Springfield Family 1963

[JoelTurner]

Vito Impastato looks like a really interesting guy. Here is some stuff about him:

-Jun 26 1904, Cinisi - Oct 1988, Phoenix, AZ

-Immigrated Sep 4 1921 on the same ship as Joseph Profaci and future Colombo member Vincent Mangano

-Arrested with Frank Agrusa/Alo/Abbate (Also from Cinisi) in Belleville, IL for kidnapping Sam Scorfina

-Arrested in 1944 after Frank Agrusa was killed

-Brother Jack was married to Phyllis Manzella. Her brother, Matt Manzo/Manzella went missing in 1944. The Manzellas were also from Cinisi

-Matt Manzella wasn’t a random person either. He had arrests, notably for assault with Frank Agrusa in 1933 in Hammond, IN. He owned the Paddock Club in Calumet City, IL.

[cavita]

Vito Impastato looks like a really interesting guy. Here is some stuff about him:

-Jun 26 1904, Cinisi - Oct 1988, Phoenix, AZ

-Immigrated Sep 4 1921 on the same ship as Joseph Profaci and future Colombo member Vincent Mangano

-Arrested with Frank Agrusa/Alo/Abbate (Also from Cinisi) in Belleville, IL for kidnapping Sam Scorfina

-Arrested in 1944 after Frank Agrusa was killed

-Brother Jack was married to Phyllis Manzella. Her brother, Matt Manzo/Manzella went missing in 1944. The Manzellas were also from Cinisi

-Matt Manzella wasn’t a random person either. He had arrests, notably for assault with Frank Agrusa in 1933 in Hammond, IN. He owned the Paddock Club in Calumet City, IL.

Another interesting tidbit about Impastato was that he was a witness at the wedding of Rockford LCN member Joe Zito on September 22, 1935 in Rockford. Zito married Maria Gaziano.

[Patrickgold]

Vito Impastato looks like a really interesting guy. Here is some stuff about him:

-Jun 26 1904, Cinisi - Oct 1988, Phoenix, AZ

-Immigrated Sep 4 1921 on the same ship as Joseph Profaci and future Colombo member Vincent Mangano

-Arrested with Frank Agrusa/Alo/Abbate (Also from Cinisi) in Belleville, IL for kidnapping Sam Scorfina

-Arrested in 1944 after Frank Agrusa was killed

-Brother Jack was married to Phyllis Manzella. Her brother, Matt Manzo/Manzella went missing in 1944. The Manzellas were also from Cinisi

-Matt Manzella wasn’t a random person either. He had arrests, notably for assault with Frank Agrusa in 1933 in Hammond, IN. He owned the Paddock Club in Calumet City, IL.

I believe his son Faro Impastato got busted in the early 1980s for narcotic sales. He was not a stand up guy like his father and ratted out his friends. He passed away not to long ago in Arizona. Vito supposedly did most of the heavy work for Zito and they lived on the same block.

[PolackTony]

Vito Impastato looks like a really interesting guy. Here is some stuff about him:

-Jun 26 1904, Cinisi - Oct 1988, Phoenix, AZ

-Immigrated Sep 4 1921 on the same ship as Joseph Profaci and future Colombo member Vincent Mangano

-Arrested with Frank Agrusa/Alo/Abbate (Also from Cinisi) in Belleville, IL for kidnapping Sam Scorfina

-Arrested in 1944 after Frank Agrusa was killed

-Brother Jack was married to Phyllis Manzella. Her brother, Matt Manzo/Manzella went missing in 1944. The Manzellas were also from Cinisi

-Matt Manzella wasn’t a random person either. He had arrests, notably for assault with Frank Agrusa in 1933 in Hammond, IN. He owned the Paddock Club in Calumet City, IL.

I believe his son Faro Impastato got busted in the early 1980s for narcotic sales. He was not a stand up guy like his father and ratted out his friends. He passed away not to long ago in Arizona. Vito supposedly did most of the heavy work for Zito and they lived on the same block.

I wasn’t aware that Faro Impastato testified against his partners. He was convicted for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana in Springfield with a partner from FL in 1980 and sentenced to 10 years. In 1988, he was arrested for an arson of a theater in Scottsdale, but I had assumed he was just paroled by then.

Here’s the appeal he filed in 1980. Nothing in here states that he was a CW — do you recall where you saw that he was?

https://books.google.com/books/about/Un ... qsIaGf2w0C

[Patrickgold]

Vito Impastato looks like a really interesting guy. Here is some stuff about him:

-Jun 26 1904, Cinisi - Oct 1988, Phoenix, AZ

-Immigrated Sep 4 1921 on the same ship as Joseph Profaci and future Colombo member Vincent Mangano

-Arrested with Frank Agrusa/Alo/Abbate (Also from Cinisi) in Belleville, IL for kidnapping Sam Scorfina

-Arrested in 1944 after Frank Agrusa was killed

-Brother Jack was married to Phyllis Manzella. Her brother, Matt Manzo/Manzella went missing in 1944. The Manzellas were also from Cinisi

-Matt Manzella wasn’t a random person either. He had arrests, notably for assault with Frank Agrusa in 1933 in Hammond, IN. He owned the Paddock Club in Calumet City, IL.

I believe his son Faro Impastato got busted in the early 1980s for narcotic sales. He was not a stand up guy like his father and ratted out his friends. He passed away not to long ago in Arizona. Vito supposedly did most of the heavy work for Zito and they lived on the same block.

I wasn’t aware that Faro Impastato testified against his partners. He was convicted for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana in Springfield with a partner from FL in 1980 and sentenced to 10 years. In 1988, he was arrested for an arson of a theater in Scottsdale, but I had assumed he was just paroled by then.

Here’s the appeal he filed in 1980. Nothing in here states that he was a CW — do you recall where you saw that he was?

https://books.google.com/books/about/Un ... qsIaGf2w0C

Some people I know from Springfield told me that he ratted out his partners. I don’t have details but I can find out.

[B.]

Vito Impastato looks like a really interesting guy. Here is some stuff about him:

-Jun 26 1904, Cinisi - Oct 1988, Phoenix, AZ

-Immigrated Sep 4 1921 on the same ship as Joseph Profaci and future Colombo member Vincent Mangano

-Arrested with Frank Agrusa/Alo/Abbate (Also from Cinisi) in Belleville, IL for kidnapping Sam Scorfina

-Arrested in 1944 after Frank Agrusa was killed

-Brother Jack was married to Phyllis Manzella. Her brother, Matt Manzo/Manzella went missing in 1944. The Manzellas were also from Cinisi

-Matt Manzella wasn’t a random person either. He had arrests, notably for assault with Frank Agrusa in 1933 in Hammond, IN. He owned the Paddock Club in Calumet City, IL.

Great job noticing that.

Cesare Manzella had a brother Matteo who lived in Springfield and was active in mafia circles. That might be him. Cesare lived in Springfield for a time in the late 1940s before being deported and eventually becoming Cinisi boss then getting infamously killed in 1963.

[PolackTony]

Vito Impastato looks like a really interesting guy. Here is some stuff about him:

-Jun 26 1904, Cinisi - Oct 1988, Phoenix, AZ

-Immigrated Sep 4 1921 on the same ship as Joseph Profaci and future Colombo member Vincent Mangano

-Arrested with Frank Agrusa/Alo/Abbate (Also from Cinisi) in Belleville, IL for kidnapping Sam Scorfina

-Arrested in 1944 after Frank Agrusa was killed

-Brother Jack was married to Phyllis Manzella. Her brother, Matt Manzo/Manzella went missing in 1944. The Manzellas were also from Cinisi

-Matt Manzella wasn’t a random person either. He had arrests, notably for assault with Frank Agrusa in 1933 in Hammond, IN. He owned the Paddock Club in Calumet City, IL.

Great job noticing that.

Cesare Manzella had a brother Matteo who lived in Springfield and was active in mafia circles. That might be him. Cesare lived in Springfield for a time in the late 1940s before being deported and eventually becoming Cinisi boss then getting infamously killed in 1963.

From my info, Matteo Manzella, aka “Matt Manzo”, was indeed Cesare Manzella’s younger brother. Their parents were Faro Manzella and Maria Pizzo.

Matteo immigrated to NYC in 1924 and was naturalized in Brooklyn that year. Cesare Manzella also arrived in and was naturalized in NYC in 1924; both listed older brother Procopio Manzella as their local contact.

Matteo’s wife, Antonina Bommarito, was from Terrasini, where they married. Matteo subsequently relocated to IL. As Joel noted, he was arrested with Agrusa in Cal City in 1933. In 1938, Matteo’s was indicted on federal charges for making false statements on his naturalization papers (his naturalization claimed that he arrived in the US in 1920, while he actually arrived in 1924). I’m unsure of the disposition of the case, but he wasn’t deported. In 1939, he was again indicted on federal charges for defrauding the IRS, under the alias Matt Manzo; investigators claimed that he headed one of the largest bootlegging operations in the area. On his WW2 draft card, Matteo was living in Cal City, where he operated the Paddock Club on the State St “Strip”, a bustling district of outfit-controlled taverns and nightclubs along the border with Hammond, IN. He listed his BiL Jack Impastato as his contact, then also living in Cal City.

Following the events of Chicago’s “Cheese War”, Matteo Manzella relocated to Springfield. The papers reported that IL and AR investigators stated that Manzella — alleged to have been a major “vice and gambling syndicate figure” in Cal City — went missing in February of 1944, the same month that Jimmy DeAngelo and Frank Agrusa were killed, and a
month before Onofrio Vitale was killed. Matteo was in Springfield by May of 1945, however, and in 1946 he was operating the Orchid Lounge in Springfield with Vito Impastato. Matteo Manzella continued operating nightclubs in Springfield and died there in 1978.

Matteo Manzella was evidently a Chicago affiliate, possibly a member, until he fled to Springfield. Hard to say if he was going to be whacked and fled to Springfield for protection, or if he was involved himself in some of the other murders and skipped town because of the heat. Although I haven’t seen any records to prove it, I also believe that Cesare Manzella was living for years in the Chicago area before relocating to Springfield with his brother and subsequently returning to Cìnisi. Chicago has, of course, always been one of the major hubs for Cinisesi immigrants in the US. Cesare’s wife was also an Impastato, though the surname is common in Cìnisi and I’m not sure if she was closely related to the IL Impastatos.

[B.]

You wonder who the Manzellas associated with in Brooklyn. Since Joel noticed Impastato was on the same ship as Profaci and Mangano, could point to the Manzellas/Cinisensi being around the future Colombo Family. The Colombos did recruit many of the known members from Carini in NYC which is on that side of Palermo. We also have Joe Profaci's kids intermarrying with the Detroit Terrasinesi which might as well be Cinisi in this context.

[PolackTony]

You wonder who the Manzellas associated with in Brooklyn. Since Joel noticed Impastato was on the same ship as Profaci and Mangano, could point to the Manzellas/Cinisensi being around the future Colombo Family. The Colombos did recruit many of the known members from Carini in NYC which is on that side of Palermo. We also have Joe Profaci's kids intermarrying with the Detroit Terrasinesi which might as well be Cinisi in this context.

Yeah, I was wondering the same after Joel caught that Impastato arrived in the US with Profaci and Mangano. Matteo and Cesare, as I noted, both arrived in NYC bound for their brother Procopio Manzella, who was already established in Brooklyn for a number of years. He was employed as a commission merchant, and his brothers also stated that they were employed in produce wholesaling when they were naturalized in NYC. He lived for decades at Wilson and DeKalb in Bushwick. When Matteo Manzella filed his naturalization declaration in 1924, he gave Procopio’s address (186 Wilson Ave), though it’s hard to say if he really stayed long in NYC or decamped to the Midwest soon after. Cesare, however, was living in East Harlem, at 242 E 116 (btwn 2nd and 3rd) when he filed in 1924. He seems to have remained in NYC until at least 1929, given the manifests from some return trips to Sicily that he took. On his WW2 draft card, Procopio gave his employer at that time as “G.B. Mannino”, located at 16th Ave and 78th St in Bensonhurst.

Now, I’m not sure if this was noted on the boards before. On the same date that Cesare filed his declaration, another younger brother, Giacomo Manzella, also filed, giving the same address on E 116. Giacomo soon relocated to St Louis, however, as he was shot and killed there in September of 1926, along with his buddy Cesare Trupiano (given by the STL press as “Caesar Cipriano”, while Giacomo was given as “Joseph Manzella”). The three were in a car with Joe Orlando (possibly a relative of Vito and Jack Impastato, as their mother was an Orlando), returning from visiting the wounded Frank Agrusa in the hospital, when assailants opened fire on the vehicle. As discussed before, this network of Cinisesi in STL was already said to have had ties to Chicago, and specifically Capone-ruled Cicero, at this time. Presumably, they also had ties to their paesan’ Joe Giunta in Chicago.

Given the Profaci kids’ marriages, also worth noting that when Vito Impastato arrived in the US in 1921, he was initially bound for Detroit. By 1926, he was living in STL and working as a commission merchant when he filed his declaration. When his naturalization was finalized in 1929, however, he had relocated to Springfield, presumably having fled the spate of violence that had claimed several of his paesani in 1926. Interesting to also note that when Vito Impastato returned to the US from a trip to Sicily in 1931, the manifest stated that he was living in Chicago. Unsurprising if he was, as apart from brother Jack and the Manzellas he almost certainly had other relatives there (there was a younger Vito Impastato who lived in Chicago who was likely his cousin). Worth considering also here that Profaci, as we know, also had ties to Chicago and lived there for a time.

Also worth noting that Vito Impastato’s 1929 naturalization was witnessed by Leonardo Ciaccio and Joe Sgro.

[B.]

Leonardo Ciaccio also witnessed future LA underboss Momo Adamo's naturalization when he was living in Springfield. Ciaccio seems to have been a padrone type figure among the local mafia and a good candidate for boss before Zito. Is there anything definitively confirming when Zito became boss aside from him coming to prominence in the area by the early 1930s? The Adamos were tied to Chicago, Detroit, and Kansas City as well.

The GB Mannino in Bensonhurst could have been from Carini. There were Manninos who were part of the Buffa-Badalamenti-D'Alessandro clan in that part of Brooklyn.

[cavita]

Leonardo Ciaccio also witnessed future LA underboss Momo Adamo's naturalization when he was living in Springfield. Ciaccio seems to have been a padrone type figure among the local mafia and a good candidate for boss before Zito. Is there anything definitively confirming when Zito became boss aside from him coming to prominence in the area by the early 1930s? The Adamos were tied to Chicago, Detroit, and Kansas City as well.

The GB Mannino in Bensonhurst could have been from Carini. There were Manninos who were part of the Buffa-Badalamenti-D'Alessandro clan in that part of Brooklyn.

I have that Ciaccio came to Springfield around 1891 so he was in that area long before anyone else. He was also noted as having Tony Riela live with him when Riela fled Rockford in August 1930.June 1937 he was arrested for his part in a gambling syndicate with Frank Zito, Pasquale Aiello and Ernest "Buster" Dinora. He was also a brother-in-law of Nick Pumilia of Rockford, but beyond that I don't have much info on him.

[B.]

Yes, Riela living with him is another important detail.

A Springfield "informant" (no doubt a fringe observer at best) thought Ciaccio was a "fall guy" for underworld figures because he was ostensibly legitimate but more likely to me he was a padrone figure who used his resources to assist other mafiosi.

His cigar store looks to have been a central location for the Springfield Family in the early era and we know many guys like him were important mafia figures who presented well in legitimate society.

[cavita]

Yes, Riela living with him is another important detail.

A Springfield "informant" (no doubt a fringe observer at best) thought Ciaccio was a "fall guy" for underworld figures because he was ostensibly legitimate but more likely to me he was a padrone figure who used his resources to assist other mafiosi.

His cigar store looks to have been a central location for the Springfield Family in the early era and we know many guys like him were important mafia figures who presented well in legitimate society.

Definitely a padrone-type figure. Ciaccio most likely took guys in and let them room there, possibly going so far as to sponsor them for their naturalization, work papers, etc.

[cavita]

Ciaccio was involved politically and socially in the Springfield area with many organizations. This was was one of those.

[B.]

Of course Ciaccio was the president.