The Gambino Family Poached Him
At the butcher’s shop, DeMeo perfected a form of dismemberment that the Mafia clearly needed. In 1966, while working as a loan shark for the Lucchese crime family, DeMeo was approached by Gambino family associate Anthony Gaggi.
Source: Reddit
Gaggi promised DeMeo a heck of a lot more money if he came to work for him and his boss, Paul Castellano. DeMeo took the offer and formed his own crew, expanding his horizons to a car theft and drug trafficking. He committed his first hit in 1973.