Philip La Rosa is described in news articles as prolific informant on Buffalo’s underworld including the heroin trafficking operation of Andy Aiello
La Rosa’s 1961 Arrival in Buffalo
Sicilian born Philip La Rosa arrived at Buffalo in 1961 and quickly become involved in Buffalo’s underworld. With Italian being his first language Philip was described by law enforcement as speaking broken English.
Joins Local 210
Upon moving to Buffalo he quickly became a laborer in mob controlled Local 210 and by1964 we was receiving disability pension payment from the local for a supposed injury he had incurred.
Gambling Arrest
La Rosa’s first know arrest was in 1966 after a raid on a mafia run gambling center located at 858 Prospect Ave. in Buffalo. A number of those who were arrested included known members and associates of the Magaddino family.
Pat Natarelli
Dan Sansanese (Sr.)
Nick Rizzo
Albert Billiteri
Benny Spano
Sam Frangiomore
Nick Fino
Billy Sciolino
Sam Todaro
Domenic Nigro
Counterfeiting Ring Arrest
In 1982 the government found over $100,000 in counterfeit fifty dollar bills in the roof of La Rosa’s car. Law enforcement indicated he was a middleman in an international counterfeiting ring. The fifty dollar bills were believe to be printed in Montreal. La Rosa’s codefendant Giuseppe Rizzolo of Lewiston was the currier who picked the counterfeit money in New York City, presumable from Carlo Cusenza, another codefendant from the Bronx. Cusenza then transported the fake money to the Metro Transit Terminal in Buffalo where it was picked up by La Rosa and Betulia D’Agostino.
La Rosa received no prison time for his involvement in this counterfeiting ring. In 1984 he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to three years probation.
Becomes an Informer
A few year later information surfaced that La Rosa had become a government informant. Defense attorneys, for those whom Philip had informed against, speculated his informer status was the reason he received no jail time.
Andrea Aiello & La Rosa
Shortly after La Rosa’s arrest for counterfeiting, another Sicilian born Buffalonian named Andrea Aiello was arrested for his involvement in a large scale heroin trafficking network.
Aiello came from Sicily to Buffalo in 1961, the same year as La Rosa. Andrea first entered the US via Miami in May on a visitors visa. He later left the country and re-entered the US through New York City as a permanent resident in December of the same year. He became an naturalized citizen in 1972 and was described as having family roots in Buffalo.
Just like La Rosa, Andy Aiello began working in the mob controlled Local 210 shorty after arriving in Buffalo. In 1979 he opened a ceramic tile store in an old warehouse on Delaware Avenue in Niagara Falls.
Aiello Heroin Ring Arrest
On September 20, 1983 Andrea Aiello’s home in North Buffalo and tile businesses in Niagara Falls were subject to and early morning raid by authorities. At his arraignment later that day Aiello was described as the kingpin of a large heroin trafficking network. Prosecutors asked for bail to be 15 million dollars but was set at 2 million. In broken English Aiello denied knowing anything about the heroin. When asked about the Aiello’s after Andy’s arrest his neighbors were tight lipped saying they “preferred not to answer.”
A Random Search?
The FBI indicated that Aiello’s heroin arrest was the result of a random search at Port Newark. During this search where enforcement authorities found and intercepted a shipment of heroin that had been aboard Italian ship Abler Maersk. The Heroin was packed in wood pallets surrounding a shipment of granite headed to Aiello’s tile store.
Weeklong Surveillance Results in Arrests
The weeklong surveillance operation caught Andy sighting seeing in Niagara Falls with 3 individuals from New York City. This surveillance operation resulted not only in Aiello’s arrest but the the arrest of 6 others: Lorenzo Scaduto of Long Island, Salvatore Bartolotta of Queens, Angelo Golio of the Bronx, Michael Altamura of Queens, Fillipo Ragusa of Queens. Peter Graffeo and Domenico Logalbo of Sicily.
Aiello and The Sicilian Connection
Later that week authorities indicated the drug route was part of the Sicilian connection and tied to the Gambino mafia clan of Palermo Sicily. Italian authorities indicated Filippo Ragusa had previously been charged along with 74 others in the Sicilian connection that had shipped an estimated $600 million worth of heroin into the US from Palermo, Sicily. Mr. Galluzza a journalist from Italy who is recognized as a expert on Italian organized crime told the Buffalo News through and interpreter that Ragusa was “very big in the Sicilian mafia.” The Buffalo News also reported that
Family & Social Connections
Those arrested in NY City were said to have numerous familial and social connections to each other. In fact, Andy Aiello’s brother Joseph and nephew Michael Ducato were arrested for their alleged involvement a few months later. Both were acquitted on their respective charges.
Joe Aiello, Andy’s Brother
Joe Aiello, got caught talking to Andy about the 3 pound heroin shortage in the shipment that had been under surveillance. He was never did time. Like his brother he was part of Local 210. In the mid to late '80's Joseph became a union steward and worked for paving and bridge construction companies that utilized laborers from local 210. During the 80’s steward positions were often no-show jobs for members and associates of the Buffalo mob and their family.
Note
[Jospeh married Rose Sciortino on August 26, 1964. Their son John J. Aiello married Lina DeLuca on Saturday, June 6, 1992 at All Souls Catholic Church in Hamilton, Ontario. Her parents were Salvatore and Matilde DeLuca of Stoney Creek. Their reception was held at Samuel’s Grand Manor which wis owned by the Pezzino family. Joe Pezzino, a rumored made man in the Buffalo crime family, is alleged by Buffalo lawyer William Iannaccone to have embezzled his father’s money and laundered in a Reno Casino with Frank Ciminelli. Pezzino then took laundered proceeds to start Samuel’s Grand Manor. Iannaccone writes:
Since 1983, I began investigating a million dollar investiment in US Savings Bonds, that rightfully belonged to my father. I brought the case to Surrogate's Court for an accounting. The evidence of the money trail shows, my Uncle Joe embezzled and was involved in the laundering of those funds in 1972. The funds were taken to Harrah's Casino, in Reno, Nev., and reported as gambled away, under my Soc. Sec. number. Then, under the guise of the proceeds of the sale of Wallace Transport Trucking Co., partially owned by Joe's brother, Sam, the funds were invested into Samuel's Grande Manor in 1978, the year my mother died.
https://www.samuelsgrandemanor.com/]
End Note…
Andy Aiello an Unknown?
Initially the Buffalo News reported that Andrea Aiello was a “virtual mystery man” to local and federal law enforcement. Law enforcement told reporters that he had gone “almost unnoticed.” One investigator who lived just three block from Aiello said he “almost never heard Aiello’s name on the streets even though he probes underworld activities on a full-time basis. Another investigator called him “Mr. Clean.” Headlines read, “Authorities Admit Being in Dark on Buffalo ‘Heroin connection.’”
Whistle Blower Discredits LE Reports
However a few days after these headlines a whistle blower contacted the Buffalo News and challenged these law enforcement statements. The Buffalo News reported that this “source” believed “federal agencies - particularly the DEA - had dragged their feet after obtaining information about Aiello’s part in the Sicilian Connection in 1979. This source indicated that U.S Customs and the DEA knew that Aiello had suspected Andy’s involvement with heroin trafficking “since at least may 15, 1979.”
The Memo
This whistleblower provided journalist Dan Herbeck of the Buffalo news with a “three-page memo from the U.S. Customs Services printed on U.S. Treasury letterhead dated June 18th, 1979. It indicated customs officials had placed a “watch notice” on shipments from Italy to Aiellos tile shop. Herbeck wrote, “This documents sheds some doubt on the depiction of Aiello as a “relative unknown” by federal agents… It also sheds doubts on reports from federal agents that a “routine search” of a shipment of marble tile” destined to Aiello’s shop resulted in law enforcement finding out about this heroin operation. The memo indicates that the U.S. Treasury was involved because “Aiello and Italian Ceramic Tile were subjects of an investigation regarding alleged currency violations related to the smuggling of Heroin in Italian ceramic articles.”
Aiello’s Linked to Sicilian Scaduto Family
The memo alerted authorities to the fact that Aiello’s tile business was linked with the Scaduto family of Bagheria, Italy who reportedly participated in over-seas heroin trafficking by concealing these narcotics in shipments of ceramic tile.
Aiello Sentenced to 26 Years
In July of 1984 Andrea Aiello was sentenced to 26 years in prison. Lawyers argued for a mistrial because Juror 1 had received “unauthorized communication from a third party.” A summary describes the incident as follows:
Juror number 1 received two anonymous phone calls asking for her by name and inquiring whether she was serving on a jury. During the second call the man said he wanted her to help a friend of his but he did not name anyone. In both cases, she hung up. Upset and alarmed, she telephoned the FBI and described herself to duty officer Marilyn Luck as "terrified." On the officer's advice, she spent the evening elsewhere without incident. On the following morning, as she was leaving her home, she was approached by a man whose voice she identified as the one she had heard on the telephone the day before. When the man, in an accent that "might have been Italian," asked whether she was Natalie, the juror rolled up the window of her car and drove off to the courthouse.
An appeal court ruled the presiding judge was was right in not declaring a mistrial.
Andy’s Release & Death
Prison records indicate Aiello was released in March of 1993. Aiello only lived for a few more years. He died suddenly on January 17, 1997.
Rumors
Rumors around Buffalo suggest Andy’s brother Joe took over his book sport book while he was in prison. They also suggest Andrea was a made man and that there was a large party thrown for him when he got out of prison in which he received lots of fat envelopes for doing his time and not talking. Aiello is said to have died of a heart attack in the basement of his home.
La Rosa Outed as an Informant
In February ’89 a WKBW newscast outed La Rosa as an federal informant and he was moved out of state by federal authorities. This move had already been in the works as the U.S attorney’s office had earlier sponsored La Rosa for membership in WITSEC the Federal Witness Security Program because by late ’88 and early ’89 word had his informer status had already begun to spread Buffalo’s underworld. When questioned various law enforcement officials confirmed that Philip had been a “key FBI informant for over 6 years.”
La Rosa Informed on Aiello
Law enforcement officials also indicated that La Rosa had “led the FBI to the 1983 arrest of Andrea Aiello.” Indeed these officials stated that Philip was “one of the most productive paid informers in the history of the local underworld.”
Defense lawyers in the BUSICO (Buffalo Sicilian Connection) cases theorized that La Rosa did not serve any jail time for his counterfeiting arrest because he had flipped and started informing about underworld activities in Western New York.
La Rosa and BUSICO
The Buffalo News reported that La Rosa helped undercover agents Joseph Clyne and Thomas Thurston establish a bogus import-export business in Hamburg, a Southtowns suburb of Buffalo. Philips activity didn’t stop there. Officials indicated he traveled throughout the US and Italy with these undercover agents introducing them to drug traffickers in both countries. His activity led to over 200 arrests in Italy and the United States.
Buffalo BUSICO Arrests
In Buffalo 12 arrests were the result of the BUSICO probe. At the time of the arrests The Buffalo News wrote:
While those arrested elsewhere were described by authorities as members of various organized-crime families, law enforcement sources said those taken into custody here were hustlers out to make a quick dollar once they learned that someone in town was buying cocaine
These arrests occurred in December of 1988 and the individuals arrested were as follows:
1. Joseph P. Lombardo
BUSICO related cocaine charge. He sold 3 ounces of cocaine for $5,100 to an informant who was working with the FBI in the operation.
Lombardo owned funeral homes in Buffalo and several of its suburbs. He was active in several civic groups and was the president of the Lackawanna Chamber of Commerce which named him its Man of the Year in 1987.
FBI documents on Joe Todaro Sr. from 1981 indicate Lombardo received permission from Buffalo mob leadership to reopen a bookmaking operation in the Buffalo area. However, at the time of Joseph’s BUSICO arrest in 1988 law enforcement authorities told the Buffalo New that he had “no known mob ties.”
2. John R. Catanzaro (AKA Johnny Catz)
Catanzaro, another suspect in the BUSICO case, was arrested on charges relating to BUSICO spinoff investigation related to counterfeit Rolex watches. At trial the government provided audiotaped evidence of Cattanzaro arranged the sale of 100 counterfeit watches to Philip La Rosa. Johny ‘Catz’ told the judge that La Rosa had asked for the watches and offered to trade $30,000 worth of cocaine.
Catanzaro was a convicted burglar and a suspect in the murder of Billy Sciolino, anther local 210 Steward. The year prior to his BUSICO arrest he was indicted on labor racketeering charges.
Additionally, Catanzaro was one of two Laborers Local 210 officials indicted by a federal grand jury in April 1988 as part of a probe of no-show jobs on Western New York construction sites. As an auditor for Local 210, he was charged with demanding and receiving $35,000 in wages to guarantee labor peace as a no-show union steward on the construction of a brine pipeline between Wyoming County and Niagara Falls. Law enforcement documents posted by
3. Frank Grisanti
BUSICO related cocaine charge. Undercover agents indicated he desired to buy kilogram amounts of cocaine. He was charged with selling a gram for $50.
Frank Grisanti was a union steward for Local 210. He was involved with the Mazzara/Billiteri bookmaking andloan sharking operation. He arranged for a City Bank loan officer to get business of Local 91 in Niagara Falls as part of a plan for Moore to provide over $200,000 in fraudulent loans for gamblers cover their debts to the mob.
4. Ronald H. Chimera
BUSICO related cocaine charge. Ronald was an employee of J&M Distributors. This was a liquor wholesaling company owned by the Certo brothers of Niagara Falls. John C Certo of Lewiston was murdered in 1977 because of a dispute he had with a Buffalo mob member.
Note:
Anthony Chimera a state corrections officer was arrested for cocaine possession after traveling with girls softball team in 2003. Robert Chimera was arrested with Don Panepinto and Johnny Catz at Donatos Social Club 2000. I have not been able to determine a familial connection to Ronald.
End Note….
5. Frank J. Mahiques
BUSICO related cocaine charge. He was described as Joseph Lombardo’s partner in the drug deal that ended in their arrests. On December 22, 1986 Lombardo drove to Abbott Rd. Pizzeria where he walked to Mahiques car to deliver the cocaine. Mahiques then turned the drugs over to the FBI informant.
Mahiques was a remodeling contractor and a former harness racing driver.
6. Fred M. Saia
BUSICO related spinoff investigation into counterfeit watches charge. Saia was described as a “longtime organized-crime insider.” He was arrested with John Catanzaro on counterfeit watch charges. He started working with Local 210 in the 1950’s and became a foreman for the local. Fred worked on Steve Magaddino and Sam Frangiamore’s homes while on union time. He was proposed for membership in the Buffalo mob but thing went south after a bad firearms deal. He became an FBI informant in 1985 after he was caught in a small time cocaine deal because he feared reprisal from the Todaro’s who did not want their people involved in petty dealing. His testimony against Local 210 led to a number of mob members leaving the union.
7. Gary L. Carter
BUSICO related cocaine charges. Specific charges as follows: Two counts of distributing cocaine and one count of conspiracy. He is accused of selling 1 ounce of cocaine to and FBI agent in Lackawanna on Dec. 8, 1986, and 2 ounces in Orchard Park on Feb. 2, 1987. He was indicted with Paul Palledino and Angelo Rizzo. All three were described as local drug distributors.
Carter was the manager of Sunshine Motors, a South Buffalo car dealership.
8. Francis S. Catania
BUSICO related cocaine charge for selling 4 ounces of cocaine. Cantania immigrated tot he United States from Malta in 1955. He was a retired laborer from Bethlehem Steel Corp. employee and the father of Victor and Paul who are listed below.
9. Victor F. Catania
BUSICO charge for selling cocaine. Victor was arrested in Tampa Floria. He flew aerial advertiser planes trailing banners over Rich Stadium.
10. Paul Catania
BUSICO charge for selling cocaine. Paul was out of town in California when these arrests were made.
11. Paul J. Palladino, AKA “Big Paul"
BUSICO charge for selling cocaine. Paul was indicted with Gary Carter and Angelo Rizzo. The three were described in court papers as bing local drug distributors. Paul and Angelo Rizzo allegedly sold 2 ounces of cocaine in Buffalo to Philip La Rosa on March 29. 1988.
12. Angelo P. Rizzo
BUSICO charge for selling cocaine. Paul was indicted with Gary Carter and Angelo Rizzo. The three were described in court papers as bing local drug distributors. Paul and Angelo Rizzo allegedly sold 2 ounces of cocaine in Buffalo to Philip La Rosa on March 29. 1988. Rizzo was acquitted of the charges.
Buffalo Defense Attorneys’ Claims about La Rosa
Angelo Rizzo’s defense attorney claims that is was well known that La Rosa was "running around the West Side, trying to get anyone to sell him cocaine.” He also said, “Our belief is that he targeted people who were not cocaine dealers -- street people who knew where to get it, maybe, but not really dealers.”
Other defense attorneys “contend that their clients were brought into the international BUSICO investigation as an afterthought because law enforcement officials wanted to have some local arrests to announce at a news conference.”
Government spend $1,000,000
The government spent over $1,000,000 on its investigation into the Buffalo Sicilian Connection including having Philip LaRosa on its payroll. Defense attorney Paul Cambria said he objected to the FBI having paid informers saying, “If I paid my defense witnesses, the government would call that tampering.”
La Rosa Wanted $1,000,000+
Philip La Rosa wasn’t happy with what he received from the BUSICO operation. Federal rules at the time outlined that informants could receive up to 25% of the money and property seized by law enforcement as a result of their efforts. That 25% was capped at $250,000. Philip said federal investigators never told him about the cap.
The government indicated that under its present arrangement La Rosa was set to receive the $250,000 and had/was receiving living expenses, use of a car, and $3,000 a month during the probe. At the Rizzo , which was delayed because La Rosa wanted more money if he was going to testify it was revealed that he had already received nearly $600,000.
La Rosa’s Motivation for Becoming and Informant
When asked what motivated La Rosa to become and informant attorney said, "I'm sure there was a certain element of wanting to make the world a better place, but to be honest, for the most part, it was financial.”
Speaking to La Rosa’s motivation at the Rizzo trial the government indicated, “He's been involved with people in the criminal world for some time, but he's very opposed to drugs. He's a father, an old-fashioned Italian parent, and he is against drugs.”
Angelo Rizzo was acquittal
Angelo Rizzo one of the first defendant to stand trial for the BUSICO drug charges was acquitted. The Buffalo News reported that his defense attorney said two jurors told him that a lack of credibility by La Rosa was a major reason for the acquittal. "They thought La Rosa was a despicable character," Humann said, "and they thought the FBI's investigation was woeful.”
No More Testimony
Despite Philip La Rosa’s performance in the Rizzo trial the Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Guerra III indicated tat the verdict “was not an indication of La Rosa's value as a government informant.” He went on to say La Rosa probably would not testify again locally but would testify in trials in San Francisco and New York City.
La Rosa, Falzone, & D’Angelo Murder
Finally, in the Angelo Rizzo trial it was revealed that Philip La Rosa had provided the government information on the the Frank D’Angelo hit and 14 other homicides.
Frank D’Angelo was a master burglar who was murdered in 1974 outside Mulligan’s Cafe on Hertel Ave. because he didn’t share the profits of a heist with local mob leaders.
La Rosa indicted that he provided transportation a high ranking Buffalo mobster during the planning of the murder and that he helped by the bought the ski masks for the 3 man hit squad. In 1994, at Leonard Falzone’s loansharking trial information became public that Falzone talked with LaRosa about the details of the murder and had him get the mask for the homicide.
Falzone was never indicted for this homicide because key evidence including the murder weapon had disappeared from the Buffalo Police headquarters. Following Philip La Rosa’s information authorities had wished to utilize DNA evidence to tie the suspected hit team to this homicide.
Philip La Rosa is described in news articles as prolific informant on Buffalo’s underworld including the heroin trafficking operation of Andy Aiello
[b]La Rosa’s 1961 Arrival in Buffalo[/b]
Sicilian born Philip La Rosa arrived at Buffalo in 1961 and quickly become involved in Buffalo’s underworld. With Italian being his first language Philip was described by law enforcement as speaking broken English.
[b]Joins Local 210[/b]
Upon moving to Buffalo he quickly became a laborer in mob controlled Local 210 and by1964 we was receiving disability pension payment from the local for a supposed injury he had incurred.
[b]Gambling Arrest[/b]
La Rosa’s first know arrest was in 1966 after a raid on a mafia run gambling center located at 858 Prospect Ave. in Buffalo. A number of those who were arrested included known members and associates of the Magaddino family.
Pat Natarelli
Dan Sansanese (Sr.)
Nick Rizzo
Albert Billiteri
Benny Spano
Sam Frangiomore
Nick Fino
Billy Sciolino
Sam Todaro
Domenic Nigro
[b]Counterfeiting Ring Arrest[/b]
In 1982 the government found over $100,000 in counterfeit fifty dollar bills in the roof of La Rosa’s car. Law enforcement indicated he was a middleman in an international counterfeiting ring. The fifty dollar bills were believe to be printed in Montreal. La Rosa’s codefendant Giuseppe Rizzolo of Lewiston was the currier who picked the counterfeit money in New York City, presumable from Carlo Cusenza, another codefendant from the Bronx. Cusenza then transported the fake money to the Metro Transit Terminal in Buffalo where it was picked up by La Rosa and Betulia D’Agostino.
La Rosa received no prison time for his involvement in this counterfeiting ring. In 1984 he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to three years probation.
[b]Becomes an Informer[/b]
A few year later information surfaced that La Rosa had become a government informant. Defense attorneys, for those whom Philip had informed against, speculated his informer status was the reason he received no jail time.
[b]Andrea Aiello & La Rosa[/b]
Shortly after La Rosa’s arrest for counterfeiting, another Sicilian born Buffalonian named Andrea Aiello was arrested for his involvement in a large scale heroin trafficking network.
Aiello came from Sicily to Buffalo in 1961, the same year as La Rosa. Andrea first entered the US via Miami in May on a visitors visa. He later left the country and re-entered the US through New York City as a permanent resident in December of the same year. He became an naturalized citizen in 1972 and was described as having family roots in Buffalo.
Just like La Rosa, Andy Aiello began working in the mob controlled Local 210 shorty after arriving in Buffalo. In 1979 he opened a ceramic tile store in an old warehouse on Delaware Avenue in Niagara Falls.
[b]Aiello Heroin Ring Arrest[/b]
On September 20, 1983 Andrea Aiello’s home in North Buffalo and tile businesses in Niagara Falls were subject to and early morning raid by authorities. At his arraignment later that day Aiello was described as the kingpin of a large heroin trafficking network. Prosecutors asked for bail to be 15 million dollars but was set at 2 million. In broken English Aiello denied knowing anything about the heroin. When asked about the Aiello’s after Andy’s arrest his neighbors were tight lipped saying they “preferred not to answer.”
[b]A Random Search?[/b]
The FBI indicated that Aiello’s heroin arrest was the result of a random search at Port Newark. During this search where enforcement authorities found and intercepted a shipment of heroin that had been aboard Italian ship Abler Maersk. The Heroin was packed in wood pallets surrounding a shipment of granite headed to Aiello’s tile store.
[b]Weeklong Surveillance Results in Arrests[/b]
The weeklong surveillance operation caught Andy sighting seeing in Niagara Falls with 3 individuals from New York City. This surveillance operation resulted not only in Aiello’s arrest but the the arrest of 6 others: Lorenzo Scaduto of Long Island, Salvatore Bartolotta of Queens, Angelo Golio of the Bronx, Michael Altamura of Queens, Fillipo Ragusa of Queens. Peter Graffeo and Domenico Logalbo of Sicily.
[b]Aiello and The Sicilian Connection[/b]
Later that week authorities indicated the drug route was part of the Sicilian connection and tied to the Gambino mafia clan of Palermo Sicily. Italian authorities indicated Filippo Ragusa had previously been charged along with 74 others in the Sicilian connection that had shipped an estimated $600 million worth of heroin into the US from Palermo, Sicily. Mr. Galluzza a journalist from Italy who is recognized as a expert on Italian organized crime told the Buffalo News through and interpreter that Ragusa was “very big in the Sicilian mafia.” The Buffalo News also reported that
[b]Family & Social Connections[/b]
Those arrested in NY City were said to have numerous familial and social connections to each other. In fact, Andy Aiello’s brother Joseph and nephew Michael Ducato were arrested for their alleged involvement a few months later. Both were acquitted on their respective charges.
[b]Joe Aiello, Andy’s Brother[/b]
Joe Aiello, got caught talking to Andy about the 3 pound heroin shortage in the shipment that had been under surveillance. He was never did time. Like his brother he was part of Local 210. In the mid to late '80's Joseph became a union steward and worked for paving and bridge construction companies that utilized laborers from local 210. During the 80’s steward positions were often no-show jobs for members and associates of the Buffalo mob and their family.
Note
[Jospeh married Rose Sciortino on August 26, 1964. Their son John J. Aiello married Lina DeLuca on Saturday, June 6, 1992 at All Souls Catholic Church in Hamilton, Ontario. Her parents were Salvatore and Matilde DeLuca of Stoney Creek. Their reception was held at Samuel’s Grand Manor which wis owned by the Pezzino family. Joe Pezzino, a rumored made man in the Buffalo crime family, is alleged by Buffalo lawyer William Iannaccone to have embezzled his father’s money and laundered in a Reno Casino with Frank Ciminelli. Pezzino then took laundered proceeds to start Samuel’s Grand Manor. Iannaccone writes:
[quote]Since 1983, I began investigating a million dollar investiment in US Savings Bonds, that rightfully belonged to my father. I brought the case to Surrogate's Court for an accounting. The evidence of the money trail shows, my Uncle Joe embezzled and was involved in the laundering of those funds in 1972. The funds were taken to Harrah's Casino, in Reno, Nev., and reported as gambled away, under my Soc. Sec. number. Then, under the guise of the proceeds of the sale of Wallace Transport Trucking Co., partially owned by Joe's brother, Sam, the funds were invested into Samuel's Grande Manor in 1978, the year my mother died. https://www.samuelsgrandemanor.com/][/quote]
End Note…
[b]Andy Aiello an Unknown?[/b]
Initially the Buffalo News reported that Andrea Aiello was a “virtual mystery man” to local and federal law enforcement. Law enforcement told reporters that he had gone “almost unnoticed.” One investigator who lived just three block from Aiello said he “almost never heard Aiello’s name on the streets even though he probes underworld activities on a full-time basis. Another investigator called him “Mr. Clean.” Headlines read, “Authorities Admit Being in Dark on Buffalo ‘Heroin connection.’”
[b]Whistle Blower Discredits LE Reports[/b]
However a few days after these headlines a whistle blower contacted the Buffalo News and challenged these law enforcement statements. The Buffalo News reported that this “source” believed “federal agencies - particularly the DEA - had dragged their feet after obtaining information about Aiello’s part in the Sicilian Connection in 1979. This source indicated that U.S Customs and the DEA knew that Aiello had suspected Andy’s involvement with heroin trafficking “since at least may 15, 1979.”
[b]The Memo[/b]
This whistleblower provided journalist Dan Herbeck of the Buffalo news with a “three-page memo from the U.S. Customs Services printed on U.S. Treasury letterhead dated June 18th, 1979. It indicated customs officials had placed a “watch notice” on shipments from Italy to Aiellos tile shop. Herbeck wrote, “This documents sheds some doubt on the depiction of Aiello as a “relative unknown” by federal agents… It also sheds doubts on reports from federal agents that a “routine search” of a shipment of marble tile” destined to Aiello’s shop resulted in law enforcement finding out about this heroin operation. The memo indicates that the U.S. Treasury was involved because “Aiello and Italian Ceramic Tile were subjects of an investigation regarding alleged currency violations related to the smuggling of Heroin in Italian ceramic articles.”
[b]Aiello’s Linked to Sicilian Scaduto Family[/b]
The memo alerted authorities to the fact that Aiello’s tile business was linked with the Scaduto family of Bagheria, Italy who reportedly participated in over-seas heroin trafficking by concealing these narcotics in shipments of ceramic tile.
[b]Aiello Sentenced to 26 Year[/b]s
In July of 1984 Andrea Aiello was sentenced to 26 years in prison. Lawyers argued for a mistrial because Juror 1 had received “unauthorized communication from a third party.” A summary describes the incident as follows:
[quote]Juror number 1 received two anonymous phone calls asking for her by name and inquiring whether she was serving on a jury. During the second call the man said he wanted her to help a friend of his but he did not name anyone. In both cases, she hung up. Upset and alarmed, she telephoned the FBI and described herself to duty officer Marilyn Luck as "terrified." On the officer's advice, she spent the evening elsewhere without incident. On the following morning, as she was leaving her home, she was approached by a man whose voice she identified as the one she had heard on the telephone the day before. When the man, in an accent that "might have been Italian," asked whether she was Natalie, the juror rolled up the window of her car and drove off to the courthouse. [/quote]
An appeal court ruled the presiding judge was was right in not declaring a mistrial.
[b]Andy’s Release & Death[/b]
Prison records indicate Aiello was released in March of 1993. Aiello only lived for a few more years. He died suddenly on January 17, 1997.
[b]Rumors [/b]
Rumors around Buffalo suggest Andy’s brother Joe took over his book sport book while he was in prison. They also suggest Andrea was a made man and that there was a large party thrown for him when he got out of prison in which he received lots of fat envelopes for doing his time and not talking. Aiello is said to have died of a heart attack in the basement of his home.
[b]La Rosa Outed as an Informant[/b]
In February ’89 a WKBW newscast outed La Rosa as an federal informant and he was moved out of state by federal authorities. This move had already been in the works as the U.S attorney’s office had earlier sponsored La Rosa for membership in WITSEC the Federal Witness Security Program because by late ’88 and early ’89 word had his informer status had already begun to spread Buffalo’s underworld. When questioned various law enforcement officials confirmed that Philip had been a “key FBI informant for over 6 years.”
[b]La Rosa Informed on Aiello[/b]
Law enforcement officials also indicated that La Rosa had “led the FBI to the 1983 arrest of Andrea Aiello.” Indeed these officials stated that Philip was “one of the most productive paid informers in the history of the local underworld.”
Defense lawyers in the BUSICO (Buffalo Sicilian Connection) cases theorized that La Rosa did not serve any jail time for his counterfeiting arrest because he had flipped and started informing about underworld activities in Western New York.
[b]La Rosa and BUSICO[/b]
The Buffalo News reported that La Rosa helped undercover agents Joseph Clyne and Thomas Thurston establish a bogus import-export business in Hamburg, a Southtowns suburb of Buffalo. Philips activity didn’t stop there. Officials indicated he traveled throughout the US and Italy with these undercover agents introducing them to drug traffickers in both countries. His activity led to over 200 arrests in Italy and the United States.
[b]Buffalo BUSICO Arrests[/b]
In Buffalo 12 arrests were the result of the BUSICO probe. At the time of the arrests The Buffalo News wrote:
While those arrested elsewhere were described by authorities as members of various organized-crime families, law enforcement sources said those taken into custody here were hustlers out to make a quick dollar once they learned that someone in town was buying cocaine
These arrests occurred in December of 1988 and the individuals arrested were as follows:
[b]1. Joseph P. Lombardo[/b]
BUSICO related cocaine charge. He sold 3 ounces of cocaine for $5,100 to an informant who was working with the FBI in the operation.
Lombardo owned funeral homes in Buffalo and several of its suburbs. He was active in several civic groups and was the president of the Lackawanna Chamber of Commerce which named him its Man of the Year in 1987.
FBI documents on Joe Todaro Sr. from 1981 indicate Lombardo received permission from Buffalo mob leadership to reopen a bookmaking operation in the Buffalo area. However, at the time of Joseph’s BUSICO arrest in 1988 law enforcement authorities told the Buffalo New that he had “no known mob ties.”
[b]2. John R. Catanzaro (AKA Johnny Catz)[/b]
Catanzaro, another suspect in the BUSICO case, was arrested on charges relating to BUSICO spinoff investigation related to counterfeit Rolex watches. At trial the government provided audiotaped evidence of Cattanzaro arranged the sale of 100 counterfeit watches to Philip La Rosa. Johny ‘Catz’ told the judge that La Rosa had asked for the watches and offered to trade $30,000 worth of cocaine.
Catanzaro was a convicted burglar and a suspect in the murder of Billy Sciolino, anther local 210 Steward. The year prior to his BUSICO arrest he was indicted on labor racketeering charges.
Additionally, Catanzaro was one of two Laborers Local 210 officials indicted by a federal grand jury in April 1988 as part of a probe of no-show jobs on Western New York construction sites. As an auditor for Local 210, he was charged with demanding and receiving $35,000 in wages to guarantee labor peace as a no-show union steward on the construction of a brine pipeline between Wyoming County and Niagara Falls. Law enforcement documents posted by
[b]3. Frank Grisanti [/b]
BUSICO related cocaine charge. Undercover agents indicated he desired to buy kilogram amounts of cocaine. He was charged with selling a gram for $50.
Frank Grisanti was a union steward for Local 210. He was involved with the Mazzara/Billiteri bookmaking andloan sharking operation. He arranged for a City Bank loan officer to get business of Local 91 in Niagara Falls as part of a plan for Moore to provide over $200,000 in fraudulent loans for gamblers cover their debts to the mob.
[b]4. Ronald H. Chimera[/b]
BUSICO related cocaine charge. Ronald was an employee of J&M Distributors. This was a liquor wholesaling company owned by the Certo brothers of Niagara Falls. John C Certo of Lewiston was murdered in 1977 because of a dispute he had with a Buffalo mob member.
Note:
Anthony Chimera a state corrections officer was arrested for cocaine possession after traveling with girls softball team in 2003. Robert Chimera was arrested with Don Panepinto and Johnny Catz at Donatos Social Club 2000. I have not been able to determine a familial connection to Ronald.
End Note….
[b]5. Frank J. Mahiques [/b]
BUSICO related cocaine charge. He was described as Joseph Lombardo’s partner in the drug deal that ended in their arrests. On December 22, 1986 Lombardo drove to Abbott Rd. Pizzeria where he walked to Mahiques car to deliver the cocaine. Mahiques then turned the drugs over to the FBI informant.
Mahiques was a remodeling contractor and a former harness racing driver.
[b]6. Fred M. Saia[/b]
BUSICO related spinoff investigation into counterfeit watches charge. Saia was described as a “longtime organized-crime insider.” He was arrested with John Catanzaro on counterfeit watch charges. He started working with Local 210 in the 1950’s and became a foreman for the local. Fred worked on Steve Magaddino and Sam Frangiamore’s homes while on union time. He was proposed for membership in the Buffalo mob but thing went south after a bad firearms deal. He became an FBI informant in 1985 after he was caught in a small time cocaine deal because he feared reprisal from the Todaro’s who did not want their people involved in petty dealing. His testimony against Local 210 led to a number of mob members leaving the union.
[b]7. Gary L. Carter[/b]
BUSICO related cocaine charges. Specific charges as follows: Two counts of distributing cocaine and one count of conspiracy. He is accused of selling 1 ounce of cocaine to and FBI agent in Lackawanna on Dec. 8, 1986, and 2 ounces in Orchard Park on Feb. 2, 1987. He was indicted with Paul Palledino and Angelo Rizzo. All three were described as local drug distributors.
Carter was the manager of Sunshine Motors, a South Buffalo car dealership.
[b]8. Francis S. Catania [/b]
BUSICO related cocaine charge for selling 4 ounces of cocaine. Cantania immigrated tot he United States from Malta in 1955. He was a retired laborer from Bethlehem Steel Corp. employee and the father of Victor and Paul who are listed below.
[b]9. Victor F. Catania[/b]
BUSICO charge for selling cocaine. Victor was arrested in Tampa Floria. He flew aerial advertiser planes trailing banners over Rich Stadium.
[b]10. Paul Catania[/b]
BUSICO charge for selling cocaine. Paul was out of town in California when these arrests were made.
[b]11. Paul J. Palladino, AKA “Big Paul"[/b]
BUSICO charge for selling cocaine. Paul was indicted with Gary Carter and Angelo Rizzo. The three were described in court papers as bing local drug distributors. Paul and Angelo Rizzo allegedly sold 2 ounces of cocaine in Buffalo to Philip La Rosa on March 29. 1988.
[b]12. Angelo P. Rizzo[/b]
BUSICO charge for selling cocaine. Paul was indicted with Gary Carter and Angelo Rizzo. The three were described in court papers as bing local drug distributors. Paul and Angelo Rizzo allegedly sold 2 ounces of cocaine in Buffalo to Philip La Rosa on March 29. 1988. Rizzo was acquitted of the charges.
[b]Buffalo Defense Attorneys’ Claims about La Rosa[/b]
Angelo Rizzo’s defense attorney claims that is was well known that La Rosa was "running around the West Side, trying to get anyone to sell him cocaine.” He also said, “Our belief is that he targeted people who were not cocaine dealers -- street people who knew where to get it, maybe, but not really dealers.”
Other defense attorneys “contend that their clients were brought into the international BUSICO investigation as an afterthought because law enforcement officials wanted to have some local arrests to announce at a news conference.”
[b]Government spend $1,000,000[/b]
The government spent over $1,000,000 on its investigation into the Buffalo Sicilian Connection including having Philip LaRosa on its payroll. Defense attorney Paul Cambria said he objected to the FBI having paid informers saying, “If I paid my defense witnesses, the government would call that tampering.”
[b]La Rosa Wanted $1,000,000+[/b]
Philip La Rosa wasn’t happy with what he received from the BUSICO operation. Federal rules at the time outlined that informants could receive up to 25% of the money and property seized by law enforcement as a result of their efforts. That 25% was capped at $250,000. Philip said federal investigators never told him about the cap.
The government indicated that under its present arrangement La Rosa was set to receive the $250,000 and had/was receiving living expenses, use of a car, and $3,000 a month during the probe. At the Rizzo , which was delayed because La Rosa wanted more money if he was going to testify it was revealed that he had already received nearly $600,000.
[b]La Rosa’s Motivation for Becoming and Informant[/b]
When asked what motivated La Rosa to become and informant attorney said, "I'm sure there was a certain element of wanting to make the world a better place, but to be honest, for the most part, it was financial.”
Speaking to La Rosa’s motivation at the Rizzo trial the government indicated, “He's been involved with people in the criminal world for some time, but he's very opposed to drugs. He's a father, an old-fashioned Italian parent, and he is against drugs.”
[b]Angelo Rizzo was acquittal[/b]
Angelo Rizzo one of the first defendant to stand trial for the BUSICO drug charges was acquitted. The Buffalo News reported that his defense attorney said two jurors told him that a lack of credibility by La Rosa was a major reason for the acquittal. "They thought La Rosa was a despicable character," Humann said, "and they thought the FBI's investigation was woeful.”
[b]No More Testimony[/b]
Despite Philip La Rosa’s performance in the Rizzo trial the Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Guerra III indicated tat the verdict “was not an indication of La Rosa's value as a government informant.” He went on to say La Rosa probably would not testify again locally but would testify in trials in San Francisco and New York City.
[b]La Rosa, Falzone, & D’Angelo Murder[/b]
Finally, in the Angelo Rizzo trial it was revealed that Philip La Rosa had provided the government information on the the Frank D’Angelo hit and 14 other homicides.
Frank D’Angelo was a master burglar who was murdered in 1974 outside Mulligan’s Cafe on Hertel Ave. because he didn’t share the profits of a heist with local mob leaders.
La Rosa indicted that he provided transportation a high ranking Buffalo mobster during the planning of the murder and that he helped by the bought the ski masks for the 3 man hit squad. In 1994, at Leonard Falzone’s loansharking trial information became public that Falzone talked with LaRosa about the details of the murder and had him get the mask for the homicide.
Falzone was never indicted for this homicide because key evidence including the murder weapon had disappeared from the Buffalo Police headquarters. Following Philip La Rosa’s information authorities had wished to utilize DNA evidence to tie the suspected hit team to this homicide.