Bay Area (San Francisco, San Jose, Emeryville) Deep Dive

[matteogalante38]

Greetings all,

I've been doing much research lately on the mob's tentacles across the Bay Area (including SF, SJ, Emeryville), and have been trying to dig deeper than I am able to (easily) find information on (go figure). This is just a hobby of mine, a lifelong interest, but it’s like a gigantic puzzle that I find fascinating and enjoy piecing together. I have a massive document I'm taking notes in and currently have a list of at least 120 names of either made guys, associates, or possibly neither but have been mentioned as such.

I have many questions about specific people, their potential connections, the stories I've read or heard (what's true? is there evidence?), and I'm seeking assistance from anyone willing to help me piece the puzzle together. I’m collecting information from everywhere I can (Mary Ferrell files, old newspapers, books, web articles, blogs, and now forums), but some things I just have not been able to corroborate and there are gaps all over - some of which I imagine will remain gaps.

This may appear somewhat scattered, but the questions are numerous, and these are the ones on my mind at this moment (I've bolded some key words just so things would be easier to find):

Q: Is anyone familiar with the Palermitani clan? I’ve read that this was a Sicilian gang in NYC that eventually branched into what would become the Profaci and Gambino families, and that Francesco “Frank” Lanza (first known boss of SF) was a part of this gang. Any truth to any of this?

Q: During and before Prohibition’s “bootleg wars” in SF, was the series of murders from Jerry Ferri through Luigi Malvese for control over one family/gang, or three, or were they just independent gangsters?

• I’ve read all of the above... And was Frank Lanza really behind the murder of Malvese? How did Lanza become the first official boss?

Q: Was Giuseppe Alioto (father of future mayor Joe Alioto) really an underboss in the SF family? I know he was in business with Frank Lanza at the Exposition Fish Grotto at Fisherman’s Wharf, but haven’t confirmed his potential status yet.

Q: Was Joseph Piazza aka Dominic Lonardo really killed for trying to extort Giuseppe Alioto? (Reported by Tony Lima in informant file.)

• I’ve read Piazza/Lonardo was ex-Cleveland (and ex-Buffalo?) and a Black Hander. If true, who was behind Piazza/Lonardo’s killing?
  I also read that Piazza could have been underboss in SF at some point, but I don’t know if that’s true or when that would have been, and not sure why he’d try to extort Alioto...

Q: Was Joe Parente, rumrunner, a soldier in the SF family? If not, an associate? If not..?

Q: What, if any, was Elmer “Bones” Remmer’s relationship with the SF family? I understand Bones owned several clubs, casinos, hotels in multiple locations, held regular meetings with Bugsy Siegel in SF, and worked with Bill Graham, James McKay, and George Wingfield in Nevada.

• I read an article and a book chapter by a local (SF) crime author/historian/tour director on Bones Remmer, and it said that much of Remmer’s earnings went to “mob bigwigs” (something like that) like Siegel and James Lanza. Jimmy Lanza didn’t become boss until 1961, Remmer died in 1963, so did he only make payments to Lanza during that time frame? Or did he also kick payments to Mike Abati and Tony Lima? Or none of the above?

Q: Who was Alphonse/Alfonso Gunetta/Cunetta/Gnotta?

• I read (by lurking on another forum that didn’t accept my registration request) that Bones Remmer “worked under” an Alphonse/Alfonso Gunetta (or Cunetta or Gnotta), who was allegedly a soldier in the Giuseppe Vicari-Giueseppe Lintini crew of the San Jose family, and one of the first members of that family. Anyone familiar with this Gunetta fella? Know how accurate this is? Was he a soldier? Was Remmer an associate?

• I also read that Al Gunetta was forced into retirement after Giuseppe “Joseph” Vicari (SJ underboss, 1942-1957?) was killed by Vincenzo “Papa” LaRocca, an alleged capo in the SF family (and cousin of Pittsburgh’s John LaRocca), and owner of LaRocca’s Corner in North Beach (tied to Nick DeJohn murder). Apparently, many believed that “Papa” LaRocca was behind the fire that killed Vicari...Which fire? I’ve found no evidence of Vicari’s death, murder or otherwise, or who may have been behind it.

Q, first follow up on the above: (Al?) Conetto.

• I recently read in an SJ informant file (not sure who, or the ID number off the top of my head, but can provide if needed), that a Conetto (first name unknown, but possibly Alfonso) was the boss of San Jose in 1929, and may have been from NYC. Conetto owned A. Conetto and Son Meats company on Vine St. in SJ, and had a bootlegger brother or cousin in Modesto.

• Could this be the same guy as Al Gunetta? If not, any other information on him (either of them)?

Q, second follow up on the above: Giuseppe “Joseph” Vicari and Giuseppe “Joseph” Lintini.

• Any evidence that Joseph Lintini had loansharking operations in Hawaii?

• Is any of the following on Joseph Vicari verifiable?

• Ex-New Orleans; bootlegger.

• Owned yard in Santa Clara and grocery store in San Jose that were subject to various fires, as well as his home, in possible attempts to assassinate Vicari.

• He headed a counterfeiting ring which operated in San Joaquin, Sacramento and Santa Clara Valleys.

• Onofrio Sciortino was the son of Vicari’s brother-in-law, Vito.

Q: Does anyone have any details on Steve Trifiro’s gambling operations in Sacramento?

Q: Do we know for a fact that Jimmy Lanza gave permission to hit Joe “The Animal” Barboza in SF? Lanza seemed to be pretty against violence and even illegal business, and I recently learned that Tony Lima was essentially acting boss for a while when Lanza was boss on paper, after Lanza voluntarily stepped down.

Q: Was Epifano “Fano” Trafficante active at all in the Bay Area?

Q: Other than a handful of Bonanno folks in San Jose, and Bill Bonanno trying to buy a car dealership in Lodi or Stockton, how active was that family in the Bay Area? Which rackets were theirs and how were things divided between them and the local SJ family?

Q: Did the Gambino family have control over the Port of Oakland or was someone just blowing smoke with that claim?

Okay, I think I should just start with these for now, see where it goes, and I can ask more next time. Just for reference, I am halfway through the book Lanza’s Mob (which has been a little disappointing, in my opinion) and recently picked up The Last Mafioso, which I’m sure has some interesting stories... I appreciate any and all info you're willing and able to share.

Thank you in advance.

Matteo

[JeremyTheJew]

Last Mafioso states SJ was separate from L.A. and had other family interests so could be possible Gambinos involvement

[DPG]

You need to get all the issues of Informer magazine. Specifically when it comes to your Palermitani questions. Their most indepth history is detailed in a article by 3 of the posters on this forum. Everything in the article has atleast 3 labeled sources.

Also Ed should be able to answer most your questions regarding Bay area informants.

[Antiliar]

A lot of the questions demand answers that are unknown or unknowable. We can only have access to information in FBI files, newspapers, and other government records. The FBI agents weren't historians and pretty much recorded what they were told.

As for Lanza, he was associated with Schiro, so probably was a member of his group. The first boss who we are aware of is Rosario Meli, then there's a knowledge gap until Lanza.

[matteogalante38]

A lot of the questions demand answers that are unknown or unknowable. We can only have access to information in FBI files, newspapers, and other government records. The FBI agents weren't historians and pretty much recorded what they were told.

As for Lanza, he was associated with Schiro, so probably was a member of his group. The first boss who we are aware of is Rosario Meli, then there's a knowledge gap until Lanza.

Indeed, thanks for the replies. I may not have been researching for as long as others, but I do understand the sources we have access to and that FBI agents were not historians... (I mean no hostility with that comment.) I just seem to run across different bits of information in various places, often unexpectedly, sometimes reputable and sometimes iffy. So I thought it was worth a shot in case others have stumbled upon some of the things I have not yet. I appreciate the info on Lanza!

[Nicholas]

Any info about Salvatore Marino?

[Grouchy Sinatra]

Good luck with the research and thanks for posting. I gleaned a lot just from reading your questions.

I agree about Lanza's Mob. Very disappointing book. I read a book called Reno: Mob City. The writing was rather amateurish yet still informative. A lot about Bones Remmer and his association with the early Reno big wigs like Wingfield. Bones Remmer's name usually comes up when researching mob activity in Northern California. It would appear he was Costello's guy out west. I'm sure he paid tribute to the local families to keep the peace, but I doubt someone who made money the way he did was allowed to go entirely to the California families. If he had, they would have been a lot bigger. He was a cash machine and had Costello-like political connections in Emeryville, practically controlling the town for a period of time, similar to Nucky Johnson in 20's AC. Remmer was also a partner with Giancana and Sinatra in the Cal Neva. This should be a testament to Remmer's connections. After all, it was Sinatra who was ostensibly the clean front man of that group.

[B.]

I recently read in an SJ informant file (not sure who, or the ID number off the top of my head, but can provide if needed), that a Conetto (first name unknown, but possibly Alfonso) was the boss of San Jose in 1929, and may have been from NYC. Conetto owned A. Conetto and Son Meats company on Vine St. in SJ, and had a bootlegger brother or cousin in Modesto.

This is an excellent discovery:

Informant advised that individual who he previously referred to as (FNU) CONETTO he believes is possibly the A. CONETTO of A. Conetto and Son Meats, 901 Vine Street, San Jose, California. Informant stated that CONETTO was boss of the San Jose "family" when he, informant, arrived in California in 1929. He advised that CONETTO, whose first name he believes was ALFONSO, operated a small market in San Jose which would have been in the neighborhood of Vine Street. Informant advised that CONETTO had a brother or cousin who lived on a ranch in the Modesto area and who
was a member of the San Francisco "family". The brother, whose first name Informant cannot recall was a bootlegger. He advised that the CONETTOs were born in Sicily but he believes that they came to the San Francisco and San Jose area from New York City.

The source of this information was CI Anthony Lima, boss of the San Francisco family.

So it looks like contrary to murky references to San Jose first coming into existence in the 1940s under Onofrio Sciortino, it actually existed much earlier. The Sciortino brothers were described as members of the San Francisco family in 1928 who came from NYC, where they may have been D'Aquila members, so they may have switched over. However, they were in San Jose early on, including the period when they were described as San Fran members I believe so it's possible there was some confusion over their membership. However, if Conetto's brother or cousin was in the San Fran family, it lends itself to the idea that there was some fluidity between the two local families and maybe the Sciortinos transferred.

Lima, however, says that Onofrio Sciortino replaced Conetto when he died. Conetto appears to have died in 1963, though, so Lima must have had this part confused or there is some other discrepancy.

Alfonso Conetto was born in 1884 and appears to have been living or staying in Florida in the late 1910s during WWI, but was a resident of San Jose by 1920.

According to his WWII card, he was from "Allesandro, Italy" (sic). This may be a reference to Alessandro di Camporeale, Sicily.

--

Some other interesting info provided by CI Anthony Lima:

- His uncle Sam Lima was consigliere of the San Francisco family in 1929 when he moved there. The family's underboss was Joseph Piazza and Anthony Lima learned that Piazza had a plan to murder consigliere Sam Lima over a disagreement over an extortion attempt, and boss Francesco Lanza had approved of the murder. However, Anthony Lima confronted Lanza and Lanza "begged for mercy".

- Shortly after this, around 1929 or 1930, Lanza held a family meeting where he assigned a murder contract for Lima to carry out. Lima became very angry with Lanza for assigning the murder contract in front of other members at a family meeting, as it should be done privately, and told them he would commit the murder in three days, which he did. Lanza was scared because other bosses were being killed around the country during this period and stepped down in favor of Lima becoming the new boss.

- Joseph Lentini was the underboss for Onofrio Sciortino in San Jose when he took over and may have been Contello's underboss.

- In late 1972, former boss Anthony Lima was promoted to capodecina after the previous capodecina stepped down. This ran contrary to reports that Lima had become the new boss, though some of what is reported is redacted and confusing.

- Dominic Brooklier, underboss of LA circa 1972 (and boss by April 1975), was the one who told Jimmy Fratianno that Joe Bonanno was attempting to make a move into the San Jose area, which Fratianno then passed on to Lima and boss Lanza was also informed. Lima wanted to determine what friends Bonanno had in San Jose and said that if there was an opportunity to earn enough money, he would help Bonanno himself.

- Lima describes Brooklier as having been a "recruit" of Fratianno, which in his lexicon indicates Fratianno sponsored Brooklier for membership.

- As of 1975, Lima was in regular contact with both Jimmy Fratianno and Frank Bompensiero. Interesting that Lima had expressed an interest in helping Joe Bonanno given Fratianno and Bompensiero's history of meeting with Bonanno in relation to alleged takeover plots as far back as the early 1960s. Also interesting that Lima, Fratianno, and Bompensiero were all informants... raises a few eyebrows to say the least.

- In 1975, Jimmy Fratianno told Lima that he was planning to tell Jimmy Lanza that he (Fratianno) would be "taking over" in Northern California and that he had contacts from back east to support him. Fratianno had also met with Joe DiCarlo of the Buffalo family in Las Vegas, possibly just a social visit, and DiCarlo had told him to say hello to Lanza, who he knew apparently from the Apalachin meeting

- Manny Figlia still a capodecina of the San Jose family in early 1975. At one point earlier on, Tony Lima attempted to convince Jimmy Lanza to support Figlia to take over as boss of San Jose from Joe Cerrito.

- Lima describes Joe Bonanno trying to take over San Jose in 1975. Bonanno's son-in-law Gregory Genovese was tasked with soliciting former SF boss Jimmy Lanza's support for Bonanno to take over. Frank Bompensiero was also aware of Bonanno's desire to take over and told SJ member Angelo Marino.

- Lima apparently received a letter from someone in Sicily in 1975 saying there were several young Sicilian men wanting to come to the US to "revitalize" the mafia in the US. He also said that the LA family had numerous "recruits" (i.e. associates being groomed for membership) who originally came from Chicago.

- Around mid-1975, Fratianno apparently received the okay from LA boss Brooklier to "take over" Northern California and the plan was to include Bompensiero, who Fratianno would "straighten out" concerning the matter to get his support. Fratianno apparently met with Jimmy Lanza and told him he wanted to make money in the area and Lanza said he wouldn't interfere with anything Fratianno did. Fratianno did not expect Bonanno to give him trouble as Joe Bonanno was no longer recognized by the mafia.

- A phone call was made around this period where an unknown caller, said to be an ex-green beret, from LA described a plan to kill Jimmy Lanza and Manny Figlia. The call was traced to someone who denied involvement. Lanza, through the advice of someone else, believed this originated from Fratianno, who may have been trying to scare the powers in the Bay Area given his plans to "take over". However, Lanza and Fratianno were ostensibly "close friends" according to Lima.

- Fratianno was in contact with Mickey Cohen in 1975 attempting to gain loan financing and this included a hotel meeting in the Bay Area, though it is not believed this went through.

- As of the mid-late 1970s, Lanza involved in fixed horse racing in the Bay Area.

- In May 1978, the FBI re-opened their investigation into Jimmy Lanza as they received information that he was still the boss of the San Francisco family despite previous reports (from Lima) that Lanza had not been the SF boss through most of the 1970s.

- James Lanza was born in Castelbuono, Palermo Province, and the true surname of the Lanzas is Proetta. The FBI learned that Francesco Lanza's brother "Cioacchino" (Gioacchino) Proetta had facilitated the name change in the mid-1920s. So this is something to keep in mind when doing research into early boss Francesco Lanza -- his true name is Francesco Proetta.

- Steve Trifiro inducted into the SF family by Lanza in the mid-1960s.

[Antiliar]

Proetto/Proetta/Projetto/etc meant "foundling," an abandoned baby "found" and placed in an orphanage. In other words, an orphan with no known ancestry or last name.

[Ed]

B,

Glad you're back. The insightful comments you make daily/weekly are unsurpassed here.

[B.]

Proetto/Proetta/Projetto/etc meant "foundling," an abandoned baby "found" and placed in an orphanage. In other words, an orphan with no known ancestry or last name.

Thanks for clarifiying that -- I thought about the name Projetto when I read "Proetta" because the Utica Falcones' father was originally named Projetto and I read this meant he was an orphan. Sounds like it may have been common for orphans to change their names later, hence both the Falcones and Lanzas taking on new names.

B,

Glad you're back. The insightful comments you make daily/weekly are unsurpassed here.

Back at you 110%, brother...! Thank you.

--

On the Bay Area / San Jose history, something interesting I found when researching Barney Bellomo's potential grandfather Liborio Bellomo was that he was on the same ship in the 1920s with Bonanno / San Jose member Nicolo Guastella, but there were also Sciortinos from Bagheria living in San Jose on this same ship. It wasn't Onofrio or his brother, but it seems like too much of a coincidence given Guastella's strong ties to San Jose and later membership in that family. Could be an indication that Guastella's eventual transfer and maybe even Bonanno family ties to San Jose had a deeper history.

--

Also, I'm pretty astounded by how manipulative Fratianno truly was. Something doesn't smell right with Fratianno, Bompensiero, and Lima. All of them were cooperators who were constantly trying to manipulate the mafia power structure in California mafia groups, with Fratianno and Bompensiero trying to do this from 1961 until Bompensiero was killed and Fratianno turned witness. In fact, Bompensiero even told the FBI one of his motivations for cooperation was to help him take over the LA family. I get the impression that while Lima may not have been as heavy-handed (and of course his reports to the FBI are going to downplay this), he served as something of an advisor to Fratianno in his manipulations. Joe Bonanno fits into this as well and it sounds to me like Fratianno and Bompensiero were willing to use Bonanno at various points until it became clear that he couldn't help them and/or had his own agenda, and of course at one point Bompensiero threw Bonanno under the bus.

I wonder if any of these guys were aware of or suspected each others' cooperation. Just seems too coincidental that all of them were up to more or less the same thing, though that could just be an indication of the treacherous bastards they were.

Pretty significant too that Dominic Brooklier apparently gave Fratianno permission to take over in San Francisco.

[IrishDave]

Pretty significant too that Dominic Brooklier apparently gave Fratianno permission to take over in San Francisco


B, could you elaborate on that or point me in the right direction?

[IrishDave]

Have the Bompensiero files been made public? It would be interesting to find out information on the opposition side of the Fratianno conflict.

[Ed]

I think the higher-ups in the FBI could have tried to implement a plan whereby they installed informants at the top of every crime family. (Easier to do with the smaller crime families) We know for sure from documents that the FBI was salivating at the prospect (however misguided or unrealistic) of Bill Bonanno taking over the Bonanno Crime Family. They talk with glee about the opportunity of having an informer on the Commission, etc.

I could easily see the FBI (or rogue agents) selecting and guiding the criminal careers of certain well-placed mobsters in the hopes they make it to the top of the crime family. They could do this easily by sidelining/jailing their potential rivals, etc. Wasn't the whole Bulger/Flemmi thing just a version of that?

Not to get too political, but elements in the FBI can get very unorthodox in their methods. I could see someone there think that manipulating the LCN this why was a good idea. Rather than shutting down the LCN, lets make it our own.

Fratianno wrote explicitly in one of his memoirs that he fed the FBI dirt on his rivals in order to advance his own career. (I'm actually finishing a short article on Fratianno). Maybe this was really the FBI's idea? Fratianno's decision to secretly cooperate with the FBI in 1970 isn't fully explained or understandable given what we know about him.

Fratianno wrote in his memoir that he suspected the FBI had other high level informants in the LA crime family because agents knew so much. But that could be Fratianno boasting after the fact about how clever he was. when in fact he didn't have a clue at the time.

In one of the old threads regarding San Jose/San Fran I threw out the speculation that the FBI and the higher-ups in the crime family were working together to basically shut down the San Francisco Family. It wouldn't shock me if Lima was up to no good.

I look forward to the day(if I'm still alive) when all the LCN FBI files are declassified without redactions!

[Antiliar]

Have the Bompensiero files been made public? It would be interesting to find out information on the opposition side of the Fratianno conflict.

Yes, they are public, but I wouldn't recommend ordering them. You could save time by buying a ream of printer paper and typing "FBI" at the top of every page while leaving the rest blank. That's essentially what they sent me. A file where literally everything is redacted.