THE BLACK HAND FORUM

Looks like there is more to the Seattle connection.

In 1927, papers described a Joseph [b]Vaccarino[/b] as a "member of a secret Italian society in Seattle" but he was killed in a so-called "Black Hand" conflict while hiding out in Los Angeles. He was a resident of Seattle and originally came from Siculiana.

Note on the manifest when Vito Rizzuto and Calogero Renda came to the US, they are with their paesan Mercurio Campisi who is heading to his uncle Alfonso [b]Vaccarino[/b] in Seattle, while the other companions are from Siculiana and heading to Los Angeles.

That manifest has interested me in part because one of their companions was headed to Seattle. That isn't far from Vancouver BC where Gentile relatives were settled and later they were joined by the Siculianese mafioso Giuseppe Gentile and his father Gerlando, Nicola's brother. Gerlando Gentile visited Seattle in 1937 on his way to Spokane in Eastern WA while living in Canada. There were Sciascias and Pascuzzos from Agrigento in Spokane at the time but I don't know which comune they came from.

Gerlando Gentile was probably a mafioso himself and Nicola lived in Cattolica Eraclea for a time. The Rizzutos and Rendas were connected to the Bonannos in NYC then later Montreal and Gentile was briefly a Bonanno member much earlier and visited Quebec. Nicola Gentile was arguably the most important figure in this international network of villages at the time these guys arrived so no doubt they knew of the Gentiles if not knew them.

Seattle / Tacoma's small Italian population surprisingly did have an element from Agrigento. There were immigrants from Siculiana (Zaccaria, Vaccarino, Gagliano, Laiara), Sciacca (Bellanca), Menfi (Giglio, Busterna), Burgio (Pecoraro, Campo), Licata (Sanges?, Peritore, Biagioni), San Giovanni Gemini (Barno), Montevago (Monteleone), likely among others. There were a number of immigrants from around Palermo province as well, which brings to mind Portland and Eugene where there were Palermitan mafiosi linked to Pittsburgh, California Bay Area, and Ohio. Cavita found an early mafia figure who lived in Portland and was from Calascibetta in Enna but he was ultimately killed in Illinois and linked to Chicago and Rockford.

Seems likely that mafiosi at least passed through Seattle but there is less info than Portland and BC, which themselves are very limited. Overall it is looking like the region was "in network" with the mafia but not particularly potent.

Oh ok. Long time I don't read The Sixth Family Family, my bad and thanks for the corrections.

^^^^
In [i]Business or Blood[/i], the co-authors write as follows on p. 82 about the January 19, 1925 arrival in New Orleans of Vito Rizzuto Sr. (and Calogero Renda):

[i]Vito Sr.'s travel documents declared that he had a cousin named Pietro Marino in New Orleans. There is no record of a relative with any such name, but the lie smoothed his entry into the United States. He also declared that he was an unmarried labourer.[/i]

Vito Sr. was of course married to Maria Renda before 1925, with son Nicolò having been born in February 1924. Adrian Humphreys and Lee Lamothe also write in [i]The Sixth Family[/i] about Vito Sr. lying about his marital status (p. 5, ch. 1, 3rd ed.). Per the ch. 13 endnotes in Edwards and Nicaso's book, the co-authors had copies of Vito Sr.'s and Renda's citizenship papers from November 5, 1931, as well as Vito Sr.'s immigration files from the US Department of Homeland Security.

Humphreys and Lamothe also write that Mercurio Campisi, who arrived in New Orleans with Vito and Renda Sr., also travelled using false documents (p. 15); that Giuseppe Sciortino admitted during a deportation hearing that he bought his own travel documents for 3,000 lire (p. 16); and that Vincenzo Marino, per the conclusion of Los Angeles detectives, never travelled to California.

[quote=B. post_id=81495 time=1529744588 user_id=127]
[b]Bonanno Family[/b]
Giuseppe Arcuri (I believe he was from CE and related to the others, but could be wrong. Not sure where in NYC he lived)
Nicholas Buttafuoco (Bronx)
Emanuel Guaragna (Bronx)
Giuseppe LoPresti (Canada)
Giuseppe Renda (Canada)
Paolo Renda (Canada)
Nicolo Rizzuto (Canada)
Vito Rizzuto (Canada)
Gerlando Sciascia (Bronx/Canada)

[i]Possible Bonanno associates/members:[/i]
Domenico Arcuri Sr. (Canada)
Antonino Arcuri (Canada)
Domenico Arcuri Jr. (Canada)
Rosario Arcuri (Bronx)
Leonardo Cammalleri (Canada)
Domenico Manno (Canada)
Emanuele Ragusa (Canada)
Vito Rizzuto (Bronx)
Calogero Renda (Bronx/Canada)

[b]Magaddino Family[/b]
Pasquale Sciortino (Auburn, NY)

[b]Notes:[/b]
- Buttafuoco was a made member under captain Nick Alfano, who himself was from Racalmuto in Agrigento not terribly far from Cattolica Eraclea. In the early 1970s, Buttafuoco, Domenico Arcuri, and Alfano met with Canadian members to, I believe, help settle issues between Nick Rizzuto and Paolo Violi.

- Alfano had other ties to Canada, including a phone call with Ontario-based Magaddino member Calogero Bordonaro noted in a 1960s FBI report.

- JD shared in the past that the elder Vito Rizzuto and presumably Calogero Renda associated with Nick Alfano early on before Rizzuto's murder and Renda's departure from the US during the 1930s. This doesn't mean they were formally on record with the Bonannos but is a very striking and in my opinion "suggestive" connection.

- Rosario Arcuri, who looks to be a relative of the other Arcuris, was implicated in the murder of the elder Vito Rizzuto in the 1930s. Arcuri himself was killed relatively soon after.

- Emanuel Guaragna was a soldier in the Bronx crew of Vito and Patrick DeFilippo. Vito DeFilippo had previously held interests in Canada and served as a liaison to Canada following Carmine Galante's ban from Montreal and incarceration. Both DeFilippos were arrested in Canada, where they were coincidentally attending the wedding of the younger Vito Rizzuto. Decades later, Montreal-born Bonanno member Sal Montagna would be placed in Patrick DeFilippo's Bronx crew after the murder of Bronx/Montreal captain Gerlando Sciascia, with Montagna of course taking Canada by storm around a decade later.

- Gerlando Sciascia, as mentioned, was a Bronx-based Bonanno captain while formally in charge of the family's Montreal operations.

- Former captain and government witness Dominick Cicale claimed that the Montreal crew continued to do drug business with Bronx-based captain Vincent Basciano following the murder of Gerlando Sciascia. He also testified that Montagna of the Bronx-based DeFilippo crew served as a liaison in collecting tribute from Montreal at least one time during the mid-2000s.

- Pasquale Sciortino is to my knowledge the only mafiosi from Cattolica Eraclea who cannot be connected to the Bonanno family. He was a member of the Buffalo Magaddino family, which coincidentally (?) had a strong presence in Ontario. Sciortino didn't pass away until 1999 so I'd be curious if he was aware of his paesani from Cattolica Eraclea in the Bonanno family.

- The younger Vito Rizzuto's daughter is married to the son of Cattolica Eraclea-born drug trafficker Girolamo Sciortino of Ontaro. While he isn't the son of Pasquale and Sciortino could be a common name there like it is elsewhere, it is interesting that a mafia associate with that surname was operating in an area historically associated with the same crime family as the other Sciortino from CE.

We don't know the full extent of these connections and how much of it is coincidence, but it is pretty damn interesting how the Bronx is a recurring theme in all of this, both directly and indirectly, spanning around ~70 years. There seem to be other "meaningful coincidences" surrounding Cattolica Eraclea mafiosi as well. It's hard to piece it together into any kind of narrative so I won't bother, but it's worth pointing all of this out in my opinion.

If anyone knows of other mafia members or associates with Cattolica Eraclea roots who were associated with these groups or others, please feel free to add them. We can't confirm if some of the Montreal names were full-on members of a specific group and I already know I'm missing some of the younger figures' names, but at the very least we know they associated with members of that group and that's enough to include them in this discussion.

Anything else we can add, whether it's a name, fact, random connection, etc?
[/quote]

I was doing some research recently on the arrival of the Rizzuto family in North America and came across the passenger list of the SS Edan which arrived in New Orleans in 1925.

Besides Vito Rizzuto & Calogero Renda there are also 4 individuals from Siculiana.
[img]http://theblackhand.club/forum/ext/dmzx/imageupload/files/b0463d9e89a102c098d77488b35fc79e.png[/img]

[img]http://theblackhand.club/forum/ext/dmzx/imageupload/files/3883a0454648832e3bb7d1107eccca62.png[/img]

As you initially mention Pasquale Sciortino, you will notice that there is also a Giuseppe Sciortino on the list. As only 20 km separate Cattolica Eraclea & Siculiana is it possible that Pasquale & Giuseppe may be relative (even distant)?

Besides Campisi leaving for Seattle, the other Siculianese are then supposed to go to Los Angeles at the home of a man named Giovanni Marino (respectively the uncle of Giuseppe Sciortino and cousin of Vincenzo Marino). Rizzuto would have declared to the immigration services that he was supposed to go at a cousin named Pietro Marino in New Orleans.

The fact that Rizzuto states that he is a cousin of the Marinos (if it's the same ones) and that Vincenzo Marino is married to a lady named Giuseppina Caruana, seems to indicate that the Marinos would probably have been members of the Mafia in California and Cattolica/Siculiana I think.

Also, Francesco Giula was supposed to join an uncle named Sam Pira in Los Angeles. I was chatting with Antiliar elsewhere, and he was telling me that Pira could be Sam Piro, a relative of Vincenzo Piro, a major mafioso from New Orleans and Los Angeles associated with Vito Di Giorgio (if Antiliar goes here, he will explain it to you much better than me ^^). Which also makes us another connection with California...

Giula also lived in Detroit for a while
[img]http://theblackhand.club/forum/ext/dmzx/imageupload/files/44fefa608ebe19f8c990b4adb433b6e8.png[/img]

Even if Renda & Rizzuto did not stay long in Louisiana (2 years I think?), I wonder how much the colonies of the province of Agrigento were present there. It doesn't prove anything, but many years later Marcello's alleged consigliere was Vincenzo Campo and he was from Siculiana. I was also wondering if Vincenzo Campo was not a possible relative of Carlo Campo, a drug trafficker from Montreal close by Nicolo Rizzuto, but that seems complicated to me to establish.

Anyway, many questions and probably few answers, but I found these connections interesting. And since you were talking a bit about Agrigento these days, here's a good opportunity to unearth this 5-year-old thread

Most of the Sciortinos in the US were from the Bagheria area... one of them was a Bonanno, but most of them were in California and the midwest. It's a pretty common Sicilian surname, so I doubt the ones from Cattolica Eraclea are connected to others from around Sicily, but would be curious if the two we know of from CE are related.

Yeah, that's the one...
I dont know if there is a connection to the area in question, blood relation I mean...

you mean nino sciortino, the boss of camporeale and san giuseppe jato mandamento (palermo)

Only Sciortinos I've heard of recently was the New Madamento investigation...

[b]Bonanno Family[/b]
Giuseppe Arcuri (I believe he was from CE and related to the others, but could be wrong. Not sure where in NYC he lived)
Nicholas Buttafuoco (Bronx)
Emanuel Guaragna (Bronx)
Giuseppe LoPresti (Canada)
Giuseppe Renda (Canada)
Paolo Renda (Canada)
Nicolo Rizzuto (Canada)
Vito Rizzuto (Canada)
Gerlando Sciascia (Bronx/Canada)

[i]Possible Bonanno associates/members:[/i]
Domenico Arcuri Sr. (Canada)
Antonino Arcuri (Canada)
Domenico Arcuri Jr. (Canada)
Rosario Arcuri (Bronx)
Leonardo Cammalleri (Canada)
Domenico Manno (Canada)
Emanuele Ragusa (Canada)
Vito Rizzuto (Bronx)
Calogero Renda (Bronx/Canada)

[b]Magaddino Family[/b]
Pasquale Sciortino (Auburn, NY)

[b]Notes:[/b]
- Buttafuoco was a made member under captain Nick Alfano, who himself was from Racalmuto in Agrigento not terribly far from Cattolica Eraclea. In the early 1970s, Buttafuoco, Domenico Arcuri, and Alfano met with Canadian members to, I believe, help settle issues between Nick Rizzuto and Paolo Violi.

- Alfano had other ties to Canada, including a phone call with Ontario-based Magaddino member Calogero Bordonaro noted in a 1960s FBI report.

- JD shared in the past that the elder Vito Rizzuto and presumably Calogero Renda associated with Nick Alfano early on before Rizzuto's murder and Renda's departure from the US during the 1930s. This doesn't mean they were formally on record with the Bonannos but is a very striking and in my opinion "suggestive" connection.

- Rosario Arcuri, who looks to be a relative of the other Arcuris, was implicated in the murder of the elder Vito Rizzuto in the 1930s. Arcuri himself was killed relatively soon after.

- Emanuel Guaragna was a soldier in the Bronx crew of Vito and Patrick DeFilippo. Vito DeFilippo had previously held interests in Canada and served as a liaison to Canada following Carmine Galante's ban from Montreal and incarceration. Both DeFilippos were arrested in Canada, where they were coincidentally attending the wedding of the younger Vito Rizzuto. Decades later, Montreal-born Bonanno member Sal Montagna would be placed in Patrick DeFilippo's Bronx crew after the murder of Bronx/Montreal captain Gerlando Sciascia, with Montagna of course taking Canada by storm around a decade later.

- Gerlando Sciascia, as mentioned, was a Bronx-based Bonanno captain while formally in charge of the family's Montreal operations.

- Former captain and government witness Dominick Cicale claimed that the Montreal crew continued to do drug business with Bronx-based captain Vincent Basciano following the murder of Gerlando Sciascia. He also testified that Montagna of the Bronx-based DeFilippo crew served as a liaison in collecting tribute from Montreal at least one time during the mid-2000s.

- Pasquale Sciortino is to my knowledge the only mafiosi from Cattolica Eraclea who cannot be connected to the Bonanno family. He was a member of the Buffalo Magaddino family, which coincidentally (?) had a strong presence in Ontario. Sciortino didn't pass away until 1999 so I'd be curious if he was aware of his paesani from Cattolica Eraclea in the Bonanno family.

- The younger Vito Rizzuto's daughter is married to the son of Cattolica Eraclea-born drug trafficker Girolamo Sciortino of Ontaro. While he isn't the son of Pasquale and Sciortino could be a common name there like it is elsewhere, it is interesting that a mafia associate with that surname was operating in an area historically associated with the same crime family as the other Sciortino from CE.

We don't know the full extent of these connections and how much of it is coincidence, but it is pretty damn interesting how the Bronx is a recurring theme in all of this, both directly and indirectly, spanning around ~70 years. There seem to be other "meaningful coincidences" surrounding Cattolica Eraclea mafiosi as well. It's hard to piece it together into any kind of narrative so I won't bother, but it's worth pointing all of this out in my opinion.

If anyone knows of other mafia members or associates with Cattolica Eraclea roots who were associated with these groups or others, please feel free to add them. We can't confirm if some of the Montreal names were full-on members of a specific group and I already know I'm missing some of the younger figures' names, but at the very least we know they associated with members of that group and that's enough to include them in this discussion.

Anything else we can add, whether it's a name, fact, random connection, etc?