by B. » Sat Mar 13, 2021 10:58 pm
Finally went through the Gentile Informer issue. A great resource for anyone who has yet to read Gentile on their own, with a lot of great follow-up research even for those of us who have.
Notes I made while reading:
- Interesting they believe Joe l'Alcamese could be Giuseppe Adragna. Given his age (b. 1866) he might have also been involved with the "Adragna gang" of Trapani province who were mentioned in the 1896 Castellammare investigation, with CDG leaders the Ingaglias said to have hid the "Adragna gang" on their property. Joe Adragna's sons would be members in the Bonanno, Pittsburgh, and San Jose families, so I suspect Adragna was a Bonanno member given his residence in Williamsburg. It would make sense if he had his own ties to Pittsburgh as well given two of his sons did, ala Joe l'Alcamese.
- Was already familiar with the 1952 Tony Messina murder in Baltimore, but had no idea he was Vincent Mangano's cousin. Have to wonder if Anastasia had him killed as a follow-up to the Mangano murders. Gentile saying Settimo Accardo did it adds a strange dimension... Accardo's mafioso brother Giuseppe came to the US on the same ship as Manfredi Mineo.
- Francesco Coppola's 1970s interview where he describes Gentile as a great advisor who younger bosses should have listened to... while a lot of Gentile's details have been corroborated, this is the first time I'm aware of that another mafia figure (Coppola being an important one) acknowledges what Gentile said about himself as a great mediator/advisor in the early mafia.
- Gentile said Phil Amari was in contact with Salvatore Luciano and Joe Adonis Doto after his return to Italy. Shows that Gentile was familiar with the DeCavalcante family. The DeCavalcantes had been represented on the Commission by the Genovese family so interesting he reached out to deported Genovese leaders.
- The Vincenzo "LoLaddo" in Montreal from Gentile's address book might be Vincenzo LoLordo (b. 1876) from Siculiana who lived in Montreal.
- Amazed how much of his address book is guys from WNY. Most of the WNY names are unfamiliar except the Utica Falcones and Sam Scro. Also Angelo D'Acquisto might be Buffalo underboss Angelo Acquisto. Amedeo Sciortino in Auburn could be a relative of Patsy Sciortino of Auburn, from Cattolica Eraclea, so another Agrigento connection. The address books appear to be filled with Agrigentini.
- Having Joe Cateriniccha's address in Birmingham is yet another confirmation that he was an important figure in the Birmingham family and the Birmingham Riberesi were part of the Agrigentini network Gentile was part of.
- Alfonso Attardi's mother was a Contrera. Also a Cleveland Contrera is listed in Gentile's address book. Given where Attardi was from in Agrigento, this is probably a variation of Cuntrera.
- Domenico Catalano of Chicago stood out, as he was from Ciminna. The infamous Salvatore Catalano of the Bonanno family was from Ciminna and his cousins Onofrio and Salvatore Catalano were men of honor in the Ciminna family, with Onofrio becoming boss. Could be a relation.
- This came out in the FBI files section, but Nino Cucuzzella was a cousin of the Chicago/DeCavalcante LoLordos and his son lived in Delaware where he had a gambling arrest, remaining in contact with relative Joseph LoLordo. Given Nino Cucuzzella lived in New York for a period, he could have been an early DeCavalcante member given his Riberese heritage. His son could have been a DeCavalcante figure in Delaware for all we know, too.
- I don't think the KC Vincent Mangiaracina was the "Salvatore Mangiaracina" mentioned by Gentile as a Castellammarese War peace committee member. Seems more likely it was Bonanno member Salvatore Mangiaracina from Partinico (b. 1886) who was a relative of Stefano LoPiccolo. Stefano Magaddino ran into LoPiccolo on the train ride to Chicago at the end of the Castellammarese War, so he may have been involved in high-level mafia politics himself, and in the Bonanno movie they make Mangiaracina out to be a figure of importance. Mangiaracina was also a frequent traveler back and forth to Sicily, which is typical for figures of influence back then.
- Doesn't mention Gentile's nephew Giuseppe Gentile being a mafia figure in Vancouver in later decades. As far as I know, Antimafia and I discovered this connection, so on an ego level I'm glad it wasn't mentioned haha. I did learn that Giuseppe's father Gerlando Gentile lived in NYC for a period, so it's possible Gerlando and Giuseppe's official mafia affiliation dates back to this connection. We know Giuseppe Gentile was closely linked to the Bonanno Montreal crew despite his Vancouver location.
--
Highly recommend this issue to anyone whether you have read Gentile's memoirs or not.
Finally went through the Gentile Informer issue. A great resource for anyone who has yet to read Gentile on their own, with a lot of great follow-up research even for those of us who have.
Notes I made while reading:
- Interesting they believe Joe l'Alcamese could be Giuseppe Adragna. Given his age (b. 1866) he might have also been involved with the "Adragna gang" of Trapani province who were mentioned in the 1896 Castellammare investigation, with CDG leaders the Ingaglias said to have hid the "Adragna gang" on their property. Joe Adragna's sons would be members in the Bonanno, Pittsburgh, and San Jose families, so I suspect Adragna was a Bonanno member given his residence in Williamsburg. It would make sense if he had his own ties to Pittsburgh as well given two of his sons did, ala Joe l'Alcamese.
- Was already familiar with the 1952 Tony Messina murder in Baltimore, but had no idea he was Vincent Mangano's cousin. Have to wonder if Anastasia had him killed as a follow-up to the Mangano murders. Gentile saying Settimo Accardo did it adds a strange dimension... Accardo's mafioso brother Giuseppe came to the US on the same ship as Manfredi Mineo.
- Francesco Coppola's 1970s interview where he describes Gentile as a great advisor who younger bosses should have listened to... while a lot of Gentile's details have been corroborated, this is the first time I'm aware of that another mafia figure (Coppola being an important one) acknowledges what Gentile said about himself as a great mediator/advisor in the early mafia.
- Gentile said Phil Amari was in contact with Salvatore Luciano and Joe Adonis Doto after his return to Italy. Shows that Gentile was familiar with the DeCavalcante family. The DeCavalcantes had been represented on the Commission by the Genovese family so interesting he reached out to deported Genovese leaders.
- The Vincenzo "LoLaddo" in Montreal from Gentile's address book might be Vincenzo LoLordo (b. 1876) from Siculiana who lived in Montreal.
- Amazed how much of his address book is guys from WNY. Most of the WNY names are unfamiliar except the Utica Falcones and Sam Scro. Also Angelo D'Acquisto might be Buffalo underboss Angelo Acquisto. Amedeo Sciortino in Auburn could be a relative of Patsy Sciortino of Auburn, from Cattolica Eraclea, so another Agrigento connection. The address books appear to be filled with Agrigentini.
- Having Joe Cateriniccha's address in Birmingham is yet another confirmation that he was an important figure in the Birmingham family and the Birmingham Riberesi were part of the Agrigentini network Gentile was part of.
- Alfonso Attardi's mother was a Contrera. Also a Cleveland Contrera is listed in Gentile's address book. Given where Attardi was from in Agrigento, this is probably a variation of Cuntrera.
- Domenico Catalano of Chicago stood out, as he was from Ciminna. The infamous Salvatore Catalano of the Bonanno family was from Ciminna and his cousins Onofrio and Salvatore Catalano were men of honor in the Ciminna family, with Onofrio becoming boss. Could be a relation.
- This came out in the FBI files section, but Nino Cucuzzella was a cousin of the Chicago/DeCavalcante LoLordos and his son lived in Delaware where he had a gambling arrest, remaining in contact with relative Joseph LoLordo. Given Nino Cucuzzella lived in New York for a period, he could have been an early DeCavalcante member given his Riberese heritage. His son could have been a DeCavalcante figure in Delaware for all we know, too.
- I don't think the KC Vincent Mangiaracina was the "Salvatore Mangiaracina" mentioned by Gentile as a Castellammarese War peace committee member. Seems more likely it was Bonanno member Salvatore Mangiaracina from Partinico (b. 1886) who was a relative of Stefano LoPiccolo. Stefano Magaddino ran into LoPiccolo on the train ride to Chicago at the end of the Castellammarese War, so he may have been involved in high-level mafia politics himself, and in the Bonanno movie they make Mangiaracina out to be a figure of importance. Mangiaracina was also a frequent traveler back and forth to Sicily, which is typical for figures of influence back then.
- Doesn't mention Gentile's nephew Giuseppe Gentile being a mafia figure in Vancouver in later decades. As far as I know, Antimafia and I discovered this connection, so on an ego level I'm glad it wasn't mentioned haha. I did learn that Giuseppe's father Gerlando Gentile lived in NYC for a period, so it's possible Gerlando and Giuseppe's official mafia affiliation dates back to this connection. We know Giuseppe Gentile was closely linked to the Bonanno Montreal crew despite his Vancouver location.
--
Highly recommend this issue to anyone whether you have read Gentile's memoirs or not.