THE BLACK HAND FORUM

by **Antiliar** » Sun Mar 21, 2021 11:46 am

Tunis has a lot of connections to other Families. Paolo Orlando, the first confirmed boss of the Bonanno Family, was the boss of Tunis before he came to America. And we know that Carlos Marcello, the New Orleans boss, was born Calogero Minacore in Tunis. Although there's no indication that his father was a member, often there is some biological connection so it's possible that one of his parents had a made relative in Tunis or Sicily. It would be interesting to have a thread on Tunis to see what we know about its history.

by B. » Fri Mar 19, 2021 7:44 pm

Mentioned in the FBI files section, but Settimo Accardi (and his cousin Bonanno member Vincenzo Morsellino) were living in Tunis immediately before coming to the US in June 1927. Accardi arrived to relatives in NJ.

Onofrio "Joe" Abate was also living in Tunis, marrying Settimo Accardi's sister in Tunis in 1928.

As this thread mentions, Stefano Badami was also living in Tunis during the same period, immediately preceding his arrival to Tommaso Gagliano (Accardi's future boss) in NYC. Badami and Gagliano's brother-in-law Pennino arrived from Tunis in March 1927, less than three months before Accardi.

Accardi, Abate, and Badami likely knew each other in Tunis, possibly interacted within the framework of the Tunis mafia family, and at least Accardi and Badami both appear to have been first Newark members then Lucchese members. Accardi and Abate would both be Lucchese NJ capodecinas. Badami's 1950s murder is believed to have been related to Accardi's legal trouble/deportation.

Interesting that there may have been a strong connection between Tunis and the Newark family, with three prominent Newark/Lucchese figures coming from Tunis to the US around the same time.

by B. » Wed Mar 04, 2020 2:55 pm

In 1929, Stefano Badami attempted to enter Canada but was rejected. He claimed his destination was Hamilton, Ontario. Around this time Salvatore Maranzano owned property and apparently spent time living in Hamilton. Valachi was assigned by Maranzano to help Stefano Badami in NJ during the war, suggesting the two had an alliance.

Meant to post this here but it intersects a bit:
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=3712&p=141304#p141304

A lot of great work has been done on Corleonesi genealogy and I can't take credit but have been able to put some pieces together:

- Leoluca DiFisco, business partner of Tom Gagliano and a possible member, married Gagliano's niece, a Pennino. Two Gagliano sisters married Pennino men, including the earlier mentioned mafioso Salvatore Pennino who traveled to the US with Stefano Badami, both men arriving to Tom Gagliano's home.
- Leoluca DiFisco's mother was a Badami and was the aunt of the earlier mentioned Leoluca "Louis" Badami of Elizabeth, NJ, who ran a garment business in NYC like Stefano Badami. Stefano Badami is a fourth cousin of Leoluca "Louis" Badami of Elizabeth, making Stefano a third cousin of Leoluca DiFisco's mother.
- Three siblings from that generation of Badamis married three DiFisco siblings, making them triple in-laws.
- DiFisco's mother's branch of the Badami family is related to the Strevas, both Salvatore Streva (early Los Angeles mafia figure) and Salvatore's first cousin Paolo Streva (Morello member).

So we can see how the Badamis, Penninos, and Gaglianos are intertwined in multiple ways and connected to many other Corleonesi mafia names. With the Bellomos being related to the Majuris and the Bellomos in turn being related to the Pomillas and therefore Tom Gagliano, there is a distant relation between the Badamis and Majuris. It's likely the two ran in similar circles.

by B. » Fri Jul 12, 2019 12:57 am

A potential NYC connection via Troia:

When Vincenzo and Joseph Troia were killed, the bodies were claimed by a Brooklyn undertaker named Charles Catalano, who it was said would then ship the bodies to Italy. Charles Catalano (b. 1898) was business partners with fellow undertaker Vincenzo Traina (b.1885), who lived with Catalano and his family in Bushwick. Records confirm that Vincenzo Traina came from San Giuseppe Iato, like Troia, and it is likely Catalano was from San Giuseppe Iato as well.

Records show that Traina frequently traveled to Sicily over several decades and had cousins with the surname Mannino. Upon returning to the US via Toronto in 1946, it was said he would be traveling to Springfield, Illinois, then to New York City. Springfield had a large group from San Giuseppe Iato and Troia / Longo had previously operated there, so it is interesting this Traina would be stopping there before going back to Brooklyn. In 1952 there was an NYC-based Zito traveling on the same ship as Traina but unknown if it was one of the SGI Zitos.

by B. » Thu Jul 11, 2019 10:57 pm

A couple other names of interest are the Buia brothers, Matildo "Ralph" and Angelo. The brothers lived in Manhattan but were primarily associated with the old Newark crowd including Settimo Accardi, the Campisi brothers, and Aniello Santagata (also in NYC but closely linked to NJ members).

The Buias lived in France for a time before moving to Boston. Old FBI reports drawn from interviews with Gentile describe the Gaspare D'Amico family as an NYC/NJ family, so there may have been some Newark members/associates who lived in NYC.

No information suggesting they were members, though they are at least candidates for early NYC-based associates of the Newark family. Both brothers were deeply involved in narcotics trafficking and may have become Lucchese or Genovese associates given their connection to the Accardis and Campisis.

by B. » Sun Jul 07, 2019 12:03 pm

It's interesting he ended up with them given the strong Newark family roots in the Colombo crew, though it was probably irrelevant by the time he joined them. Surprising to me that the Colombo NJ crew didn't last longer given its early members were fairly dominant in the NJ mafia scene.

by **sdeitche** » Sun Jul 07, 2019 5:34 am

B. wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2019 8:52 pm
sdeitche wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2019 11:15 am
B. wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2019 11:55 pm Pietro Campisi -> Possible Newark member who may have joined the Genovese family. A CI claimed Campisi sponsored Carmen Battaglia for membership and Battaglia in turn sponsored Campisi's sons Charles and Thomas. Battaglia's home was used in another NJ induction ceremony in the 1940s as well.

Charles and Thomas Campisi -> Genovese soldiers.

A couple members of a younger generation ended up with the Colombos and Gambinos.
Petey White was made guy in Colombos
I believe Petey Black was tied in with the Luchesses. Need to check my notes on him.
I thought it was "Petey Black" who was made with the Colombos, then his cousin Peter "Pipi" who was made with the Gambinos. I may be wrong, only what I remember offhand.

I'd like to see more serious research into all of them, as some of the main sources were non-members or even non-Italian. Considering their semi-independence and affiliation with a number of different families, there might be something interesting out there. It stands out that Pietro may have ended up with the Genovese. His hometown doesn't put him far from the large Newark elements that were absorbed by the Lucchese and Colombo families yet he ended up with the Genovese, whose Jersey faction was largely non-Sicilian and doesn't seem to have had a strong link to the Newark family. Battaglia, too, since he was with Newark and came from Enna. He was close to Philly and mistaken for a Philly member which coincidentally had a strong element from Enna.

You are correct, i just confirmed with a source. Petey Black was made with the Colombos.

by **bert** » Fri Jul 05, 2019 9:54 pm

sdeitche wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2019 11:15 am
B. wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2019 11:55 pm Pietro Campisi -> Possible Newark member who may have joined the Genovese family. A CI claimed Campisi sponsored Carmen Battaglia for membership and Battaglia in turn sponsored Campisi's sons Charles and Thomas. Battaglia's home was used in another NJ induction ceremony in the 1940s as well.

Charles and Thomas Campisi -> Genovese soldiers.

A couple members of a younger generation ended up with the Colombos and Gambinos.
Petey White was made guy in Colombos
I believe Petey Black was tied in with the Luchesses. Need to check my notes on him.

There was a Petey Black who had a club in the Bronx who was a Luchesse. It was near the Morris Park area. Since B has him as a Columbo, maybe two of them had the same nickname.

by B. » Fri Jul 05, 2019 8:52 pm

sdeitche wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2019 11:15 am
B. wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2019 11:55 pm Pietro Campisi -> Possible Newark member who may have joined the Genovese family. A CI claimed Campisi sponsored Carmen Battaglia for membership and Battaglia in turn sponsored Campisi's sons Charles and Thomas. Battaglia's home was used in another NJ induction ceremony in the 1940s as well.

Charles and Thomas Campisi -> Genovese soldiers.

A couple members of a younger generation ended up with the Colombos and Gambinos.
Petey White was made guy in Colombos
I believe Petey Black was tied in with the Luchesses. Need to check my notes on him.

I thought it was "Petey Black" who was made with the Colombos, then his cousin Peter "Pipi" who was made with the Gambinos. I may be wrong, only what I remember offhand.

I'd like to see more serious research into all of them, as some of the main sources were non-members or even non-Italian. Considering their semi-independence and affiliation with a number of different families, there might be something interesting out there. It stands out that Pietro may have ended up with the Genovese. His hometown doesn't put him far from the large Newark elements that were absorbed by the Lucchese and Colombo families yet he ended up with the Genovese, whose Jersey faction was largely non-Sicilian and doesn't seem to have had a strong link to the Newark family. Battaglia, too, since he was with Newark and came from Enna. He was close to Philly and mistaken for a Philly member which coincidentally had a strong element from Enna.

by **sdeitche** » Fri Jul 05, 2019 11:15 am

B. wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2019 11:55 pm Pietro Campisi -> Possible Newark member who may have joined the Genovese family. A CI claimed Campisi sponsored Carmen Battaglia for membership and Battaglia in turn sponsored Campisi's sons Charles and Thomas. Battaglia's home was used in another NJ induction ceremony in the 1940s as well.

Charles and Thomas Campisi -> Genovese soldiers.

A couple members of a younger generation ended up with the Colombos and Gambinos.

Petey White was made guy in Colombos
I believe Petey Black was tied in with the Luchesses. Need to check my notes on him.

by B. » Thu Jul 04, 2019 11:55 pm

Pietro Campisi -> Possible Newark member who may have joined the Genovese family. A CI claimed Campisi sponsored Carmen Battaglia for membership and Battaglia in turn sponsored Campisi's sons Charles and Thomas. Battaglia's home was used in another NJ induction ceremony in the 1940s as well.

Charles and Thomas Campisi -> Genovese soldiers.

A couple members of a younger generation ended up with the Colombos and Gambinos.

by **kpjohnson** » Thu Jul 04, 2019 6:25 pm

nowandlater wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2019 9:09 am
Chaps wrote: ↑Sun Jun 23, 2019 5:56 pm B.

The DeCavalcante's I believe will always be an enigma. I don't know that we'll ever find the truth about their creation and history. The only story we have is from Anthony Acceturo who claimed Lucky formed the Five Families and "allowed" the formation of one Family in NJ that became the DeCavalcante. As we now know, the Five Families already existed. Who knows about the so called "Newark Family." I (as of now) accept B's theory.

The DeCav's existed all along and may have been a "Sixth Family." They migrated (partly as they remained in Brooklyn) to NJ due to their control of Local 394.
I don't know if this qualifies as being part of "the Newark family" but one group that was from Newark and very active in the 1960's and 1970's that you never hear about anymore are the Campisi's. I mention this because is it possible their activity could be mistaken or blended into what is referred to as the Newark family while they seem to be unknown and never mentioned? The Campisi's were a family by blood from Newark and a form of crime family unto themselves. Ira Pecznick (book: To Drop A Dime by Paul Hoffman) and John Tully were associates of theirs. They were at their peak when Hugh Addonizio was the mayor of Newark and Anthony Imperiale was a State Senator from Newark during the time of the riots in 1967. They were very active during the time of Sam the Plumber, Joe Bayonne, Gyp DeCarlo and Richie the Boot and his son Tony Boy Boiardo.

You forgot to mention Jerry Catena, Little Pussy Russo and Harold K.O. Konigsberg. They were all around active and affiliated with those previously mentioned during the time of the Campisi's. The Campisi's were also connected with an illicit underworld cemetery (burial ground on Joseph Celso's chicken farm) in Jackson Township NJ. Another book about the Campisi's, Ira Pecznick et al is Deal by Harvey Aronson (1978).

by **nowandlater** » Thu Jul 04, 2019 9:09 am

Chaps wrote: ↑Sun Jun 23, 2019 5:56 pm B.

The DeCavalcante's I believe will always be an enigma. I don't know that we'll ever find the truth about their creation and history. The only story we have is from Anthony Acceturo who claimed Lucky formed the Five Families and "allowed" the formation of one Family in NJ that became the DeCavalcante. As we now know, the Five Families already existed. Who knows about the so called "Newark Family." I (as of now) accept B's theory.

The DeCav's existed all along and may have been a "Sixth Family." They migrated (partly as they remained in Brooklyn) to NJ due to their control of Local 394.

I don't know if this qualifies as being part of "the Newark family" but one group that was from Newark and very active in the 1960's and 1970's that you never hear about anymore are the Campisi's. I mention this because is it possible their activity could be mistaken or blended into what is referred to as the Newark family while they seem to be unknown and never mentioned? The Campisi's were a family by blood from Newark and a form of crime family unto themselves. Ira Pecznick (book: To Drop A Dime by Paul Hoffman) and John Tully were associates of theirs. They were at their peak when Hugh Addonizio was the mayor of Newark and Anthony Imperiale was a State Senator from Newark during the time of the riots in 1967. They were very active during the time of Sam the Plumber, Joe Bayonne, Gyp DeCarlo and Richie the Boot and his son Tony Boy Boiardo.

by **Grouchy Sinatra** » Sun Jun 30, 2019 6:27 pm

Old man Profaci knew how to split his enemies.

by **Chaps** » Sun Jun 23, 2019 5:56 pm

B.

The DeCavalcante's I believe will always be an enigma. I don't know that we'll ever find the truth about their creation and history. The only story we have is from Anthony Acceturo who claimed Lucky formed the Five Families and "allowed" the formation of one Family in NJ that became the DeCavalcante. As we now know, the Five Families already existed. Who knows about the so called "Newark Family." I (as of now) accept B's theory.

The DeCav's existed all along and may have been a "Sixth Family." They migrated (partly as they remained in Brooklyn) to NJ due to their control of Local 394.

THE BLACK HAND FORUM

Stefano Badami

Post a reply

Expand view Topic review: Stefano Badami

Re: Stefano Badami

Re: Stefano Badami

Re: Stefano Badami

Re: Stefano Badami

Re: Stefano Badami

Re: Stefano Badami

Re: Stefano Badami

Re: Stefano Badami

Re: Stefano Badami

Re: Stefano Badami

Re: Stefano Badami

Re: Stefano Badami

Re: Stefano Badami

Re: Stefano Badami

Re: Stefano Badami