THE BLACK HAND FORUM

stubbs wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2020 2:55 pm I came across this old article in New York Magazine from Jan 8, 1973 written by famous mob author Nicholas Pileggi called "Anatomy of the Drug War". The article claims there were three large meetings between the families about the drug trade that took place in 1972. The article is at this link on page 33.

The article describes the second meeting as taking place on August 11th, 1972 at the Staten Island home of Gambino captain John D'Alessio. The meeting is described as including Phil Rastelli, Natale Evola, Funzie Tieri, Aniello Dellacroce, Michele Miranda, Allie Boy Persico, and Joseph N Gallo. What's interesting is Pileggi writes:

Also attending the second meeting was Luciano Leggio - another illegal Sicilian alien wanted for murder in Palermo and an old-world mafioso with excellent Corsican connections.

Has anyone ever come across this before? It's wild that a fugitive like Leggio would go to New York to attend a commission meeting, especially after Appalachia and La Stella. It also shows how powerful of a boss Leggio was even back then... that a boss from Corleone would go to the meeting and not someone from the Palermo like Bontade or someone in his faction. Very interesting as well that all of these mob heavyweights from New York would attend a meeting over drugs... I mean, maybe not surprised about the Gambinos and Bonanno guys, but the Genovese sitting down with a Sicilian boss who was a known heroin trafficker? Maybe they were there to help set the rules but not to be involved in the actual trafficking, or maybe I'm just naive and they were knee deep in junk like everyone else.

It also states that Gallo often represented the interests of New Orleans and Tampa in New York, something I hadn't heard before. It says Marcello and Trafficante didn't attend because there was too much heat on them after the famous La Stella meeting.

There's also a point where the article quotes from an informant,

Greasers are taking over the whole operation. Carlos Marcello has spread them through the South and the Southwest. They are in upstate New York. Gambino and Marcello and Magaddino are bringing Sicilians over.

Anyone know if that's true, if there was a Zip faction under Marcello/NOLA? I have never come across anything like that, but I could be wrong.

stubbs wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2020 11:10 am

Extortion wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2020 5:49 pm Bontade was not a faction of the Corleonesi, he was connected with the inzerillos and Bontade was assassinated by Luciano Leggio’s people.

That's exactly my point. Why would Leggio, the leader of the Corleonesi faction which had no close ties to the US families, be in the US to meet with the mafia commission in NY? Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if Bontade or someone from the Palermo families, which have been historically very close with the Gambinos and the Bonannos, went to NY instead?

If this article is true, the only thing that makes sense is if in 1972 Leggio was on the Cupola, the national commission in Sicily, alongside the Palermo bosses, before the Corleonesi eventually went to war to seize power for themselves. Does anyone know if that's the case? I think I remember reading that Toto Riina was part of the Cupola alongside Bontade and Badalamenti before the Second Mafia War started in the 80s.

So maybe in 1972 Leggio wasn't yet seen as a rival to the Palermo faction and visited New York on their behalf? The Corleonsi was described as being severely underestimated by the Palermo bosses, in terms their desire for power, so wondering if they trusted the Corleonesi too much at first.

stubbs wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2020 11:10 am

Extortion wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2020 5:49 pm Bontade was not a faction of the Corleonesi, he was connected with the inzerillos and Bontade was assassinated by Luciano Leggio’s people.

That's exactly my point. Why would Leggio, the leader of the Corleonesi faction which had no close ties to the US families, be in the US to meet with the mafia commission in NY? Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if Bontade or someone from the Palermo families, which have been historically very close with the Gambinos and the Bonannos, went to NY instead?

If this article is true, the only thing that makes sense is if in 1972 Leggio was on the Cupola, the national commission in Sicily, alongside the Palermo bosses, before the Corleonesi eventually went to war to seize power for themselves. Does anyone know if that's the case? I think I remember reading that Toto Riina was part of the Cupola alongside Bontade and Badalamenti before the Second Mafia War started in the 80s.

So maybe in 1972 Leggio wasn't yet seen as a rival to the Palermo faction and visited New York on their behalf? The Corleonsi was described as being severely underestimated by the Palermo bosses, in terms their desire for power, so wondering if they trusted the Corleonesi too much at first.

Extortion wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2020 5:49 pm Bontade was not a faction of the Corleonesi, he was connected with the inzerillos and Bontade was assassinated by Luciano Leggio’s people.

CabriniGreen wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2020 8:04 am

aleksandrored wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2020 6:45 am

Villain wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2020 10:19 pm

aleksandrored wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2020 6:31 pm I find it very unlikely, Leggio was a well-sought fugitive since 1969, and the Corleonesi in general had no connections with New York families until 1980, and in the case of Riina in the 1970s he was the representative of the Corleonesi at meetings.

After reading few stuff on Riina i think you are right, but dont forget that many members in the US came or had blood relations to Corleone so maybe they kept the connections?...just saying

It may be, but in Leggio and Riina's time I don't think they had many connections, Corleone's family after Navara's death became a different family, they were more violent and even looked like a street gang at times, the situation began to change even in 1974 when Riina became the chief, and in the events that followed the war in 1977, but in this case the families of Bontade to Inzerillo are the ones that had connections in the USA, specifically with the Gambinos if I am not mistaken , there are specific cases such as the supposed meeting between Buscetta and Lucinao in the 1950s, but if I'm not mistaken, the Corleonesi only had contact with the USA in the 1980s, and it was with the Gambino family about drug trafficking.

I believe you are 100% on this...

The American connections are what triggered the rivalries, even during the first Mafia war with Cavataio...

aleksandrored wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2020 6:45 am

Villain wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2020 10:19 pm

aleksandrored wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2020 6:31 pm I find it very unlikely, Leggio was a well-sought fugitive since 1969, and the Corleonesi in general had no connections with New York families until 1980, and in the case of Riina in the 1970s he was the representative of the Corleonesi at meetings.

After reading few stuff on Riina i think you are right, but dont forget that many members in the US came or had blood relations to Corleone so maybe they kept the connections?...just saying

It may be, but in Leggio and Riina's time I don't think they had many connections, Corleone's family after Navara's death became a different family, they were more violent and even looked like a street gang at times, the situation began to change even in 1974 when Riina became the chief, and in the events that followed the war in 1977, but in this case the families of Bontade to Inzerillo are the ones that had connections in the USA, specifically with the Gambinos if I am not mistaken , there are specific cases such as the supposed meeting between Buscetta and Lucinao in the 1950s, but if I'm not mistaken, the Corleonesi only had contact with the USA in the 1980s, and it was with the Gambino family about drug trafficking.

Villain wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2020 10:19 pm

aleksandrored wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2020 6:31 pm I find it very unlikely, Leggio was a well-sought fugitive since 1969, and the Corleonesi in general had no connections with New York families until 1980, and in the case of Riina in the 1970s he was the representative of the Corleonesi at meetings.

After reading few stuff on Riina i think you are right, but dont forget that many members in the US came or had blood relations to Corleone so maybe they kept the connections?...just saying

aleksandrored wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2020 6:31 pm I find it very unlikely, Leggio was a well-sought fugitive since 1969, and the Corleonesi in general had no connections with New York families until 1980, and in the case of Riina in the 1970s he was the representative of the Corleonesi at meetings.

stubbs wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2020 2:55 pm I came across this old article in New York Magazine from Jan 8, 1973 written by famous mob author Nicholas Pileggi called "Anatomy of the Drug War". The article claims there were three large meetings between the families about the drug trade that took place in 1972. The article is at this link on page 33.

The article describes the second meeting as taking place on August 11th, 1972 at the Staten Island home of Gambino captain John D'Alessio. The meeting is described as including Phil Rastelli, Natale Evola, Funzie Tieri, Aniello Dellacroce, Michele Miranda, Allie Boy Persico, and Joseph N Gallo. What's interesting is Pileggi writes:

Also attending the second meeting was Luciano Leggio - another illegal Sicilian alien wanted for murder in Palermo and an old-world mafioso with excellent Corsican connections.

Has anyone ever come across this before? It's wild that a fugitive like Leggio would go to New York to attend a commission meeting, especially after Appalachia and La Stella. It also shows how powerful of a boss Leggio was even back then... that a boss from Corleone would go to the meeting and not someone from the Palermo like Bontade or someone in his faction. Very interesting as well that all of these mob heavyweights from New York would attend a meeting over drugs... I mean, maybe not surprised about the Gambinos and Bonanno guys, but the Genovese sitting down with a Sicilian boss who was a known heroin trafficker? Maybe they were there to help set the rules but not to be involved in the actual trafficking, or maybe I'm just naive and they were knee deep in junk like everyone else.

It also states that Gallo often represented the interests of New Orleans and Tampa in New York, something I hadn't heard before. It says Marcello and Trafficante didn't attend because there was too much heat on them after the famous La Stella meeting.

There's also a point where the article quotes from an informant,

Greasers are taking over the whole operation. Carlos Marcello has spread them through the South and the Southwest. They are in upstate New York. Gambino and Marcello and Magaddino are bringing Sicilians over.

Anyone know if that's true, if there was a Zip faction under Marcello/NOLA? I have never come across anything like that, but I could be wrong.

Also attending the second meeting was Luciano Leggio - another illegal Sicilian alien wanted for murder in Palermo and an old-world mafioso with excellent Corsican connections.

Greasers are taking over the whole operation. Carlos Marcello has spread them through the South and the Southwest. They are in upstate New York. Gambino and Marcello and Magaddino are bringing Sicilians over.