THE BLACK HAND FORUM

Moscone65 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 08, 2023 5:35 pm Great post tony. I know of one of my connected sidernese friend has family in Schenectady that come to visit Toronto. Probably the same Albany ndrine they are talking about here

PolackTony wrote: ↑Wed Jun 29, 2022 7:17 pm Was watching a collection of old news footage on Sicilian Cosa Nostra-related busts in the US on that YouTube channel Hezakaya News. One of the news programs reporting on the Pizza Connection stuff when it first dropped (unclear what network) had an interesting map breakdown of that operation. They had stage 1 as importing the heroin to “5 small Midwestern towns”, with dots indicating Alfano, Trupiano, Palazzolo, etc. Stage 2 was then moving the heroin to NYC, and stage 3 “redistributing it to other major metropolitan areas”. Stages 1 and 2 are not news, of course, but it’s stage 3 that I’m wondering about. I’m posting the map below. It specifically pinpoints NJ, Philly, Detroit, and Chicago:





As they pinpointed the locations of Alfano, et al, on the first map, I’m thinking that the locations on the third map are not incidental. Whoever put the map together must’ve been told something about which cities were being supplied, so I’m thinking that the Feds probably had intel on who in Chicago was on the receiving end.

'The ring distributed heroin in such major urban areas as New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit and Newark,'' he continued, adding that ''the traffickers laundered tens of millions of dollars in heroin proceeds.''

B. wrote: ↑Fri Sep 23, 2022 5:11 pm Haven't looked into him, but the Sam DiSpenza (b. 1899) of Elmwood Park who was close to Frank Zito of Springfield brought to mind both this DiSpenza and the old boss Rosario -- especially because "Sam" is a common nickname for Rosario.

PolackTony wrote: ↑Thu Sep 01, 2022 10:49 pm

PolackTony wrote: ↑Sat Jul 16, 2022 12:03 am "Diamond Joe" Esposito, an Acerres' who may have been the head of a Chicago Camorra society himself, was the first known mainland Italian inducted into the Chicago mafia. Fast forward to today, and Solly D and Jimmy I both trace their heritage back to Acerra. As with many other Italian paesi that sent large numbers of people to Chicago in the first wave of Italian immigration in the late 19th through early 20th century, Acerra sent many immigrants to Chicago in the second wave of Italian immigration in the decades following WW2; Chicago's Acerresi remain a notable and active contingent within Chitalia today. While the Società San Cuono e Figlio di Acerra no longer stands, Taylor St remains something like a "spiritual home" for Chicago's Acerresi, both older generations and the newly arrived. Acerra has also long been a major Camorra center. Like the Villabate-Bagheria-Casteldaccia area in Palermo province (also intimately tied to Chicago and its mafia), Acerra forms a hub of an area called "the triangle of death", due to a plague of heavy Camorra activity and attendant violence for decades (as well as the notorious dumping of toxic waste by Camorra clans in this region of Napoli province, leading to high cancer rates).

Another arrival from Acerra, Napoli, to Chicago was Giulia Maria Grazia Verone, who immigrated to Chicago with her family in 1950, when she was 15. In 1955, she married then-law-student Samuel Nathaniel Syracuse in Berwyn. Sam Syracuse was born in 1924 in Falconer, Chautauqua County, NY, to Rosario "Russell" Siragusa of Vallelunga, Caltanisetta, and Loretta Conti, born in Independence, LA, to parents from Vallelunga. The Siragusas lived in nearby Ellicott, NY (Chicago/Buffalo mobster Joe LaBarbera was from Chautauqua County; Gary mobster Angelo Cardinale was also from Vallelunga and had connections to Falconer). Sometime in the 1930s or 40's, Loretta remarried a man named Sam Dispenza and the family relocated to Chicago; in 1950, they were living with Loretta (Sam Dispenza was no longer on the scene, apparently) at Monticello and Huron in the Italian section of Humboldt park, near the area where Jack Cerone and Joe Gagliano were based.

In 1956, Sam Syracuse passed the IL Bar and began practicing law. In 1962, he was named as Jack Cerone's lawyer when the latter was arrested in an auto accident. In 1968, Sam Syracuse represented Jack's wife, Clara Russo, when she was busted with Grace Aloisio (wife of Willie Smokes) for shoplifting at an Oak Park department store by a Pinkerton agent working store security. At that time, the Tribune noted that Syracuse was "a frequent luncheon companion" of Cerone and Tony Accardo. In the 1970s, Sam Syracuse was the law partner of Jackie Cerone, Jr, and made the papers when a suburban land deal fell through when it came out that the buyers' lawyers (Syracuse and Cerone, Jr) had connections to the mob. In 1984, Syracuse was one of the parties who registered a company called Brookwood Land Ventures in Wood Dale, along with Jack Cerone, Sr, Vince Solano, and Paul Butera (from Cinisi, of the Butera supermarket chain family; as a super-flex, Butera's address was listed as 99 Butera Dr in South Barrington). In later years, Sam Syracuse was well-known for being active in the Italian social institution community in Chicago, as a member of the Board of Directors of the Italian America Human Relations Foundation of Chicago. Other Board members included Blagojevich-linked former President of Teamsters Local 727 Michael Coli (son of Chicago member Ercole "Eco" Coli and brother of ousted Local 727 Treasurer/Secretary John Coli, Sr, of the 2017 film studio extortion case infamy) and, for some reason, Congressman Danny Davis. Sam Syracuse died in 2020 in Melrose Park.

As noted above, the 1993 FBI IOC report claimed that Jackie Cerone, Jr was a liaison between senior Camorra capo Antonio Spavone and the Chicago outfit. We also know that Acerres' NCO leader Carmine Esposito fled justice in Italy to Chicago in the 1980s, Now we see that Jackie, Jr's law partner Sam Syracuse was married to a woman from Acerra. One more potential piece to the puzzle.

On another note, thanks to Scott B, I am now aware that Sam Syracuse had major ties to the Detroit outfit. Sam Syracuse and Giulia Verone's daughter Loretta Syracuse married Peter Tocco, daughter Aggie Syracuse married Peter Corrado, and daughter Gina Syracuse married Dominic Corrado. Additionally, Giulia's niece Teresa Verone, also Acerres' (her brother Pietro Verone, I believe, owns the Villa Verone restuarants in Elgin and Geneva), married a guy named Jack Tocco (not sure who this guy is, but considering that her cousins married a bunch of Detroit guys, one wonders if this is just coincidence). Given Tony LaPiana, and the apparently close relationship between Jack Tocco and Johnny DiFronzo, we can see that there have been some very strong ties between Chicago and Detroit in modern times.

cavita wrote: ↑Fri Sep 02, 2022 9:43 am I've seen Spavone perform, he's pretty good. Vince Amore too, he's out of Rockford

PolackTony wrote: ↑Thu Sep 01, 2022 10:49 pm

PolackTony wrote: ↑Sat Jul 16, 2022 12:03 am "Diamond Joe" Esposito, an Acerres' who may have been the head of a Chicago Camorra society himself, was the first known mainland Italian inducted into the Chicago mafia. Fast forward to today, and Solly D and Jimmy I both trace their heritage back to Acerra. As with many other Italian paesi that sent large numbers of people to Chicago in the first wave of Italian immigration in the late 19th through early 20th century, Acerra sent many immigrants to Chicago in the second wave of Italian immigration in the decades following WW2; Chicago's Acerresi remain a notable and active contingent within Chitalia today. While the Società San Cuono e Figlio di Acerra no longer stands, Taylor St remains something like a "spiritual home" for Chicago's Acerresi, both older generations and the newly arrived. Acerra has also long been a major Camorra center. Like the Villabate-Bagheria-Casteldaccia area in Palermo province (also intimately tied to Chicago and its mafia), Acerra forms a hub of an area called "the triangle of death", due to a plague of heavy Camorra activity and attendant violence for decades (as well as the notorious dumping of toxic waste by Camorra clans in this region of Napoli province, leading to high cancer rates).

Another arrival from Acerra, Napoli, to Chicago was Giulia Maria Grazia Verone, who immigrated to Chicago with her family in 1950, when she was 15. In 1955, she married then-law-student Samuel Nathaniel Syracuse in Berwyn. Sam Syracuse was born in 1924 in Falconer, Chautauqua County, NY, to Rosario "Russell" Siragusa of Vallelunga, Caltanisetta, and Loretta Conti, born in Independence, LA, to parents from Vallelunga. The Siragusas lived in nearby Ellicott, NY (Chicago/Buffalo mobster Joe LaBarbera was from Chautauqua County; Gary mobster Angelo Cardinale was also from Vallelunga and had connections to Falconer). Sometime in the 1930s or 40's, Loretta remarried a man named Sam Dispenza and the family relocated to Chicago; in 1950, they were living with Loretta (Sam Dispenza was no longer on the scene, apparently) at Monticello and Huron in the Italian section of Humboldt park, near the area where Jack Cerone and Joe Gagliano were based.

In 1956, Sam Syracuse passed the IL Bar and began practicing law. In 1962, he was named as Jack Cerone's lawyer when the latter was arrested in an auto accident. In 1968, Sam Syracuse represented Jack's wife, Clara Russo, when she was busted with Grace Aloisio (wife of Willie Smokes) for shoplifting at an Oak Park department store by a Pinkerton agent working store security. At that time, the Tribune noted that Syracuse was "a frequent luncheon companion" of Cerone and Tony Accardo. In the 1970s, Sam Syracuse was the law partner of Jackie Cerone, Jr, and made the papers when a suburban land deal fell through when it came out that the buyers' lawyers (Syracuse and Cerone, Jr) had connections to the mob. In 1984, Syracuse was one of the parties who registered a company called Brookwood Land Ventures in Wood Dale, along with Jack Cerone, Sr, Vince Solano, and Paul Butera (from Cinisi, of the Butera supermarket chain family; as a super-flex, Butera's address was listed as 99 Butera Dr in South Barrington). In later years, Sam Syracuse was well-known for being active in the Italian social institution community in Chicago, as a member of the Board of Directors of the Italian America Human Relations Foundation of Chicago. Other Board members included Blagojevich-linked former President of Teamsters Local 727 Michael Coli (son of Chicago member Ercole "Eco" Coli and brother of ousted Local 727 Treasurer/Secretary John Coli, Sr, of the 2017 film studio extortion case infamy) and, for some reason, Congressman Danny Davis. Sam Syracuse died in 2020 in Melrose Park.

As noted above, the 1993 FBI IOC report claimed that Jackie Cerone, Jr was a liaison between senior Camorra capo Antonio Spavone and the Chicago outfit. We also know that Acerres' NCO leader Carmine Esposito fled justice in Italy to Chicago in the 1980s, Now we see that Jackie, Jr's law partner Sam Syracuse was married to a woman from Acerra. One more potential piece to the puzzle.

On another note, thanks to Scott B, I am now aware that Sam Syracuse had major ties to the Detroit outfit. Sam Syracuse and Giulia Verone's daughter Loretta Syracuse married Peter Tocco, daughter Aggie Syracuse married Peter Corrado, and daughter Gina Syracuse married Dominic Corrado. Additionally, Giulia's niece Teresa Verone, also Acerres' (her brother Pietro Verone, I believe, owns the Villa Verone restuarants in Elgin and Geneva), married a guy named Jack Tocco (not sure who this guy is, but considering that her cousins married a bunch of Detroit guys, one wonders if this is just coincidence). Given Tony LaPiana, and the apparently close relationship between Jack Tocco and Johnny DiFronzo, we can see that there have been some very strong ties between Chicago and Detroit in modern times.

PolackTony wrote: ↑Sat Jul 16, 2022 12:03 am "Diamond Joe" Esposito, an Acerres' who may have been the head of a Chicago Camorra society himself, was the first known mainland Italian inducted into the Chicago mafia. Fast forward to today, and Solly D and Jimmy I both trace their heritage back to Acerra. As with many other Italian paesi that sent large numbers of people to Chicago in the first wave of Italian immigration in the late 19th through early 20th century, Acerra sent many immigrants to Chicago in the second wave of Italian immigration in the decades following WW2; Chicago's Acerresi remain a notable and active contingent within Chitalia today. While the Società San Cuono e Figlio di Acerra no longer stands, Taylor St remains something like a "spiritual home" for Chicago's Acerresi, both older generations and the newly arrived. Acerra has also long been a major Camorra center. Like the Villabate-Bagheria-Casteldaccia area in Palermo province (also intimately tied to Chicago and its mafia), Acerra forms a hub of an area called "the triangle of death", due to a plague of heavy Camorra activity and attendant violence for decades (as well as the notorious dumping of toxic waste by Camorra clans in this region of Napoli province, leading to high cancer rates).

cavita wrote: ↑Mon Aug 22, 2022 6:42 pm No relation at all. Two separate families.

cavita wrote: ↑Mon Aug 22, 2022 4:35 pm

PolackTony wrote: ↑Mon Aug 22, 2022 10:26 am

cavita wrote: ↑Mon Aug 22, 2022 4:43 am

PolackTony wrote: ↑Fri Aug 19, 2022 10:47 pm

PolackTony wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 7:45 pm Altavilla is, of course, nestled within an absolute mafia hotbed and a large portion of the town has close connections to Chicago, so we could've a priori predicted that some Milicioti immigrants in Chicago would be connected. Worth noting again that in the late 70s, another recent immigrant restauranteur family from Altavilla, the Incandelas, were evidently so trusted by the outfit's admin that the entire family's leadership structure felt safe enough -- in an era of heavy Federal LE scrutiny -- to assemble in person and snap photos at their Harlem Ave restuarant for the famous "Last Supper" meeting. While I don't know as of yet that the Incandelas were personally involved with criminal activities, as the Lombardos clearly have been, one has to wonder exactly through what avenues they made links to the local mafia and how they came to secure this much trust.

Worth noting here that Rosaria "Rose" Incandela, a niece of Joey Caesar DiVarco (she was the daughter of a younger brother, also called Joseph DiVarco), married a Salvatore Incandela from Altavilla Milicia who immigrated to Chicago in the 70s. Caesar DiVarco was himself, of course, at the "Last Supper" meeting at the Incandela family's Sicily Restaurant.

PolackTony wrote: ↑Mon Jul 18, 2022 10:29 pm As mentioned above, Luciano Libreri arrived in the US in 1969, and apparently stayed in Philly for a bit before relocating to Chicago. Along with Chicago, Philly has been the primary place of settlement for Caccamesi in the US. Now, readers may recall that Philly boss Giovanni "John" Stanfa was from a mafia-connected family in Càccamo, with his nephew Antonino Giuffrè becoming capomandamento (and then high-level pentito) over the area. As noted above, current Tèrmini boss and Càccamo native Giuseppe Libreri was personally close to Giuffrè. Now, among the Caccamesi who settled in Chicago during the second migration wave, there were a group of Stanfas who arrived in the 1960s; John Stanfa also arrived in the US in the 60s, but went to NYC. Included in this contingent was a Nicasio Stanfa, born in 1925 in Càccamo, who arrived in Chicago in 1967. John Stanfa's brother was a mafia member in Càccamo, born in the 1920s, who was busted in the 90s. I don't think that these were the same guy, as I'm not aware that the Càccamo member Nicasio Stanfa ever lived in the US, but the shared given name could indicate that they were cousins (San Nicasio is the patron saint of Càccamo, so it's a common given name there. But, again, Càccamo is not a big town and there aren't a million Stanfas there). Of course, there were Stanfas and Giuffrès, from both Càccamo and Tèrmini, already living in Chicago from the first immigration wave. Likely that John Stanfa had multiple relatives in Chicago, I think.

The Stanfas have, naturally, been associated with the Càccamo Society in Chicago. Another mafia-connected surname associated with the Society is Panzeca, with, again, both first- and second-wave arrivals to Chicago. The boss of the Càccamo family in the mid-20th century was Giuseppe Panzeca (a powerful and feared boss who was a member of the first Palermo provincial Commission, Panzeca died in 1967). Given that Chicago has a significant settlement of Caccamesi, who maintain close connections back to their hometown and remain faithful to their traditions with their Society and annual Festa di Beato Giovanni Liccio, one should suspect that mafia ties have existed between Chicago and Càccamo, a town where it's said that "even the stones belong to the mafia".

To follow up on this, I was able to successfully confirm that John Stanfa's family in South Jersey is directly connected today to Stanfas in Chicago, as well as to a number of people in Càccamo, who are in turn also connected to Chicago. It's what I suspected but wanted to confirm.

Interestingly there was a lone Stanfa family in Rockford starting in the 1920s with Ciro Stanfa but I can't find where he was from- wouldn't surprise me at all if it was Caccamo. My buddy knew Ciro's son Salvatore and always said he was "connected."

Ciro Stanfa, unsurprisingly, seems to have been from Càccamo. If his son was connected, I’d wonder if the dad was connected in Chicago Heghts. I also note that Salvatore Stanfa married a Gulotta.

Salvatore Stanfa didn't marry a Gulotta, rather he married Giovanna "Jennie" Gullotto. Jennie happened to be the sister of Nunzia "Nancy" Gullotto who married Rockford LCN capo Charles Vince.