It's news to me too that he might have been an informant but also not surprising. Some of the info provided at the time very well could have come from him.Pogo The Clown wrote:Had no idea Long John was proposed and shot down for membership in 1960s or that he was a possible informant. Good info guy's.
Pogo
I am not sure if they were formally proposed for membership, but supposedly someone suggested both Long John and Mario Riccobene Jr. as new members and Harry Riccobene was "violently opposed" to it. Riccobene didn't approve of most new members in the 50's and 60's and wasn't shy about it. There is the one report of Phil Testa introducing Nicky Scarfo to Harry as a member when they were all in jail together and Harry got angry and started ranting about how Cosa Nostra was over. It's not a surprise he rebelled when Scarfo became boss.
The possible involvement of DeLuca in the Bruno murder makes you wonder if Riccobene himself could have been involved. I personally lean toward no, but despite his independent position in the family he had problems with Bruno going back to when he was in prison. Supposedly Bruno, who I believe was a trusted associate at the time, was tasked with looking after some of Riccobene's gambling rackets but eventually shut Harry out to some extent.
I have also wondered about Riccobene's relationship with Pete Casella after they both got out of prison. I don't know whether they got along or not, but both are suspected of participating in hits together during the Sabella/Avena days and they did business together when they were young. Both heroin dealers who did long sentences, too.