THE BLACK HAND FORUM

by B. » Wed Apr 16, 2025 8:57 pm

Agreed if it was a barrier it would have been short-term and very early on in the development of the mafia if a barrier existed at all. As you said, Arbereshe areas of Sicily were hotbeds of early mafia activity and by the time we have substantial mafia intel in the US there are Arbereshe with membership and even leader status.

I imagine comments that Arbereshe were Albanesi who spoke "Gai Gai" was a more pronounced version of remarks someone might make even about someone from a neighboring town that's otherwise virtually identical, i.e. a Castellammarese remarking "Oh the Alcamesi are different from us because they do XYZ." By the time the mafia is in full swing these distinctions may have been acknowledged but didn't have true significance, not unlike the eventual induction of mainlanders where a Sicilian might remark "Oh he's a Calabrese, he's stubborn and cooks his pasta different from us" but that's not the same as truly "othering" them.

by **PolackTony** » Wed Apr 16, 2025 5:19 pm

cavita wrote: ↑Wed Apr 16, 2025 5:11 pm Yes... Gai Gai. I forgot all about that. I remember growing up and hearing that the Arbereshe in Rockford had their own language and that they spoke "Gai Gai." My nonna was not from there but she learned enough of it that she could speak with them easily and it added to the mystique of people from there. I also believe that the Matranga family in Rockford was from there but haven't been able to trace it because they had come from Garyville, Louisiana after immigrating from Sicily.

Excellent post. So we know that the Arbëreshë were called "Gai Gai" by other Sicilians in both Chicago and Rockford (unsurprising given the close ties between Sicilians in both cities and the presence of some of the same compaesani groups). I wonder if this term only came into use in the diaspora or if it was already used in this way back in Sicily (if so, it presumably has long since become archaic).

Matranga is absolutely an ethnic Arbëreshë surname, so we can presume that they were in fact of Arbëreshë ancestry and likely from PDG, as that is where the surname originated and is mainly found (it is also found a bit today in neighboring comuni such as SGJ, but this may be due to 20th century assimilation and intermarriage of Arbëreshë).

by **cavita** » Wed Apr 16, 2025 5:11 pm

Yes... Gai Gai. I forgot all about that. I remember growing up and hearing that the Arbereshe in Rockford had their own language and that they spoke "Gai Gai." My nonna was not from there but she learned enough of it that she could speak with them easily and it added to the mystique of people from there. I also believe that the Matranga family in Rockford was from there but haven't been able to trace it because they had come from Garyville, Louisiana after immigrating from Sicily.

by **PolackTony** » Wed Apr 16, 2025 5:01 pm

B. wrote: ↑Wed Apr 16, 2025 1:10 pm The Arbereshe mafiosi affiliated w/ the early LA Family were apparently even called Albanesi by other Sicilians.

When this has come up before we've wondered whether Arbereshe were seen as suitable for mafia membership from the beginning (regardless of ethnic roots, their geography and temperament lended itself to the mafia) or if their membership came a bit later than other western Sicilians given they were still seen as Albanese. That brings up other Sicilians who trace themselves to other places in Italy, etc. though. Maybe anyone living in Sicily for enough generations was seen as Sicilian enough for the mafia regardless of their older ancestry.

We've discussed some of these questions a bit before, both on the board and off.

The Arbëreshë of Sicily are an ethnic/linguistic minority; they were seen as such both by themselves and other Sicilians, and this difference was much more marked and salient in the past than it is today. But, by the late 19th century at least, they were not viewed as *foreign* to Sicily in any meaningful way, as they had, of course, been there for 4 centuries by this point. From what I know, the Arbëreshë were seen by other Sicilians as somewhat exotic, curious, and strange. And until the late 19th century, endogamy was the norm among them, as they strongly preferred to remain among their own people and traditions. But they weren't excluded socially in any way by other Sicilians, so far as I am aware. Rather than a foreign population on Sicilian soil, they were seen by the broader society as an *internal other*.

As I've noted before, we also know that understandings of the Arbëreshë as ethno-cultural "others" within the broader Sicilian immigrant population did carry on into the early 20th-century US diaspora, as should be expected. It was documented that other Sicilians in CHicago's Little Sicily, for example, referred to the Arbëreshë of Mezzojuso as "Gai Gai", a term which may not have carried any pejorative or hostile connotations, but certainly served to mark the Arbëreshë as distinct from the broader Sicilian community, with their language as the salient marker of ethnic difference (the etymology is unclear; while "Gai Gai" may have been nonsensical vocables meant to underscore the incomprehensibility of the Arbëreshë language, I suspect that it was actually derived from gjuha Arbëreshë/jonë, Arbëreshë terms for "Arbëreshë language/our language"). I've also noted oral history accounts from the Sicilian community in Madison, WI, that demonstrate that even into the 2nd generation, it was still somewhat controversial or noteworthy for a "Sicilian" to marry an "Albanian". Not like people were getting disowned or killed over this, but more just a cause for a small bit of scandal among the older members of the community, clearly an echo of longstanding though rapidly eroding taboos/anxiety around exogamy of Arbëreshë.

The assimilation of the Arbëreshë into the dominant Sicilian culture began to accelerate a bit in the decades after the Risorgimento, as, obviously, the unification of Italy -- and the reactions against domination by the Italian North in the years afterwards -- had profound impacts on Sicilian identiyy and society. Mixed marriages, while still quite rare, became a bit more common in the late 19th century. But it's important I think to view this from the POV of the Arbëreshë themselves, as intermarriage with outsiders was an existential threat to the viability of their communities as such.

Important to underscore here that -- apart from actual kinship networks and the structures of community in their settlements -- the axes of ethnic difference and identity for the Arbëreshë vis-à-vis other Sicilians are the church and language. Until the 20th century, Arbëreshë was the common tongue of the Arbëreshë people among themselves; this was a totally oral, vernacular, language, not taught in schools and not a literary language. Hence, in interacting with the outside world, Arbëreshë would adopt Sicilian (for colloquial use) and Italian (for more formal uses, as in interacting with the state, schools). Thus, by the early 20th century, the decline of the Arbëreshë language in Sicily was already well underway. The church was much more resistant to dissolution, of course. Not only were the Arbëreshë adherents of a church that used the Greek language Byzantine rite liturgy -- run by Arbëreshë-speaking clergy -- the calendar of the Byzantine rite structured their community life, serving to mark them off as a world-within-a-world within Sicily. Marrying an outsider would thus entail abandoning an entire interconnected set of traditions and relationships, deeply embedded in the community and familial networks, centered on the church, as essentially no outsiders were going to be converting over to the Byzantine rite church. So if an Arbëreshë married a non-Arbëreshë, the marriage would be officiated by a Latin rite priest, their kids baptized under the Latin rite; holidays and saint festivals according to the Latin rite. It would essentially entail a real severance and alienation from their ancestral communities and assimilation to the dominant Sicilian society. For these reasons, I would presume that taboos around outmarriage were likely much more intense on the Arbëreshë side of the equation, serving to preserve the integrity and viability of their socio-cultural microworld, rather than mainly a question of hostility or suspicion from non-Arbëreshë.

In diaspora, while cultural understandings of Arbëreshë ethnic distinction were of course carried over to the US, the axes through which these were reproduced were rapidly eroded. The decline of the Arbëreshë language would have been greatly accelerated, as obviously, outside of the home and some compaesani societies and such, Arbëreshë migrants and their children were immersed in a world where Italian and English were the dominant languages (with Arbëreshë playing 4th fiddle to these and Sicilian "dialect"). Perhaps even more critically, there were no Arbëreshë Byzantine rite churches in the US. Thus, the Arbëreshë had to attend Latin rite churches alongside other Sicilians/Italians. In so doing, the primary barrier demarcating Arbëreshë ethnic difference was removed, and one can see how this would have greatly facilitated intermarriage, despite any residual cultural misgivings carried over from back home. Within a generation or two, for the most part, the Arbëreshë in diaspora went from a distinct and insular ethnic minority to being subsumed as "Sicilians", and subsequently "Italian-Americans". Later "second wave" migrants of Arbëreshë descent arriving in the US would also have done little to re-Albanianize their Americanized paesani either, as these people were by then arriving from a greatly changed Sicily, where mass education, advances in literacy, and mass media had made Italian the increasingly dominant language across communities anyway.

Regarding the question of Arbëreshë in the early mafia, while I don't know that we have any sources in either the US or Sicily who specifically discussed the salience, or lack thereof, of their status as an ethnic minority with respect to mafia membership, I don't think there was ever any barrier to them joining the mafia. Worth noting here that Arbëreshë mafiosi back in Sicily would primarily have been members of Families based in their communities and composed of their co-ethnics anyway. I personally doubt that their membership in the early US mafia would have been seen as in any way problematic or controversial, as I think they were well-established in the mafia already back home since the late 19th century, at least. In that 1900 Cuntrera map that I referenced above, Arbëreshë communities such as PDG, Contessa Entellina, and Santa Cristina Gela were all recorded as having a known presence of mafia activity, while Mezzojuso, Palazzo Adriano, and Bronte were denoted as having a "high density" of mafia activity (unclear what the criteria were for this exactly, but Cutrera clearly saw these comuni as having a scale or intensity of mafia activity similar to places like Corleone, Bagheria, etc.). The clannish and insular nature of traditional Arbëreshë communities -- and their tendency towards communal self-government historically -- even as compared to Sicilians in general, leads me to suspect that their communities may well, in fact, have been some of the early nuclei of the mafia phenomenon in the 19th century.

by B. » Wed Apr 16, 2025 1:10 pm

The Arbereshe mafiosi affiliated w/ the early LA Family were apparently even called Albanesi by other Sicilians.

When this has come up before we've wondered whether Arbereshe were seen as suitable for mafia membership from the beginning (regardless of ethnic roots, their geography and temperament lended itself to the mafia) or if their membership came a bit later than other western Sicilians given they were still seen as Albanese. That brings up other Sicilians who trace themselves to other places in Italy, etc. though. Maybe anyone living in Sicily for enough generations was seen as Sicilian enough for the mafia regardless of their older ancestry.

by **PolackTony** » Wed Apr 16, 2025 12:11 pm

B. wrote: ↑Wed Apr 16, 2025 10:25 am There were many Arbereshe from the towns near Corleone so there's going to be crossover with some of these names. Palazzo Adriano had a large colony and you'll also find many from Prizzi and Chiusa Sclafani. Mezzojuso as well which we know connected to the Morello Family. There are def links between the Arbereshe in those towns along with PdG and Contessa.

Names like Parrino and Cuccia are almost guaranteed to be Arbereshe when you see them.

Strong ties between the Arbereshe in all these towns back in the day. In diaspora, they certainly saw themselves in the early days as a sub-ethnic group unto themselves within the broader Sicilian immigrant population (though quickly intermarried with other Sicilians/Italians). THe original Arbereshe colony in Sicily was Contessa Entellina, though PDG/PDA far outstripped CE as the main Arbereshe cultural and demographic center in Western Sicily, so PDG is historically the hub for this population. Today, only PDA, CE, and Santa Cristina Gela retain the Arberesht language; Mezzojuso and Palazzo Adriano have lost the language since the early 20th century, but retain the tradition of the Eastern Rite liturgy (Eastern Orthodox liturgy but in churches that re-established communion with Rome; like the Greek Catholic church in Western Ukraine and some other places). Sant' Angelo Muxaro, Agrigento (Jimmy Catuara's hometown and a major Southside hometown), was another Arbereshe colony, but seems to have long since lost both the distinct linguistic and religious practices. Apart from these, there were also several Arbereshe colonies in Eastern Sicily, such as Bronte (worth noting here that Bronte was also one of the few comuni in Eastern Sicily identified by Antonio Cutrera as having had a significant mafia presence circa 1900). When the Arbereshe arrived in the Kingdom of Naples, some were granted land in these more rugged, interior section os Sicily, with the Palermo homeland of the Arbereshe taking root in an area that had been sparsely populated for centuries following the major explosions of the Saraceni by the Normans (a large number of Northern Italians from Liguria, etc., were also settled in the interior of Sicily for the same reason, hence the traditional but now extinct dialect of Corleone was of strong Northern Italian influence).

Some of the Arbereshe took on local Sicilian surnames after settlement, hence you do see names like Liggio, Catalano, Calderone, Pecoraro, Cassarà, Di Giovanni, etc., among ethnic Arbereshe. Names such as Cuccia, Mandalà, Clesceri (e.g., Spilotro bros maternal family), Plescia, Parrino, Musacchia, Matranga, Barcia, Schirò, etc., are specifically of Arbereshe ethnic origin (though, as with Schirò, some of these have spread a bit to neighboring comuni over the centuries due to intermarriage with non-Arbereshe, though the Arbereshe historically tended toward endogamy).

The Arbereshe in Sicily historically had the reputation of being rebellious and difficult to govern (they are Albanians in origin, after all! lol). Given this reputation, I don't think that it's incidental that PDG was one of the main centers of the Fasci Siciliani movement, which, as we've discussed before, proliferated via a network that encompassed the interior Palermo/Agrigento borderlands that are so important in mafia history. The Arbereshe are both an ethnic network unto themselves in this area, historically, and also a key part of the broader networks tying comuni in this area together, both in Sicily and then with respect to immigration patterns and diaspora formation. As such, the Arbereshe merit serious attention, IMO, in the historical dynamics of the formation of the American mafia.

by B. » Wed Apr 16, 2025 10:25 am

There were many Arbereshe from the towns near Corleone so there's going to be crossover with some of these names. Palazzo Adriano had a large colony and you'll also find many from Prizzi and Chiusa Sclafani. Mezzojuso as well which we know connected to the Morello Family. There are def links between the Arbereshe in those towns along with PdG and Contessa.

Names like Parrino and Cuccia are almost guaranteed to be Arbereshe when you see them.

by **Antiliar** » Wed Apr 16, 2025 1:49 am

cavita wrote: ↑Mon Apr 14, 2025 6:42 pm
Antiliar wrote: ↑Mon Apr 14, 2025 12:41 am
B. wrote: ↑Sat Apr 12, 2025 12:51 am I've since learned there was a colony from Piana dei Greci in Sacramento which explains why Petrotta moved/fled there. There's an active Arberesh of Sacramento society still today made up mainly of people whose families descend from PdG. Also seeing towns like San Cipirello, Trabia, Balestrate, Monreale show up in Sacramento here and there.

I was looking into the 1914 underworld saloon owner Francesco Cuccia because the famous mayor and PdG Family boss was also named Francesco Cuccia. Francesco was the name of the Chicago Cuccia's grandfather so he had other cousins named Francesco Cuccia but I noticed there is one listed as born 1876, the same year as the mafia boss. Not enough info to confirm if it's him. I did see the Chicago Cuccia was distantly related to early LA boss Giuseppe Ardizzone through the Cuccia name.
Los Angeles had a relatively sizeable PDG population and had a Piana dei Greci Society. A community leader in L.A. named Joseph Cuccia was murdered in 1906, allegedly by a Matranga. Cuccia was reportedly a cousin of Joe Ardizzone. Several Monrealese and Balestratese moved to L.A. from other cities like New Orleans.
Some Rockford connected guys from Piana dei Greci/Piana degli Albanese

Mike Cassaro (1886-1959) Rockford bootlegger
Antonio Catalano (1899-1964) very active Rockford 1930s, died in Studio City, CA
George Leggio (1918-1980) LCN front and gambler
George Licali (1892-1987) LCN front, died in Ontario, California
Mandala/Mandell family members – fronts, gamblers, bootleggers
Frank Parrino (1891-1974) bootlegger
Tom Rumore (1890-1936) bootlegger and LCN murder victim

There were a couple Cuccia guys who I suspect were from PDG but haven't proved it yet

Some of those names sound more Corleonese, but Mandala is a name I recognize in some L.A.-based PDG family trees. I wouldn't be surprised if the Mafia-connected Arbereshe had their own networks in America. There was a lot of cross-movement between PDG and Contessa Entellina, and the Arbereshe communities tended to be insular during the early 20th century due to their shared Albanian ancestry, language, religion, and customs.

by **cavita** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 6:42 pm

Antiliar wrote: ↑Mon Apr 14, 2025 12:41 am
B. wrote: ↑Sat Apr 12, 2025 12:51 am I've since learned there was a colony from Piana dei Greci in Sacramento which explains why Petrotta moved/fled there. There's an active Arberesh of Sacramento society still today made up mainly of people whose families descend from PdG. Also seeing towns like San Cipirello, Trabia, Balestrate, Monreale show up in Sacramento here and there.

I was looking into the 1914 underworld saloon owner Francesco Cuccia because the famous mayor and PdG Family boss was also named Francesco Cuccia. Francesco was the name of the Chicago Cuccia's grandfather so he had other cousins named Francesco Cuccia but I noticed there is one listed as born 1876, the same year as the mafia boss. Not enough info to confirm if it's him. I did see the Chicago Cuccia was distantly related to early LA boss Giuseppe Ardizzone through the Cuccia name.
Los Angeles had a relatively sizeable PDG population and had a Piana dei Greci Society. A community leader in L.A. named Joseph Cuccia was murdered in 1906, allegedly by a Matranga. Cuccia was reportedly a cousin of Joe Ardizzone. Several Monrealese and Balestratese moved to L.A. from other cities like New Orleans.

Some Rockford connected guys from Piana dei Greci/Piana degli Albanese

Mike Cassaro (1886-1959) Rockford bootlegger
Antonio Catalano (1899-1964) very active Rockford 1930s, died in Studio City, CA
George Leggio (1918-1980) LCN front and gambler
George Licali (1892-1987) LCN front, died in Ontario, California
Mandala/Mandell family members – fronts, gamblers, bootleggers
Frank Parrino (1891-1974) bootlegger
Tom Rumore (1890-1936) bootlegger and LCN murder victim

There were a couple Cuccia guys who I suspect were from PDG but haven't proved it yet

by **NorthBuffalo** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 6:17 pm

There is an individual in my group looking for knowledge on a Michael 'Blackie' Spallerio who was of Chicago origin and lived for decades in LA and was known as a 'mob guy.' I've never seen this name - anyone familiar?

by **Antiliar** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 12:41 am

B. wrote: ↑Sat Apr 12, 2025 12:51 am I've since learned there was a colony from Piana dei Greci in Sacramento which explains why Petrotta moved/fled there. There's an active Arberesh of Sacramento society still today made up mainly of people whose families descend from PdG. Also seeing towns like San Cipirello, Trabia, Balestrate, Monreale show up in Sacramento here and there.

I was looking into the 1914 underworld saloon owner Francesco Cuccia because the famous mayor and PdG Family boss was also named Francesco Cuccia. Francesco was the name of the Chicago Cuccia's grandfather so he had other cousins named Francesco Cuccia but I noticed there is one listed as born 1876, the same year as the mafia boss. Not enough info to confirm if it's him. I did see the Chicago Cuccia was distantly related to early LA boss Giuseppe Ardizzone through the Cuccia name.

Los Angeles had a relatively sizeable PDG population and had a Piana dei Greci Society. A community leader in L.A. named Joseph Cuccia was murdered in 1906, allegedly by a Matranga. Cuccia was reportedly a cousin of Joe Ardizzone. Several Monrealese and Balestratese moved to L.A. from other cities like New Orleans.

by **PolackTony** » Sun Apr 13, 2025 1:58 pm

PolackTony wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 12:58 am In April 1928, Cook County fire inspector Ben Newmark, who had previously been Chief Investigator under mafia-connected Cook County States Attorney Robert Crowe (discussed several times in the Toto LoVerde thread) was shot to death. Based in initial intel, CPD detectives raided the Little Sicily grocery store of Giuseppe Nicolosi, where they arrested Antonino Ferrara, of Corleone. Detectives also questioned Antonino’s father Arcangelo Ferrara and Nicolosi, described as the younger man’s “uncle” (I believe that Arcangelo’s wife Maria Colletti was a cousin of the Nicolosis on their mother’s side, the Sapataforas; when Arcangelo arrived in Chicago in 1905, he listed the Nicolosi brothers as his contacts). None of the men were charged for the crime; as with almost all other underworld murders in Chicago, police were stymied by a lack of witnesses. Another suspect was Santo “Sam” Gemelli, born in 1882 in Messina, who had arrived in Chicago from New Orleans (it should be noted that already back in Sicily, one of Gemelli’s brothers had married a Tornabene from Lascari, and there were a number of Tornabenes from Lascari connected to the mafia in Chicago). Gemelli (given as “Jamalli” in the press, though I doubt that he was Muslim) had only been released from a stint in Leavenworth on counterfeiting charges two weeks before the Newmark murder, and Newmark had been charged in the same counterfeiting operation. In 1924, Newmark was busted along with several Italians including Gemelli and Antonio “Mops” Volpe in a huge $1,000,000 counterfeit war stamp ring in Chicago. Newmark had successfully gotten himself acquitted under a separate trial while the Italians were convicted and rumor had it that Newmark had co-operated with the authorities; thus, CPD believed that he had been killed in retribution, though they also noted that Newmark had numerous connections to gangsters and criminal rackets. Sam Gemelli was also never charged due to lack of evidence, and in later years moved to St Joseph County, MI, where he resumed a construction contracting business that he had started in Chicago in the 1910s.

As noted above, Benjamin Newmark was closely tied to Cook County States Attorney Robert Crowe, a man who made no attempt to hide his open support from and social connections with leading Chicago mafiosi such as the Gennas.

In this light, it’s interesting to note that Newmark was also the brother-in-law of attorney Stefano Malato, a very prominent and influential social and political leader in Chicago’s early 20th century Sicilian/Italian community, as a leader of the Unione Siciliana, Trinacria Fratellanza, and Società Croce Bianca di Termini Imerese. I’ve discussed Malato a number of times previously, as I very much suspect that he may well have been a mafia member himself. Malato, a native of Termini Imerese (where the mafia was deeply embedded in local patronage politics in the same way that it would become in Chicago), was the former 17th Ward Alderman (the Grand Ave neighborhood) and disgraced assistant Cook County States Attorney, forced to step down after a public scandal erupted when he was accused of using investigators to torture witnesses in order to secure the acquittal of a Sicilian murder suspect. Despite this checkered past (or, more likely, because of it lol), Malato was subsequently appointed Special Investigator under SA Crowe, a role that would have been of obvious utility to Malato’s buddies, including Chicago boss Tony D’Andrea.

In 1907, Malato had married Dora Newmark, Benjamin Newmark’s sister — it seems clear that Malato was Ben Newmark’s clout with Robert Crowe and the Cook County political apparatus. In 1926, Malato divorced Dora and subsequently remarried Frances Prignano, a sister of Taylor St Alderman and mob associate Albert Prignano (Prignano — personally associated with mafiosi like “Jack McGurn” Gibaldi and Tony Volpe, was of course murdered in a mob hit in 1935. As I’ve discussed before, Santo Virruso was the suspected shooter in that assassination and the murder conspiracy also pointed to Vincenzo and Ciro Cutaia, worth noting here given B’s recent post on the old ties better the Cutaias and Giuseppe Carlisi’s former brother-in-law). If Malato had been Newmark’s clout, then presumably that tie was severed in 1926, which may be relevant given that Neemark was then murdered in 1928.

From a previous discussion of Malato on the Totò LoVerde thread, just as a reminder:

PolackTony wrote: ↑Thu Sep 29, 2022 2:36 pm
Another name in this pro-Crowe “club” [the Italian Club formed to re-elect Crowe as SA in the 1920s] was Stefano “Stephen” Malato, a longtime and highly prominent Chicago attorney and politician from Tèrmini Imerese. Malato hasn’t really gotten his due inspection to date, but he was almost certainly closely connected to the mafia if not a member himself. Malato, said to have a university degree in linguistics from Italy (Tony D’Andrea was a prominent language teacher in Chicago), was involved in Chicago politics as early as 1893, when he became IL State Rep. in 1911, he became Assistant Cook County States Attorney; he had also been the attorney for and a founder of the White Hand Society, organized by prominent Italians to combat “black hand” extortionists (but very likely controlled by the mafia itself, which I suspect may have weaponized the organization to control independent extortionists). In 1914, there was a scandal where Malato was accused of improper conduct for allegedly roughing up witnesses in a case to secure the acquittal of a Pietro Saitta (likely from Piana dei Greci) on a murder charge. It seems that Malato then left the SA’s office and became Alderman for the 17th Ward (Grand Ave). In 1900, Malato lived by the intersection of Grand, Halsted, and Milwaukee (the photo in my avatar, BTW). That same year, Giuseppe Morici, who may have been an early leader of the Chicago mafia, was based at the same intersection at a tavern owned by him and his brothers; the Moricis were also from Tèrmini. Early Chicago mafioso Pasquale “Charles Calta” Caltabellota, of neighboring Trabìa, was based there as well, operating a barber shop on Grand Ave; Caltabellota was a close associate of Tony D’Andrea. Malato went on to marry a Prignano woman from Ricigliano, Salerno, who was a relative of notoriously mobbed-up politician Daniel Serritella. With Malatao, we’re likely seeing one of the primary actors involved in the interpenetration of mafia power with official politics in Chicago. It should be clear that this process was already underway very early on. One imagines that a guy like Malato was quite familiar with the figure of Raffaele Palizzolo, a notorious mafioso-politician in the late 19th century from Malato’s hometown of Tèrmini Imerese. Transplanting the mafia from Tèrmini, where mafia involvement with political patronage networks was already developed and sophisticated, to a floridly corrupt city like Chicago had predictable results, as we know well from the following decades.

by B. » Sat Apr 12, 2025 12:51 am

I've since learned there was a colony from Piana dei Greci in Sacramento which explains why Petrotta moved/fled there. There's an active Arberesh of Sacramento society still today made up mainly of people whose families descend from PdG. Also seeing towns like San Cipirello, Trabia, Balestrate, Monreale show up in Sacramento here and there.

I was looking into the 1914 underworld saloon owner Francesco Cuccia because the famous mayor and PdG Family boss was also named Francesco Cuccia. Francesco was the name of the Chicago Cuccia's grandfather so he had other cousins named Francesco Cuccia but I noticed there is one listed as born 1876, the same year as the mafia boss. Not enough info to confirm if it's him. I did see the Chicago Cuccia was distantly related to early LA boss Giuseppe Ardizzone through the Cuccia name.

by B. » Fri Apr 11, 2025 9:37 pm

I just looked through the thread for Cutaia and see you mentioned him even in connection to Emanuele Cammarata. Looks to be someone of significant stature, no question.

So even though a Carlisi marital feud may have played a role, the 1918 attempt on Petrotta possibly stemming from that, there were some bigger names and events going on at this time that also could have factored into Petrotta's 1922 murder. That Petrotta had some kind of falling out with his Carlisi in-laws then was building a lucrative partnership with an influential Chicago mafia figure could have presented any number of issues too, especially if he was in poor standing with the Carlisis.

This is roughly a year after the murders of D'Andrea, LaSpisa, and Paolinello Torino (the latter came to the US with Rosario DiSpenza's brother) which were all likely related to each other. Any number of other issues could be going on in 1922.

by **PolackTony** » Fri Apr 11, 2025 9:11 pm

Oh whoa. I’ve discussed the Cutaia family quite a bit here on this thread, you might recall. Vincenzo Cutaia was by all appearances a significant mafia figure in Little Sicily for decades. The Cutaias were indeed from Campofelice di Fitalia and related to later Chicago members Joe DiVarco and Tony and Frank DeMonte. Local police and the press also believed Vincenzo Cutaia to have been a “cousin” of Rosario DiSpenza. I didn’t find anything to support that specific relation, but Ciminna and CdF are neighboring comuni of course so they were at the least close compaesani.

The 1914 list of saloon owners that you note from the papers included a number of names that I’ve touched on previously, but I don’t have time ATM to go into them again. These were of course all in Little Sicily. Francesco Cuccia was from PDG, for example.

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