by B. » Sat Aug 01, 2020 3:25 pm
Snakes wrote: ↑Sat Aug 01, 2020 8:28 am
Ah, sorry. I even posted in that thread! This was just something that I found with the Commission meeting info. Thanks to B for initially discovering it.
No worries at all, buddy. I'm all about going over the same info more than once and having different perspectives, so the more the merrier.
As for Galante, that and the Chicago boss attending were what most interested me most beyond the internal Colombo politics.
Carmine Galante declared himself official boss (without Commission sanction) during the first week of June 1977 according to Joe Massino. Prior to that he was acting boss. It wouldn't be unprecedented for an acting boss to represent an official boss on the Commission, but I'm under the impression the Bonannos didn't have a seat on the Commission. It's possible they attended for another political reason and not necessarily to offer a vote -- we know for example that Carmine Galante had an alliance with Carmine Persico, who at this time was not yet underboss but was aligned with DiBella.
Interestingly, Dom Cicale was told by a Genovese figure in prison that Galante was not killed because of internal issues within the Bonanno family, but because the other families were concerned about him making the Bonannos formidable again. We do know Galante had a large support base within the family and other families were concerned with him, though of course there was a major internal dispute within the family, too. With these sorts of rumors I tend to believe there is a little bit of truth in all of them even if it's not the sole explanation.
Chris Christie wrote: ↑Sat Aug 01, 2020 6:00 am
I reckon my biggest takeaway or point of interest is Tom DiBella. From everything that's come out about him, he wasn't recognized by law enforcement as a gangster, allegedly when he became boss he didn't know how certain rackets worked and I believe worked a legitimate job (am I off on anything?) Such an individual represents everything "street guys" like an John/Gene probably wouldn't like. And yet, when it came to politics none of that mattered. This Commission rule went with "the boss of the boss" and instructed everyone to accept that and go along with what DiBella decides, which included demoting everyone who tried to go against him. DiBella's father Salvatore was boss between Mineo and Profaci, beyond that there's little on him.
Both Tom DiBella and his father Salvatore were stevedores on the Brooklyn docks. That seems to be the extent of Tom DiBella's influence in underworld activities before he became boss and he's described by sources as primarily legitimate, though we can deduce he may have inherited his dock position/influence from his father. I've never seen anything on his year of induction, but he would have been old enough to have become a member while his father was alive and/or boss.
It may have been JD who originally posted it, but many years ago someone posted a clipping from an FBI report where a source mentioned that DiBella's father had been the boss before Profaci, so at least some element of the Colombo family knew the history. Magaddino also makes reference to a Toto DiBella attending a meeting circa the Castellammarese War.
Agreed on your take, re: Tom DiBella as boss. There were still members living who would have known of Salvatore DiBella, so I wonder if that factored into Tom DiBella's "unexpected" rise as boss. Nepotism is uncommon when electing bosses, but pedigree does matter, though by the time of DiBella's election the family was rapidly losing its Sicilian roots. In the fully street criminal mafia of the 1970s Colombos DiBella seems out of place, but guys like him commonly gained stature in the early days as you well know.
[quote=Snakes post_id=162061 time=1596295690 user_id=66]
[quote=johnny_scootch post_id=162060 time=1596295206 user_id=105]
B posted about this meeting over a year ago.....
http://theblackhand.club/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=4254&p=100021&hilit=Amodeo#p100021
[/quote]
Ah, sorry. I even posted in that thread! This was just something that I found with the Commission meeting info. Thanks to B for initially discovering it.
[/quote]
No worries at all, buddy. I'm all about going over the same info more than once and having different perspectives, so the more the merrier.
As for Galante, that and the Chicago boss attending were what most interested me most beyond the internal Colombo politics.
Carmine Galante declared himself official boss (without Commission sanction) during the first week of June 1977 according to Joe Massino. Prior to that he was acting boss. It wouldn't be unprecedented for an acting boss to represent an official boss on the Commission, but I'm under the impression the Bonannos didn't have a seat on the Commission. It's possible they attended for another political reason and not necessarily to offer a vote -- we know for example that Carmine Galante had an alliance with Carmine Persico, who at this time was not yet underboss but was aligned with DiBella.
Interestingly, Dom Cicale was told by a Genovese figure in prison that Galante was not killed because of internal issues within the Bonanno family, but because the other families were concerned about him making the Bonannos formidable again. We do know Galante had a large support base within the family and other families were concerned with him, though of course there was a major internal dispute within the family, too. With these sorts of rumors I tend to believe there is a little bit of truth in all of them even if it's not the sole explanation.
[quote="Chris Christie" post_id=162039 time=1596286849 user_id=69]
I reckon my biggest takeaway or point of interest is Tom DiBella. From everything that's come out about him, he wasn't recognized by law enforcement as a gangster, allegedly when he became boss he didn't know how certain rackets worked and I believe worked a legitimate job (am I off on anything?) Such an individual represents everything "street guys" like an John/Gene probably wouldn't like. And yet, when it came to politics none of that mattered. This Commission rule went with "the boss of the boss" and instructed everyone to accept that and go along with what DiBella decides, which included demoting everyone who tried to go against him. DiBella's father Salvatore was boss between Mineo and Profaci, beyond that there's little on him.
[/quote]
Both Tom DiBella and his father Salvatore were stevedores on the Brooklyn docks. That seems to be the extent of Tom DiBella's influence in underworld activities before he became boss and he's described by sources as primarily legitimate, though we can deduce he may have inherited his dock position/influence from his father. I've never seen anything on his year of induction, but he would have been old enough to have become a member while his father was alive and/or boss.
It may have been JD who originally posted it, but many years ago someone posted a clipping from an FBI report where a source mentioned that DiBella's father had been the boss before Profaci, so at least some element of the Colombo family knew the history. Magaddino also makes reference to a Toto DiBella attending a meeting circa the Castellammarese War.
Agreed on your take, re: Tom DiBella as boss. There were still members living who would have known of Salvatore DiBella, so I wonder if that factored into Tom DiBella's "unexpected" rise as boss. Nepotism is uncommon when electing bosses, but pedigree does matter, though by the time of DiBella's election the family was rapidly losing its Sicilian roots. In the fully street criminal mafia of the 1970s Colombos DiBella seems out of place, but guys like him commonly gained stature in the early days as you well know.