The show Mob Wives has been a hit amongst audiences since it’s premiere in April of 2011. It features four Staten Island women after their husbands or fathers were arrested and imprisoned for crimes connected to the mafia. Mob Wives, amidst the drama, cat fights, and backlash towards its producer Jenn Graziano, became a huge hit. Also, years ago you wouldn’t dare speak openly of the mafia. Well times have changed and many women can relate to the pain of having a man incarcerated.

Who is Dion Nicosia?:

Mob Wives featured 4 women; three Italian and one Albanian. “Are there any black mob wives?”, one would ask. Sure there are. At least anyone who has caught an episode of Investigation Discovery’s “I Married A Mobster” would know there is. Meet Diondria Hopkins Nicosia-a beautiful African-American woman who is married to the Sicilian born Angelo Nicosia; a man with ties to the mafia. The two have a story like no other, which proves that even through the mafia, feds, and long distances true love will always triumph.

Dion Nicosia grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey; a middle class suburb to a working mother and a father who was a drug dealer. The first idea that Dion was given about the crime life was when her father was found floating in the Hudson river. However, her mother made sure she was well taken care of. “Most of the people I grew up with came from good families…no one struggled, no one was on welfare, there were no projects in my town, it was very diverse,” she says.

After modeling and brief acting jobs on the Sopranos and Law and Order, Dion found a bar tending job at a posh lounge frequented by wiseguys. “The owners were connected, most of he guys that hung out there were connected and I really felt as if I had stepped into the movie Goodfella’s when I walked through the doors of that place,” she says. It would be there she met her future husband.

When you met Angelo, was it love at first sight? Did you think he would be the man you ended up with?:

“When Angelo & I met, he stood out to me, he was very handsome, dapper & confident but he was only a customer…I wasn’t interested in white guys…at all. I was going out with an ex ball player from Harlem at the time, we were planning to get engaged so I wasn’t at work looking for love, I was only looking to make money & connections. Never in a million years did I ever think I’d end up with Angelo,” she says. Although she says she never experienced racism from any of Angelo’s friends, she said her friends were shocked and joked about it. Regardless, the two fell deeply in love. She would later quit her job at the lounge since Angelo, a true traditional Sicilian gentleman, made sure she was well kept. Dion later became pregnant and the two wed. Their happy life would soon be interrupted when early one morning, the feds raided their home.

What was it like finding out Angelo was affiliated to the mob?

“I was flabbergasted.”

 Dion also learned of how deeply connected Angelo was to the Genovese Crime family-the largest, most powerful and violent of the five families.  In 2008, Angelo was found guilty of extortion and extortion conspiracy. Even after serving time, (because of a law implemented  by George W. Bush), Angelo was deported back to Sicily. Despite their struggles, Dion and Angelo are still married. Angelo has a business in Sicily and Dion is in real estate and event planning. They are working on finding the right place to settle with their nine-year old daughter.

If she was ever offered a spot on VH1′s Mob Wives, Dion says she would gladly accept so she can give viewers a look inside her life and show them that not all that glitters is gold.

How do you think viewers will react to seeing the first black mob wife?

 I think most viewers would like seeing a woman of color added to the show and it would certainly bring in even more viewers & higher ratings. I am aware that there are some die-hard racists out there who believe that a mob wife has to be or should be a white woman but this is 2014. I am a black woman and my husband was a reputed mobster connected to a powerful NY/NJ crew – this is my reality; and since Mob Wives is a “reality” show about the lives of women connected to the lifestyle, why not show viewers all of the real?

Yes, lets give the viewers all of the REAL.

 

The post The Black Mob Wife: Who is Dion Nicosia? appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.