Leone Crime Family

Leone Family
Appearances: GTA III, GTA:SA, GTA:LCS, GTA

The Leone family is an Italian-American Mafia criminal organization, originating from Sicily - referred to by Salvatore Leone as "the old country"- whose main base of operations is in Liberty City. They hold various assets in Portland including Cipriani's Restaurante, Sex Club 7 and Joey's Auto Painting Shop. Their main base of operations, however, is Salvatore's mansion, which is in the northeast end of the Saint Mark's district near the beach. Their principal modus operandi is protection, extortion, and robbery.

Salvatore Leone became the Don of the Leone family after a bloody power struggle during the mid-1980s. He has a son, Joey Leone, who, much to Salvatore's dismay, is not yet wed. It is assumed that Salvatore became Don after his unnamed brother was killed.

The Leone family was also active in Las Venturas, where they held a stake in Caligula's Casino with the Sindacco and Forelli families, as agreed upon in 1992 (San Andreas), possibly in an attempt to unite the organizations. Salvatore Leone would eventually seize total control of the casino in 1992 after the death of Johnny Sindacco and the murder of Giorgio Forelli, only to have his casino robbed later in a heist organized by former ally Carl Johnson. It is assumed that because of the great loss of money from the heist, Salvatore abandons his investments in Las Venturas and returns to Liberty City, allowing the Sindacco family to retake their position within the city, however this is merely speculation. Not only that, but the shock of Carl (previously a loyal associate) betraying him and stealing so much of his money right from under his nose drove the Don to paranoia.

The Leone family are engaged in the First Gang War of 1998 with the Sindacco family in Liberty City Stories, which they win, with Toni Cipriani, the Leone family's Caporegime, eventually killing Don Paulie Sindacco. In the process, they take over Paulie's Revue Bar (later renamed as "Sex Club 7") as well as the Red Light District and Hepburn Heights, destroying all the influence the Sindacco family once held in Portland. They also engage in some open warfare against the Forelli family, but are mostly content to prolong the hostilities between the Sindacco and Forelli families, allowing them to wipe each other out. The Forelli family's power is seemingly broken when Toni unknowingly obliterated their main base of operations on Staunton Island while working for Donald Love, which inadvertently kills Don Franco Forelli. With Toni and Salvatore taking out the Sicilians responsible for starting the gang wars, the Leone family becomes the pre-eminent Mafia family in Liberty City.

Three years later in GTA III, the Leone family has declined in power, although they are still one of the strongest crime syndicates in town. Their territory in Chinatown has been openly taken by the Triads (although they still have businesses there), Hepburn Heights now belongs to the Diablos (as Toni Cipriani predicted it would in Liberty City Stories) and the Colombian Cartel is undermining them by selling cheap SPANK from their freighter in the harbor. Joey Leone, the Underboss of the Leone family, engages in a small, subtle war with the now-weakened Forelli family, ordering the killing of Mike "Lips" Forelli, the speculated Don of the Forelli family. In the same year, the Leone family engage in a full-scale war with the Liberty City Triads after certain businesses in Chinatown stop paying their protection money to the Leone family. The war is long and concludes in three of the Triad Warlords being killed, as well as the Triad Fish Factory being destroyed by a bomb set off from a garbage truck.

Claude was seen working for the Leone family in GTA III, killing Lips Forelli, acting as their main agent against the Triads and destroying the Colombian Cartel's freighter; however, Don Salvatore Leone eventually betrays Claude, ordering him to retrieve a car secretly rigged with explosives. It was later revealed that Salvatore had grown paranoid of Claude. Salvatore had offered Claude's death as a deal to the Colombian Cartel, in an attempt to create peace between the organizations. As a result, Claude assassinates Salvatore as a final gesture to the Leone family, which strengthens his own ties with the Liberty City Yakuza.

In GTA III and GTA:LCS Leone members don black suits with black/red ties; some with sunglasses and gloves, and they carry pistols and shotguns. In GTA:SA the mobsters (presumed to be the Leone family) dress in either brown leather jackets with gray pants, light blue shirts with chains or in black jogging suits. In Liberty City, the Leone family controls the area in and around Marco's Bistro

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