Peter Gaeta is a recurring character portrayed by Paul Herman. He is an associate of the Soprano crime family and was a member of the Aprile crew. He is called "Beansie" by friends and other mobsters.
Quick Answers
What role did Peter Gaeta play in the Soprano crime family?
How did Peter Gaeta, also known as Beansie, start his criminal career?
What was Peter Gaeta's most successful operation within the DiMeo crime family?
Biography[]
Starting as a drug dealer, allegedly selling "nicklebags" on Jefferson Avenue, Beansie matured under the guidance of then DiMeo capo Richard "Richie" Aprile, eventually being promoted to running a successful heroin trafficking operation for the DiMeo crime family during Giacomo "Jackie" Aprile Sr.'s term as boss in the 1980s.
In 1989, Richie Aprile was arrested and sentenced to a 10-year prison term (possibly for the heroin dealing he conducted with Beansie), but Beansie was lucky enough to avoid prosecution, subsequently getting out of the drug business entirely and investing his saved profits into a series of successful pizza parlors called Beansie's Pizzeria in Elizabeth, NJ. Over the next decade, he maintained a good relationship with acting DiMeo boss Anthony "Tony" Soprano Sr., who considered him a friend and used his chain of cash-only businesses to launder money. Beansie had also gained the respect of many other DiMeo family members such as Peter "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri. He never visited his old capo Richie in prison however, and he remained an un-made associate, both facts which would later come back to haunt him when Richie got out of prison.
10 years later, embittered by Tony and Beansie's success in his absence and hardened by a decade in prison, Richie immediately sought out Beansie and attempted to extort him, calling him "a slippery little fuck" and insisting he owed Richie money for "putting him in the game". Beansie indignantly refused to pay, citing his superior money management skills as proof of why he succeeded where Richie failed. He also mentions his existing relationship with Tony Soprano and threatens to "step up" rather than be extorted. This turns out to be unwise, as Richie immediately beats him severely in the middle of his own pizzeria (and promises to be back later for his money). Later, after this fails to produce obedience, he runs him over with his car, rendering him a paraplegic (in "Toodle Fucking-Oo").
The entire event formed part of the proxy war between Tony Soprano and Richie Aprile, with Beansie suffering the abuse Richie wished he could inflict on Tony (who he had no respect for). Tony, in turn, was unable to go to war with a senior made man and brother of the former boss, and was thus limited to demanding several small compensation "taxes" on Beansie's behalf, including a wheelchair ramp and eventually a cash payment (both of which had to be extracted via negotiation). Beansie was insulted and angry by the lack of justice, he refused to accept the money on principle, but Tony insisted and mentioned that he could donate Richie's money to the Spinal Injury Foundation if he wanted. Richie remains utterly remorseless about the entire affair, considering it his personal business and mocking Tony's attempts to intervene.
Now using a wheelchair, Beansie left New Jersey for good and moved down to open a supper club in Miami with his family. He had evidently remained in contact with Tony Soprano: he helped set up a meeting between Tony and fellow Miami resident and Lupertazzi crime family capo Carmine "Little Carmine" Lupertazzi Jr.. He often socialized with Tony and Paulie when the two went on the lam (in "Remember When"); and in 2007, he secured Anthony "A.J." Soprano Jr. a job in his New Jersey pizzeria. It is also possible Beansie still has some underworld contacts, as he has one of his guys drive by Philip "Phil" Leotardo’s Florida home to see if he is hiding there during the war between the Sopranos and the Lupertazzi family.
Appearance[]
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