Modern Bonanno + Sicilian Mafia ties

[B.]

I must have overlooked this or it got buried in the "News from Italy" thread:
https://palermo.repubblica.it/cronaca/2 ... 240242663/

Via Google Translate:
Antonello Nicosia, the parliamentary collaborator arrested two days ago, and the boss of Sciacca Accursio Dimino were aiming to do great business with the United States in the slot machine sector. "We have to go there to do - said Nicosia to Dimino - in California or Texas or somewhere else, it's not that we have to do it in New York. We have to do something to make money, even in another country ... in Canada, can't you prepare for Canada? There are those of Cattolica Eraclea, can't you see framing these? Can't we go? ". Dimino explained: "I'm not going to get to them for now, because the Riberesi have them there."

- Interesting that Sicilian mafiosi are trying to invest in slot machines in the US and Canada. You don't typically think of that as an overseas venture between the US and Sicily.

- Another Accursio Dimino from Sciacca was an early Gambino leader in NYC. Reports on this newer Dimino suggest he has ties to the US but no info on how far back his connections go. Mafia names tend to be recurring on both sides, i.e. the Tocco who is a recent boss in Terrasini.

- They are referring to the Rizzuto faction in Canada, but he seems to be saying the Riberesi are already in the slot machine business there, presumably in collaboration the Rizzuto faction. If that's true, I have to wonder if the DeCavalcante family is involved given their connections to both Ribera and Montreal.

- Keep in mind, too, that this is from the past couple of years. These statements suggest the Rizzuto faction continues to work with the Sicilian mafia and that the Sicilians follow protocol when setting up businesses in N.American mafia territory. They are talking about placing slot machines virtually anywhere in N.America as long as they don't step on another mafia group's toes (hence not going into business where the Riberesi are already established).

Again via Google Translate:
The wiretapping revealed a meeting organized in Castellammare del Golfo: there were Sergio Gucciardi, originally from Sciacca, owner of two bars in New York, where slot machines are installed ("It would have been affiliated to Cosa nostra by Accursio Dimino", writes the attorney in custody), and this Stefano Turriciano, "originally from Castellammare - reads the arrest warrant - but mostly residing in the United States and from the information acquired by the judicial police, was checked in 2007 at Palermo airport with Franco Salvatore Montagna, originally from Alcamo and brother of Sal Montagna, affiliated with the New York family of Bonanno and assassinated on November 24, 2011 in Montreal ".
In Castellammare they met at the Flower café, it was July 30th 2018. "Where do we put these phones?". They were cautious.

- Sergio Gucciardi was observed by the FBI in 2013 at a Bonanno social club in Queens with Vincent Asaro, David Delfranco, Thomas DiFiore, John Sciremammano, and John Spirito Jr. We have Gucciardi rubbing shoulders with top Bonanno members in NYC and then meeting with Castellammarese and Sciacchitani mafia figures around five years later when he is in Sicily.

- The article suggests Gucciardi is part of the slot machine business with Accursio Dimino, putting the machines in his NYC bars. Based on these connections it seems possible that the Bonanno family is involved in or at least aware of the Sicilian slot machine operation. The conversation with Dimino mentioned earlier also plays into this, as they were talking about the possibility of working with the Rizzuto group in Montreal, another Bonanno connection.

- The Bonanno family is no stranger to Sciacca either. A number of members, past and present, trace their heritage there (not to mention other Agrigento towns). Seems doubtful this plays a direct role in the modern relationship but there is precedent for Sciacchitani in and around the Bonanno family spanning generations.

- First time I've heard of the Montagna family having lived in Alcamo. Would appear they lived in Alcamo, then Montreal, followed by Castellammare, and finally NYC. Franco S. Montagna is not the same brother who owned a restaurant in NYC (Nunzio), but I was able to find records that confirm Franco S. Montagna is an immediate relative of Sal and Nunzio Montagna, so the article appears to be accurate. Franco S. Montagna lives in Queens and has ties to Ridgewood. He appears to be older than Salvatore, so that would explain Franco being from Alcamo opposed to one of the later Montagna residences.

- An early article (by Humphreys if I remember right) about Montagna's deportation to Canada mentioned that he had another brother living in Canada but I never saw anything else about it. Franco Montagna's records only show ties to Queens and Brooklyn. Is there yet another brother in Canada, did Franco live there for a time, or was it a mistake?

- The Montagna connection is interesting given Montreal came up in the discussion with Dimino. Given these slot machines appear to have already been in place in NYC and Canada prior to 2018/2019, the question is when this operation started. Did it start when Salvatore Montagna was alive?

- A 70-year-old Vito Turriciano was arrested by Italian authorities in the mid-2010s and charged with being a leading mafioso in Castellammare. Given that Stefano Turriciano is connected with the mafia in Castellammare during the same period, the two could be related. When Franco Montagna and Stefano Turriciano traveled to Sicily together in 2007, Franco's brother Sal Montagna was the acting boss of the Bonannos so very interesting if Stefano is related to Vito, who likely would have been an important figure in Castellammare at the time.

- It certainly appears that Sergio Gucciardi and Stefano Turriciano are liaisons between the Sicilian mafia and Bonanno figures. To what degree the groups are involved is anyone's guess, but the important part is that the two groups have a channel for communication and opportunities for business.

--

Can anyone find the article that mentions Sal Montagna traveling to Sicily and attempting to make contact with the Sicilian mafia while he was acting boss? I recall an article that came out in the late 2000s or early 2010s that described this but didn't give any more details. If I'm remembering that article right, this new information certainly suggests there was something to it.

Please feel free to throw any other info into the ring that might be relevant.

[CabriniGreen]

I must have overlooked this or it got buried in the "News from Italy" thread:
https://palermo.repubblica.it/cronaca/2 ... 240242663/

Via Google Translate:
Antonello Nicosia, the parliamentary collaborator arrested two days ago, and the boss of Sciacca Accursio Dimino were aiming to do great business with the United States in the slot machine sector. "We have to go there to do - said Nicosia to Dimino - in California or Texas or somewhere else, it's not that we have to do it in New York. We have to do something to make money, even in another country ... in Canada, can't you prepare for Canada? There are those of Cattolica Eraclea, can't you see framing these? Can't we go? ". Dimino explained: "I'm not going to get to them for now, because the Riberesi have them there."

- Interesting that Sicilian mafiosi are trying to invest in slot machines in the US and Canada. You don't typically think of that as an overseas venture between the US and Sicily.

- Another Accursio Dimino from Sciacca was an early Gambino leader in NYC. Reports on this newer Dimino suggest he has ties to the US but no info on how far back his connections go. Mafia names tend to be recurring on both sides, i.e. the Tocco who is a recent boss in Terrasini.

- They are referring to the Rizzuto faction in Canada, but he seems to be saying the Riberesi are already in the slot machine business there, presumably in collaboration the Rizzuto faction. If that's true, I have to wonder if the DeCavalcante family is involved given their connections to both Ribera and Montreal.

- Keep in mind, too, that this is from the past couple of years. These statements suggest the Rizzuto faction continues to work with the Sicilian mafia and that the Sicilians follow protocol when setting up businesses in N.American mafia territory. They are talking about placing slot machines virtually anywhere in N.America as long as they don't step on another mafia group's toes (hence not going into business where the Riberesi are already established).

Again via Google Translate:
The wiretapping revealed a meeting organized in Castellammare del Golfo: there were Sergio Gucciardi, originally from Sciacca, owner of two bars in New York, where slot machines are installed ("It would have been affiliated to Cosa nostra by Accursio Dimino", writes the attorney in custody), and this Stefano Turriciano, "originally from Castellammare - reads the arrest warrant - but mostly residing in the United States and from the information acquired by the judicial police, was checked in 2007 at Palermo airport with Franco Salvatore Montagna, originally from Alcamo and brother of Sal Montagna, affiliated with the New York family of Bonanno and assassinated on November 24, 2011 in Montreal ".
In Castellammare they met at the Flower café, it was July 30th 2018. "Where do we put these phones?". They were cautious.

- Sergio Gucciardi was observed by the FBI in 2013 at a Bonanno social club in Queens with Vincent Asaro, David Delfranco, Thomas DiFiore, John Sciremammano, and John Spirito Jr. We have Gucciardi rubbing shoulders with top Bonanno members in NYC and then meeting with Castellammarese and Sciacchitani mafia figures around five years later when he is in Sicily.

- The article suggests Gucciardi is part of the slot machine business with Accursio Dimino, putting the machines in his NYC bars. Based on these connections it seems possible that the Bonanno family is involved in or at least aware of the Sicilian slot machine operation. The conversation with Dimino mentioned earlier also plays into this, as they were talking about the possibility of working with the Rizzuto group in Montreal, another Bonanno connection.

- The Bonanno family is no stranger to Sciacca either. A number of members, past and present, trace their heritage there (not to mention other Agrigento towns). Seems doubtful this plays a direct role in the modern relationship but there is precedent for Sciacchitani in and around the Bonanno family spanning generations.

- First time I've heard of the Montagna family having lived in Alcamo. Would appear they lived in Alcamo, then Montreal, followed by Castellammare, and finally NYC. Franco S. Montagna is not the same brother who owned a restaurant in NYC (Nunzio), but I was able to find records that confirm Franco S. Montagna is an immediate relative of Sal and Nunzio Montagna, so the article appears to be accurate. Franco S. Montagna lives in Queens and has ties to Ridgewood. He appears to be older than Salvatore, so that would explain Franco being from Alcamo opposed to one of the later Montagna residences.

- An early article (by Humphreys if I remember right) about Montagna's deportation to Canada mentioned that he had another brother living in Canada but I never saw anything else about it. Franco Montagna's records only show ties to Queens and Brooklyn. Is there yet another brother in Canada, did Franco live there for a time, or was it a mistake?

- The Montagna connection is interesting given Montreal came up in the discussion with Dimino. Given these slot machines appear to have already been in place in NYC and Canada prior to 2018/2019, the question is when this operation started. Did it start when Salvatore Montagna was alive?

- A 70-year-old Vito Turriciano was arrested by Italian authorities in the mid-2010s and charged with being a leading mafioso in Castellammare. Given that Stefano Turriciano is connected with the mafia in Castellammare during the same period, the two could be related. When Franco Montagna and Stefano Turriciano traveled to Sicily together in 2007, Franco's brother Sal Montagna was the acting boss of the Bonannos so very interesting if Stefano is related to Vito, who likely would have been an important figure in Castellammare at the time.

- It certainly appears that Sergio Gucciardi and Stefano Turriciano are liaisons between the Sicilian mafia and Bonanno figures. To what degree the groups are involved is anyone's guess, but the important part is that the two groups have a channel for communication and opportunities for business.

--

Can anyone find the article that mentions Sal Montagna traveling to Sicily and attempting to make contact with the Sicilian mafia while he was acting boss? I recall an article that came out in the late 2000s or early 2010s that described this but didn't give any more details. If I'm remembering that article right, this new information certainly suggests there was something to it.

Please feel free to throw any other info into the ring that might be relevant.

Did you see the recent article with Leo Rizzuto visiting Sicily, the Rizzuto hometown? They made him sound like the boss of Catollica Eraclea......

[CabriniGreen]

This one here?

https://www.agrigentonotizie.it/cronaca ... clea-.html

[B.]

Thanks for sharing. They use sensationalist terms like "godfather" and "capo dei capi" to describe Leonardo Rizzuto, so hard to make anything of his official rank.

It is significant, though, as it shows Rizzuto traveled to Sicily and stayed in Sciacca around the same general period that Dimino the boss of Sciacca had a discussion with Nicosia about using the Cattolica Eraclea faction in Canada to assist the Sicilian mafia. When Dimino says the "Riberesi" are already operating slot machines in Canada he must mean the Ribera mafia, not random civilians from Ribera. The indication is the Rizzuto group continues to be the point of contact for Agrigentini mafiosi wanting to operate in Canada and a deal had already been made between the Rizzuto group and the Ribera mafia.

During the investigation mentioned in the original post, they found that Accursio Dimino's cousin Leonardo Zinna (alleged to have been involved in mafia activity as well) was living in the United States and they logged him making suspicious phone calls the day after the Frank Cali murder. It sounds like Zinna contacted figures involved with the Gambino family but not sure the translation was correct. Records for Zinna indicate he lives in New Jersey.

[SantoClaus]

I believe that on the West Coast of Sicily, Agrigento Region, they have almost their own style of Masonry, Licata.

Curious if anyone has heard of it?

If so, apparently, it would tie most if not all members through the blood of the women into one family, something to do with the name Maria. Blood either through marriage or murder.

I believe members of the original club on Bay and Barton in Hamilton early 1900’s were part of this, as well as Railway Street and in Buffalo.

Bordinaro, as well as Sylvestro, don’t know if the names would hold relevance in modern times.

[CabriniGreen]

@B

Been looking all over, is this it?


http://www.alqamah.it/2019/11/04/quei-r ... del-golfo/

[CabriniGreen]

This one says Accursio Diminio was going to do business with Cali, maybe that's why there were cryptic phone calls around his murder?

[CabriniGreen]

Friday May 15, 2020



RICERCA - DIGITARE IL TESTO E PREMERE INVIO



Those relationships between Dimino and the Italian-American mafia that pass through Castellammare del Golfo
Published: Monday, November 4, 2019Vote the article
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Chronicle | By Emanuel Butticè

The relationship between Accursio Dimino and some exponents of the castellammarese mafia family overseas. Relations with Frank Calì, the old rules of the past and the willingness to be a mafia killer

CASTELLAMMARE DEL GOLFO. The city of Castellammare, in addition to being the birthplace of the most famous Italian-American mafia bosses, among them the boss Joe "Bananas" Bonanno, is still the beating heart of the overseas mafia. To say this are the recent anti-mafia operations conducted in recent years, including this one called "New Bridge" in December 2014. The last in chronological order is that of this morning called "Passepartout", conducted by the Guardia di Finanza and Carabinieri of ROS and Provincial Command of Agrigento by order of the Public Prosecutor of Palermo, by the Attorney General Francesco Lo Voi, by the Attorney General Paolo Guido and by prosecutors Calogero Ferrara and Francesca Dessì.

Dimino "historical leader" of the mafia
In particular, the charismatic figure of the saccense Accursio Dimino emerged, called "Matiseddu", already condemned for mafia association (last sentence in 2010) for his role expressed in Cosa Nostra, for which, over time, he was "recruiter of new adepts ", and absolute interpreter in the acquisition of economic activities and public works contracts in the construction and tourism-hotel sector, to assume, in the first decade of the 2000s, the role of head of the Mafia family of Sciacca.

Dimino, in the 90s, on behalf of the Sciacca family, played a central role in the development of ultra-provincial association dynamics, maintaining contacts and conveying "pizzini" with the Corleonesi, in particular with the bloodthirsty bosses Totò Riina and Giovanni Brusca. In those years, investigative activities had also verified contacts with the mafia fugitive Matteo Messina Denaro. Since his release, Dimino's relationships with mafia subjects operating in the territory of Sciacca, Castellammare del Golfo and with some characters believed to be contiguous to the Gambino mafia family in New York have been documented.

The meetings that took place in Castellammare del Golfo
Dimino himself was particularly related to Frank Calì with whom he had planned a criminal activity that was subsequently not carried out due to the sudden murder of Calì in New York on March 13th. Calì was believed to be a prominent exponent of the Italian-American mafia family and had taken over the historic Gambino criminal family in 2015, but considered the "bridge" between the Sicilian Cosa Nostra and the American mafia as early as 2008, during the investigation " Old Bridge ". The Gambinos together with the Bonanno, Colombo, Lucchese and Genovese families form the five mafia families of New York.

The relations between Accursio Dimino and the exponents of the American mafia families also occurred in Castellammare del Golfo. From the investigations carried out, it emerged that Dimino has maintained assiduous and constant relationships with various subjects, originating in Sciacca but who have emigrated for some time to the United States of America, where Dimino himself is planning to move.

There are many documented meetings in a famous bar in Castellammare del Golfo with subjects originating in Castellammare, but who have lived in the United States for years. Dimino, therefore, would have entered into relationships, over the years, with several prominent exponents of the Italian-American mafia. He had had contact with the Castellammarese Salvatore " Sal the iron worker " Montagna, boss at the head of the powerful Bonanno mafia family from 2006 to 2009 and assassinated on November 24, 2011 in Montreal. Sal Montagna was a boss who made his bones in the village and then became an important boss in America.

COULD IT BE, MONTAGNA WAS A TRANSFER?

[CabriniGreen]

Dimino also prided himself on having met the historical "chief" of the Castellammarese mafia, sentenced to seven life sentences, such a "Gino", or Gioacchino Calabrò, historical chief of the mafia family of Castellammare del Golfo who received several life sentences for murder. But other contacts also emerge with relatives of local mafia members who have emigrated to America for years. Other contacts of Dimino would also be attributable to Francesco Domingo, called "Tempesta", not investigated, several times definitively convicted of having been first member and then head of the family mafia of Castellammare del Golfo and returned to freedom, after a long prison term, in 2015.

There was an important meeting between some subjects from Castellammare del Golfo and Accursio Dimino which had all the air, according to the investigators, of being a mafia meeting in which there was talk of overseas business. They left their cell phones in the car to avoid eavesdropping. What emerges, in essence, is a still well organized "historical" mafia that does not forget the origins and does not disdain overseas business at all. Names that recur in a scenario that does not change, of a past that seems to be still present. Of an "old-fashioned" mafia that continues to have strong legs in the territory of origin, Sicily, in the specific case of Sciacca and Castellammare del Golfo, where according to the interceptions the "family" rules have not changed, but the head in America, especially between the United States and Canada.

Willing to be a mafia killer (for a fee)
Dimino, during a conversation with Antonello Nicosia, the exponent of the Radicals who despised Falcone and Borsellino also arrested this morning, openly revealed his availability, as a member of the mafia for over twenty years, to even make a killer to the occurrence for American mafia families, provided they are adequately remunerated: "Yes, there is something to 'get dressed up' to someone, tell them give me the money and I'll take care of it ."

According to the prosecutor Accursio Dimino, therefore, he continued to deal with the direct and indirect control of economic activities through the mafia intimidation, which he exercised on several occasions. But not only that, it would also have been a solid point of reference, ready to make threats and damages aimed at obtaining the payment of sums of money, hiring or the exercise of work. In addition to being solicited on several occasions as a "peacemaker" for disputes related to the mafia organization.

[CabriniGreen]

Frank Cali really had a long reach.....I'm beginning to believe he was NYs biggest Wiseguy when he was killed..

[CabriniGreen]

Of an "old-fashioned" mafia that continues to have strong legs in the territory of origin, Sicily, in the specific case of Sciacca and Castellammare del Golfo, where according to the interceptions the "family" rules have not changed, but the head in America, especially between the United States and Canada.


What do you think this part means exactly? That the New York and Montreal factions are indeed, reconciled?
Or that they have officially recognized different bosses for both?

[CabriniGreen]

https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2019/1 ... a/5548699/

[CabriniGreen]

The American project - The investigation does not stop in Sicily and not even in Rome, in Parliament, where Occhionero sits today among the benches of the Renzians. The investigators, in fact, have arrived and document the link between Sicily and the United States on which the FBI has been investigating for some months. Indeed, Nicosia and Dimino had been states between May and June 2018. And it is just Oltreocenao wanted to move on a permanent basis: the trip was scheduled for November 5 and for this reason the prosecutors had to stop them at forced stages. The goal was to get into the slot machine business: "We have to go there to do either California or Texas or somewhere else, it's not that we have to do it in New York! We have to do something to make money, even in another country, "they said. "There are Albanians, Puerto Ricans, but there will also be Italians, Sicilians, be careful." And they showed esteem for the Calabrians: “The Calabresi boni su, do you know what's good? That they do not repent, "said Nicosia, the self-styled professor of mafia history.


The Sicily-USA link - Contacts with the Americans continued after returning to Sicily with some meetings in what is the "capital" of expats in the United States : Castellammare del Golfo , a small center in the province of Trapani, historic city of origin of many American gangsters. " These people from Castellammare are not shit ", is another of the interception in the investigation documents. Where dual nationality peeps: like " Stefano Turriciano , originally from Castellammare del Golfo but mostly residing in the United States", who traveled at least on one occasion between America and Sicily with "Franco Salvatore Montagna, originally from Alcamo and brother Sal Montagna, as a well-known affiliate of the Bonanno New York family and assassinated on November 24, 2011 in Montreal ". Frank Calì is killed on Staten Island . "Really disturbing is the fact that, on March 14, 2019, the day when the aforementioned calls were recorded, Frank Calì, allegedly belonging to the Italian-American Mafia family of the Gambinos, was murdered in New York," the prosecutors write explaining that “the murder victim was in close relations with Leonardo Zinnathat that day, after a series of phone calls with his son Dominique (who was in the United States), he had refused any contact with Sergio Gucciardi ". Zinna, called Dino, is an Italian American cousin of Dimino. In the intercontinental calls with his son, a few hours after the murder of Calì, he mentions the exclusively weather conditions: "Everything okay Dominique?". "Yes, all right, Dad, a little bit of a bit of maruso ( rough sea) is here, stay there!", Replies the son. " No here it's cold Dominique ! The weather is sometimes hot, sometimes it's cold, but it's good, do you understand me? ”. Evidently the two Zinna had understood each other on the fly.

[CabriniGreen]

A new mystery already; Why would Cali refuse contact with Gucciarddi?

[CabriniGreen]

Or was it Zinna who wouldnt talk?