Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

[JCB1977]

Some facts on Stan Valenti

-Married Kay Ripepi August 1, 1956 at Penn Sheraton Hotel in Pittsburgh, PA.

- in 1949, a confidential informant calls Stanley a half brother to Frank.

-In 1959, after Appalachian, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran an article regarding Frank Valenti and called him a former Pittsburgh top hoodlum but when they spoke about his brother Costenze, there was no mention at all about him being a Pittsburgh hoodlum.

-LE in a 1983 article from the Democrat and Chronicle claim that Stanley Valenti was the boss of the Rochester mob into the early 60s and shared power with Jake Russolesi aka Jake Russo. They also claimed that when Frank came to Rochester as Boss, his brother Stanley faded into the background and was seen daily at the families fruit and vegetable business Valenti Bros. Produce.

-Stanley was the youngest of 12 kids. Federal Investigators claim that Stanley was the boss in “at least” 1957 when they claim the Rochester family became it’s own.

-In 1972, Piccaretto went to the Bonanno Family to get permission to kill Frank and was told No because of Frank’s connections to Pittsburgh. (10/31/84 Democrat and Chronicle).

-Frank Valenti assumes control of Rochester in September of 1964-1972 per Rochester OC task force.


**I can say with certainty Costenze Valenti was not made in Pittsburgh nor ever resided there for an extended period of time. He visited family often and married the daughter of a powerful Calabrian Capo. Frank was definitely made in Pittsburgh and lived there for at least a few decades. He operated under Tony Ripepi along with Dominick Anzalone and was close to Mike Genovese, John LaRocca, Joe Pecora, and Kelly Mannarino, all the top guys. He ran club 30 in Chester West Virginia for LaRocca prior to Joe Pecora taking it over.

@Chrischristie: In the one article I emailed you, it indicated that Stefano Maggadino ordered Frank to come to Rochester to assume control, indicating that Rochester was still under the thumb of Buffalo. If true, Ripepi had helped Frank after 1964 break off from Buffalo.
-

[B.]

NC -- Have you been able to confirm Richie Todaro Jr.'s membership and his relation, if any, to the other Todaros? He was high-placed in the family's bookmaking operations and was carried as a suspected member into the early 1970s.

Wasn't Richard Todaro the brother of Joe Sr? I thought I read that somewhere.


Pogo

B. I think I did see him listed briefly in one of the first 4 sets of PDF’s. I’ll check to see if I can’t find him again, think it was in a section talking about bookmaking or he might have been indicted with Joe on tax fraud.

Pogo, that is what I remember hearing but don’t know if I’ve ever verified it.

Joe Todaro's father was Antonio/Anthony and his only brother was Salvatore. I believe Salvatore went by "Sam", like Joe's son.

The Richard "Richie" Todaro Jr. I've seen ID'd as a suspected member and major Buffalo-area bookmaker was arrested in the early 1960s on gambling charges and did time on a weapons charge in the late 1960s. He was born in 1935/1936 and lived in Tonawanda. If I have the right one, he was also a boxer as a young man before running the family's sports book. He was arrested on gambling charges in 1977 and sentenced to three years. He may have died in 2016/17.

What makes it confusing is he is identified as "Jr", implying his father was also Richard, but his father appears to be Phillip Todaro. Phillip Todaro was a bootlegger arrested as part of an operation on the farm of a Charles DiSalvo in 1932. I can't confirm his heritage, but the only possible matches I found indicates he was from Messina, which would make a relation the other Todaros less likely. This Richie Todaro was close to Steve Cino, Fred Randaccio and Benny Spano.

There is also still the question of Frank Todero/Todaro, an alleged leader of the early Utica "Black Hand" in the 1920s.

[B.]

Six, since one died in June and another wasn't made. And even then I'm not 100% sure about all of them. There have been a lot of names ties to Rochester on the forums over the years and these guys are simply the ones that are most likely to be made, from what i can tell. And one would think we would have seen one or more of their names pop up on a chart or in an article if they had been accepted back into the Buffalo fold.

1. Dominic (Sonny) Celestino/89
2. Anthony Colombo/77
3. Frank Frassetto/70
4. Thomas Marotta/77
5. Donald Paone/76
6. Loren Piccarreto/68

In the charts thread, NickleCity posted LE reports that identify Sam Campanella as a Rochester member who transferred to Buffalo in 1978 with Todaro's support and continued to operate under Todaro as of 1983. He physically moved to Buffalo, which might be a large factor, but it shows there is some precedent for Rochester members returning to the Buffalo fold.

Of course, if the Commission never recognized Rochester as Capeci said, that means they were all technically Buffalo members all along -- at least the Rochester members who had been previously recognized by the Buffalo family.

[B.]

Valenti info:

- In a late 1964 conversation with Joe Falcone, Magaddino identifies "Franco Valenti" as a member of Cosa Nostra who was in prison and upon his release the organization tried to help him. Valenti opened a restaurant and supported a political candidate who was opposing a cop named "Mahoney". However, Valenti was given three years probation which forced him to spend three years in Pittsburgh.

- In connection to the above, we know Valenti owned restaurants in both Pittsburgh and Rochester, and "Mahoney" is likely a reference to Lawrence Maloney, a former Police Assistant Superintendent who was at one time accused of accepting a cut of Pittsburgh family numbers action. Valenti had been convicted of election fraud which resulted in his legal troubles mentioned by Magaddino.

- Magaddino says Valenti was the only person he (Magaddino) was "able to help" and implied that Valenti belonged to another family but this family "washed their hands" of Valenti.

- In context with Valenti and his former family, Magaddino mentions a "younger brother" of Valenti (probably Stanley), a cousin, and an old man. Magaddino says "he" (Valenti?) wants to "turn them into 'picciotti'" (i.e. soldiers). Confusingly, Magaddino also says "He wants to become a 'picciotto' at all costs". Joe Falcone, who was in attendance, asked if "the other boss" had anything to say about it and Magaddino said "No" but that "this old man" has put in his "call (application)" and made all of the "proper" arrangements, and because the man is old, Magaddino said "What the hell?" and agreed to the request. Falcone asks Magaddino where "he" (Valenti?) is from and Magaddino replies "Rochester".

- My take on the above is that Frank Valenti was eager to transfer into the Buffalo family in Rochester because of a falling out with the Pittsburgh family. The latter part suggests the transfer was done with the approval of Pittsburgh's leadership. Like other older Sicilian members Magaddino uses "piccioto" almost exclusively to mean "soldier" in Cosa Nostra. When talking about Valenti wanting to "become" a soldier, from context it's clear he means that he wants to transfer his membership to Buffalo, not that he isn't yet made. With this in mind, he seems to be saying that Frank Valenti wished to transfer his membership and wants his brother, a cousin, and an old man to become members under Buffalo as well. The "old man" who put the "call" in to Magaddino to arrange the transfer could be Tony Ripepi.

- A Pittsburgh area informant claimed that Valenti was a member in Pittsburgh and may have been inducted in 1947 or 1948 and had been sponsored by John Cancellieri or Sebastian LaRocca. However, another Pittsburgh informant close to the Ripepis claimed that in addition to Tony Ripepi arranging the marriage of his daughter to Stanley Valenti, Ripepi also sponsored Frank Valenti for membership. The informant also said that after moving to Rochester, Stanley Valenti didn't allow his wife to visit her parents in Pittsburgh due to "bad blood" between them. Curious if this relates to the problems Frank Valenti had in Pittsburgh that led to his transfer.

--

- Sam Campanella, ID'd as having transferred back to Buffalo later in the 1970s, was beaten up by Charlie Russo in Rochester in 1967. Russo beat up Campanella for allegedly being a "stoolie" for Valenti. Russo also allegedly made comments about wanting to kill Valenti. Russo was the brother of murdered Rochester captain Jake Russo(lesi) so it stands to reason that he resented the group's new regime.

- The above close relationship between Campanella and Valenti and resulting problems with other members could have played a role in Campanella's later transfer to Buffalo. Valenti moved to Arizona in 1977 and Campanella's transfer was reported in 1978.

[eboli]

Six, since one died in June and another wasn't made. And even then I'm not 100% sure about all of them. There have been a lot of names ties to Rochester on the forums over the years and these guys are simply the ones that are most likely to be made, from what i can tell. And one would think we would have seen one or more of their names pop up on a chart or in an article if they had been accepted back into the Buffalo fold.

1. Dominic (Sonny) Celestino/89
2. Anthony Colombo/77
3. Frank Frassetto/70
4. Thomas Marotta/77
5. Donald Paone/76
6. Loren Piccarreto/68

In the charts thread, NickleCity posted LE reports that identify Sam Campanella as a Rochester member who transferred to Buffalo in 1978 with Todaro's support and continued to operate under Todaro as of 1983, possibly dying as late as 2017. He physically moved to Buffalo, which might be a large factor, but it shows there is some precedent for Rochester members returning to the Buffalo fold.

Of course, if the Commission never recognized Rochester as Capeci said, that means they were all technically Buffalo members all along -- at least the Rochester members who had been previously recognized by the Buffalo family.

Campanella died in february 1984 from an alleged heart attack. I posted his obituary in the chart section. He probably didn't have much choice other than returning to Buffalo since he was forced out of town when the Rochester A team leaders got out of jail and killed Tom Didio in july 1978. There could've been some scheming going on for Buffalo to subjugate Rochester again during that time.

[B.]

With this in mind, it's pretty interesting that we have Domenico Violi's father Paolo, Canadian acting captain for a US family, meeting with the Sicilian mafioso Cuffaro from Montallegro in Canada, who is responsible for informing Violi about Sicilian mafia activities in the province of Agrigento; then 40 years later Dom Violi becomes the Canadian underboss to a US boss of Montallegro heritage who himself visited Montallegro in the last 20 or 30 years. It might not mean there was some orchestrated plan, but the mafia is filled to the brim with these kinds of "coincidences" and they often have some kind of meaning, even if that meaning is simply that the same networks are still in some degree of use.

Learned from the recent Informer issue that a Nick Cuffaro, formerly of Buffalo, was allegedly killed in 1924 by Pietro Sciortino of the Bonanno family.

Immigration records point to Nick Gentile having a cousin named Nicola Cuffaro who came to the US from Siculiana but the age doesn't match the one who was murdered.

[Angelo Santino]

I'll have to try and find the transcript later to confirm the exact wording, but the Valentis were discussed on the Magaddino office tapes in the early- or mid-1960s and he seems to say that Frank Valenti was made, but Costenze "Stanley" wasn't made at that time. Frank Valenti would become the Rochester captain around this time and shows up on a number of transcripts though he says very little.

But if Stanley wasn't made yet in the 1960s, why was he at Apalachin in 1957, were non-made members allowed to attend?

Neil Migliore was there and he may have been made as late as the 1980s. Apalachin was a major networking event and maybe some key associates were invited to make national contacts even though they hadn't been made -- there is still a lot of mystery to Apalachin despite it being one of the most infamous mafia events.

I remember being surprised at Magaddino's comments for the same reason you said. He may have been referring to Frank Valenti being a member with Buffalo, while Stanley was a member elsewhere, and it came out sounding like Stanley simply wasn't a member. I need to find the exact transcript before I keep muddying the waters here, though. I have zero insight into Stanley Valenti or how Magaddino's comments fit in.

Unmade attendees at Apalachin is new to me. Never really wondered about it before.

So the working theory is Frank Valenti was affiliated with Pittsburgh and later transferred to Buffalo. Has it been confirmed what Ripepi actually did in regards to expanding Valenti influence in upstate NY? I've heard before that Ripepi pushed Magaddino to allow the Valenti's their own family, has that been sourced? Buffalo was by far a more influential family and, while stranger things have happened, how likely is it for Magaddino to commit to something like that from another family's capo? I think it's more possible that Frank Valenti's relocation back to Rochester might have been sanctioned/agreed to by both Pittsburgh and Buffalo and would have had to have been if Valenti was a member. One would imagine Frank Valenti was a member in good standing for his ability to transfer to another Family (even as associate or made) and end up skippering a very important city in a relatively short period of time. We don't even know when he moved back to Rochester.

If you come across the Valenti excerpts I'd be interested in seeing them. Thanks.

[eboli]

From what I've found Frank Valenti was most likely made in the late 40's in Pittsburgh and came back to Rochester in 1956. Around this time both Frank and Stan were on good terms with Ripepi and most likely Ripepi was financing the brothers' activities. That was not the case in 1958 as by that time they had a falling out with Ripepi unwilling to finance Frank Valenti's operations. Around the same time Valenti was unable to collect enough money, so he can go into hiding as he was subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury. Ripepi also refused to visit Rochester to see his daughter's firstborn. The beef allegedly escalated when Ripepi learned Stanley Valenti was in attendance at Apalachin.

After that Stanley was imprisoned for awhile and Frank had ongoing legal troubles. In january 1961 Frank surrendered to Monroe County authorities on an 18-month warrant for voting fraud. He was charged for not being a NY state resident for the required one year before registering to vote in 57; that he was not a state resident for one year when he voted in the 1957 election; that he registered to vote despite being a convicted felon. He pleaded guilty and he was ordered to leave the state for 3 years. He sold his house at 1384 Highland Ave the year prior and moved to an address in Mt. Lebanon, PA. Then after his 3 year probation expired, Jake Russo was killed for allegedly not wanting to kick up to Maggadino 200$ a week, and Frank Valenti was back in Rochester.

[JCB1977]

From what I've found Frank Valenti was most likely made in the late 40's in Pittsburgh and came back to Rochester in 1956. Around this time both Frank and Stan were on good terms with Ripepi and most likely Ripepi was financing the brothers' activities. That was not the case in 1958 as by that time they had a falling out with Ripepi unwilling to finance Frank Valenti's operations. Around the same time Valenti was unable to collect enough money, so he can go into hiding as he was subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury. Ripepi also refused to visit Rochester to see his daughter's firstborn. The beef allegedly escalated when Ripepi learned Stanley Valenti was in attendance at Apalachin.

After that Stanley was imprisoned for awhile and Frank had ongoing legal troubles. In january 1961 Frank surrendered to Monroe County authorities on an 18-month warrant for voting fraud. He was charged for not being a NY state resident for the required one year before registering to vote in 57; that he was not a state resident for one year when he voted in the 1957 election; that he registered to vote despite being a convicted felon. He pleaded guilty and he was ordered to leave the state for 3 years. He sold his house at 1384 Highland Ave the year prior and moved to an address in Mt. Lebanon, PA. Then after his 3 year probation expired, Jake Russo was killed for allegedly not wanting to kick up to Maggadino 200$ a week, and Frank Valenti was back in Rochester.

I have documents where Frank is still living in Pittsburgh for years after 1956 and one of the more influential racketeers in the Pittsburgh area into at least the early 60s. It does appear that he was back-and-forth between both cities. It is a bit murky because he kept his permanent address in Pittsburgh but was traveling back-and-forth. His address in April of 1961 was in Pittsburgh and his probation from New York was transferred to Pennsylvania. Federal authorities claim his brother Stanley was leading Rochester in 1957, hence his attendance at Appalachian. While Tony Ripepi may have had a beef with Stanley and his daughter, that beef was squashed by at least the late 1960‘s per family photos of all of them together at Tony’s home. The Ripepi children were wildly successful. One of Tony‘s sons was an oncologist another was a neurologist and the other one owned a very successful company.

On July 22, 1961, Frank Valenti was observed by the Feds meeting with Union Boss Nick Stirone in the lobby of the Carlton House where they greeted each other and retreated into the cocktail lounge of the hotel (10/9/1961 Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

[NickleCity]

Please let me know whether you hit a paywall when tapping/clicking on the link below, in which case I'll try to find another URL.

Police still seeking Toronto man in wake of massive Canadian-Italian Mafia investigation

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/0 ... ation.html

Fourteen more individuals have been arrested, half of whom are living in the Greater Toronto Area.

Blitz contro le 'ndrine Muià, Figliomeni e Commisso: 16 arresti nella "Canada connection"
https://www.reggiotoday.it/cronaca/ndra ... resti.html

Il cuore a Siderno e il cervello a Toronto: la “longa manus” canadese delle ‘ndrine reggine
http://www.cn24tv.it/news/195238/operaz ... tagli.html

Italian Mafia boss visiting Canada unwittingly carried a police wiretap to his meetings

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/it ... -meetings/

Thanks anti. Great post.

Hollander posted the following on another board:

Toronto? By now it's worse than Siderno », slots in bars sparked the 'ndrangheta war
by Rocco Muscari - 12 August 2019

"But where c .. you have to go ..., says that it has become worse than here [to Siderno], a c ... of brothel" . It is February 13, 2019 when Macrì conversed with a family member of Carmelo Muià, known as "Mino", advises him not to go to Canada where, in recent times, there have been a series of criminal events and conflicts that had also affected some of the "Major" of the families of Siderna, operating overseas.

These are some of the background contained in the precautionary custody order of the operation "Canadian 'Ndrangheta Connection" which in recent days has led to 28 arrests.

Disagreements related also to a split by some belonging to the Calabrian clans, allied "with the Sicilians" present in Canada - reconstructs the Gazzetta del Sud on newsstands -; a coalition that, in fact, placed those subjects in opposition to their own criminal interests.

According to one of the conversants, it is up to the group of "Sicilians" to impute a series of violent actions committed against the members of the "Siderno Group of Crime", such as "the bomb at Co 'bar", the fire in the "Gimì" room and the killing of the grandson of "Remo Commisso".

https://reggio.gazzettadelsud.it/ar...t ... 285b86f09/

Thoughts on who the Calabrian clans in GTA who are aligned with the Sicilians?

[eboli]

From what I've found Frank Valenti was most likely made in the late 40's in Pittsburgh and came back to Rochester in 1956. Around this time both Frank and Stan were on good terms with Ripepi and most likely Ripepi was financing the brothers' activities. That was not the case in 1958 as by that time they had a falling out with Ripepi unwilling to finance Frank Valenti's operations. Around the same time Valenti was unable to collect enough money, so he can go into hiding as he was subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury. Ripepi also refused to visit Rochester to see his daughter's firstborn. The beef allegedly escalated when Ripepi learned Stanley Valenti was in attendance at Apalachin.

After that Stanley was imprisoned for awhile and Frank had ongoing legal troubles. In january 1961 Frank surrendered to Monroe County authorities on an 18-month warrant for voting fraud. He was charged for not being a NY state resident for the required one year before registering to vote in 57; that he was not a state resident for one year when he voted in the 1957 election; that he registered to vote despite being a convicted felon. He pleaded guilty and he was ordered to leave the state for 3 years. He sold his house at 1384 Highland Ave the year prior and moved to an address in Mt. Lebanon, PA. Then after his 3 year probation expired, Jake Russo was killed for allegedly not wanting to kick up to Maggadino 200$ a week, and Frank Valenti was back in Rochester.

I have documents where Frank is still living in Pittsburgh for years after 1956 and one of the more influential racketeers in the Pittsburgh area into at least the early 60s. It does appear that he was back-and-forth between both cities. It is a bit murky because he kept his permanent address in Pittsburgh but was traveling back-and-forth. His address in April of 1961 was in Pittsburgh and his probation from New York was transferred to Pennsylvania. Federal authorities claim his brother Stanley was leading Rochester in 1957, hence his attendance at Appalachian. While Tony Ripepi may have had a beef with Stanley and his daughter, that beef was squashed by at least the late 1960‘s per family photos of all of them together at Tony’s home. The Ripepi children were wildly successful. One of Tony‘s sons was an oncologist another was a neurologist and the other one owned a very successful company.

On July 22, 1961, Frank Valenti was observed by the Feds meeting with Union Boss Nick Stirone in the lobby of the Carlton House where they greeted each other and retreated into the cocktail lounge of the hotel (10/9/1961 Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Yes, I believe by 1956 Frank was very back and forth between both cities as he was starting to establish an ongoing presence in Rochester too. The thing about Stanley is I've seen the claim he was the first known boss of Rochester and he was made as early as the late 40's - early 50's period, when he was in his twenties, which I can't confirm or deny. I don't know if he was living in Pittsburgh for a time too. In the 1940 census he was still listed in Monroe County and by that point Frank was living in PA for years.

[JCB1977]

From what I've found Frank Valenti was most likely made in the late 40's in Pittsburgh and came back to Rochester in 1956. Around this time both Frank and Stan were on good terms with Ripepi and most likely Ripepi was financing the brothers' activities. That was not the case in 1958 as by that time they had a falling out with Ripepi unwilling to finance Frank Valenti's operations. Around the same time Valenti was unable to collect enough money, so he can go into hiding as he was subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury. Ripepi also refused to visit Rochester to see his daughter's firstborn. The beef allegedly escalated when Ripepi learned Stanley Valenti was in attendance at Apalachin.

After that Stanley was imprisoned for awhile and Frank had ongoing legal troubles. In january 1961 Frank surrendered to Monroe County authorities on an 18-month warrant for voting fraud. He was charged for not being a NY state resident for the required one year before registering to vote in 57; that he was not a state resident for one year when he voted in the 1957 election; that he registered to vote despite being a convicted felon. He pleaded guilty and he was ordered to leave the state for 3 years. He sold his house at 1384 Highland Ave the year prior and moved to an address in Mt. Lebanon, PA. Then after his 3 year probation expired, Jake Russo was killed for allegedly not wanting to kick up to Maggadino 200$ a week, and Frank Valenti was back in Rochester.

I have documents where Frank is still living in Pittsburgh for years after 1956 and one of the more influential racketeers in the Pittsburgh area into at least the early 60s. It does appear that he was back-and-forth between both cities. It is a bit murky because he kept his permanent address in Pittsburgh but was traveling back-and-forth. His address in April of 1961 was in Pittsburgh and his probation from New York was transferred to Pennsylvania. Federal authorities claim his brother Stanley was leading Rochester in 1957, hence his attendance at Appalachian. While Tony Ripepi may have had a beef with Stanley and his daughter, that beef was squashed by at least the late 1960‘s per family photos of all of them together at Tony’s home. The Ripepi children were wildly successful. One of Tony‘s sons was an oncologist another was a neurologist and the other one owned a very successful company.

On July 22, 1961, Frank Valenti was observed by the Feds meeting with Union Boss Nick Stirone in the lobby of the Carlton House where they greeted each other and retreated into the cocktail lounge of the hotel (10/9/1961 Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Yes, I believe by 1956 Frank was very back and forth between both cities as he was starting to establish an ongoing presence in Rochester too. The thing about Stanley is I've seen the claim he was the first known boss of Rochester and he was made as early as the late 40's - early 50's period, when he was in his twenties, which I can't confirm or deny. I don't know if he was living in Pittsburgh for a time too. In the 1940 census he was still listed in Monroe County and by that point Frank was living in PA for years.

Yes, I agree. Frank moved to Pittsburgh when he was 12(approximately 1923/1924) to live with an aunt... which coincidentally was the time period that the bootlegging wars and black hand organization were still dominating western Pennsylvania...but I am not sure for the reason, he was one of 12 siblings. I have searched high and low and have found no evidence that Stanley took up any kind of residence in Pittsburgh but I do know that he spent a lot of time there with his brother and other relatives.

[JCB1977]

In 1934, Frank Valenti was arrested with Peter Albanese for counterfeiting, passing bad $20 bills in Baltimore and Cleveland. According to the news article, Valenti went by the alias of Frank Costello. (2/3/1934 Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph) he was sentenced to 2 years in Federal prison in September of 1934.

Other Pittsburgh arrests include:

-1933, attempting to rob the paymaster for a federal contractor.

-1936 arrested for blackmail charge (dismissed)

-1937 extortion (dismissed)

-1938 Breaking into a downtown Pittsburgh clothing store and stealing 43 suits (dismissed)

-1940 arrested for numbers, 30 day sentence

-1941 Arrested for being a central character in a moonshine ring in 3 counties and violating the IRS Act.

-1944, charged with beating and attacking a woman. Grand jury refused to issue indictment and when it was investigated, the woman was Mary Newman and allegedly it was a set up so Frank could dodge military service.

**Valenti also used the alias Joseph Jackson and had a brother in law in Pittsburgh named John Soloman Who he helped obtain a liquor license for.

Source for arrests: June 11, 1946 Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph

[eboli]

Another thing that might support the theory Stanley wasn't made at the time of Apalachin meeting comes from a FBI Memo. I wonder if this was the alleged operations Ripepi funded for Frank and why he might not have been too happy from all the attention the brothers received post-Apalachin.

[JCB1977]

Another thing that might support the theory Stanley wasn't made at the time of Apalachin meeting comes from a FBI Memo. I wonder if this was the alleged operations Ripepi funded for Frank and why he might not have been too happy from all the attention the brothers received post-Apalachin.

Great info. It definitely is a plausible explanation as I think many people were disgusted with the amount of attention the brothers were getting!