The Profaci-Magliocco-D'Agati-Fontana clan from Villabate was a significant faction of international mafia leaders from as early as the 1890s through the early 1960s.
While the three Brooklyn Profaci brothers, their sons, and the Magliocco brothers are all well-known, I wanted to look at some of the other relatives from this clan and the wider relationships and circumstances of this group's dominance in the early US and Sicilian mafia.
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Profaci / Proface (both spellings used in Sicily)
Domenico Profaci
Identified by Sicilian mafia historian Salvatore Lupo as another brother of Joe, Salvatore, and Frank Profaci who was killed in Sicily in 1924. It's possible his murder correlated to the Palermo mafia war during this period that also killed Profaci relative and Villabate boss Giulio D'Agati in 1926.
Emanuele Profaci
Eldest of the well-known NYC Profaci brothers, named for their grandfather. Came to NYC in 1930 and died in 1934 at the age of 43 or 44. Cause of death is unknown to me. While Emanuele has not been identified as a mafia figure, four of his brothers and most other relatives were mafiosi in the US and Sicily. His short time in the US and early death have made him obscure, but as the eldest son in an esteemed mafia clan it's possible he was a member in Villabate. His immigration to NYC in 1930 coincides with his brother Joe's increasing stature in the mafia and comes on the heels of the Palermo mafia war that killed relatives.
Ignazio Profaci
Identified in Sangiorgi report as a man of honor in the Villabate family. Ignazio was the paternal uncle of the well-known NYC Profaci brothers. One of Frank Profaci's grandsons was named Ignazio, perhaps in tribute to the great-uncle in Villabate. Aside from his identification as a man of honor, I have found little on him.
Salvatore Profaci
Father of the well-known Profaci brothers and brother of Villabate man of honor Ignazio Profaci. Salvatore is described in Salvatore Lupo's research as a wealthy businessman. To my knowledge Salvatore did not come to the US and I've seen no explicit references to Salvatore's mafia membership, though Lupo's research states his son Joe Profaci's godfather was an unidentified early boss of Villabate (could be Giuseppe Fontana? Lupo only says it was prior to Giulio D'Agati, a Profaci in-law). Also, when son Joe was interviewed following his arrest at the 1928 Cleveland meeting, he told LE that fellow Cleveland attendee Ignazio Italiano (Tampa boss) was a friend of his father in Sicily. Between Salvatore's association with the mafia boss Italiano, Salvatore's close relationship with an earlier Villabate boss, and the mafia membership of virtually all known male relatives, Salvatore Profaci was very likely himself a man of honor in Villabate who escaped identification in the Sangiorgi report, perhaps due to his success in legitimate commerce (a quality that would be carried to his sons and relatives).
Salvatore "Sally Curtis" Profaci
The son of Frank Profaci and unlike his namesake cousins he was never made into the mafia but was identified as an associate of the family. Alleged to be involved in drug dealing as late as the 1980s and believed to be an associate of his cousin Sal J. Profaci's New Jersey decina. "Sally Curtis" Profaci was also a singer. Still alive last I checked.
Salvatore Profaci (1930-2017)
Brooklyn baker not known to be associated with the mafia outside of blood relation. Raised in Villabate and came to NYC as a teenager. Social media shows that his relatives remain close to descendents of the well-known Profacis and I believe he is a first cousin of the other Salvatore Profacis who joined the mafia. Might be the son of another Profaci brother who remained in Sicily, possibly named Andrea. He is definitely not the son of Domenico, murdered years before Salvatore's birth, and doesn't appear to be a son of Emanuele who came to the US with his family in 1930, the year this Salvatore was born (and stayed) in Sicily. I bring him up only because of the implication that there were at least six Profaci brothers split between Sicily and NYC. Also of note is that this Salvatore Profaci married a woman from Castellammare del Golfo, perhaps a coincidence, but can't avoid thinking of the close ties between the Profaci and Bonanno groups and Bill Bonanno's marriage to Rosalie Profaci, this Salvatore's cousin.
D'Agati / D'Agate (both spellings used in Sicily
Francesco D'Agati
Brother-in-law of Joe Magliocco in NYC who killed his wife, Magliocco's sister, and was in turn killed by father-in-law Giovanni Magliocco the same day in December 1922. D'Agati's brother Sebastiano was a Profaci member and his son Jerome would go on to become a Profaci member. Frank D'Agati's father Vincenzo D'Agati was identified as a Villabate man of honor in the Sangiorgi report and his father's brother Giulio D'Agati was identified as the boss of Villabate by Melchiorre Allegra prior to Giulio's murder. Dave Critchley's book refers to Frank D'Agati as a "Profaci member", citing an email from a woman (presumably a D'Agati relative) as his source, but Frank could not have been a member while Joe Profaci was a boss given his 1922 murder. However, the membership of his father, brother, son, and brothers-in-law, plus his uncle's position as boss of Villabate make it highly likely Frank was himself a member of the Villabate and/or Mineo families.
Sebastiano D'Agati
Younger brother of Francesco and an identified Profaci member. Sebastiano married Carmela Profaci, yet another example of the close-knit nature of the clan. D'Agati's naturalization was witnessed by a Salvatore Fontana, possibly the same man murdered by Newark/Profaci figures in 1935 and perhaps a relative of the more well-known Villabate Fontanas (?).
Girolamo "Jerome" D'Agati
Son of Francesco and nephew of Joe Magliocco, etc. After the double murder of his parents, census records shows he and his siblings lived with his grandparents and uncles Joe and Anthony Magliocco. Used the alias "Gene Magliocco", likely a result of growing up in their home. Later became a made member like his uncle Sebastiano and first cousins on the Profaci and Tipa branches of the tree.
Giulio D'Agati
Villabate boss who initially recruited Dr. Melchiorre Allegra as a mafia associate in Palermo circa late 1910s; for unknown reasons, Allegra was inducted in Pagliarelli, not Villabate, but Allegra remained familiar with D'Agati's activities. D'Agati remained a prominent mafia leader through the mid-1920s and was killed in 1926 during the Palermo mafia war. Giulio D'Agati is said to have been married to a Profaci, though I haven't seen confirmation. D'Agati's grandmother was a Schillaci, same as Joe Profaci's mother, suggesting the interrelation between this clan goes even deeper.
Vincenzo D'Agati
Brother of Villabate boss Giulio. Identified as a Villabate man of honor in the Sangiorgi report. Father of aforementioned Magliocco in-law Francesco and Profaci member Sebastiano; grandfather of Profaci member Jerome. The sister of Giulio and Vincenzo D'Agati was married to the brother of Antonino Pitarresi, possibly the same man identified in the Sangiorgi report as a man of honor in Villabate or another relative; would make sense if the D'Agatis intermarried with other Villabatesi mafiosi aside from those identified in this list.
Giovanni and Francesco D'Agati
Brothers identified as later members of the Villabate family. Giovanni was identified as a boss of the Villabate family at the time of his 1994 arrest. A younger mafia boss who appears connected to these D'Agatis is Giampiero Pitarresi, showing that the interrelated D'Agati and Pitarresi names have continued to show up in Villabate 100+ years after the Sangiorgi report identified the same surnames as noteworthy Villabatesi men of honor.
Magliocco
Giovanni Magliocco
Father of Profaci members Joe, Ambrose, and Anthony. Never identified as a mafia member, but his killing of son-in-law Frank D'Agati in retaliation for murdering his daughter shows a certain "capability". The marriage of his children into the mafia-drenched Profaci and D'Agati families also lends itself to a mafia background for the elder Magliocco. Magliocco's wife was a Fontana, potentially a relative of infamous Villabate/NYC mafia leader Giuseppe Fontana, and her mother was a Schillaci, a name that is closely intertwined with the Profaci and D'Agatis mentioned on this list. Died 1930, so lost to obscurity outside of his infamous younger relatives.
Angelo Magliocco
Eldest son of Giovanni and the brother of Joe, Ambrose, and Anthony. Married a Raineri, a name I'm not familiar with. Died in 1940, so likely too obscure to have been mentioned by later sources if he was affiliated with the mafia.
John "Johnny Arrow" Magliocco
Identified once during Greg Scarpa's FBI cooperation as a soldier in the Profaci/Colombo family. His nickname derives from Arrow linen, the company he ran with his father Ambrose, a former capodecina and brother of Joe Magliocco. To my knowledge John Magliocco was never mentioned elsewhere as a member save for the one report from Scarpa. His first cousins Salvatore J. Profaci, Salvatore Profaci Jr., and Jerome D'Agati were made, so there are other examples of members in this generation. John Magliocco married the daughter of high-ranking Profaci/Colombo member Salvatore Musacchio. John Magliocco is still alive and though elderly, has been listed as an executive of Arrow. Recent Lucchese member CW John Pennisi has stated that Arrow Linen remains connected to and protected by the mafia in Brooklyn.
Francesco Magliocco (?)
Identified by the FBN as a low-level Sicilian mafia figure in Misilmeri. While the well-known NYC Maglioccos were from Villabate, their descendents came from Misilmeri and Joe Magliocco's brother Angelo was born in Misilimeri. The Villabate Maglioccos maintained ties to Misilmeri. I've seen no references suggesting Francesco had ties to the Profaci-Magliocco-D'Agati clan, but it's possible he was a distant relative of the Maglioccos so I'm including him as a possibility. Not known to have entered the US.
Fontana
Giuseppe Fontana
While not "lesser known" during his era, he is mostly unknown by today's standards. Giuseppe Fontana was a prominent Sicilian mafia leader who according to some sources may have been boss of Villabate in the late 1890s or early 1900s. Said to be close to the Profaci clan, possibly a relative, he may be the unidentified "Villabate boss" who served as Joe Profaci's baptismal godfather in 1897. Believed to have held the rank of capodecina in NYC, being affiliated with D'Aquila before Fontana's 1914 murder. Giuseppe Fanara from Carini was another high-ranking NYC member murdered around the same time as Fontana and it is likely no coinidence that virtually all men from Villabate and Carini would show up as Profaci members later. Fontana was regarded as one of the highest-ranking mafia members in NYC and Sicily during the 1890s through mid-1910s.
Other Fontanas
In addition to Joe Magliocco's mother being a Fontana, three Fontanas were identified as members of the Villabate family in the Sangiorgi report: Giuseppe, Paolo, and Vincenzo, none of which were brothers. Salvatore Fontana, mentioned earlier as a witness to Sebastiano D'Agati's naturalization and may or may not be the same man murdered by Newark/Profaci member in 1935 could potentially be another relative associated with the mafia in the US. Despite the familiar surname, longtime Profaci capodecina Enrico "Harry" Fontana and his relatives do not appear to be related to these Fontanas nor are they from Villabate.
Other Relatives
Giuseppe Tipa Jr.
Son of Joe Profaci's sister. Identified as a made member in the Profaci family. Father Giuseppe Sr., in addition to marrying Profaci's sister, was a cousin of the Pitarresis, a name related to the D'Agatis that shows up on the Sangiorgi list of Villabatese mafiosi.
Emanuele Cammarata
Identified by Joe Magliocco in a recorded conversation with Angelo Bruno as a cousin of his deceased brother-in-law Joe Profaci, but his mother's surname does not show obvious connections to the clan so I'm not sure the exact relation. Cammarata was arrested at the 1928 Cleveland meeting with Profaci and Magliocco. Believed to have been a Newark member under compaesano boss Gaspare D'Amico. After the disbanding of Newark, identified as a Profaci member alongside Gaspare D'Amico's brother John. Salvatore Cammarata may have also been a member. Emanuele was mysteriously murdered in Florida in the 1970s.
Schillaci
This name shows up repeatedly in this clan's family tree, with mafiosi in the Profaci, Magliocco, and D'Agati families all having maternal descendents named Schillaci. I haven't seen any male Schillacis identified as mafia members, but this is nonetheless a name deeply linked to the Villabate mafiosi in NYC/Sicily. Social media shows that descendents of the NYC Profacis remain in contact with Schillacis in Sicily.
Cottone (?)
The Sangiorgi report identified Andrea and Vincenzo Cottone as men of honor in Villabate. Antonino Cottone was a Profaci member and employee of Joe Profaci who later returned to Sicily and became boss of Villabate, being murdered in the 1950s Palermo war. Antonino's brothers Giuseppe and a younger Vincenzo were identified as Villabate mafia figures. Their mother was a Fontana. A direct relation to the Profaci-Magliocco-D'Agati-Fontana clan is not clear, but the maternal Fontana relation is likely significant. The Cottones' close association with this clan and leadership status indicate a deep relationship with the Profaci-Magliocco-D'Agati-Fontana clan.
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More on the significance of Villabate
- This faction dominated the Villabatesi in NYC and Sicily between the 1890s and 1960s. Giuseppe Fontana was a top leader in Villabate during the 1890s and early 1900s and then the top Villabatese in NYC until 1914. Giulio D'Agati was boss of Villabate by the late 1910s until 1926. Joe Profaci and Joe Magliocco ran their own Brooklyn family for 30+ years. Close Profaci friend Nino Cottone, a Fontana on his mother's side, became the Villabate boss through the mid-1950s after leaving the US. It's clear that Villabatesi mafia power ran through this clan.
- Following Cottone's 1956 murder, there appears to have been a power shift in Villabate. A young female Profaci relative, Rosalie Profaci, was told not to even visit Villabate as a tourist during her honeymoon visit to Sicily in the 1950s. Following Joe Profaci's death in 1962, Villabatesi mafia immigrants were no longer falling into association or membership with the Profaci/Colombo family, instead choosing the Gambino family, who unlike the former Profaci group were maintaining and strengthening their historic ties to Palermo in the 1960s and 1970s (and still today). It appears Cottone's murder and Profaci's natural death signified a changing of the guard, with a change in Villabate's status in mafia politics and the Brooklyn Profaci family rapidly becoming a totally Americanized entity.
- Early Italian investigations state that the mafia family in Villabate was among the earliest mafia families in existence and one of the most influential in both legitimate and illegitimate practices (but especially where the two intersect). Infamous mafia politician Raffaele Palizzolo was said to be under the control of Villabate and the Villabate family was a central participant in the Palermo mafia wars of the 1920s and 1950s, both of which claimed a Villabate boss's life.
- 35 individual members of the Villabate cosca were identified in the Sangiorgi report. Sicilian mafia families tended to be much smaller than US families, needing only ten members to form a cosca and sometimes dipping into single digits during lulls in recruitment. However, the organizations in the metro Palermo area tended to be relatively large. For example, 65 members were once identified within the Corso Dei Mille family and it's believed the Santa Maria di Gesu family was similarly large. Even in rural Corleone 39 members were once identified. While the 35 Villabate members identified by Sangiorgi was the most extensive cosca membership list compiled by Sangiorgi, it's possible there were members who eluded identification, such as Salvatore Profaci, whose brother Ignazio is on the list. Despite such extensive identification of the Villabate membership, Sangiorgi does not appear to have identified the family leadership as he did other Palermo families.
- The Villabate mafia family and the US-based leaders it spawned in Brooklyn, New Jersey, and San Jose are a good example of the old mafia's leadership class. These were multi-generation mafiosi who came from middle to upper-middle class backgrounds, not peasants or street criminals, but they were nonetheless corrupt and willing to engage in criminal activity alongside legitimate businesses and civic politics. This group intermarried primarily within their own class in Villabate and then followed a similar pattern in the US, with young generations marrying into a similar class of mafia leaders from Castellammare, Carini, and Terrasini, which like Villabate produced a higher number of national US mafia leaders than most other Sicilian towns. Joe Bonanno described how the Castellammarese were a higher class of mafioso, while a St. Louis informant said the same about Terrasini -- it is clear Villabate fit the same model and married into these clans because of their shared class.
- Joe Profaci was the son of a wealthy businessman and the godson of a mafia boss. While this thread focuses on his relatives and more peripheral members of their clan, he is the epitome of the early Sicilian mafia and the changes faced by Americanization. Joe Bonanno referred to his ally Joe Profaci as part of the "conservative faction" of the Commission, the group described by Joe Bonanno as more traditional, with direct ties to the older Sicilian mafia. By the late 1950s, Profaci's Brookyln organization had recruited many American-born hoodlums who had proven themselves on the street, few of them with Sicilian heritage and mafia bloodlines, and ideas like the Sicilian mafia's leadership class meant nothing to them.
- While earlier conflicts involving Villabatesi mafia figures in the US and Sicily appear to have been the typical internal political disputes that have sparked countless early mafia wars, Joe Profaci and his defacto successor Magliocco faced a different sort of conflict as an entirely different type of American "gangster" mafia member challenged their time-honored leadership. Ironically, the American-born non-Sicilian Persicos would go on to create their own clan-style dominance of the former Profaci family and rule for decades using a model similar to what these old Sicilians once used. What's old is new again.
- See also the Carini clan thread:
viewtopic.php?p=170787
The Carinesi clan was quite similar to the Villabatesi clan, albeit smaller, and these two clans joined forces to dominate the Profaci family for decades, with members of both clans filling out most of the leadership positions. The two would intermarry, too, as Joe Profaci's son Salvatore married the niece of Carinese consigliere Joe Buffa.
The Profaci-Magliocco-D'Agati-Fontana clan from Villabate was a significant faction of international mafia leaders from as early as the 1890s through the early 1960s.
While the three Brooklyn Profaci brothers, their sons, and the Magliocco brothers are all well-known, I wanted to look at some of the other relatives from this clan and the wider relationships and circumstances of this group's dominance in the early US and Sicilian mafia.
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[size=150]Profaci / Proface (both spellings used in Sicily)
[/size]
[b]Domenico Profaci[/b]
Identified by Sicilian mafia historian Salvatore Lupo as another brother of Joe, Salvatore, and Frank Profaci who was killed in Sicily in 1924. It's possible his murder correlated to the Palermo mafia war during this period that also killed Profaci relative and Villabate boss Giulio D'Agati in 1926.
[b]Emanuele Profaci [/b]
Eldest of the well-known NYC Profaci brothers, named for their grandfather. Came to NYC in 1930 and died in 1934 at the age of 43 or 44. Cause of death is unknown to me. While Emanuele has not been identified as a mafia figure, four of his brothers and most other relatives were mafiosi in the US and Sicily. His short time in the US and early death have made him obscure, but as the eldest son in an esteemed mafia clan it's possible he was a member in Villabate. His immigration to NYC in 1930 coincides with his brother Joe's increasing stature in the mafia and comes on the heels of the Palermo mafia war that killed relatives.
[b]Ignazio Profaci[/b]
Identified in Sangiorgi report as a man of honor in the Villabate family. Ignazio was the paternal uncle of the well-known NYC Profaci brothers. One of Frank Profaci's grandsons was named Ignazio, perhaps in tribute to the great-uncle in Villabate. Aside from his identification as a man of honor, I have found little on him.
[b]Salvatore Profaci[/b]
Father of the well-known Profaci brothers and brother of Villabate man of honor Ignazio Profaci. Salvatore is described in Salvatore Lupo's research as a wealthy businessman. To my knowledge Salvatore did not come to the US and I've seen no explicit references to Salvatore's mafia membership, though Lupo's research states his son Joe Profaci's godfather was an unidentified early boss of Villabate (could be Giuseppe Fontana? Lupo only says it was prior to Giulio D'Agati, a Profaci in-law). Also, when son Joe was interviewed following his arrest at the 1928 Cleveland meeting, he told LE that fellow Cleveland attendee Ignazio Italiano (Tampa boss) was a friend of his father in Sicily. Between Salvatore's association with the mafia boss Italiano, Salvatore's close relationship with an earlier Villabate boss, and the mafia membership of virtually all known male relatives, Salvatore Profaci was very likely himself a man of honor in Villabate who escaped identification in the Sangiorgi report, perhaps due to his success in legitimate commerce (a quality that would be carried to his sons and relatives).
[b]Salvatore "Sally Curtis" Profaci[/b]
The son of Frank Profaci and unlike his namesake cousins he was never made into the mafia but was identified as an associate of the family. Alleged to be involved in drug dealing as late as the 1980s and believed to be an associate of his cousin Sal J. Profaci's New Jersey decina. "Sally Curtis" Profaci was also a singer. Still alive last I checked.
[b]Salvatore Profaci (1930-2017)[/b]
Brooklyn baker not known to be associated with the mafia outside of blood relation. Raised in Villabate and came to NYC as a teenager. Social media shows that his relatives remain close to descendents of the well-known Profacis and I believe he is a first cousin of the other Salvatore Profacis who joined the mafia. Might be the son of another Profaci brother who remained in Sicily, possibly named Andrea. He is definitely not the son of Domenico, murdered years before Salvatore's birth, and doesn't appear to be a son of Emanuele who came to the US with his family in 1930, the year this Salvatore was born (and stayed) in Sicily. I bring him up only because of the implication that there were at least six Profaci brothers split between Sicily and NYC. Also of note is that this Salvatore Profaci married a woman from Castellammare del Golfo, perhaps a coincidence, but can't avoid thinking of the close ties between the Profaci and Bonanno groups and Bill Bonanno's marriage to Rosalie Profaci, this Salvatore's cousin.
[size=150]D'Agati / D'Agate (both spellings used in Sicily[/size]
[b]Francesco D'Agati[/b]
Brother-in-law of Joe Magliocco in NYC who killed his wife, Magliocco's sister, and was in turn killed by father-in-law Giovanni Magliocco the same day in December 1922. D'Agati's brother Sebastiano was a Profaci member and his son Jerome would go on to become a Profaci member. Frank D'Agati's father Vincenzo D'Agati was identified as a Villabate man of honor in the Sangiorgi report and his father's brother Giulio D'Agati was identified as the boss of Villabate by Melchiorre Allegra prior to Giulio's murder. Dave Critchley's book refers to Frank D'Agati as a "Profaci member", citing an email from a woman (presumably a D'Agati relative) as his source, but Frank could not have been a member while Joe Profaci was a boss given his 1922 murder. However, the membership of his father, brother, son, and brothers-in-law, plus his uncle's position as boss of Villabate make it highly likely Frank was himself a member of the Villabate and/or Mineo families.
[b]Sebastiano D'Agati[/b]
Younger brother of Francesco and an identified Profaci member. Sebastiano married Carmela Profaci, yet another example of the close-knit nature of the clan. D'Agati's naturalization was witnessed by a Salvatore Fontana, possibly the same man murdered by Newark/Profaci figures in 1935 and perhaps a relative of the more well-known Villabate Fontanas (?).
[b]Girolamo "Jerome" D'Agati[/b]
Son of Francesco and nephew of Joe Magliocco, etc. After the double murder of his parents, census records shows he and his siblings lived with his grandparents and uncles Joe and Anthony Magliocco. Used the alias "Gene Magliocco", likely a result of growing up in their home. Later became a made member like his uncle Sebastiano and first cousins on the Profaci and Tipa branches of the tree.
[b]Giulio D'Agati[/b]
Villabate boss who initially recruited Dr. Melchiorre Allegra as a mafia associate in Palermo circa late 1910s; for unknown reasons, Allegra was inducted in Pagliarelli, not Villabate, but Allegra remained familiar with D'Agati's activities. D'Agati remained a prominent mafia leader through the mid-1920s and was killed in 1926 during the Palermo mafia war. Giulio D'Agati is said to have been married to a Profaci, though I haven't seen confirmation. D'Agati's grandmother was a Schillaci, same as Joe Profaci's mother, suggesting the interrelation between this clan goes even deeper.
[b]Vincenzo D'Agati[/b]
Brother of Villabate boss Giulio. Identified as a Villabate man of honor in the Sangiorgi report. Father of aforementioned Magliocco in-law Francesco and Profaci member Sebastiano; grandfather of Profaci member Jerome. The sister of Giulio and Vincenzo D'Agati was married to the brother of Antonino Pitarresi, possibly the same man identified in the Sangiorgi report as a man of honor in Villabate or another relative; would make sense if the D'Agatis intermarried with other Villabatesi mafiosi aside from those identified in this list.
[b]Giovanni and Francesco D'Agati[/b]
Brothers identified as later members of the Villabate family. Giovanni was identified as a boss of the Villabate family at the time of his 1994 arrest. A younger mafia boss who appears connected to these D'Agatis is Giampiero Pitarresi, showing that the interrelated D'Agati and Pitarresi names have continued to show up in Villabate 100+ years after the Sangiorgi report identified the same surnames as noteworthy Villabatesi men of honor.
[size=150]Magliocco[/size]
[b]Giovanni Magliocco[/b]
Father of Profaci members Joe, Ambrose, and Anthony. Never identified as a mafia member, but his killing of son-in-law Frank D'Agati in retaliation for murdering his daughter shows a certain "capability". The marriage of his children into the mafia-drenched Profaci and D'Agati families also lends itself to a mafia background for the elder Magliocco. Magliocco's wife was a Fontana, potentially a relative of infamous Villabate/NYC mafia leader Giuseppe Fontana, and her mother was a Schillaci, a name that is closely intertwined with the Profaci and D'Agatis mentioned on this list. Died 1930, so lost to obscurity outside of his infamous younger relatives.
[b]Angelo Magliocco[/b]
Eldest son of Giovanni and the brother of Joe, Ambrose, and Anthony. Married a Raineri, a name I'm not familiar with. Died in 1940, so likely too obscure to have been mentioned by later sources if he was affiliated with the mafia.
[b]John "Johnny Arrow" Magliocco[/b]
Identified once during Greg Scarpa's FBI cooperation as a soldier in the Profaci/Colombo family. His nickname derives from Arrow linen, the company he ran with his father Ambrose, a former capodecina and brother of Joe Magliocco. To my knowledge John Magliocco was never mentioned elsewhere as a member save for the one report from Scarpa. His first cousins Salvatore J. Profaci, Salvatore Profaci Jr., and Jerome D'Agati were made, so there are other examples of members in this generation. John Magliocco married the daughter of high-ranking Profaci/Colombo member Salvatore Musacchio. John Magliocco is still alive and though elderly, has been listed as an executive of Arrow. Recent Lucchese member CW John Pennisi has stated that Arrow Linen remains connected to and protected by the mafia in Brooklyn.
[b]Francesco Magliocco (?)[/b]
Identified by the FBN as a low-level Sicilian mafia figure in Misilmeri. While the well-known NYC Maglioccos were from Villabate, their descendents came from Misilmeri and Joe Magliocco's brother Angelo was born in Misilimeri. The Villabate Maglioccos maintained ties to Misilmeri. I've seen no references suggesting Francesco had ties to the Profaci-Magliocco-D'Agati clan, but it's possible he was a distant relative of the Maglioccos so I'm including him as a possibility. Not known to have entered the US.
[size=150]Fontana[/size]
[b]Giuseppe Fontana[/b]
While not "lesser known" during his era, he is mostly unknown by today's standards. Giuseppe Fontana was a prominent Sicilian mafia leader who according to some sources may have been boss of Villabate in the late 1890s or early 1900s. Said to be close to the Profaci clan, possibly a relative, he may be the unidentified "Villabate boss" who served as Joe Profaci's baptismal godfather in 1897. Believed to have held the rank of capodecina in NYC, being affiliated with D'Aquila before Fontana's 1914 murder. Giuseppe Fanara from Carini was another high-ranking NYC member murdered around the same time as Fontana and it is likely no coinidence that virtually all men from Villabate and Carini would show up as Profaci members later. Fontana was regarded as one of the highest-ranking mafia members in NYC and Sicily during the 1890s through mid-1910s.
[b]Other Fontanas [/b]
In addition to Joe Magliocco's mother being a Fontana, three Fontanas were identified as members of the Villabate family in the Sangiorgi report: Giuseppe, Paolo, and Vincenzo, none of which were brothers. Salvatore Fontana, mentioned earlier as a witness to Sebastiano D'Agati's naturalization and may or may not be the same man murdered by Newark/Profaci member in 1935 could potentially be another relative associated with the mafia in the US. Despite the familiar surname, longtime Profaci capodecina Enrico "Harry" Fontana and his relatives do not appear to be related to these Fontanas nor are they from Villabate.
[size=150]Other Relatives[/size]
[b]Giuseppe Tipa Jr.[/b]
Son of Joe Profaci's sister. Identified as a made member in the Profaci family. Father Giuseppe Sr., in addition to marrying Profaci's sister, was a cousin of the Pitarresis, a name related to the D'Agatis that shows up on the Sangiorgi list of Villabatese mafiosi.
[b]Emanuele Cammarata[/b]
Identified by Joe Magliocco in a recorded conversation with Angelo Bruno as a cousin of his deceased brother-in-law Joe Profaci, but his mother's surname does not show obvious connections to the clan so I'm not sure the exact relation. Cammarata was arrested at the 1928 Cleveland meeting with Profaci and Magliocco. Believed to have been a Newark member under compaesano boss Gaspare D'Amico. After the disbanding of Newark, identified as a Profaci member alongside Gaspare D'Amico's brother John. Salvatore Cammarata may have also been a member. Emanuele was mysteriously murdered in Florida in the 1970s.
[b]Schillaci[/b]
This name shows up repeatedly in this clan's family tree, with mafiosi in the Profaci, Magliocco, and D'Agati families all having maternal descendents named Schillaci. I haven't seen any male Schillacis identified as mafia members, but this is nonetheless a name deeply linked to the Villabate mafiosi in NYC/Sicily. Social media shows that descendents of the NYC Profacis remain in contact with Schillacis in Sicily.
[b]Cottone (?)[/b]
The Sangiorgi report identified Andrea and Vincenzo Cottone as men of honor in Villabate. Antonino Cottone was a Profaci member and employee of Joe Profaci who later returned to Sicily and became boss of Villabate, being murdered in the 1950s Palermo war. Antonino's brothers Giuseppe and a younger Vincenzo were identified as Villabate mafia figures. Their mother was a Fontana. A direct relation to the Profaci-Magliocco-D'Agati-Fontana clan is not clear, but the maternal Fontana relation is likely significant. The Cottones' close association with this clan and leadership status indicate a deep relationship with the Profaci-Magliocco-D'Agati-Fontana clan.
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[size=150]More on the significance of Villabate[/size]
- This faction dominated the Villabatesi in NYC and Sicily between the 1890s and 1960s. Giuseppe Fontana was a top leader in Villabate during the 1890s and early 1900s and then the top Villabatese in NYC until 1914. Giulio D'Agati was boss of Villabate by the late 1910s until 1926. Joe Profaci and Joe Magliocco ran their own Brooklyn family for 30+ years. Close Profaci friend Nino Cottone, a Fontana on his mother's side, became the Villabate boss through the mid-1950s after leaving the US. It's clear that Villabatesi mafia power ran through this clan.
- Following Cottone's 1956 murder, there appears to have been a power shift in Villabate. A young female Profaci relative, Rosalie Profaci, was told not to even visit Villabate as a tourist during her honeymoon visit to Sicily in the 1950s. Following Joe Profaci's death in 1962, Villabatesi mafia immigrants were no longer falling into association or membership with the Profaci/Colombo family, instead choosing the Gambino family, who unlike the former Profaci group were maintaining and strengthening their historic ties to Palermo in the 1960s and 1970s (and still today). It appears Cottone's murder and Profaci's natural death signified a changing of the guard, with a change in Villabate's status in mafia politics and the Brooklyn Profaci family rapidly becoming a totally Americanized entity.
- Early Italian investigations state that the mafia family in Villabate was among the earliest mafia families in existence and one of the most influential in both legitimate and illegitimate practices (but especially where the two intersect). Infamous mafia politician Raffaele Palizzolo was said to be under the control of Villabate and the Villabate family was a central participant in the Palermo mafia wars of the 1920s and 1950s, both of which claimed a Villabate boss's life.
- 35 individual members of the Villabate cosca were identified in the Sangiorgi report. Sicilian mafia families tended to be much smaller than US families, needing only ten members to form a cosca and sometimes dipping into single digits during lulls in recruitment. However, the organizations in the metro Palermo area tended to be relatively large. For example, 65 members were once identified within the Corso Dei Mille family and it's believed the Santa Maria di Gesu family was similarly large. Even in rural Corleone 39 members were once identified. While the 35 Villabate members identified by Sangiorgi was the most extensive cosca membership list compiled by Sangiorgi, it's possible there were members who eluded identification, such as Salvatore Profaci, whose brother Ignazio is on the list. Despite such extensive identification of the Villabate membership, Sangiorgi does not appear to have identified the family leadership as he did other Palermo families.
- The Villabate mafia family and the US-based leaders it spawned in Brooklyn, New Jersey, and San Jose are a good example of the old mafia's leadership class. These were multi-generation mafiosi who came from middle to upper-middle class backgrounds, not peasants or street criminals, but they were nonetheless corrupt and willing to engage in criminal activity alongside legitimate businesses and civic politics. This group intermarried primarily within their own class in Villabate and then followed a similar pattern in the US, with young generations marrying into a similar class of mafia leaders from Castellammare, Carini, and Terrasini, which like Villabate produced a higher number of national US mafia leaders than most other Sicilian towns. Joe Bonanno described how the Castellammarese were a higher class of mafioso, while a St. Louis informant said the same about Terrasini -- it is clear Villabate fit the same model and married into these clans because of their shared class.
- Joe Profaci was the son of a wealthy businessman and the godson of a mafia boss. While this thread focuses on his relatives and more peripheral members of their clan, he is the epitome of the early Sicilian mafia and the changes faced by Americanization. Joe Bonanno referred to his ally Joe Profaci as part of the "conservative faction" of the Commission, the group described by Joe Bonanno as more traditional, with direct ties to the older Sicilian mafia. By the late 1950s, Profaci's Brookyln organization had recruited many American-born hoodlums who had proven themselves on the street, few of them with Sicilian heritage and mafia bloodlines, and ideas like the Sicilian mafia's leadership class meant nothing to them.
- While earlier conflicts involving Villabatesi mafia figures in the US and Sicily appear to have been the typical internal political disputes that have sparked countless early mafia wars, Joe Profaci and his defacto successor Magliocco faced a different sort of conflict as an entirely different type of American "gangster" mafia member challenged their time-honored leadership. Ironically, the American-born non-Sicilian Persicos would go on to create their own clan-style dominance of the former Profaci family and rule for decades using a model similar to what these old Sicilians once used. What's old is new again.
- See also the Carini clan thread: http://theblackhand.club/forum/viewtopic.php?p=170787
The Carinesi clan was quite similar to the Villabatesi clan, albeit smaller, and these two clans joined forces to dominate the Profaci family for decades, with members of both clans filling out most of the leadership positions. The two would intermarry, too, as Joe Profaci's son Salvatore married the niece of Carinese consigliere Joe Buffa.