Facts about Frank Cali (pre-murder)

[TommyGambino]

Are Rosario Gambino's kids the only one's that are made? Pretty sure I read on here he has two sons who are made, John and Joe's kids made?

[Lupara]

So for the record, does Cali have a brother? News reports state he has a brother named Joseph who is also a Gambino member. I believe someone stated here that is his brother-in-law? Joe Inzerillo?

[TommyGambino]

So for the record, does Cali have a brother? News reports state he has a brother named Joseph who is also a Gambino member. I believe someone stated here that is his brother-in-law? Joe Inzerillo?

Maybe I'm wrong but I think I remember a discussion between felice and Bronx and they said his brother Joe is a barber

[Angelo Santino]

Felice, do you have any info on Vincenzo Spatoliatore?

It's interesting how the Villabatesi look to have started out affiliated with Lupo/D'Aquila (Giuseppe Fontana), ended up with Mineo/Profaci en masse, then when Profaci died and the Colombo family's Sicilian ties fizzled out by 1970, you have the Napolis from Villabate show up under the Gambino family in the 1970s/80s and in the 2000s a representative of the Villabate, Mandala, family shows up to do business with the Gambinos. If Spatoliatore is from there as well and a mafioso, that is another example.

Interesting how as much as things change, they circle back around even if it's mostly incidental.

Villabate more or less functions as a suburb of Palermo. You can walk there.

The Gambinos and Colombos share lineage: both Palermitan and Villabatesi roots, not to mention overlapping territory in Brooklyn. Palermitans had Red Hook since the 1860's, the Gambino family is ancient and then in 1912 a new group with a new boss is born smack dead in their territory. From 1912 until 1930 with the exception of several hiccups, the groups coexisted and even up into the 60's, the Gallo's sought the Gambino's protection and were accepted. The Colombos are to the Gambinos what the Luccheses are to the Genoveses.

[felice]

So for the record, does Cali have a brother? News reports state he has a brother named Joseph who is also a Gambino member. I believe someone stated here that is his brother-in-law? Joe Inzerillo?

Maybe I'm wrong but I think I remember a discussion between felice and Bronx and they said his brother Joe is a barber

No way. He has a brother in law named Joe. Not a brother

[felice]

B., No more info on this Spatolatiore

[Lupara]

So for the record, does Cali have a brother? News reports state he has a brother named Joseph who is also a Gambino member. I believe someone stated here that is his brother-in-law? Joe Inzerillo?

Maybe I'm wrong but I think I remember a discussion between felice and Bronx and they said his brother Joe is a barber

No way. He has a brother in law named Joe. Not a brother

Giuseppe Inzerillo?

[felice]

No, Joe P.

[B.]

Felice, do you have any info on Vincenzo Spatoliatore?

It's interesting how the Villabatesi look to have started out affiliated with Lupo/D'Aquila (Giuseppe Fontana), ended up with Mineo/Profaci en masse, then when Profaci died and the Colombo family's Sicilian ties fizzled out by 1970, you have the Napolis from Villabate show up under the Gambino family in the 1970s/80s and in the 2000s a representative of the Villabate, Mandala, family shows up to do business with the Gambinos. If Spatoliatore is from there as well and a mafioso, that is another example.

Interesting how as much as things change, they circle back around even if it's mostly incidental.

Villabate more or less functions as a suburb of Palermo. You can walk there.

The Gambinos and Colombos share lineage: both Palermitan and Villabatesi roots, not to mention overlapping territory in Brooklyn. Palermitans had Red Hook since the 1860's, the Gambino family is ancient and then in 1912 a new group with a new boss is born smack dead in their territory. From 1912 until 1930 with the exception of several hiccups, the groups coexisted and even up into the 60's, the Gallo's sought the Gambino's protection and were accepted. The Colombos are to the Gambinos what the Luccheses are to the Genoveses.

Yeah, though it's not too mysterious why the Villabatesi linked up with the Palermitan D'Aquila family (to the best of our knowledge), then attached themselves almost exclusively with the Profaci family by the time he (Profaci) took over, then linked back up with the Gambinos in the post-Profaci years, what catches my interest is why the Profaci/Colombo family didn't maintain those ties and why Villabate ended up linking back up to the Gambinos after having no direct ties ~1920s-1960s. And it makes sense why.

Remember Bill Bonanno talks about how they couldn't visit his wife's village during their honeymoon to Sicily in the mid-1950s due to the involvement of Villabate in the produce war. Nino Cottone, former Profaci member, and leader in Villabate was killed and there was intense LE scrutiny on mafia groups involved in the war. So even though you still had active Villabate-born mafia members with ties to Sicily in the Profaci family at that time, the door was basically closed on Villabate's end for a number of years. During this period Sal Profaci Sr. died (who had emigrated later and may have maintained stronger connections back home) and in the early 1960s Joe Profaci himself died while the NYC-Villabate connection was still recovering. Through the 1960s other Villabate natives in the Profaci family were getting much older, dying, and the organization itself had recruited mostly non-Villabatesi and even non-Sicilians, and was dealing with ongoing conflicts in NYC. Between 1955/56 and 1964 it was really the perfect storm for both the Profacis/Brooklyn and Villabate and it doesn't seem a solid pipeline could survive. And in the aftermath, there wasn't anyone who could re-build it or even had the incentive.

In contrast, during this same period Anastasia's family had been taken over by a Palermitano (Gambino) with his own ties back to Sicily who stabilized the family. Because Gambino's organization was stable and had a wider range of connections to Palermo, there was fertile ground for an ongoing connection. Once the Villabate mafioso were in a position to make overseas connections again, their main or even only option would have been the Gambinos and it was a natural fit given that they are a Palermo village and there is a history there. These guys like the Napolis wouldn't have known "Oh, 100 years ago Villabatesi were with the D'Aquila" but I think a lot of this stuff is almost like ancestral DNA where these connections are encoded somewhere deep down and naturally come out when the circumstances allow it.

--

Anyway, to go back to Cali, I am wondering what his mother's maiden name was. Ciminna, like Villabate though a little further away, would seem to fall into that Gambino orbit. Outside of the Catalanos, I have never heard of Ciminna mafiosi connecting to the US, though. The two Catalano brothers did fall into the Gambino orbit as you would expect, but their cousin became a Bonanno. From what little we know, Cali's parents were not directly related to mafiosi but were a great example of "mafia friendly" Sicilians, probably not unlike many of the Sicilian immigrants generations earlier who lived and worked in mafia-dominated neighborhoods. Although we really don't know if Cali's parents had some mafia relations or not... CC, you've mentioned that D'Aquila's mother was a Cali for example and the D'Aquilas and Calis had ties to the same neighborhood in Palermo. Then Frank Cali gets made into the same crew as Jerry D'Aquila, a crew that can be traced back to Toto D'Aquila's reign. Again, it's almost like the ancestral DNA idea where it's not "by design", but we see these natural patterns hold true.

[Angelo Santino]

Felice, do you have any info on Vincenzo Spatoliatore?

It's interesting how the Villabatesi look to have started out affiliated with Lupo/D'Aquila (Giuseppe Fontana), ended up with Mineo/Profaci en masse, then when Profaci died and the Colombo family's Sicilian ties fizzled out by 1970, you have the Napolis from Villabate show up under the Gambino family in the 1970s/80s and in the 2000s a representative of the Villabate, Mandala, family shows up to do business with the Gambinos. If Spatoliatore is from there as well and a mafioso, that is another example.

Interesting how as much as things change, they circle back around even if it's mostly incidental.

Villabate more or less functions as a suburb of Palermo. You can walk there.

The Gambinos and Colombos share lineage: both Palermitan and Villabatesi roots, not to mention overlapping territory in Brooklyn. Palermitans had Red Hook since the 1860's, the Gambino family is ancient and then in 1912 a new group with a new boss is born smack dead in their territory. From 1912 until 1930 with the exception of several hiccups, the groups coexisted and even up into the 60's, the Gallo's sought the Gambino's protection and were accepted. The Colombos are to the Gambinos what the Luccheses are to the Genoveses.

Yeah, though it's not too mysterious why the Villabatesi linked up with the Palermitan D'Aquila family (to the best of our knowledge), then attached themselves almost exclusively with the Profaci family by the time he (Profaci) took over, then linked back up with the Gambinos in the post-Profaci years, what catches my interest is why the Profaci/Colombo family didn't maintain those ties and why Villabate ended up linking back up to the Gambinos after having no direct ties ~1920s-1960s. And it makes sense why.

Remember Bill Bonanno talks about how they couldn't visit his wife's village during their honeymoon to Sicily in the mid-1950s due to the involvement of Villabate in the produce war. Nino Cottone, former Profaci member, and leader in Villabate was killed and there was intense LE scrutiny on mafia groups involved in the war. So even though you still had active Villabate-born mafia members with ties to Sicily in the Profaci family at that time, the door was basically closed on Villabate's end for a number of years. During this period Sal Profaci Sr. died (who had emigrated later and may have maintained stronger connections back home) and in the early 1960s Joe Profaci himself died while the NYC-Villabate connection was still recovering. Through the 1960s other Villabate natives in the Profaci family were getting much older, dying, and the organization itself had recruited mostly non-Villabatesi and even non-Sicilians, and was dealing with ongoing conflicts in NYC. Between 1955/56 and 1964 it was really the perfect storm for both the Profacis/Brooklyn and Villabate and it doesn't seem a solid pipeline could survive. And in the aftermath, there wasn't anyone who could re-build it or even had the incentive.

In contrast, during this same period Anastasia's family had been taken over by a Palermitano (Gambino) with his own ties back to Sicily who stabilized the family. Because Gambino's organization was stable and had a wider range of connections to Palermo, there was fertile ground for an ongoing connection. Once the Villabate mafioso were in a position to make overseas connections again, their main or even only option would have been the Gambinos and it was a natural fit given that they are a Palermo village and there is a history there. These guys like the Napolis wouldn't have known "Oh, 100 years ago Villabatesi were with the D'Aquila" but I think a lot of this stuff is almost like ancestral DNA where these connections are encoded somewhere deep down and naturally come out when the circumstances allow it.

--

Anyway, to go back to Cali, I am wondering what his mother's maiden name was. Ciminna, like Villabate though a little further away, would seem to fall into that Gambino orbit. Outside of the Catalanos, I have never heard of Ciminna mafiosi connecting to the US, though. The two Catalano brothers did fall into the Gambino orbit as you would expect, but their cousin became a Bonanno. From what little we know, Cali's parents were not directly related to mafiosi but were a great example of "mafia friendly" Sicilians, probably not unlike many of the Sicilian immigrants generations earlier who lived and worked in mafia-dominated neighborhoods. Although we really don't know if Cali's parents had some mafia relations or not... CC, you've mentioned that D'Aquila's mother was a Cali for example and the D'Aquilas and Calis had ties to the same neighborhood in Palermo. Then Frank Cali gets made into the same crew as Jerry D'Aquila, a crew that can be traced back to Toto D'Aquila's reign. Again, it's almost like the ancestral DNA idea where it's not "by design", but we see these natural patterns hold true.

Makes me curious why the coastal Sicilians on the southern side of the island running from Menfi down the coast past Sciacca, Agrigento, Favara to Licata didn't up with their own group. They had the numbers for it. 39th St, Elizabeth, Bensonhurst, Bay Ridge... but they've always predominantly been a Gambino faction. There's no answer for alot of this stuff, things happen how they happen and if set up to occur again could have a totally different outcome. Just imagine if either Morello, D'Aquila or Maranzano "cut up" NYC regionally into smaller groups of 30-50, we could have been looking at 10-15 NYC Families. This is how Palermo did it, when groups got too large they amicably split. They don't look at it as losing earners but expanding their contacts.

Or the Anastasia faction? He's someone who rose up pretty fast quite out of nowhere in a predominant Palermitan Outfit and someone just doesn't achieve that without any backing.

And then at some point we have a Neapolitan element that found it's way in. I'm not so certain that they were an early element. As a whole, I think Ital-Americans of Naples descent found their way in perhaps in the 40's? They existed earlier but I'm not certain to what extent inside this network. But the first Napolitans we come across are in crews of Sicilian-origin.

[Philly d]

Felice, do you have any info on Vincenzo Spatoliatore?

It's interesting how the Villabatesi look to have started out affiliated with Lupo/D'Aquila (Giuseppe Fontana), ended up with Mineo/Profaci en masse, then when Profaci died and the Colombo family's Sicilian ties fizzled out by 1970, you have the Napolis from Villabate show up under the Gambino family in the 1970s/80s and in the 2000s a representative of the Villabate, Mandala, family shows up to do business with the Gambinos. If Spatoliatore is from there as well and a mafioso, that is another example.

Interesting how as much as things change, they circle back around even if it's mostly incidental.

Villabate more or less functions as a suburb of Palermo. You can walk there.

The Gambinos and Colombos share lineage: both Palermitan and Villabatesi roots, not to mention overlapping territory in Brooklyn. Palermitans had Red Hook since the 1860's, the Gambino family is ancient and then in 1912 a new group with a new boss is born smack dead in their territory. From 1912 until 1930 with the exception of several hiccups, the groups coexisted and even up into the 60's, the Gallo's sought the Gambino's protection and were accepted. The Colombos are to the Gambinos what the Luccheses are to the Genoveses.

Did Tommy Luchese's daughter marry Tommy Gambino?

[SonnyBlackstein]

Cali’s funeral:

https://nypost.com/2019/03/19/slain-mob ... s-look-on/

[Pogo The Clown]

Looks like it was a crappy turnout. I was looking forward to a Carlo Gambino or even a John Gotti like gathering.


Pogo

[B.]

Makes me curious why the coastal Sicilians on the southern side of the island running from Menfi down the coast past Sciacca, Agrigento, Favara to Licata didn't up with their own group. They had the numbers for it. 39th St, Elizabeth, Bensonhurst, Bay Ridge... but they've always predominantly been a Gambino faction. There's no answer for alot of this stuff, things happen how they happen and if set up to occur again could have a totally different outcome. Just imagine if either Morello, D'Aquila or Maranzano "cut up" NYC regionally into smaller groups of 30-50, we could have been looking at 10-15 NYC Families. This is how Palermo did it, when groups got too large they amicably split. They don't look at it as losing earners but expanding their contacts.

Or the Anastasia faction? He's someone who rose up pretty fast quite out of nowhere in a predominant Palermitan Outfit and someone just doesn't achieve that without any backing.

And then at some point we have a Neapolitan element that found it's way in. I'm not so certain that they were an early element. As a whole, I think Ital-Americans of Naples descent found their way in perhaps in the 40's? They existed earlier but I'm not certain to what extent inside this network. But the first Napolitans we come across are in crews of Sicilian-origin.

It's surprising, too, that none of the Sciacca / Agrigento guys in the Gambino family ever held administration positions that we know of given they had multiple crews since the 1920s. Gentile described himself as a "consigliere" between at least two of the crews, which suggests they were allowed to handle some of their own affairs. LCNBios mentioned in his bio of Paul SanFilippo that his father Giuseppe (from Sciacca) was a member and a source descibed him as a "consigliere of judgment". Joe SanFilippo's age and what we know of the Gambino admin during his time makes it fairly unlikely he was the family's consigliere. If this "Agrigentesi/Sciacchitani consigliere" position existed as Gentile described it, it is unlikely it belonged exclusively to Gentile, and maybe SanFilippo held this same semi-official role after Gentile.

Then you have the Lucchese Brooklyn crew, whose first known captain Curiale was from Agrigento and seems to have followed a similar trajectory as the Gambino Agrigento element. Though we know few if any of the earliest members of this crew, one early member was also from Agrigento and had spent a period in Pueblo. D'Arco said Curiale dated back to the time when Brooklyn was one family. I know better than to take D'Arco's history lessons for fact, especially an offhand comment like this, but it does make you wonder if Curiale had been with the Gambino family or otherwise these Agrigento crews had been part of the same organization. Then you have the Bonannos and their under-the-radar Agrigento crews with Nick Alfano and Joe Colletti.

Think about this, too...

In 1979, the Bonanno family has 3 captains from a Sciacca background, and two more from other Agrigento villages.

Sciacca:
- Indelicato
- Giaccone
- Sabella

Agrigento:
- Ferrugia (Castrofilippo)
- Salvo (Alessandria della Rocca)

Plus you had Gerlando Sciascia (Cattolica Eraclea) taking, or soon taking, some kind of NYC-based position (be it acting or official) over Montreal. So let's just say 1/3rd of Bonanno captains at the time of Galante's death trace back to Agrigento. If they had Castellammaresi heritage, we wouldn't bat an eye. Or if it was the Gambino family and these guys had Palermitani heritage or even Agrigentesi it wouldn't stand out, but to me it stands out because it is the Bonannos and this element of the family has been overlooked but not because they didn't have the numbers and certainly not because they didn't have influence.

The Indelicatos and Giaccone, though they came up in different parts of NYC, ended up in an alliance in the early 1980s and were Sciacchitani. Not sure where Trinchera was from. It may have been a coincidence, but if we didn't have other info, I would look at that info from a "top down" perspective and call them the "Sciacchitani faction" given that you had three captains (both Indelicatos + Giaccone) of Sciacca heritage. But despite all that has been written about them, this has never been mentioned by Pistone, the Bonanno CWs, or authors to my knowledge. If it had happened a generation or two earlier, though, and Gentile was recounting it, no doubt he would have said "Sciacchitani group", so it just shows you how the view changes.

Yet today, terms like "zip" and "Sicilian faction" are used even to refer to members who have been in the US for 40 years or were even born in the US. But what seems to support the use of these terms is that these particular guys still maintain a Sicilian identity and keep ties with Sicily. Still, it's hard not to look at groups like the Indelicatos + Giaccones I mentioned and consider whether it's more than a coincidence that men whose families came from the same village were willing to trust one another and potentially go to war to take over their family. Just something to consider when we hear about men born in the US being part of the "zip faction" and the "zip faction" having a relatively small number of made members -- these terms are clearly not as simple as Sicilian hometown, membership size, etc. but the network they are a part of and the culture they embrace.

[B.]

I'm responsible for taking my own thread off track, but here is some more on Cali:

- Cali was described by the FBI as taking over as acting captain of the D'Amico crew in 2005 when D'Amico was elevated to acting boss. So reports of Cali as an acting captain (I've seen this as early as 2003, and Johnny Scootch mentioned even earlier) would seem to be referring only to the John Gambino decina pre-2005.

- First reference to Cali as simply a captain (not specified as "acting") is 2008. This coincides timing-wise with the report I've mentioned in other threads of John Gambino being upped to a ruling panel in 2008 along with Vernace and Marino. Not sure Cali became official at that point, though, as I believe Cali was indicted as an acting captain, though it gets confusing at this point with Cali having a position in both the Gambino and D'Amico crews and how those crews had been more or less merged in the 1990s before Gambino was promoted back to captain. Were there any articles naming him an official captain before the reports started coming in of him as an admin member?

- As of the early 2000s, both Cali's Staten Island home in Todt Hill and his business Bontel were on property owned by Francesco Inzerillo, cousin of his wife and Cali's top associate in the Gambino family. Inzerillo appears to have been a buffer for Cali in virtually every aspect of his life, at least through the late 2000s.

- The LoVerdes, previously described as Cali's business partners and top legitimate associates, did constant business with Gambino capodecina Carmine Sciandra's Top Tomato stores. Sciandra was a member of Tommy Gambino's crew and Sciandra's father Gandolfo "Buddy" was described in 1960s FBI reports as a cousin of Carlo Gambino in addition to being Gambino's driver and close associate. I have never been able to substantiate the Sciandra and Gambino relation. Buddy Sciandra's father Carmelo (namesake of Carmine) was from Montedoro, like the Sciandras of the Bufalino family. It looks like Buddy's mother was an Albanese from Polizzi, Sicily, which is in Palermo province but not near Carlo Gambino's origins.