Adriana La Cerva (16 June 1974 - 30 November 2004) was the fiancée of DiMeo crime family capo Christopher Moltisanti and an FBI informant.
Biography[]
Adriana La Cerva was born in Staten Island NY (later residing in New Jersey in 1971 to a family of Italian descent (she was the niece of Jackie and Richie Aprile and the cousin of Jackie Aprile Jr., Vito Spatafore, and Bryan Spatafore), and she grew up in an environment in which the Mafia and its actions were parts of daily life. The shallow and materialistic La Cerva got into a relationship with DiMeo crime family associate Christopher Moltisanti, who bought her expensive cars, shoes, jewelry, drugs, designer clothing, and furs, and she remained devoted to him despite being subjected to domestic violence. In December 2000, her boyfriend gave her control of the Crazy Horse club in Long Branch; La Cerva turned Crazy Horse into a venue for local alternative rock bands and as a bar for college students from nearby Monmouth University and elsewhere.
The FBI targeted La Cerva as a weak link in the DiMeo family after informant Salvatore Bonpensiero's murder. The FBI threatened to arrest her for cocaine distribution at her nightclub unless she decided to turn states, so she became an informant. She refused to give any important information to the FBI and, after she helped dispose of the body of a man that Matush Giamona had murdered at her club, the FBI forced her to wear a wire and become a fully-cooperative informant. La Cerva told her fiancée about her involvement with the FBI and begged him to join the Witness Protection Program with her, but Moltisanti severely beat and choked her before telling the DiMeo boss Tony Soprano about the incident.
Death[]
La Cerva before being shot
Tony Soprano decided to lure La Cerva into a trap: he called her on the phone and told her that Moltisanti had attempted suicide at a diner, and was now in the hospital. Soprano had Silvio Dante pick her up and drive her to the hospital; instead, Dante took an exit on Interstate 695, entering a wooded area. La Cerva began to cry, knowing that she would be killed. Dante parked the car in the woods and threw La Cerva out of the car after insulting her; as she tried to crawl away, Dante shot her dead. Moltisanti put some of her clothes in a suitcase and threw them into an industrial marshland, while her light blue Ford Thunderbird was left in a long-term parking lot at the Newark International Airport.