What was Angela Raiola's Net Worth?
Angela "Big Ang" Raiola was an American author and reality star who had a net worth of $500 thousand at the time of her death. Big Ang was a niece of Salvatore "Sally Dogs" Lombardi, a former captain within the Genovese crime family. She was known as a "mob moll", and was quite popular within the mob community and reportedly dated many gangsters. She co-owned multiple mob hangouts, including the Drunken Monkey bar. Big Ang became nationally known after joining the cast of VH1's reality series, "Mob Wives." She quickly became a very popular character. She had her own spin-off show called "Big Ang" that premiered on VH1 and released a book titled "Bigger is Better: Real Life Wisdom from the No-Drama Mama" in September of 2012. In 2015, Big Ang appeared on the hit reality series, "Celebrity Wife Swap," where she traded lives with Alana Stewart, and on "Couples Therapy" with her husband, Neil Murphy. Unfortunately, Big Ang died on February 18, 2016, at the age of 55, after a year-long battle with throat cancer. She was married to Murphy from 2009 until her passing. She was survived by two children.
Early Life
Angela Raiola was born on June 30, 1960, in New York City. She grew up in the Genovese crime family in New York, as her uncle was Salvatore "Sally Dogs" Lombardi. Lombardi was a capo and drug dealer for the family until his death in 2009. Raiola grew up living an opulent lifestyle. As she got older, she began dating gangsters and became known as "mob moll."
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Mafia Activity
Before her time in the spotlight, Raiola had become involved in mob activity. In May of 2001, she was one of fifteen defendants indicted and then convicted for their various roles in large narcotics operations that involved the sale and distribution of crack cocaine, powdered cocaine, and marijuana in Brooklyn and Manhattan. According to federal agents, Raiola was an associate of the drug ring's leader, who was sentenced the 13 years in prison. She was given cocaine for street-level distribution and sold the drug from various Brooklyn bars where she worked. The agents had built the case against Raiola and the other defendants through wiretapped conversations and the work of an undercover NYPD detective posing as a drug trafficker. Additionally, a confidential informant assisted in the investigation. Raiola was indicted on six felony counts in 2001. At the time of her arrest, her handbag contained fourteen small plastic bags containing cocaine.
In March of 2003, two years after her arrest, Raiola, who was at the time free on $100,000 bail, pleaded guilty to the indictment's top count. In October 2003, she was sentenced to three years' probation and ordered to spend four months under home confinement. In July 2004, her probation conditions were modified, and she was directed to enroll in some sort of drug treatment program. The records do not indicate what prompted this change. Six of the other defendants received prison terms ranging from 33 to 151 months.
In 2007, in an effort to break into more legitimate business, Raiola opened a Staten Island bar, The Drunken Monkey, with her cousin, SallyAnn Lombardi. Lombardi was the one who held the license for the bar. After several successful years in operation, the bar was forced to shut down in 2015 due to Raiola's past as a convicted felon.
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Mob Wives
It was not until 2011 that Raiola broke into the world of reality television. She made her debut as a regular cast member on the second season of the show "Mob Wives" during the season's premiere in January 2012. She remained on the show for the entirety of its time on air, concluding in the sixth season in 2016. She was a popular personality on the show among fans.
While on "Mob Wives," Raiola also appeared on a number of other talk shows as herself, as well as in some films. She was featured in episodes of "The Wendy Williams Show," "Bethenny," "The Real," "Celebrity Wife Swap," "Couples Therapy," and "David Tutera's CELEBrations." She also had small roles in films like "Scary Movie 5" and "Staten Island Summer."
Additionally, she was featured in a number of other reality television shows. In 2012, she was given her own show on VH1 following the popularity of her presence on "Mob Wives." "Big Ang" premiered in July of 2012. The first season consisted of ten episodes that follow Raiola's life as she deals with family drama while running the Drunken Monkey bar, which had not yet closed.
In May 2013, Raiola confirmed during an interview that the show had been picked up for a second season and was in the process of being filmed. However, it was later revealed that the second season would instead be repackaged as a spin-off titled "Miami Monkey." This show premiered in September of 2013 on VH1. It focused on Raiola's effort to open a second location of the Drunken Monkey in Miami called the Miami Monkey. The first season of the show included 11 total episodes. In July 2014, Raiola received word that the show had been canceled.
Raiola's last on-air appearance was on "The Dr. Oz Show" in February of 2016, just days before her death. She discussed her stage 4 brain and lung diagnosis and how she was trying to stay positive for her family.
Personal Life
In 2009, Raiola married Neil Murphy after being estranged from each other for a number of years. She already had two children from a previous relationship with Neil, Raquel and Anthony Donofrio. In her 50s, Raiola was diagnosed with lung cancer. She sought treatment and was declared cancer-free twice, only for the disease to return. She died at the age of 55 on February 18, 2016, due to complications from the cancer. Following her death, a number of people made tributes to Raiola on social media, including former cast members, other reality television personalities, and family members.
