I Married A Mobster: Recap of “Ebony & Ivory”

“Ebony and Ivory” is the story of Diondrea Hopkins Nicosia who was always attracted to bad boys and goes from mob mistress to mob wife.

Dion Hopkins grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey. She was a spoiled kid. Her father was a successful drug dealer, until he got hooked on his own product. When Dion is 3 years old, her father has already hit a point of crisis in his life. Dion goes on to say, that when she was in 5^th grade, her father was found floating in the Hudson River. She never really knew him.

As a teenager she loved to do modeling and acting and in 1984 her friend describes her as a “diva.” Dion doesn’t date white guys and is attracted to bad boys, “hustlers and dealers.” She and her friends used to say that white guys smelled like “wet dogs.”

Dion gets a job at an Italian Restaurant where older, white men (wise guys) would give her $50 tips for doing nothing. She was the only one there who was black. Working there was like one big party. She becomes “one of the gang” and is teased about her love life and the fact that she has never been with a white man. One day in 1995, Dion says, a beautiful, suave man walks into the restaurant, Angelo Nicosia. Suddenly, her opinion on white guys, needs to be reevaluated. Angelo was in construction and Dion was very attracted to him. Angelo pulled out all the stops to win her over. She describes their love making as non-stop and passionate. “It was good.” But, things were too perfect. Intense passion becomes replaced by doubts as Dion learns that Angelo is keeping secrets. He is married.

One day Angelo’s wife come by and they are surprised to see her at the restaurant. Dion says she didn’t look like she belonged with Angelo, she had “guidette” hair. Then someone tells Dion that Angelo is a hit man for the Genovese crime family and all the while she thought he had a construction business. She says he used to have guns and weapons in his truck, but when she asked about them, he never gave her a straight answer. Angelo was very secretive about his mob connections, but he was very public about his relationship with Dion. He got her nice gifts, clothes, jewelry, and flowers all the time. For her 23^rd birthday he bought her a Jaguar. Angel show off Dion to his mob wise guys. Normally they would not like the fact he was with a black woman, but the thing that saves him is that they all wished they were him, they all loved Dion. However, their wives were not very happy with her, maybe they were afraid their husbands would find black women too, Dion muses?

Angelo moves Dion into a townhouse and she becomes an official “goumah.” Angelo is there all the time. Her job was to look good for Angelo. She always had champagne and wine ready, she cooked pasta dishes and she took money from his stash to go shopping. She devoted herself to making Angelo happy. He would be with her all night and go to work all day.

One night in 1996 there is trouble. They are in the apartment having sex, when there is a commotion at the door. An unexpected visitor shows up banging on the door and yelling, “Ang, I know you’re in there!” The next day Angelo moves in with Dion and leaving his Sicilian wife for a black mistress. Angelo rebels against mob convention. His entire family was devastated. Divorce is not something they believe in. Angelo tells them if they want to see him they are going to have to see her too, so they meet her. Dion’s days of being a mistress were numbered. Angelo was getting a divorce and marrying her.

Angelo and Dion have a baby girl. Angelo is called in for an official sit down. He is told he is disrespecting his family and that he can’t marry Dion and divorce his wife. Angelo sticks to his guns. He is an associate, not a made man, so he gets away with the divorce and marrying Dion. He buys Dion a house in the Poconos and on February 5^th, 2005 baby Gia is born. Angelo’s family loved their daughter and called her all kinds of sweet Sicilian names. It was a dream come true for Dion, she had money, a housekeeper and a nanny.

On October 10, 2007 at 5:30 AM the dog is barking. There is banging on the door. Angelo is arrested in a mob sweep. It was a big scene in her neighborhood. The FBI arrests him for extortion and try to get him to talk and cut a deal. Dion learns a lot more about Angelo and is in shock. However, Angelo never cooperates and goes to trial. In 2008 he is convicted of extortion and is sentenced to 46 months in prison. Their daughter, Gia, is only 3 years old.

Angelo never ratted on anyone. Dion knew she had to go to work, the money was gone and she was left with bills to pay on the car and the mortgage. She gets three jobs to make ends meet and even tries to collect on debts owed to Angelo, without much success. While in prison. Angelo finds God. He gets out of prison next month, October, 2011 and intends to go straight. To do that successfully he would need to avoid his old environment and not get sucked back into the life.

Dion and Angelo have been together for 16 years. Will they make it? Time will tell.

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Picture Credit: Investigation Discovery