April 25, 2005 Frank "Gumba" Saladino

[cavita]

Buscemi came to the U.S. in 1926 when he was 15 years old so that rules out him being made in Sicily. I think he just worked for years in Chicago ending up under Jimmie DeGeorge before moving to Rockford in late 1958. Being made in 1959 and elevated to underboss in 1961 was a good move for boss Zammuto because he could trust Buscemi as Zammuto's son was married to Buscemi's sister. For whatever reason Buscemi kept the old world ties but also kept ties with Chicago. Unlike in NY where you had members distrusting the ZIps, early on the Rockford guys distrusted Buscemi because he was still close to Chicago.

[B.]

Buscemi came to the U.S. in 1926 when he was 15 years old so that rules out him being made in Sicily. I think he just worked for years in Chicago ending up under Jimmie DeGeorge before moving to Rockford in late 1958. Being made in 1959 and elevated to underboss in 1961 was a good move for boss Zammuto because he could trust Buscemi as Zammuto's son was married to Buscemi's sister. For whatever reason Buscemi kept the old world ties but also kept ties with Chicago. Unlike in NY where you had members distrusting the ZIps, early on the Rockford guys distrusted Buscemi because he was still close to Chicago.

Great info. According to a couple sources, members could be made as young as 13 in Sicily and we have a 16-year-old made in Philly in the late 1920s, so can't 100% rule it out but I'm sure you're right that Buscemi wasn't made that young.

Might be more significant that Buscemi was made in America yet still tried recruiting men from his Sicilian hometown. Shows that even though he was a product of the US mafia he could still bridge that gap. I know you've had trouble getting unredacted docs from later, but are you under the impression that Buscemi inducted any of the Sicilian recruits?

[cavita]

Buscemi came to the U.S. in 1926 when he was 15 years old so that rules out him being made in Sicily. I think he just worked for years in Chicago ending up under Jimmie DeGeorge before moving to Rockford in late 1958. Being made in 1959 and elevated to underboss in 1961 was a good move for boss Zammuto because he could trust Buscemi as Zammuto's son was married to Buscemi's sister. For whatever reason Buscemi kept the old world ties but also kept ties with Chicago. Unlike in NY where you had members distrusting the ZIps, early on the Rockford guys distrusted Buscemi because he was still close to Chicago.

Great info. According to a couple sources, members could be made as young as 13 in Sicily and we have a 16-year-old made in Philly in the late 1920s, so can't 100% rule it out but I'm sure you're right that Buscemi wasn't made that young.

Might be more significant that Buscemi was made in America yet still tried recruiting men from his Sicilian hometown. Shows that even though he was a product of the US mafia he could still bridge that gap. I know you've had trouble getting unredacted docs from later, but are you under the impression that Buscemi inducted any of the Sicilian recruits?

I am almost 100% certain many of these new recruits were inducted. Based on the following it looks like that was the plan all along:
April 29, 1969 FBI report stated:

“Informant said that it is his firm belief that when JOE ZAMMUTO dies, FRANK BUSCEMI will take over or at least try to take over the Rockford family. He said BUSCEMI has very different ideas and he will probably make a number of new soldiers at that time. He said BUSCEMI is maintaining contact with his syndicate associates in Chicago and will definitely try to bring closer ties between them and the Rockford family.”

There was of course the 1971 IIT organized crime report study that reported “an individual associated with the [Rockford] outfit had illegally brought a number of alien young persons from Sicily into the United States to work in the Rockford area.”

In a 1984 Rockford Police interview they privately speculated that “Rockford Mafia leaders are continuing to do the same today in an effort to strengthen and expand the family.”'

A 1983 Rockford Police report stated with interest that Buscemi brought several cousins to Rockford from Sicily and set them up in business. Other Sicilians have been brought into the area and have been placed in pizza businesses throughout northern Illinois and Beloit, Wis., police say, as a means to expand and strengthen the local outfit.

A March 1987 FBI report on Buscemi stated:

“Through March 15, 1987, 388 conversations believed pertinent to narcotics and gambling violations intercepted. Interception to date indicate [REDACTED] and several Sicilian associates involved in narcotics trafficking and substantial sports bookmaking. Several bookmakers to whom [REDACTED] identified. LCN membership of one individual verified. Involvement of Rockford LCN underboss [REDACTED] bookmaking and ECT learned and several previously undetected Sicilian narcotics traffickers identified.”

Of all the young men Buscemi sponsored and brought over, only two have died so I think my next course of action is to request their FBI files and see it anything can be learned from those. I do find it interesting that Buscemi not only brought over men from Aragona and the Ribera areas but for some reason there was a large influx of them from the Marsala area as well.

[B.]

Do you have any names from Ribera area? Any idea if the Chicago members from Ribera had any interaction with Rockford?

Great information all around. So interesting to me that Buscemi began bringing Sicilians around during the same period that NYC/NJ was doing the same. Part of that was what was going on in Sicily, but it was a two way street and the US figures had to be receptive.

[cavita]

Do you have any names from Ribera area? Any idea if the Chicago members from Ribera had any interaction with Rockford?

Great information all around. So interesting to me that Buscemi began bringing Sicilians around during the same period that NYC/NJ was doing the same. Part of that was what was going on in Sicily, but it was a two way street and the US figures had to be receptive.

B.

The one name from Ribera that I can think of off the top of my head were the Cimino boys who came to the Rockford area from Ribera in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They immediately opened up pizza places all over Rockford and the surrounding smaller towns- Freeport, Loves Park, Pecatonica, Winnebago, Mt. Morris, etc. In Frank Buscemi's FBI file from the mid 1980s among other restaurants and businesses, the FBI desired to know the owners and corporate officers of Cimino's Pizzeria, particularly the one located at 5435 N. 2nd Street in Loves Park.

One Ribera name from Chicago I know who had interaction with the Rockford guys was Jimmie DeGeorge. Buscemi of course came up under DeGeorge in the 1930s and 1940s and I have an FBI file where it stated DeGeorge backed Rockford's Phil Priola as boss in 1958 when Tony Musso died. The FBI file said this support carried no weight because Chicago had nothing to do with Rockford picking its bosses. Another Chicago Ribera guy, Phil Bacino, had gotten himself arrested in a Milwaukee bootlegging case with two guys from Rockford- James Anasatase and Alphonse Caruso.

What other Chicago guys do you know of that had Ribera roots?

[B.]

I'm not aware of other members aside from the murdered Pasquale Lolordo, his brother Joe who left for NYC, and possibly Jim DiGeorge's brother. Bacino appears to have had relatives who were associates.

All of that info is new to me and gives me plenty to think about. It makes sense that Buscemi would have been under DiGeorge given his heritage. I'm of the opinion that Michael Merlo was a rallying point for the Agrigentini who came to Chicago in the 1920s.

The bit about Chicago's word carrying no weight in the 1958 boss election as well as the concerns about Buscemi's Chicago ties tell us that it was an explicit priority within Rockford to maintain their independence from Chicago.

The name Cimino from Ribera rings a bell but I'd have to dig to remember where I saw it. I've looked through so many genealogical records for the Riberesi it blurs together.

[cavita]

Who did all the raids on the adult entertainment establishments in the last couple of years? The sheriffs department? It sounds like their relationship dried up if they did. I don’t understand why after all these years, they would decide to close them down now. That was a big money maker for them.

I definitely understand you not wanting to talk about Joe. He is still around I know his son is legit and works for slot machine distributor I believe.

Have you ever thought about writing a book on Rockford?

https://www.mystateline.com/news/chanti ... ion-sting/

[Patrickgold]

Who did all the raids on the adult entertainment establishments in the last couple of years? The sheriffs department? It sounds like their relationship dried up if they did. I don’t understand why after all these years, they would decide to close them down now. That was a big money maker for them.

I definitely understand you not wanting to talk about Joe. He is still around I know his son is legit and works for slot machine distributor I believe.

Have you ever thought about writing a book on Rockford?

https://www.mystateline.com/news/chanti ... ion-sting/

Thanks for the link Cavita. Any info on this Peggy Smith? Was she connected with anyone in Rockford or solely independent? I wonder how Rockford PD was able to arrest the johns that went there. They must have had a camera or someone uncover there

[cavita]

Who did all the raids on the adult entertainment establishments in the last couple of years? The sheriffs department? It sounds like their relationship dried up if they did. I don’t understand why after all these years, they would decide to close them down now. That was a big money maker for them.

I definitely understand you not wanting to talk about Joe. He is still around I know his son is legit and works for slot machine distributor I believe.

Have you ever thought about writing a book on Rockford?

https://www.mystateline.com/news/chanti ... ion-sting/

Thanks for the link Cavita. Any info on this Peggy Smith? Was she connected with anyone in Rockford or solely independent? I wonder how Rockford PD was able to arrest the johns that went there. They must have had a camera or someone uncover there

The connection basically was through her husband Robert before he passed away. Years ago they were fronts for the LCN and Gumba would make the collections.

[Patrickgold]

Who did all the raids on the adult entertainment establishments in the last couple of years? The sheriffs department? It sounds like their relationship dried up if they did. I don’t understand why after all these years, they would decide to close them down now. That was a big money maker for them.

I definitely understand you not wanting to talk about Joe. He is still around I know his son is legit and works for slot machine distributor I believe.

Have you ever thought about writing a book on Rockford?

https://www.mystateline.com/news/chanti ... ion-sting/

Thanks for the link Cavita. Any info on this Peggy Smith? Was she connected with anyone in Rockford or solely independent? I wonder how Rockford PD was able to arrest the johns that went there. They must have had a camera or someone uncover there

The connection basically was through her husband Robert before he passed away. Years ago they were fronts for the LCN and Gumba would make the collections.

Wonder if the bust had anything to do with stopped payments or maybe whatever connection they had that protected them all these years just dried up. Rockford PD raided it it looks like

[cavita]

Who did all the raids on the adult entertainment establishments in the last couple of years? The sheriffs department? It sounds like their relationship dried up if they did. I don’t understand why after all these years, they would decide to close them down now. That was a big money maker for them.

I definitely understand you not wanting to talk about Joe. He is still around I know his son is legit and works for slot machine distributor I believe.

Have you ever thought about writing a book on Rockford?

https://www.mystateline.com/news/chanti ... ion-sting/

Thanks for the link Cavita. Any info on this Peggy Smith? Was she connected with anyone in Rockford or solely independent? I wonder how Rockford PD was able to arrest the johns that went there. They must have had a camera or someone uncover there

The connection basically was through her husband Robert before he passed away. Years ago they were fronts for the LCN and Gumba would make the collections.

Wonder if the bust had anything to do with stopped payments or maybe whatever connection they had that protected them all these years just dried up. Rockford PD raided it it looks like

Yeah, that's unknown to me. What I do know is that this place and other similar places payed street tax to operate for years, some going back to the 1960s.

[SolarSolano]

These may have been posted already, but wanted to share.

John Frisella


Joe Saladino and some of the boys in Rockford

[cavita]

These may have been posted already, but wanted to share.

John Frisella


Joe Saladino and some of the boys in Rockford

Yes. John Frisella was actually born in Sambuca, Sicily and is not to be confused with John "Tiger" Frisella who was arrested in the 2006 gambling bust.

[SolarSolano]

That's Tiger in the bottom photo - white hair, gold tie. I think that is two of the Fiorenza brothers as well on either side of him? Joe Saladino has white hair no tie and not sure who the other guys are.

[cavita]

That's Tiger in the bottom photo - white hair, gold tie. I think that is two of the Fiorenza brothers as well on either side of him? Joe Saladino has white hair no tie and not sure who the other guys are.

In the bottom photo, left to right:
Mike Pumilia
Natale Sartino
Pete Saladino (deceased)
Jimmy Ciaccio (deceased)
Joe Saladino
Mike Gioppo