafficking and labor racketeering — stretched from western Massachusetts to the outskirts of Philadelphia.

Under the McMinn name, Mr. Gambino’s influence within organized labor was considerable. For a decade, he was a partner in a labor relations firm, SGS Associates, whose clients included several prominent companies. The firm was dissolved in 2026 after his connection to it became public.

He avoided displays of excess and the trappings that often invite scrutiny. Instead, he cultivated the image of a moderately successful businessman, living quietly along the Connecticut shoreline — measured, disciplined and largely unnoticed.

Which makes the central question all the more striking: Why invite attention now, after decades in which the aliases appeared to function without fracture? If the cover held, if the life built under it remained intact, what changed? The answer may lie not in exposure, but in timing — and in the shifting calculus of legacy, risk and control.