THE BLACK HAND FORUM

cavita wrote: ↑Sat Jun 24, 2023 11:38 am

B. wrote: ↑Fri Jun 23, 2023 9:37 pm Looks like Sam Ferrara first arrived to Rock Island, Illinois, on the border with Iowa. I'm not aware of other mafiosi in that specific part of Illinois but Ferrara was from Prizzi near Palazzo Adriano and that part of Palermo and Agrigento was distributed in many "random" parts of Illinois early on.

Ferrara arrived to the US from Prizzi with an Antonino Vallone, who I believe was a relative of Giuseppe Vallone, Ferrara's predecessor as Milwaukee boss. Nicola Gentile ID'd Vallone as Vito Guardalebene's underboss circa mid-1910s and Maniaci said he became boss in the mid-1920s. For a Family dominated by clans from the Bagheria coast it's interesting they were led by Prizzesi for close to 30 years in a row.

Ferrara was reportedly very close to Chicago capodecina Jim DeGeorge. Apparently they were bootlegging partners in North Chicago then Racine in the 1920s/30s and shared a baptismal relationship. He seems to have been close to Carlo Caputo as well as he was using Caputo to send messages to Chicago in an effort to unseat Frank Balistrieri later on.

Francesco "Three Fingers" Coppola spent time in Rock Island, Illinois when he was brought up on kidnapping charges in the early 1930s and while he was loosely hooked up with the Rockford contingent.

B. wrote: ↑Fri Jun 23, 2023 9:37 pm Looks like Sam Ferrara first arrived to Rock Island, Illinois, on the border with Iowa. I'm not aware of other mafiosi in that specific part of Illinois but Ferrara was from Prizzi near Palazzo Adriano and that part of Palermo and Agrigento was distributed in many "random" parts of Illinois early on.

Ferrara arrived to the US from Prizzi with an Antonino Vallone, who I believe was a relative of Giuseppe Vallone, Ferrara's predecessor as Milwaukee boss. Nicola Gentile ID'd Vallone as Vito Guardalebene's underboss circa mid-1910s and Maniaci said he became boss in the mid-1920s. For a Family dominated by clans from the Bagheria coast it's interesting they were led by Prizzesi for close to 30 years in a row.

Ferrara was reportedly very close to Chicago capodecina Jim DeGeorge. Apparently they were bootlegging partners in North Chicago then Racine in the 1920s/30s and shared a baptismal relationship. He seems to have been close to Carlo Caputo as well as he was using Caputo to send messages to Chicago in an effort to unseat Frank Balistrieri later on.

B. wrote: ↑Wed Jun 21, 2023 4:20 pm Thanks Nash -- so there's some confusion over some of these promotions. Maniaci told the FBI in 1964 that Alioto had been a capodecina since Balistrieri became boss in 1962, but it seems he may have been taken down for a time and promoted back if that last report is accurate. He identified both Gumina and Alioto as being capi over the older members so I assumed it was more or less the same crew given Alioto seems to have been taken down around 65/66 and that's when they started identifying Gumina in that position.

B. wrote: ↑Fri Jun 23, 2023 9:37 pm Looks like Sam Ferrara first arrived to Rock Island, Illinois, on the border with Iowa. I'm not aware of other mafiosi in that specific part of Illinois but Ferrara was from Prizzi near Palazzo Adriano and that part of Palermo and Agrigento was distributed in many "random" parts of Illinois early on.

Ferrara arrived to the US from Prizzi with an Antonino Vallone, who I believe was a relative of Giuseppe Vallone, Ferrara's predecessor as Milwaukee boss. Nicola Gentile ID'd Vallone as Vito Guardalebene's underboss circa mid-1910s and Maniaci said he became boss in the mid-1920s. For a Family dominated by clans from the Bagheria coast it's interesting they were led by Prizzesi for close to 30 years in a row.

Ferrara was reportedly very close to Chicago capodecina Jim DeGeorge. Apparently they were bootlegging partners in North Chicago then Racine in the 1920s/30s and shared a baptismal relationship. He seems to have been close to Carlo Caputo as well as he was using Caputo to send messages to Chicago in an effort to unseat Frank Balistrieri later on.

B. wrote: ↑Thu Jun 22, 2023 10:50 pm From Schmitt's site:

Hidden microphone 646-C (at 2559 North Downer Avenue) caught an Outfit “chair” meeting on June 18, 1964 where one member of the group was castigated for not functioning properly. Balistrieri was upset that Peter Sciortino came from Tucson and was entertained without him (Balistrieri) being notified by John Alioto. Also, he was not notified of a member’s father’s death, and was thus not able to pay the proper respects. The names of Joe Bonanno, Salvatore Giancana and Felix Alderisio were frequently mentioned.

Balistrieri said that Joseph Gurera and Buster Balestrere still belonged to Milwaukee despite living in Kansas City, and that Kansas City boss Nick Civella should leave them alone until Balistrieri decided what he wanted done with them. Balistrieri said he might take a while to decide. Incidentally, he also made the remark that Kansas City had a piece of Omaha, Nebraska, but did not elaborate. (The Mafia’s presence in Omaha has a very strange history, with any number of groups claiming ownership here… although I am unclear why anyone would want Omaha.)

After the formal meeting was over, Joseph Caminiti and Frank Balistrieri had a discussion on how to make money. They said they did not want to be like New York where everyone muscles each other because they would soon end up shooting each other. It was better to be respected. Balistrieri said he did not prefer getting collection money from businesses because they would then hate him and not respect him. He said he would rather be respected and then be able to make better deals. He specifically mentioned Sardino’s, Fazio’s and Nino’s Steak House.

Caminiti said Balistrieri had more authority than the bosses of Rockford or Madison because he had been appointed by Chicago rather than by his own people, and Chicago would not let him fail. He further said he did not think John Alioto showed Balistrieri much respect, and contrasted him with Vito Seidita, who he said was respectful and sincere.

From looking at related files, it's evident there was a made member referred to as the "old man" in Omaha who Nick Civella had spoken with about Gurera and Balestrere's formal status. A reference was made to someone coming from California to Omaha in connection with this. Tony dug into a guy named Frank Calamia who had been a major bootlegger in Omaha and came from Gibellina, same hometown as a number of KC members. Calamia had moved to California and was old at this point so it could well be him. If he's the made member he was probably a KC member, as his wire service was under another wire service in Kansas City and Kansas City had the strongest ties to Omaha.

Also interesting they discussed how Balistrieri benefited from Chicago's involvement in his rise whereas Madison and Rockford avoided Chicago's influence and Caminiti felt this was a disadvantage for them. It's consistent with what Maniaci said about Rockford refusing to let Chicago influence their boss election and choosing Zammuto over Priola for that reason.

This also took place after the recorded council meeting again from Schmitt's site:

A meeting was called on June 30, 1964 and Peter Sciortino of Tucson was called to the meeting. Balistrieri tried to talk to Sciortino about the Bonanno Family, but Sciortino said he was just a soldier and was not authorized to say anything without clearance from his superior, Charles Battaglia. Balistrieri conceded that this would be the proper procedure and no further discussion was carried out.

Hidden microphone 646-C (at 2559 North Downer Avenue) caught an Outfit “chair” meeting on June 18, 1964 where one member of the group was castigated for not functioning properly. Balistrieri was upset that Peter Sciortino came from Tucson and was entertained without him (Balistrieri) being notified by John Alioto. Also, he was not notified of a member’s father’s death, and was thus not able to pay the proper respects. The names of Joe Bonanno, Salvatore Giancana and Felix Alderisio were frequently mentioned.

Balistrieri said that Joseph Gurera and Buster Balestrere still belonged to Milwaukee despite living in Kansas City, and that Kansas City boss Nick Civella should leave them alone until Balistrieri decided what he wanted done with them. Balistrieri said he might take a while to decide. Incidentally, he also made the remark that Kansas City had a piece of Omaha, Nebraska, but did not elaborate. (The Mafia’s presence in Omaha has a very strange history, with any number of groups claiming ownership here… although I am unclear why anyone would want Omaha.)

After the formal meeting was over, Joseph Caminiti and Frank Balistrieri had a discussion on how to make money. They said they did not want to be like New York where everyone muscles each other because they would soon end up shooting each other. It was better to be respected. Balistrieri said he did not prefer getting collection money from businesses because they would then hate him and not respect him. He said he would rather be respected and then be able to make better deals. He specifically mentioned Sardino’s, Fazio’s and Nino’s Steak House.

Caminiti said Balistrieri had more authority than the bosses of Rockford or Madison because he had been appointed by Chicago rather than by his own people, and Chicago would not let him fail. He further said he did not think John Alioto showed Balistrieri much respect, and contrasted him with Vito Seidita, who he said was respectful and sincere.

A meeting was called on June 30, 1964 and Peter Sciortino of Tucson was called to the meeting. Balistrieri tried to talk to Sciortino about the Bonanno Family, but Sciortino said he was just a soldier and was not authorized to say anything without clearance from his superior, Charles Battaglia. Balistrieri conceded that this would be the proper procedure and no further discussion was carried out.

PolackTony wrote: ↑Wed Jun 21, 2023 11:32 am

cavita wrote: ↑Wed Jun 21, 2023 9:46 am

B. wrote: ↑Tue Jun 20, 2023 9:36 pm Something interesting...

Frank Bompensiero's first wife Thelma Sanfilippo was born in Milwaukee like him and they married in CA in 1929. Her father was Lorenzo Sanfilippo who came to Milwaukee from Santa Flavia and his naturalization witnesses were Giovanni Guardalabene and Tony Bellant. These same two men also witnessed the naturalization of early Milwaukee boss Vito Guardalabene and two of Vito's children married Bellants. As Cavita mentioned in the original post, Milwaukee member John Pernice also married a Sanfilippo.

Outside of a mid-1970s visit to Milwaukee where he met with Frank Balistrieri and his reports of hanging out with Frank's San Diego-based uncle Big Frank Balistrieri, I haven't seen Bomp talk too much about Milwaukee even though he was from there. Given his father-in-law Lorenzo Sanfilippo was obviously close to the Guardalabene clan and shared the same naturalization witnesses as the boss Vito, I'm wondering if he was an early member.

We discussed it in another thread, but Bomp's nephew said Frank's uncle Giovanni Bompensiero was who connected Bomp with Dragna. A cousin of Frank also named Giovanni Bompensiero arrived to San Diego to his uncle Lorenzo Sanfilippo, Frank's future father-in-law. The uncle Giovanni Bompensiero is another likely member from that era if he was friendly with Jack Dragna.

--

Frank Bompensiero was born in Wisconsin according to his marriage certificate and the Wisconsin birth index, but it looks like he spent time in Sicily during his youth. In 1922, a sailor born the same year named Francesco Bompensiero arrived to Milwaukee from Santa Flavia and listed his father as Giuseppe Bompensiero (same name as Frank's father) and he was arriving to an uncle named Donato Tagliavia, same surname as Frank's mother.

And it calls to mind Pietro Sanfilippo, born in Santa Flavia, who first appeared in Milwaukee, then Madison and then in Rockford where he was involved with the LCN there possibly being an early member. Sanfilippo was accused of murdering a man by the name of Tomasello, I believe, in Chicago but was found not guilty. The Wickersham Report stated he was a very active bootlegger in southern Wisconsin and that he may have even been related to Charles Sanfilippo of the Unione Siciliano in Chicago. After serving time in Leavenworth for bootlegging in the huge Rockford conspiracy case, Sanfilippo moved to California where he died in the 1950s. It would be interesting to know he was involved in the rackets there.

Good call on Pietro SanFilippo, I agree that he’s a figure that deserves more scrutiny.

Do you have any more info on the Charles SanFilippo associated with Unione mentioned in this report? The first name that comes to mind for me is that Charles “Cutilla” SanFilippo who was Vincenzo Benevento’s FIL and also involved in Mike Genna’s murder in 1925. He was from Partanna, however, so I’m guessing that either the report was referring to a different guy or it was erroneously assumed that there was a relation due to the surname.

B. wrote: ↑Mon Jun 19, 2023 1:08 am - On the mid-1964 recording of the Milwaukee consiglio, they discuss how Tucson is a Bonanno decina rather than its own borgata and "Joe" (not Caminiti) compares it to a "La Rosa" who was once a remote capodecina under Milwaukee. There was a Tony LaRosa who was a meat wholesaler associated with the Family but he lived in Milwaukee and was a suspected police informant, doesn't seem to have even been a member. Anyone know of any LaRosas or a similar name that were connected to Milwaukee but lived remotely?

Since the comparison is with the Bonanno Family's Arizona decina, this Milwakee decina must have been some distance away. Tom LoBue comes to mind who was ID'd by Maniaci as a former capodecina in the 1920s-30s and he moved to California later but there's no indication he was ever a capodecina there. "LaRosa" and LoBue don't sound alike but do both start similarly and there were multiple Milwaukee members in California at various points which could lend itself to a decina once existing. The California-based members I'm aware of over the years are: Minetto Clementi Oliveri (shelved), Francesco Balistrieri, Pietro Balistrieri (suspected member?), and LoBue. Frank Bomp also ID'd Phil Damiano as a Milwaukee member living in CA when he first began cooperating but later said he was made with Rockford (which Maniaci said too) then transferred to LA. There was also Dr. Salvatore Megna, Milwaukee member who moved to Arizona.

- There is an unrelated reference much later in the conversation to contacting a capodecina, then some short unintelligible comments, followed by mention of Minnesota in connection with this. Nothing to suggest they had a captain in MN but does suggest Milwaukee was involved there in some way. We know that Madison member Vincent Troia once lived in Minnesota.

- Even though Augie Maniaci told the FBI the Milwaukee "outfit" came from the old "mafia" and exclusively uses the term "outfit" to refer to Milwaukee, during this meeting they consistently use "Family" to refer to themselves and at one point an attendee refers to their organization as the "Mafia". Just pointing this out because it shows many terms were in use and Maniaci's take (or the FBI's interpretation of it) isn't the only word on how the Family was referred to. Balistrieri also refers to Sam Giancana as the "representative" of Chicago but it's translated from Sicilian so he was referring to him as "rappresentante". Shouldn't be a surprise to anyone but since people still create fantasy ranks in Chicago (top boss, bottom boss, boss-boss) this lays it out very clear that Giancana was the rappresentante officiale.

--

The 1964 meeting is explicitly referred to by Joe Caminiti as a "meeting of the chair", but it's translated from Sicilian so he would have used the same term Maniaci used to describe it, "seggia". The attendees as interpreted by the FBI were:

- Frank Balistrieri - Boss
- Joe Caminiti - Former capodecina and current or future underboss
- John Alioto - Capodecina, former boss
- Pete LNU (not Balistrieri)
- Joe LNU (likely Gumina) - If Gumina, former underboss/capodecina and future capodecina
- Phil LNU
- Nino LNU (probably Antonino Albano)

- Later they are joined by Peter Balistrieri and a "Tom". There were seven original attendees and the two others make nine. Pretty big for a consiglio so my guess is the first seven attendees were the actual council, which is already pretty big, and the other two were allowed to sit in. Most of the councils we're aware of had five seats and Milwaukee wasn't a large Family yet a lot of people had a voice as consiglieri.

- Not sure who a few of these guys could be. I'm not aware of another "Pete" except Pete Balistrieri but it's clear the individual referred to as "Pete" is separate from Pete Balistrieri. "Tom" could be Tom LoBue who as a former capodecina might have been welcome at a seggia meeting but he'd have to be visiting Milwaukee from California. It's possible "Tom" was a phonetic take on "Dom" but I'm only aware of Dominick Principe who was only made the year prior. Similarly, "Pete" and "Phil" could be misinterpretations of other names or were members otherwise unidentified by Maniaci and other sources.

- "Joe" could also be Joe Balistrieri as at one point Frank Balistrieri refers to someone as "Dad" but I think he's speaking to his father-in-law John Alioto. I'm not convinced Joe Balistrieri is there and there's a reference to Frank's father that suggests he might not be in attendance. The "Joe" at the meeting is very dominant and knowledgeable during the conversation, plus former underboss Joe Gumina would be promoted to capodecina replacing John Alioto within a year or two of this meeting so he was definitely still involved. Gumina was also identified as part of the seggia the following year...

- In 1965, the FBI identified the following members sitting on the seggia: Frank Balistrieri, Joseph Caminiti, John Alioto, Peter Balistrieri, Joseph Gumina, Michele 'Mike' Mineo and Vito Seidita. Mineo was a former capodecina who sat on the seggia when previous bosses were in charge according to Maniaci so either he was off the council for a time and returned or he was somehow confused for a "Pete" or "Phil". Vito Seidita could have been confused for one of those names as well, maybe "Pete". The FBI identifying 7 members of the seggia in 1965 lends itself to the 1964 seggia meeting having seven actual consiglieri and two additional visitors.

- Differences between the 1964 and 65 consiglio show that at the very least "Nino" lost his seat, with questions as to whether "Pete" and "Phil" were butchered names or individuals who also lost their seats.

---

- With the above in mind, interesting to compare the 1964 and 1967 charts given by Maniaci:

1963
Boss - Frank Balistrieri
Underboss - Vacant
Consigliere - formerly Carlo Zarcone but Maniaci isn't sure he still holds it
Capodecina - John Alioto (crew of old timers)
Capodecina - Peter Balistrieri

1967
Boss - Frank Balistrieri
Underboss - Joe Caminiti
Consigliere - Vito Seidita?
Capodecina - Joe Gumina (crew of old timers)
Capodecina - Peter Balistrieri

- Maniaci said the 1967 hierarchy had been the same for one or two years previous so it goes back to 1965 or 66. He also said he was guessing Seidita was the consigliere because he was the "logical choice" but as with 1963 / Zarcone he doesn't seem to know who actually held the position of official consigliere. He doesn't have a problem identifying who holds the other ranks but consigliere was only vague to him.

- Interesting too that the position of capodecina over the elderly group was first held by a former boss then held by a former underboss. According to Maniaci, Gumina also once had a decina reporting to him while he was underboss. It's clear that members could go up and down in rank in Milwaukee.

- Comparing the 1963 hierarchy to the 1964 consiglio, you have the boss, the (soon to be?) underboss, and the capidecine attending (though unclear if Pete Balistrieri had an actual seat yet), but the other seats were held by soldiers. Carlo Zarcone was not on the consiglio in 1964 despite being the former consigliere but they do make reference to "Zaccone" (ph) on the tape, no doubt Zarcone.

cavita wrote: ↑Wed Jun 21, 2023 9:46 am

B. wrote: ↑Tue Jun 20, 2023 9:36 pm Something interesting...

Frank Bompensiero's first wife Thelma Sanfilippo was born in Milwaukee like him and they married in CA in 1929. Her father was Lorenzo Sanfilippo who came to Milwaukee from Santa Flavia and his naturalization witnesses were Giovanni Guardalabene and Tony Bellant. These same two men also witnessed the naturalization of early Milwaukee boss Vito Guardalabene and two of Vito's children married Bellants. As Cavita mentioned in the original post, Milwaukee member John Pernice also married a Sanfilippo.

Outside of a mid-1970s visit to Milwaukee where he met with Frank Balistrieri and his reports of hanging out with Frank's San Diego-based uncle Big Frank Balistrieri, I haven't seen Bomp talk too much about Milwaukee even though he was from there. Given his father-in-law Lorenzo Sanfilippo was obviously close to the Guardalabene clan and shared the same naturalization witnesses as the boss Vito, I'm wondering if he was an early member.

We discussed it in another thread, but Bomp's nephew said Frank's uncle Giovanni Bompensiero was who connected Bomp with Dragna. A cousin of Frank also named Giovanni Bompensiero arrived to San Diego to his uncle Lorenzo Sanfilippo, Frank's future father-in-law. The uncle Giovanni Bompensiero is another likely member from that era if he was friendly with Jack Dragna.

--

Frank Bompensiero was born in Wisconsin according to his marriage certificate and the Wisconsin birth index, but it looks like he spent time in Sicily during his youth. In 1922, a sailor born the same year named Francesco Bompensiero arrived to Milwaukee from Santa Flavia and listed his father as Giuseppe Bompensiero (same name as Frank's father) and he was arriving to an uncle named Donato Tagliavia, same surname as Frank's mother.

And it calls to mind Pietro Sanfilippo, born in Santa Flavia, who first appeared in Milwaukee, then Madison and then in Rockford where he was involved with the LCN there possibly being an early member. Sanfilippo was accused of murdering a man by the name of Tomasello, I believe, in Chicago but was found not guilty. The Wickersham Report stated he was a very active bootlegger in southern Wisconsin and that he may have even been related to Charles Sanfilippo of the Unione Siciliano in Chicago. After serving time in Leavenworth for bootlegging in the huge Rockford conspiracy case, Sanfilippo moved to California where he died in the 1950s. It would be interesting to know he was involved in the rackets there.

B. wrote: ↑Tue Jun 20, 2023 9:36 pm Something interesting...

Frank Bompensiero's first wife Thelma Sanfilippo was born in Milwaukee like him and they married in CA in 1929. Her father was Lorenzo Sanfilippo who came to Milwaukee from Santa Flavia and his naturalization witnesses were Giovanni Guardalabene and Tony Bellant. These same two men also witnessed the naturalization of early Milwaukee boss Vito Guardalabene and two of Vito's children married Bellants. As Cavita mentioned in the original post, Milwaukee member John Pernice also married a Sanfilippo.

Outside of a mid-1970s visit to Milwaukee where he met with Frank Balistrieri and his reports of hanging out with Frank's San Diego-based uncle Big Frank Balistrieri, I haven't seen Bomp talk too much about Milwaukee even though he was from there. Given his father-in-law Lorenzo Sanfilippo was obviously close to the Guardalabene clan and shared the same naturalization witnesses as the boss Vito, I'm wondering if he was an early member.

We discussed it in another thread, but Bomp's nephew said Frank's uncle Giovanni Bompensiero was who connected Bomp with Dragna. A cousin of Frank also named Giovanni Bompensiero arrived to San Diego to his uncle Lorenzo Sanfilippo, Frank's future father-in-law. The uncle Giovanni Bompensiero is another likely member from that era if he was friendly with Jack Dragna.

--

Frank Bompensiero was born in Wisconsin according to his marriage certificate and the Wisconsin birth index, but it looks like he spent time in Sicily during his youth. In 1922, a sailor born the same year named Francesco Bompensiero arrived to Milwaukee from Santa Flavia and listed his father as Giuseppe Bompensiero (same name as Frank's father) and he was arriving to an uncle named Donato Tagliavia, same surname as Frank's mother.