Pittsburgh Illegal Gambling via 2006

[JCB1977]

To JCB1977: Any idea when Porter was made into the Pittsburgh Family?

Regards,
BeatiPaoli

While John LaRocca liked Chucky for his money making abilities and low key demeanor, he was old school and wouldn't make him because he was only half Italian. Mike Genovese took over officially in January of 1985 and only made 5 guys during his reign. Chucky Porter and Sonny Ciancutti were made in 1986 (and Porter was elevated to Underboss after Jo Jo Pecora died in 1987), Joey Naples & Lenny Strollo were made in 1987 (Youngstown faction) and Henry "Zebo" Zottola was made and elevated to close confidant of Michael Genovese right after Chucky Porter got indicted in 1989. Porter's Mom was a Gialanella and his cousin was Rocco Viola (His Mother's sister's married name) who was also on trial with him and found not guilty for keeping Chucky on his company's payroll for no show work. When Mike took over, he was aggressive in the narcotics trade as a primary source of income, so Chucky had been making nationwide contacts for the cocaine operation through a guy named Ramon Sosa, who was a Cuban National from Miami that had strong ties to one of the Colombian Cartels. Chucky also used Eugene Gesuale as one of his main narcotics traffickers and chief enforcer. Many of the old school guys in Pittsburgh were not exactly keen on Porter basically running the day to day operations, but NOBODY would ever go against Michael because he would kill you in a NY minute. Guys like John Bazzano Jr., Frank "Sonny" Amato Jr. and Sonny Ciancutti were not exactly fans of Porter per FBI wiretaps and FBI files. However, Chucky held a lot of weight and Michael Genovese thought he was very capable because he brought bags full of money to him.

[JCB1977]

Always wanted to know more about them. Despite being a PA family, they always seemed more midwest, what with the Ohio connection and all.

Are there any good books about them that go into detail about the organization itself (i.e. not just the usual rackets and hype stories)?

Not as of "yet." There is a book by Andrew Susce (former IRS Agent) called: Lonely fighter: one man's battle with the government of the United States. It was a book about his pursuit of John LaRocca in the 1940's and how the Pennsylvania government was protecting LaRocca. I believe Susce got fired over the investigation. There is also a book by Rick Porello called: To Kill The Irishman. It's a book about Danny Green but has some history of Pittsburgh and the Youngstown faction and their roll in OC throughout the Steel Valley.

http://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/21/us/ir ... aring.html

http://old.post-gazette.com/regionstate ... story2.asp (Great article on Pittsburgh's OC history)

[JCB1977]

Always wanted to know more about them. Despite being a PA family, they always seemed more midwest, what with the Ohio connection and all.

Are there any good books about them that go into detail about the organization itself (i.e. not just the usual rackets and hype stories)?

They were a bit more Midwest. Their control was expansive and they oversaw all of Western Pennsylvania, Northeast Ohio, the panhandle of West Virginia, Erie, PA and parts of western NY around Jamestown. There was a guy named Antonio Ripepi, he was a longtime Capo in the family from Reggio Calabria, Italy. Ripepi was close tot he Youngstown and Cleveland contingent and was also the father in law to John Bazzano Jr. and Costenze "Stan" Valenti. Valenti was made in Pittsburgh and with the help of Ripepi and LaRocca, he broke off from Pittsburgh to run the rackets in Rochester, NY. Pittsburgh got 20% of Rochester's action and Buffalo got 10% of the action in Rochester. Pittsburgh was also closely tied with San Jose and San Francisco. In San Jose, Salvatore Marino, made member from Pittsburgh retired and went out there to help his son Angelo Marino establish rackets with the support of Big John LaRocca, whose cousins were Alphonse LaRocca and Pasquale LaRocca, made members of San Francisco and the owners of LaRocca & Sons Fish Company, a major supplier of seafood at Fisherman's Wharf. LaRocca was "extremely" close to Jimmy Lanza in San Francisco through his cousins.

[JCB1977]

Always wanted to know more about them. Despite being a PA family, they always seemed more midwest, what with the Ohio connection and all.

Are there any good books about them that go into detail about the organization itself (i.e. not just the usual rackets and hype stories)?

Here are some good files to read if you are interested:


http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 4&tab=page

http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 2&tab=page

http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 1&tab=page

http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 2&tab=page (Good information on the players, Charlie Imburgia mentioned page 19)

http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 2&tab=page (LaRocca Family ties to Northern California)

[BeatiPaoli]

To JCB1977, FriendofHenry, and Pogo: Thank you for your replies and info regarding when Charles Porter was made in to the Pittsburgh Family! I, like many others on this board, find the "smaller Families" exceedingly interesting!

Regards,
BeatiPaoli

[JCB1977]

To JCB1977, FriendofHenry, and Pogo: Thank you for your replies and info regarding when Charles Porter was made in to the Pittsburgh Family! I, like many others on this board, find the "smaller Families" exceedingly interesting!

Regards,
BeatiPaoli

These are a few excellent written pieces on the Pittsburgh-Cleveland Mob war that took place from 1978-1983. Enjoy these Paoli.


1. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5h ... occa&hl=en (Cleve-Pitts War- Youngstown article)

2. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=69 ... +war&hl=en (Pittsburgh Takeover)

3. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wp ... +war&hl=en (Cleve-Pitt Mob war)

[JCB1977]

For anybody who was interested in Charles "Chucky" Porter's ancestry, please see below:

Attached is the 1940 census record

Father
Charles A. Porter

Birth 15 Aug 1907 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny, PA
Death June 28, 1972 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny, PA

Mother:
Jean Gialanella

Birth 27 Nov 1908 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Death 4 Jan 1998 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg ... 1&ref=acom


Maternal Grandfather:
Beniaminio Gialanello

Birth 26 Jan 1886 in Italy
Death Dec. 15, 1971 in Pittsburgh, PA
Maternal Grandmother:
Eleanor (Rosaria) Aurora Magnotta

Birth April 10, 1889 in Italy
Death July 17, 1975 in Pittsburgh, PA

[Antiliar]

Hmmm.... That info on Porter looks strangely familiar.... LOL

[JCB1977]

Hmmm.... That info on Porter looks strangely familiar.... LOL

Antillar, I need to chat with you and Chris Christie about a project that just fell into my lap. Let's schedule a time that's good for all three of us and I'll explain it.

[FriendofHenry]

Hmmm.... That info on Porter looks strangely familiar.... LOL

Antillar, I need to chat with you and Chris Christie about a project that just fell into my lap. Let's schedule a time that's good for all three of us and I'll explain it.

Gentlemen, with all due respect, anything written about Porter needs to highlight the fact that he was a rat and put the final nail the Pittsburgh's coffin.

[Doobeez]

Always wanted to know more about them. Despite being a PA family, they always seemed more midwest, what with the Ohio connection and all.

Are there any good books about them that go into detail about the organization itself (i.e. not just the usual rackets and hype stories)?

Here are some good files to read if you are interested:


http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 4&tab=page

http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 2&tab=page

http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 1&tab=page

http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 2&tab=page (Good information on the players, Charlie Imburgia mentioned page 19)

http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 2&tab=page (LaRocca Family ties to Northern California)

Good stuff, JCB!


Brief side note I found interesting..in one of the reports, it mentions that Barbara's Apalachin home was sold a month before his death for 130K. Not bad money for 1959.

[JCB1977]

I have been working on things for a projects on Pittsburgh and recently had dialog with Chucky Porter's wife...and she was actually "threatening" me in her statements. Anyhow, thought this was funny.

[B.]

I have been working on things for a projects on Pittsburgh and recently had dialog with Chucky Porter's wife...and she was actually "threatening" me in her statements. Anyhow, thought this was funny.

How did she threaten you?

[JCB1977]

I have been working on things for a projects on Pittsburgh and recently had dialog with Chucky Porter's wife...and she was actually "threatening" me in her statements. Anyhow, thought this was funny.

How did she threaten you?

She explained to me that "it is in my best interest" to explain to her who I am "or else"

[JCB1977]

I'll keep it at that...there was more, but it's all good. All she had to do was tell me "No thank you, not interested"