Question for the Boston Experts

Post a reply

Confirmation code
Enter the code exactly as it appears. All letters are case insensitive.

BBCode is OFF
Smilies are OFF

Topic review
   

Expand view Topic review: Question for the Boston Experts

Re: Question for the Boston Experts

by roydemeo » Sat Jan 25, 2020 11:56 am

Any infos for An update chart?

Re: Question for the Boston Experts

by cavita » Thu Jan 23, 2020 6:47 am

B. wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 8:54 pm You mentioned a Salvatore DiGiacomo in Rockford -- there is a Salvatore and Giuseppina DiGiacomo listed as potential visitors pending Biagio's bail. The list of names states that everyone is a relative, neighbor, or friend. No indication if they are local or not.

Biagio DiGiacomo himself is on Facebook (of course) but there isn't much to take from it beyond him maintaining connections to Aragonesi in the US and Sicily, which itself might be significant info about his history.
All the Rockford DiGiacomos from Rockford were from Aragona and FBI files noted they distributed narcotics through their pizzerias, among a couple dozen others. No doubt their importation and distribution went through Biagio in Boston and the surrounding region there.

Re: Question for the Boston Experts

by B. » Wed Jan 22, 2020 8:54 pm

You mentioned a Salvatore DiGiacomo in Rockford -- there is a Salvatore and Giuseppina DiGiacomo listed as potential visitors pending Biagio's bail. The list of names states that everyone is a relative, neighbor, or friend. No indication if they are local or not.

Biagio DiGiacomo himself is on Facebook (of course) but there isn't much to take from it beyond him maintaining connections to Aragonesi in the US and Sicily, which itself might be significant info about his history.

Re: Question for the Boston Experts

by cavita » Wed Jan 22, 2020 5:43 pm

B. wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 5:31 pm Seems likely to me. I haven't seen any indication on when he was made, but he was identified as a captain by 1989.

A 1991 edition of Law Enforcement News (published by CUNY) stated that Biagio DiGiacomo is the son of a Sicilian Mafioso who was murdered in a "Mafia feud." This fits with his 1990 indictment, which states that he is not likely to return to Sicily given his family's involvement in a conflict there, oddly enough between his relatives and relatives of his wife. Among those who were allowed to visit him upon being granted bail were his immigration sponsor Maria Buscemi and her husband Raimondo. Maria's maiden name was Caramazza, the same maiden name as DiGiacomo's wife. Raimondo Buscemi's obituary refers to Biagio DiGiacomo as his brother-in-law, so DiGiacomo is related to Buscemis from Aragona through marriage.
Very very interesting. The Buscemi, DiGiacomo, Galluzzo and Seminerio families in Rockford are all related either by blood or marriage and all are from Aragona. Alberto "Bino" Seminerio of Rockford was described by the FBI as "tied to a Sicilian Mafia family." Now, which family that is, I don't know. This whole Rockford group started importing/distributing narcotics in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin starting in 1980 and they expanded throughout the 1980s doing this with the help of Buffalo, Boston, Canada, etc. like I mentioned earlier. It seems Buscemi was heading up things on his end by calling and contacting people in all these other cities.

Re: Question for the Boston Experts

by B. » Wed Jan 22, 2020 5:31 pm

Seems likely to me. I haven't seen any indication on when he was made, but he was identified as a captain by 1989. EDIT: Sonny Mercurio ID'd DiGiacomo as a captain by October 1988.

A 1991 edition of Law Enforcement News (published by CUNY) stated that Biagio DiGiacomo is the son of a Sicilian Mafioso who was murdered in a "Mafia feud." This fits with his 1990 indictment, which states that he is not likely to return to Sicily given his family's involvement in a conflict there, oddly enough between his relatives and relatives of his wife. Among those who were allowed to visit him upon being granted bail were his immigration sponsor Maria Buscemi and her husband Raimondo. Maria's maiden name was Caramazza, the same maiden name as DiGiacomo's wife. Raimondo Buscemi's obituary refers to Biagio DiGiacomo as his brother-in-law, so DiGiacomo is related to Buscemis from Aragona through marriage.

Re: Question for the Boston Experts

by cavita » Wed Jan 22, 2020 5:11 pm

All good info B! Here is what is mentioned in Buscemi's FBI file on who I think is Biagio Digiacomo:

Review of toll records for residence telephone of Rockford Sicilian mafia figure FRANK J. BUSCEMI (815/399-4424) revealed calls from BUSCEMI telephone on September 23, 1983, and again on September 25, 1983, to telephone number (617) 899-3024, which returns to [REDACTED] a ranking Boston Sicilian mafia figure. No direct contact between [REDACTED] of Boston and FRANK J. BUSCEMI or other known Rockford Sicilian mafia figures has been documented by Chicago Division. However, there are [REDACTED] DPOB: [REDACTED] Aragona, Agrigento, Sicily and SALVATORE DIGIACOMO DPOB: August 20, 1947, Aragona, Agrigento, Sicily, who are associates of FRANK J. BUSCEMI and reported Rockford Sicilian LCN figure SALVATORE GALLUZZO. GALLUZZO, [REDACTED] marriage, sponsored [REDACTED] for immigration to United States during early 1970’s and is listed as co-owner with them on numerous pizza restaurants and eating establishments throughout northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Also listed on immigration records of SALVATORE DIGIACOMO as witness is [REDACTED] FRANK J. BUSCEMI. GALLUZZO frequently observed in company of [REDACTED]. Reliable source information indicates [REDACTED] FRANK J. BUSCEMI and Sicilian LCN associates in northern Illinois.

Re: Question for the Boston Experts

by B. » Wed Jan 22, 2020 3:44 pm

cavita wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 3:15 pm
B. wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 2:43 pm A witness to Biagio DiGiacomo's naturalization was a Buscemi in Waltham. Aragona is not a big town and its local mafia family appears to have been quite small. Would be fascinating if Rockford played a role in "vouching" for DiGiacomo with the Patriarca crowd.
Do you know who exactly the Buscemi was that sponsored DiGiacomo? The FBI states that Buscemi personally sponsored in excess of 20 Sicilian immigrants in the Rockford area in the early 70s. The Rockford police who kept extensive files on the Rockford LCN said these sponsorships were a means to build up the "family."
Sure thing -- it was a Maria Buscemi of Waltham. DiGiacomo entered the US in 1967 and became naturalized in 1970, living in East Boston. If Buscemi in Rockford was sponsoring Sicilians from Aragona in Rockford during that time, it seems like more than a coincidence that a Buscemi would be sponsoring an immigrant mafia member from Aragona in Boston during the same period.

Also, I've discovered that Salvatore Michael Caruana's mother was a Zambito. The name Zambito appears almost exclusively in Agrigento province and the Caruana-Cuntreras in Montreal did business with multiple mafia-linked Zambitos, probably from Siculiana like them. There was an early Tampa member named Zambito who was from Siculiana, like the Caruana-Cuntreras.

Naturally the Zambito name also appears in Aragona. Given the extent of Salvatore Michael Caruana's drug trafficking, including bringing drugs in via Maine and South America, it would be interesting to know if his business ever crossed with Canadian or Sicilian figures. The Montreal Sicilian drug traffickers brought drugs in via Maine as well and of course the Caruana-Cuntreras had a heavy presence in South America.

So we can't confirm the exact town yet, but between both of this parents' surnames, it is almost certain Salvatore Caruana's parents were from Agrigento. Some online sources say he was made in the 1970s, but the Patriarca indictment says he was an associate on record with the administration and it appears the most current info available prior to his disappearance was that he was a proposed member, but maybe a NE researcher knows more. He later went on the lam to Connecticut and reported to CT leader Bill Grasso. Grasso allegedly told a source that the CT faction killed Caruana, however his body was never identified among several corpses found at a Patriarca mob burial site in CT. His sister's obituary says she was predeceased by her brother "Michael" -- this is a reference to Salvatore, as he went by his middle name Michael, but if he did go on the lam and change his identity the family may have played along.

Re: Question for the Boston Experts

by cavita » Wed Jan 22, 2020 3:15 pm

B. wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 2:43 pm A witness to Biagio DiGiacomo's naturalization was a Buscemi in Waltham. Aragona is not a big town and its local mafia family appears to have been quite small. Would be fascinating if Rockford played a role in "vouching" for DiGiacomo with the Patriarca crowd.
Do you know who exactly the Buscemi was that sponsored DiGiacomo? The FBI states that Buscemi personally sponsored in excess of 20 Sicilian immigrants in the Rockford area in the early 70s. The Rockford police who kept extensive files on the Rockford LCN said these sponsorships were a means to build up the "family."

Re: Question for the Boston Experts

by B. » Wed Jan 22, 2020 2:43 pm

A witness to Biagio DiGiacomo's naturalization was a Buscemi in Waltham. Aragona is not a big town and its local mafia family appears to have been quite small. Would be fascinating if Rockford played a role in "vouching" for DiGiacomo with the Patriarca crowd.

Re: Question for the Boston Experts

by cavita » Wed Jan 22, 2020 2:38 pm

B. wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 1:39 pm
cavita wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:30 pm
B. wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 10:22 am No idea about the murder. Supposedly there was a violent mafia conflict going on in the Aragona area that prevented Biagio DiGiacomo from returning to Sicily and involved his relatives there. Whether that dates back to the late 1970s or not and could have spilled over to the US (like it did in NYC/NJ) is anyone's guess. Aragona gets little attention. Biagio DiGiacomo also had ties to Montreal that I wonder about.
Definitely interesting. There were many calls from this time period between Rockford, Canada, Boston, Buffalo, Sicily and other places that was about the narcotics distribution. The FBI I have notes that Buscemi was contacting an unknown LCN member in Boston. They redacted his name but not the phone number. This was most likely Biagio DiGiacomo.
He's been of interest to me ever since I heard the taped 1989 NE ceremony was officiated by this mysterious "zip". DiGiacomo was close with consigliere Joseph Russo, who also presided over the ceremony, and had better command of the Italian language than anyone else, so Occam's Razor probably applies when it comes to DiGiacomo's role in the ceremony. Still, he stands out because that family isn't known for recruiting Sicilians and I'm not sure where DiGiacomo would have gotten his "in" with the family. There is some unsubstantiated info I've read about him as well, like DiGiacomo's father being a boss in Aragona.

Boston had a community of people from Aragona which is likely why DiGiacomo went there, I just don't know of any members from Aragona except DiGiacomo who were part of the local mafia. Early Rochester had many organized crime figures from Aragona and nearby Grotte as well, though I don't know of any ties between that area and Rockford or Boston. You mentioning Buffalo is interesting, though, in light of that. Boston consigliere Joseph Russo went on the lam to Montreal through DiGiacomo, who had ties there, and of course Montreal has a strong presence from that area of Agrigento province.

Another name I'm curious about is Salvatore Caruana. He was a drug trafficker connected to the Patriarca family who disappeared in the 1980s. To this day it's unknown whether he went on the lam or was murdered. I've never seen him connected to the more infamous Caruanas of Canada/Siculiana/Venezuela, but the name Caruana (and Caruano, as evidenced in the DeCavalcantes) is not only common in Agrigento province as a whole, but also Aragona. There are some Caruanas from Aragona who settled in Rockford's early Aragonesi colony as well.

EDIT: I want to make it clear, Caruana is/was not a "zip". He was born in the US and was on record directly with Raymond Patriarca Sr., then Patriarca Jr. He was proposed for membership according to some info in Patriarca Jr.'s indictment. Still, I suspect his heritage is from Agrigento province and would be interesting if it was Aragona.
The Boston connection intrigues me as the Buscemi, DiGiacomo and Zammuto famies from Rockford had relatives there and in the Waltham area too. Since the 1950s the Rockford LCN hierarchy was heavily from Aragona lineage. I saw Salvatore Caruana on Unsolved Mysteries and also wondered what became of him and his connections. And yes, there were/are many Caruana families from Aragona in Rockford that I have wondered if they had connections to the famed Caruana/Cuntrera clan.

Re: Question for the Boston Experts

by B. » Wed Jan 22, 2020 1:39 pm

cavita wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:30 pm
B. wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 10:22 am No idea about the murder. Supposedly there was a violent mafia conflict going on in the Aragona area that prevented Biagio DiGiacomo from returning to Sicily and involved his relatives there. Whether that dates back to the late 1970s or not and could have spilled over to the US (like it did in NYC/NJ) is anyone's guess. Aragona gets little attention. Biagio DiGiacomo also had ties to Montreal that I wonder about.
Definitely interesting. There were many calls from this time period between Rockford, Canada, Boston, Buffalo, Sicily and other places that was about the narcotics distribution. The FBI I have notes that Buscemi was contacting an unknown LCN member in Boston. They redacted his name but not the phone number. This was most likely Biagio DiGiacomo.
He's been of interest to me ever since I heard the taped 1989 NE ceremony was officiated by this mysterious "zip". DiGiacomo was close with consigliere Joseph Russo, who also presided over the ceremony, and had better command of the Italian language than anyone else, so Occam's Razor probably applies when it comes to DiGiacomo's role in the ceremony. Still, he stands out because that family isn't known for recruiting Sicilians and I'm not sure where DiGiacomo would have gotten his "in" with the family. There is some unsubstantiated info I've read about him as well, like DiGiacomo's father being a boss in Aragona.

Boston had a community of people from Aragona which is likely why DiGiacomo went there, I just don't know of any members from Aragona except DiGiacomo who were part of the local mafia. Early Rochester had many organized crime figures from Aragona and nearby Grotte as well, though I don't know of any ties between that area and Rockford or Boston. You mentioning Buffalo is interesting, though, in light of that. Boston consigliere Joseph Russo went on the lam to Montreal through DiGiacomo, who had ties there, and of course Montreal has a strong presence from that area of Agrigento province.

Another name I'm curious about is Salvatore Caruana. He was a drug trafficker connected to the Patriarca family who disappeared in the 1980s. To this day it's unknown whether he went on the lam or was murdered. I've never seen him connected to the more infamous Caruanas of Canada/Siculiana/Venezuela, but the name Caruana (and Caruano, as evidenced in the DeCavalcantes) is not only common in Agrigento province as a whole, but also Aragona. There are some Caruanas from Aragona who settled in Rockford's early Aragonesi colony as well.

EDIT: I want to make it clear, Caruana is/was not a "zip". He was born in the US and was on record directly with Raymond Patriarca Sr., then Patriarca Jr. He was proposed for membership according to some info in Patriarca Jr.'s indictment. Still, I suspect his heritage is from Agrigento province and would be interesting if it was Aragona.

Re: Question for the Boston Experts

by cavita » Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:31 pm

Extortion wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 10:30 am Why are you interested in this chap?
I'm curious if he is related to the Rockford area DiGiacomo people and if the circumstances surrounding his murder had any affect in Rockford.

Re: Question for the Boston Experts

by cavita » Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:30 pm

B. wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 10:22 am No idea about the murder. Supposedly there was a violent mafia conflict going on in the Aragona area that prevented Biagio DiGiacomo from returning to Sicily and involved his relatives there. Whether that dates back to the late 1970s or not and could have spilled over to the US (like it did in NYC/NJ) is anyone's guess. Aragona gets little attention. Biagio DiGiacomo also had ties to Montreal that I wonder about.
Definitely interesting. There were many calls from this time period between Rockford, Canada, Boston, Buffalo, Sicily and other places that was about the narcotics distribution. The FBI I have notes that Buscemi was contacting an unknown LCN member in Boston. They redacted his name but not the phone number. This was most likely Biagio DiGiacomo.

Re: Question for the Boston Experts

by Extortion » Wed Jan 22, 2020 10:30 am

Why are you interested in this chap?

Re: Question for the Boston Experts

by B. » Wed Jan 22, 2020 10:22 am

No idea about the murder. Supposedly there was a violent mafia conflict going on in the Aragona area that prevented Biagio DiGiacomo from returning to Sicily and involved his relatives there. Whether that dates back to the late 1970s or not and could have spilled over to the US (like it did in NYC/NJ) is anyone's guess. Aragona gets little attention. Biagio DiGiacomo also had ties to Montreal that I wonder about.

Top