THE BLACK HAND FORUM

Great read B, thanks for posting them!

Not from the Real Thing, but looking at an FBI report with info from Valachi:

- In this report, Valachi says he ended up with Luciano due to family realignment following Maranzano's murder, which led him (Valachi) to request to transfer to the Lucchese family; Luciano denied this request. This is strange because in other places he says that he chose to transfer to the Luciano family and it was Tommy Lucchese who wanted him to transfer back to the Gagliano family, which Valachi turned down.

- He claims that prior to late 1929, the books had been closed for twenty years. This seems pretty insane, as that would mean the only new members in New York after 1909 were already made in Sicily or other cities before joining NY families. Interesting it would be 1909, though, as that's when Morello/Lupo were convicted of counterfeiting and the families faced major changes/problems, which is typically the kind of reason why we've seen the books close later. Valachi also says that the books were again closed in 1931 and re-opened in 1954 or 55. We know this isn't accurate, as some members were made in both NJ and NY in the 1940s and early 50s, so seems likely that he's wrong about the books being closed 1909-1929 as well... maybe they were closed for part of it, though. It doesn't seem like he'd make up the entire idea out of nowhere.

- Valachi also mentions that in "special instances" when the books are closed, proposed members can be sent outside of NYC for "seven to eight months" where they're made before being brought back to NY and placed in a family there. The "seven to eight months" is so specific, it makes me curious. This is long before Allie Persico was made and I'm not sure if Valachi would have known about the Nicky Bianco situation at the time, so I wonder what other examples there are.

- Similar to what's mentioned above, he says that Italian (/Sicilian) mafia members were no longer recognized following the deportation of Luciano. He does say that exceptions were made, however, but that the Italian (/Sicilian) member must be ".sponsored and accepted" here. This may play into recent info we've seen from Felice about Sicilian members being "released" in order to join NY families.

- In what he says is a "rule", members of one family who live in the jurisdiction of another family for more than six months are supposed to transfer to that family, "regardless of rank." He says that this can be circumvented and uses the example of Mike Coppola, who he says was able to circumvent this rule by having Philip Lombardo and other soldiers serve as his acting capo. Valachi says that if they hadn't used this loophole, the "transfer would be automatic under the rules." This is very strange, as there are plenty of examples of members who live in other families' territories and never transferred. The Coppola example is also weird because it seems to relate more to Coppola keeping his official captain position from Florida, not him transferring which is bizarre as Miami was open territory.

- Valachi says East 106th street in East Harlem was Gambino territory and that the members there had been made by Anastasia. He also says that East 107th street was dominated by both the Lucchese (Rao) and Genovese (Terranova/Coppola) families. He says that Vincent Rao's crew went to Salvatore Santora and John Ormento. He says East 112th is also split between the Lucchese and Genovese, with East 116th also being Genovese territory under Terranova/Coppola.

- He says that when two members are introduced to each other, they are not introduced by rank, and it is up to the member making the introduction to later tell them what the member's rank is. An example Valachi gives is when he was introduced to Tony Anastasio by Frank Scalise. Scalise told Valachi that Anastasio was a "friend of ours" and later, not in Anastasio's presence, Scalise told Valachi that Anastasio was a captain. This is a weird one.

- Valachi elaborates on the "council of six" he has talked about elsewhere. There has been speculation before whether this was the Commission or something else, but it's clear here that it was a council of consiglieres. He claims Luciano set this up to prevent leaders taking revenge against other members in the wake of the Castellammarese war. He says that Joe Biondo and Vincent Rao were members of this council.

- This story is in the Valachi Papers, but there are some details I don't think he mentions there. After he beat up business partner and Gambino soldier Frank Luciano, Valachi went straight to Willie Moretti, who assured Valachi he would handle the issue but said they would delay the sitdown several days so that Luciano's swelling would go down and there'd be fewer marks. The "arguimendo" (which Valachi says is the word for sitdown) was held between Tony Strollo, Valachi, Albert Anastasia, Charlie Dongarra, and Frank Luciano. He says that Joe Biondo was eating in the restaurant at another table and did not join the sitdown. Anastasia took over the meeting right away and said that Valachi should not have hit Luciano, then instructed Valachi to buy Luciano out. Anastasia then pointed at Luciano and called him a "crook". Valachi says this is not a standard "arguimendo" -- he says normally both sides would argue their side, but in this case, he believed Moretti and Anastasia had met privately beforehand and arranged the outcome.

- He estimates 2000 active Cosa Nosta members in NYC, with an additional 3000 inactive/retired members. This estimate would put the NY families at 5000 total members, meaning an average 1000 per family which we know is too much. He doesn't believe there to have been more than a few hundred total members outside of NYC.

- He says that one of the reasons for the Apalachin meeting was to declare 200 members of various families unfit for membership and to take their membership away. We've heard of this idea before, but this is the first I've heard the specific number 200.

[quote=B. post_id=54244 time=1499978952 user_id=127]
[b]Attempted Murder of the "Shoemaker Brothers"[/b]
- Valachi was contacted by Joseph Rosato about the "Shoemaker brothers", who had robbed a saloon owned by Gagliano member "Don Abete" (ph) (Joe Abate?). The brothers robbed the same saloon a second time and said they would rob anyone except Valachi and Dominick Petrelli, who they were close to. Valachi was asked to set the brothers up for murder but refused on the grounds that the brothers were the responsibility of Gagliano members Petrelli and Nick Padavana. Luciano supported Valachi's refusal and the contract went to the Gaglianos to carry out.

- After consulting with Valachi on whether they would be safe, the "Shoemaker" brothers and an Irish friend of theirs ended up attending what they believed was a robbery with Frank Callace, Ettore Coco, Salvatore Shillitani, and Nick Padavana, which resulted in a shootout where the Irish kid and Padavana were killed and Shillitani was arrested and convicted of murder. The brothers were upset with Valachi for lying to them, but left town after this at Valachi's urging. They later joined the US Navy and one of them returned to East Harlem for a time but Valachi chased him out of town.

- At an "arguimendo" (sit-down) related to this situation, Valachi was called to a meeting with Vito Genovese and a "Don Estabin" (ph?), plus seven or eight other men he can't remember. Valachi was accused of aiding and abetting the "Shoemaker brothers" even though they had robbed a Cosa Nostra member ("Don Abete"). "Don Estabin" only spoke Italian and asked Valachi why he had helped the kids and Valachi did not answer. Genovese asked him why he wouldn't answer and Valachi said he couldn't speak Italian well enough to answer. Genovese told Valachi to answer in English but "Don Estabin" objected to this, wanting Valachi to speak only in Italian. Genovese again told Valachi to answer in English, which Valachi did.

- Valachi stated that he had protected the "Shoemaker" brothers because they were ignorant of Cosa Nostra and didn't know the status of the "Don Abete" they had robbed. Valachi felt that they should not be punished. Valachi however felt that the brothers would have been forgiven for the first robbery but "could not be allowed to live" after they robbed the same place again.

- Any idea who "Don Estabin" might be? We can pretty much guarantee the name is off, but seems to have been a Lucchese leader, most likely an older guy who grew up in Italy/Sicily, based on the context. One possibility is Stefano LaSalle, as he was an old Sicilian who would have been more or less an equal of Genovese and Stefano/Steven could be butchered into "Estabin" I guess, especially if he had some kind of Italian nickname Valachi misheard/misremembered. Also,this dispute centered around 108th street in East Harlem where I believe LaSalle had a longstanding presence. Just an idea

- Has anyone ever been able to identify the Shoemaker brothers by their actual names (assuming Shoemaker is a nickname)? I assume they were Italian, as Valachi specifically calls their friend Irish but says nothing of the ethnicity of the Shoemakers, indicating they were probably Italian like the others.
[/quote]

"Don Estabin" could be Stefano Badami, though there is no indication this matter involved Jersey. In the Valachi testimony, "Steve Padami" is ID'd as the "Jersey boss", also known as "Don Steven, [b]Don Esteban[/b], and Don Stephano."

However, the fact that Stefano Badami is referred to as "Don Esteban" could be an indication that Valachi would also remember another Stefano as "Don Estabin" -- Stefano LaSalle, who would make more sense given this issue involved the Lucchese family.

The incident would have happened sometime before 1932, as Padavana was still alive.

"The Real Thing" is a great source for 30's-50's(and Valachi's imprisonment which I believe was late 50's, like '57 or later). Thanks for posting some of the excerpts, as I never finished reading the whole thing. Also appreciate the excerpts from Valachi's interrogation of sorts, with the feds. Thanks, B.

Great stuff, B. First time reading those older posts.

https://www.gangrule.com/biographies/antonio-paretti

[quote=Antiliar post_id=54249 time=1499983864 user_id=77]
Can't be Tony the Shoemaker since he was already executed.
[/quote]

Do you have a last name for him? Maybe he had brothers.

Can't be Tony the Shoemaker since he was already executed.

These aren't excerpts from "the Real Thing", but are from FBI debriefings with Valachi. Most of the info covers murders, etc. that are already covered in his book and other places, but there were other details I didn't remember reading elsewhere, so thought I'd share:

[b]Carfano Murder:[/b]
Valachi tells the same basic story for Anthony Carfano's murder, that Carfano was the only Costello loyalist who refused to come in after Genovese became boss. There are some details I don't remember seeing elsewhere, though:

- Carfano was very close to Anthony Strollo, and after Carfano's refusal to appear before Genovese, Genovese told Strollo that he (Strollo) would "be wearing a black tie" if he couldn't convince Carfano to come in. Strollo was able to convince Carfano to come in, however. Despite this, Genovese did not forgive Carfano.

- Some time later, Carfano was supposed to meet underboss Gerry Catena to play golf, but Catena did not show and it ended up being only Strollo and Carfano. Valachi believed that Genovese had instructed Catena not to attend in order to test Carfano. Carfano complained about Catena's no-show to Genovese who used this as justification to kill Carfano as a "troublemaker". Valachi said the justification for this murder was against the rules of Cosa Nostra but that Genovese was never discouraged by the rules. Apparently Genovese waited for the death of Albert Anastasia (was he close to Carfano?) before going through with this plan.

- Genovese ordered a contract on Carfano but after three or four months, the hit team complained to Genovese that they couldn't hit Carfano because he was always with Strollo. The hit team requested permission to kill Strollo if he was in the presence of Carfano, which Genovese rejected and told them that Strollo wasn't aware of the conspiracy on Carfano.

- Carfano was having dinner with Strollo when Frank Cucola called and asked to meet with Carfano. Carfano was killed after showing up at this meeting. Frank Cucola was a soldier in Vincent Alo's crew and Valachi was of the opinion that other members of Alo's crew were also involved in the murder, indicating that Vincent Alo was one of the key conspirators in the murder himself.

- Vinnie Mauro told Joe Valachi that Strollo was "shocked and angered" over Carfano's death and upset that he wasn't told in advance. I find all of this very interesting, as Strollo is always said to be Genovese's top man yet Vito couldn't trust him to be involved in the Carfano conspiracy even though he should have been the ideal candidate to set him up given their constant association. Just two years prior Genovese had trusted Strollo to conspire against the family's boss (Costello) without Commission approval, yet he leaves him out of the loop on the Carfano hit, and was apparently right to do so given Strollo's reaction. Seems this situation could have been one of the many reasons for Strollo's downfall.


[b]The Original Plan to Murder Frank Costello[/b]
- According to Valachi, Vito Genovese and Anthony Strollo initially met with Vincent Mauro to tell him about the plan to murder Frank Costello "without trial" or Commission approval. Mauro was told that he (Mauro), an associate of Strollo's named "Buster" (Ardito?), and Valachi were going to be the hit team.

- Mauro met with Valachi and told him about the contract. Valachi was upset that he was being told by Mauro and hadn't been asked by Genovese/Strollo to attend the original meeting. Valachi told Mauro to count him out unless they planned to kill Genovese as well as Costello. Valachi also told Mauro that if Vito goes through with the contract, he is "not going to wait" for Mauro. Not sure what Valachi meant... maybe that if Mauro got caught/identified, Vito would use him as a scapegoat.

- A week after Valachi refused the contract, he says Vincent Gigante, Dominick DeQuatro, and Thomas Eboli attempted and failed to kill Gigante.

- Like Strollo's role (or lack thereof) in the Carfano hit, I think this situation also tells us something about Valachi's downfall. Sure, he could turn down the contract because it was an illegal hit on a boss, but you have to figure Genovese remembered Valachi's unwillingness to participate once he became boss. I'm also surprised this info about the original hit team and the Genovese/Strollo/Mauro meeting aren't talked about more.

[b]Maranzano's Murder[/b]
- Valachi met with Maranzano at his office and made some unspecified compalint about Vincent Coll. He says Charles Luciano was present at this meeting and stated that he had coerced Oney Madden into setting up Coll by threatening to kill Madden. Coll then kidnapped a Madden associated called "Big Frenchy" and received $35k in ransom money. This convinced Madden to join the Italians against Coll.

- Maranzano told Valachi not to worry about Coll and to meet him at his house in two weeks. Valachi was also told that nobody was to carry guns at Maranzano's office due to LE pressure. When Valachi met with Maranzano and his house two weeks later, he told him that he didn't like the "no guns" rule. Maranzano told Valachi not to worry and that "things would be all right in a few weeks." He told Valachi that he had to go to his office one more time the next day, but Valachi tried to convince him to send his underboss Angelo Caruso instead.

- Valachi says he did not know that it was Vito Genovese and Charles Luciano who Maranzano was scheduled to meet the next day and that if he had known, he would have prevented Maranzano from attending, even at gun point if necessary. Though in the Real Thing he says he and Domingo had made a pact against Maranzano if he ever went after either of them, it seems Valachi was a pretty loyal Maranzano soldier overall, which was why the anti-Maranzano conspirators (can't remember if it was Lucchese or Genovese) later told him they couldn't include him in the conspiracy to kill Maranzano.

- The description of the Maranzano murder matches everything we already know, with Bobby Doyle being arrested after he was found crying over Maranzano's body. I don't remember that detail about him crying, though. Seems these younger guys were really under Maranzano's spell.

[b]Random Info Post-Maranzano Murder[/b]
- Jack Reina, brother of Mildred and son of Tom, who Valachi had been hiding with, attended the meeting with Vito Genovese where Valachi, Johnny Dee, Peter Muggins, and Bobby Doyle were transferred to the Luciano family. This indicates Reina was made by this time.

- Valachi says that James LePore was a "caporegima for Vincent Mangano" who was killed the same day as Maranzano, and that Sam Monaco was an underboss for Stefano Badami in New Jersey who was found two days later. He says that he recalls "about four of Maranzano's top men" being murdered within 48 hours (I assume he's including LePore and Monaco in this), but specifically says he never heard anything about any nationwide murders of Maranzano loyalists or old "greaseballs" at any time.

- Valachi says that LePore was killed by Ciro Terranova's nephew, "who had the same name", as the nephew believed that LePore had killed Joseph Catania, one of Terranova's other nephews. This other nephew (name Ciro Terranova?) who killed LePore married Joe Catania's widow.

- Valachi believes it took Luciano and Genovese six months to set Joe Masseria up for his death. He says that Masseria was finally convinced to attend the Coney Island meeting through the pretext that he would be meeting with Maranzano, Luciano, Genovese, and Ciro Terranova. He says other Masseria men at this meeting were Frank Livorsi and Joseph Stracci, and that Stracci killed Masseria while sitting at the table. I don't remember hearing that Masseria thought he would be meeting with Maranzano or that Stracci did the shooting. I am familiar with the other established theories for who participated in the actual Masseria killing, but I find Valachi's info interesting.

[b]
Rannelli Murder[/b]
- Steven Rannelli approached Valachi about going to war against Charles Luciano and Valachi says he "liked the idea" but thought Rannelli was all talk so he didn't go along with it. Valachi later told Bobby Doyle about it which saved his (Valachi's) life. I'm surprised to hear that Valachi "liked the idea" of going to war against Luciano and indicates he might have done it if he thought Rannelli was serious. What was his beef with Luciano? The Maranzano murder?

- Valachi was called to a meeting with Vito's crew where the crew was watching pornographic movies. Valachi felt this was to test his reaction and that if he had panicked (in response to the smut movies?) he would have been killed. Because he acted relaxed, Valachi was sent downstairs to meet with Genovese who told him to kill Rannelli if he sees him and to have his (Valachi's) wife help him if needed. The bit about the porno movies is strange, same with Genovese telling Valachi to use his wife in a murder if needed. Rannelli was killed a week later after leaving Vincent Rao's apartment but Valachi doesn't mention the killers.

[b]Attempted Murder of the "Shoemaker Brothers"[/b]
- Valachi was contacted by Joseph Rosato about the "Shoemaker brothers", who had robbed a saloon owned by Gagliano member "Don Abete" (ph) (Joe Abate?). The brothers robbed the same saloon a second time and said they would rob anyone except Valachi and Dominick Petrelli, who they were close to. Valachi was asked to set the brothers up for murder but refused on the grounds that the brothers were the responsibility of Gagliano members Petrelli and Nick Padavana. Luciano supported Valachi's refusal and the contract went to the Gaglianos to carry out.

- After consulting with Valachi on whether they would be safe, the "Shoemaker" brothers and an Irish friend of theirs ended up attending what they believed was a robbery with Frank Callace, Ettore Coco, Salvatore Shillitani, and Nick Padavana, which resulted in a shootout where the Irish kid and Padavana were killed and Shillitani was arrested and convicted of murder. The brothers were upset with Valachi for lying to them, but left town after this at Valachi's urging. They later joined the US Navy and one of them returned to East Harlem for a time but Valachi chased him out of town.

- At an "arguimendo" (sit-down) related to this situation, Valachi was called to a meeting with Vito Genovese and a "Don Estabin" (ph?), plus seven or eight other men he can't remember. Valachi was accused of aiding and abetting the "Shoemaker brothers" even though they had robbed a Cosa Nostra member ("Don Abete"). "Don Estabin" only spoke Italian and asked Valachi why he had helped the kids and Valachi did not answer. Genovese asked him why he wouldn't answer and Valachi said he couldn't speak Italian well enough to answer. Genovese told Valachi to answer in English but "Don Estabin" objected to this, wanting Valachi to speak only in Italian. Genovese again told Valachi to answer in English, which Valachi did.

- Valachi stated that he had protected the "Shoemaker" brothers because they were ignorant of Cosa Nostra and didn't know the status of the "Don Abete" they had robbed. Valachi felt that they should not be punished. Valachi however felt that the brothers would have been forgiven for the first robbery but "could not be allowed to live" after they robbed the same place again.

- Any idea who "Don Estabin" might be? We can pretty much guarantee the name is off, but seems to have been a Lucchese leader, most likely an older guy who grew up in Italy/Sicily, based on the context. One possibility is Stefano LaSalle, as he was an old Sicilian who would have been more or less an equal of Genovese and Stefano/Steven could be butchered into "Estabin" I guess, especially if he had some kind of Italian nickname Valachi misheard/misremembered. Also,this dispute centered around 108th street in East Harlem where I believe LaSalle had a longstanding presence. Just an idea

- Has anyone ever been able to identify the Shoemaker brothers by their actual names (assuming Shoemaker is a nickname)? I assume they were Italian, as Valachi specifically calls their friend Irish but says nothing of the ethnicity of the Shoemakers, indicating they were probably Italian like the others.

[quote="B."]That is a great point about Maranzano living in Palermo as the capoprovincia before he moved over. Whether his grievances against Masseria were legitimate is one thing, but he really was a master politician and he must have used those connections to play on the emotions of his allies.

Have you come across much about Carlo Gambino during the 1920's? He would have at least been a soldier aligned with the faction under Frank Scalise, all of whom were Maranzano allies even before they publicly joined his side, but I am curious what his stature actually was. His brother wasn't made, but when Paul was mistaken for Carlo in the attempt on his life, Valachi was told that Carlo was a "boss". I assume this to mean he was a capo by then.[/quote]

Only that Gambino's affiliation inside the Palermitani family goes back to the Virzi-Riccobono-Scalise faction that was on E14 and later on extended into the Bronx. Saverio Virzi was a Lupo capo in the 1900's/1910's. Antillar and JD might have more info on the crew's progression later on. It appears the core center of that crew originated with Palermitans who knew each other previously in Sicily. Sicily was a small island, it could fit in many USA states, and the Mafia was one strong unified network by 1850. The Taranto-Lupo-D'Aquila-..-Gambino Family was Palermitan, but it also had a sizable crew from the opposite side of the island from Sciacca. That could have been due to that fact that both Palermo and Sciacca were coastal towns similar, or it could have involved that the Lo Cicero's of Sciacca were related to the Lo Cicero's of Palermo. Either way that network around E 39th was connected with the Virzi-Riccobono-Scalise faction on E12 and the Bronx. They were connected to the Trovato-Cincotta-Mangano group of South Brooklyn. These were at least three of the premier networks/crews that comprised the Gambino Family 1900-1920.

After the Corleonesi family broke up, what became the Lucchese family towed the line with D'Aquila, also shared Bronx territory with them, so a number of prominent Palermitans were brought in, like Lucchese etc. Which may explain or add to the background why the Gambinos and Luccheses had strong links from the 20's on.
[img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WW4HGqWZ19E/U2t3gnb-wJI/AAAAAAAAFiI/Jfb8QpAMELs/s1600/e-riccobono.jpg[/img]

That is a great point about Maranzano living in Palermo as the capoprovincia before he moved over. Whether his grievances against Masseria were legitimate is one thing, but he really was a master politician and he must have used those connections to play on the emotions of his allies.

Have you come across much about Carlo Gambino during the 1920's? He would have at least been a soldier aligned with the faction under Frank Scalise, all of whom were Maranzano allies even before they publicly joined his side, but I am curious what his stature actually was. His brother wasn't made, but when Paul was mistaken for Carlo in the attempt on his life, Valachi was told that Carlo was a "boss". I assume this to mean he was a capo by then.

In Sicily, Maranzano was Boss of Castellammare, then Provincial boss of Trapani, which made him almost a senator who spent most of his time at the capitol, Palermo... In America, the "Gambino" family was predominantly Palermitani. It would make sense that he would be familiar with Palermitan affairs. And if you recall, Gentile noted that Maranzano ranted off a list of Masseria offenses, noting one to be the murder of Sal D'Aquila. Gentile regarded Maranzano as a Johnny Come Lately, citing events that he himself never witnessed. Traina however, was more enthusiastic after hearing Maranzano state that. The Palermitan's were probably still sore over D'Aquila, who kept the status quo since 1912.

Maranzano's alliance with the Palermitan's was a very well played strategic move. And even though Masseria was eventually done in by his own- Luciano- it should be noted that Luciano grew up on the Lower East Side, which had all the groups mingling, and Luciano was close to Joe Biondo and they lived together for a time.

[img]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wPWqh8dIC3c/U2t2IGVx4GI/AAAAAAAAFhw/eEEsuWygknc/s1600/3_Centro.jpg[/img]

Something I missed the first time through is that Maranzano specifically says Paul Gambino was one of his spies.

http://mafiahistory.us/a023/therealthing.htm

This isn't complete but it's the first time I've come across any actual text from Valachi's raw writings.

A lot of what's on this site is disconnected on top of Valachi's bad grammar but it's awesome they are putting this online and what's up there is pretty good even if you've already read the Valachi Papers.

- Apparently after Paul Gambino got hit, Maranzano told him Paul wasn't even a member. I would guess Paul got made later in the war or afterward. He refers to Carlo Gambino as a "boss" with the other side which I think it also says in the Valachi Papers... guessing Carlo was a captain (aka "boss") by the late 20's or early 30's if that is the case.

- The whole Paul Gambino shooting is really suspicious to me... I understand Maranzano not wanting to attack nobodies or show his full hand, but in this Real Thing he says Maranzano was very upset about the hit and genuinely happy to hear Paul Gambino wasn't hurt and we know shortly after that Carlo and his people switched to Maranzano's side. Frank Scalise was also close to Maranzano who helped him become a boss, only for Scalise to be demoted for being a Maranzano loyalist later. Maranzano apparently also had spies within that family, so this is my theory: Scalise and his people, which included Carlo Gambino, were secretly on Maranzano's side way before they publicly joined him and were feeding him info, which is why Maranzano was upset that a top associate and relative of theirs like Paul Gambino almost got hit.

- During the war, Valachi and a rotating group of other guys stayed at a place called the "haunted house" on Long Island where Maranzano used to live before he moved to Yonkers.

- Joe Profaci told Valachi that Buster Domingo's relative had been killed in Chicago and he went on the "warpath" and killed about six of them in retaliation and was wanted by the mob. I am guessing he means that the Chicago mob wanted to kill him which may be why he came out to NY? I have read what DaveC found about Buster and it definitely matches up, something about Domingo's brother and relatives being killed in Michigan near Chicago and then him retaliating. Is there any evidence he actually killed six guys over there? Everything we know about him in NY makes it seem possible.

- The last member Valachi sponsored into the family was Joe Pagano in 1957 or 1958 and during the ceremony Vito Genovese apparently said to Pagano "someone gave me your name and is responsible for you" which pissed Valachi off because Vito was supposed to tell Pagano that Valachi proposed him and was responsible for him. Valachi felt that by not mentioning his name to Pagano, Vito was trying to undercut Valachi.