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

[matteogalante38]

RE: Sam Lima and the Inspector Oldfield & Black Hand Society book, a few excerpts I'd like to dig a little more into...

In 1918, Sam Lima was paroled into the custody of his cousin, Antonio Lima, in Portland (OR)...Salvatore and his family remained in Portland for a decade until his very enterprising nephew, Anthony J. Lima, invited Sam to come to San Francisco. Anthony, who was only twenty-three at the time, was quickly rising up the ranks in the Lanza family, San Francisco’s main organized crime syndicate. Sam jumped at the chance to help his nephew infiltrate the longshoremen on Fisherman’s Warf, strong-arm protection money from various labor unions, and bribe the political establishment in the city.

In 1937, Anthony became the boss of the San Francisco Mafia following the death of founder Francesco Lanza. Nephew and uncle lived large and worked extremely hard building an empire, small by New York standards, but just as brutal and just as calculating. Anthony ran the crime family for approximately sixteen years with his uncle, Sam Lima, by his side. In 1953, when Anthony was tried and convicted of federal tax evasion, he owned car dealerships and several import operations. With his nephew in San Quentin, Sam Lima strengthened his grip on the unions and became a big-time donor to the corrupt San Francisco political machine...Sam Lima died on January 9, 1965. Eighty-seven cars snaked through San Francisco’s narrow streets in the funeral procession, one for every year of his life.

Questions about the bolded sentences:

• What was Sam Lima doing in Portland, OR from 1918 until (1928)? Any documentation on his time there?

• The authors claim that Tony Lima invited his uncle, Sam, to come to San Francisco. According to FBI files, it sounds like Tony Lima's uncle (Sam) and father (Frank) advised Tony to leave Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1929, following the murder of George Cupp, where Lima was a suspect. So, how was Tony Lima already in SF and "moving up the ranks" if he was still in PA? Am I missing something?

• In 1953, Tony Lima was convicted of grand theft (grape fraud; fixing weight scales). I'm not aware of the tax evasion. Did I miss something else here?

• Is there any evidence, anywhere, that Tony Lima (and/or Sam and/or any other Bay Area mob figure) "infiltrated the longshoremen on Fisherman’s Wharf" and "strong-armed protection money from various labor unions" (at least pre-70s) in the Bay Area? I'm having a tough time finding proof of this...

[JCB1977]

RE: Sam Lima and the Inspector Oldfield & Black Hand Society book, a few excerpts I'd like to dig a little more into...

In 1918, Sam Lima was paroled into the custody of his cousin, Antonio Lima, in Portland (OR)...Salvatore and his family remained in Portland for a decade until his very enterprising nephew, Anthony J. Lima, invited Sam to come to San Francisco. Anthony, who was only twenty-three at the time, was quickly rising up the ranks in the Lanza family, San Francisco’s main organized crime syndicate. Sam jumped at the chance to help his nephew infiltrate the longshoremen on Fisherman’s Warf, strong-arm protection money from various labor unions, and bribe the political establishment in the city.

In 1937, Anthony became the boss of the San Francisco Mafia following the death of founder Francesco Lanza. Nephew and uncle lived large and worked extremely hard building an empire, small by New York standards, but just as brutal and just as calculating. Anthony ran the crime family for approximately sixteen years with his uncle, Sam Lima, by his side. In 1953, when Anthony was tried and convicted of federal tax evasion, he owned car dealerships and several import operations. With his nephew in San Quentin, Sam Lima strengthened his grip on the unions and became a big-time donor to the corrupt San Francisco political machine...Sam Lima died on January 9, 1965. Eighty-seven cars snaked through San Francisco’s narrow streets in the funeral procession, one for every year of his life.

Questions about the bolded sentences:

• What was Sam Lima doing in Portland, OR from 1918 until (1928)? Any documentation on his time there?

• The authors claim that Tony Lima invited his uncle, Sam, to come to San Francisco. According to FBI files, it sounds like Tony Lima's uncle (Sam) and father (Frank) advised Tony to leave Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1929, following the murder of George Cupp, where Lima was a suspect. So, how was Tony Lima already in SF and "moving up the ranks" if he was still in PA? Am I missing something?

• In 1953, Tony Lima was convicted of grand theft (grape fraud; fixing weight scales). I'm not aware of the tax evasion. Did I miss something else here?

• Is there any evidence, anywhere, that Tony Lima (and/or Sam and/or any other Bay Area mob figure) "infiltrated the longshoremen on Fisherman’s Wharf" and "strong-armed protection money from various labor unions" (at least pre-70s) in the Bay Area? I'm having a tough time finding proof of this...

1. I confirmed through the 1920 Census that he was in San Francisco, District 27, 1707 Taraval Ave with wife Mary and daughter Nancy

2. On 12-14-1928, he was acquitted of the Cupp Murder in Johnstown, PA. In June of 1929, Tony Lima drove 3000 miles from Pennsylvania to California and was stopped by Lodi Police for speeding claiming to be on a grape buying trip. In September of 1930, he is then charged with "Involuntary manslaughter" for the Cupp murder as well as indicted for using counterfeit revenue stamps for whiskey in Erie, PA. He was acquitted in May of 1931 of the involuntary manslaughter charge and the stamp charges.

3. In May of 1955 while serving time at Folsom, the IRS filed a tax lien for over $60k for not reporting taxes in 1944, 1945 & 1946. See article below. Confirmed.

4. Cannot confirm as of yet.

***It appears that Tony Lima traveled quite extensively back and forth between Johnstown, PA and Lodi, CA. In November 1948 when he was wanted for the DeJohn Murder, he surrendered in Johnstown, PA with the attorney he had used in previous Pennsylvania cases.

[JCB1977]

Salvatore “Sam” Lima went to be with his cousin Antonio Lima who was set up in Portland, OR.

[JCB1977]

RE: Sam Lima and the Inspector Oldfield & Black Hand Society book, a few excerpts I'd like to dig a little more into...

In 1918, Sam Lima was paroled into the custody of his cousin, Antonio Lima, in Portland (OR)...Salvatore and his family remained in Portland for a decade until his very enterprising nephew, Anthony J. Lima, invited Sam to come to San Francisco. Anthony, who was only twenty-three at the time, was quickly rising up the ranks in the Lanza family, San Francisco’s main organized crime syndicate. Sam jumped at the chance to help his nephew infiltrate the longshoremen on Fisherman’s Warf, strong-arm protection money from various labor unions, and bribe the political establishment in the city.

In 1937, Anthony became the boss of the San Francisco Mafia following the death of founder Francesco Lanza. Nephew and uncle lived large and worked extremely hard building an empire, small by New York standards, but just as brutal and just as calculating. Anthony ran the crime family for approximately sixteen years with his uncle, Sam Lima, by his side. In 1953, when Anthony was tried and convicted of federal tax evasion, he owned car dealerships and several import operations. With his nephew in San Quentin, Sam Lima strengthened his grip on the unions and became a big-time donor to the corrupt San Francisco political machine...Sam Lima died on January 9, 1965. Eighty-seven cars snaked through San Francisco’s narrow streets in the funeral procession, one for every year of his life.

Questions about the bolded sentences:

• What was Sam Lima doing in Portland, OR from 1918 until (1928)? Any documentation on his time there?

• The authors claim that Tony Lima invited his uncle, Sam, to come to San Francisco. According to FBI files, it sounds like Tony Lima's uncle (Sam) and father (Frank) advised Tony to leave Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1929, following the murder of George Cupp, where Lima was a suspect. So, how was Tony Lima already in SF and "moving up the ranks" if he was still in PA? Am I missing something?

• In 1953, Tony Lima was convicted of grand theft (grape fraud; fixing weight scales). I'm not aware of the tax evasion. Did I miss something else here?

• Is there any evidence, anywhere, that Tony Lima (and/or Sam and/or any other Bay Area mob figure) "infiltrated the longshoremen on Fisherman’s Wharf" and "strong-armed protection money from various labor unions" (at least pre-70s) in the Bay Area? I'm having a tough time finding proof of this...

I just realized that Antonio Lima was a cousin of Sam Lima who invited him to Portland, OR and Tony Jr who you are referring to was not in Portland, he was in San Francisco and was Sam Lima's nephew with the same name as his cousin Antonio. Michael Angelo Lima had set up shop in Portland and was running things there. See this article below.

February 1, 1910 The Oregon Daily Journal



February 3, 1910 The Oregon Daily Journal



October 31, 1920 The Oregon Daily Journal

[B.]

RE: Sam Lima and the Inspector Oldfield & Black Hand Society book, a few excerpts I'd like to dig a little more into...

In 1918, Sam Lima was paroled into the custody of his cousin, Antonio Lima, in Portland (OR)...Salvatore and his family remained in Portland for a decade until his very enterprising nephew, Anthony J. Lima, invited Sam to come to San Francisco. Anthony, who was only twenty-three at the time, was quickly rising up the ranks in the Lanza family, San Francisco’s main organized crime syndicate. Sam jumped at the chance to help his nephew infiltrate the longshoremen on Fisherman’s Warf, strong-arm protection money from various labor unions, and bribe the political establishment in the city.

In 1937, Anthony became the boss of the San Francisco Mafia following the death of founder Francesco Lanza. Nephew and uncle lived large and worked extremely hard building an empire, small by New York standards, but just as brutal and just as calculating. Anthony ran the crime family for approximately sixteen years with his uncle, Sam Lima, by his side. In 1953, when Anthony was tried and convicted of federal tax evasion, he owned car dealerships and several import operations. With his nephew in San Quentin, Sam Lima strengthened his grip on the unions and became a big-time donor to the corrupt San Francisco political machine...Sam Lima died on January 9, 1965. Eighty-seven cars snaked through San Francisco’s narrow streets in the funeral procession, one for every year of his life.

Questions about the bolded sentences:

• What was Sam Lima doing in Portland, OR from 1918 until (1928)? Any documentation on his time there?

• The authors claim that Tony Lima invited his uncle, Sam, to come to San Francisco. According to FBI files, it sounds like Tony Lima's uncle (Sam) and father (Frank) advised Tony to leave Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1929, following the murder of George Cupp, where Lima was a suspect. So, how was Tony Lima already in SF and "moving up the ranks" if he was still in PA? Am I missing something?

• In 1953, Tony Lima was convicted of grand theft (grape fraud; fixing weight scales). I'm not aware of the tax evasion. Did I miss something else here?

• Is there any evidence, anywhere, that Tony Lima (and/or Sam and/or any other Bay Area mob figure) "infiltrated the longshoremen on Fisherman’s Wharf" and "strong-armed protection money from various labor unions" (at least pre-70s) in the Bay Area? I'm having a tough time finding proof of this...

I just realized that Antonio Lima was a cousin of Sam Lima who invited him to Portland, OR and Tony Jr who you are referring to was not in Portland, he was in San Francisco and was Sam Lima's nephew with the same name as his cousin Antonio. Michael Angelo Lima had set up shop in Portland and was running things there. See this article below.

From the Schiro / Lanza thread. This info was supplied by former SF boss Anthony Lima when he cooperated with the FBI:

- Lima described a member named Giuseppe "Peppino" Lima who was a made into the Trabia family in Sicily and became an early San Jose member who died around 1933. Records show that Giuseppe Lima died in 1934. Before living in Santa Clara, CA he lived in Portland, Oregon for several years, so here is a rare example of an early mafia member in Oregon. The San Francisco/Pittsburgh Limas were from Trabia, but no relation is specified.

So it appears that multiple Limas were living in Portland and at least a couple of them were already made members of the Sicilian mafia (Anthony said Sam was made in Sicily, too). Since multiple mafiosi were living in Portland, the question is which family were they affiliated with? Protocol required them to report to a boss. I believe there were small mafia colonies of ~10 members (the required size in order to start a family/cosca according to Sicilian pentito Leonardo Messina), so this could suggest there was a small Portland family that died out.

Also, Tony Lima said that his uncle Sam was already the consigliere of the SF family when he (Tony) moved to SF and transferred his membership there. So Sam Lima was in SF before Tony.

[Antiliar]

Maybe he was a member of the SF Family?

[JCB1977]

Maybe he was a member of the SF Family?

San Fran is a 10 hour drive up I-5 to Portland...my best guess would be San Francisco

[B.]

I've done that drive more than once, though I don't know what the trip was like via train back then. Beautiful no doubt. The question is how far a family was willing to stretch its formal affiliations at a time when travel and communication was much more limited. Cue a "Portland Outfit" wikipedia page popping up soon, but I wouldn't rule it out.

[JCB1977]

I've done that drive more than once, though I don't know what the trip was like via train back then. Beautiful no doubt. The question is how far a family was willing to stretch its formal affiliations at a time when travel and communication was much more limited. Cue a "Portland Outfit" wikipedia page popping up soon, but I wouldn't rule it out.

There's definitely evidence of an Italian Colony in Portland and Michael Angelo Lima fled for a reason...

[matteogalante38]

Just curious if anyone knows who the alleged bodyguard of Frank Lanza was...? Specifically mentioned on page 252 of this file:https://ia800104.us.archive.org/27/item ... ediOCR.pdf.

Capture1.JPG

[B.]

Just curious if anyone knows who the alleged bodyguard of Frank Lanza was...? Specifically mentioned on page 252 of this file:https://ia800104.us.archive.org/27/item ... ediOCR.pdf.
Capture1.JPG

Nice find. The informant is also the bodyguard and it's not Anthony Lima, so not sure who it might be. I assume it was a non-member, as he believes Jimmy Lanza took over as boss from his father which is not true. A made member close to the Lanzas since the 1930s would almost certainly know that there was more than one boss between Frank and Jimmy Lanza.

Most significant in this report is it adds to Frank Bompensiero's report that he traveled to Chicago with Jack Dragna during the early 1930s to meet with Al Capone, who was mediating conflicts in California. Bompensiero's report suggested to me that these Chicago meetings included the entire California mafia, so it would make sense that Frank Lanza also attended, as suggested by this informant.

[thekiduknow]

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.

Forgive the thread bump if this has already been discovered, but Alfonso's brother Ciro lived in Modesto and died in San Francisco in 1931. Most likely he is who Lima was referring to.

[B.]

Great find man! I've wondered if the Conettos were Gambino members/affiliates before San Jose since they came from the Arcuri hometown of Alessandria della Rocca.

Gentile said the unnamed Sciortino brothers in San Francisco were D'Aquila "spies" in the 1920s. I assume this is the San Jose Sciortino brothers from Bagheria since the San Francisco Orlando-Sciortinos were likely Schiro guys like Lanza (they were from Camporeale and ex-Williamsburg) but Gentile saying they were with San Fran confuses things unless he was wrong about affiliation or the Bagherese Sciortinos transferred locally.

My theory is San Francico was Schiro-aligned while San Jose was D'Aquila aligned which might be why they kept two small "unimpressive" Families in the Bay.

[JoelTurner]

An early member could have Pietro Misuraca. He lived in San Jose in the ‘30s but was in San Francisco in 1940 where he died that year.

His sons John, Arthur, and Pete were members while his daughter Rose was married to Ciro Giammona, another likely early SJ member.

In the 1950s, John Misuraca, despite the fact that he wasn’t a member of the SJ family, was able to sponsor in at least four people (Angelo Giammona, Peter Misuraca, Alex Cammarata, and Salvatore Costanza). If his father was an early member, it could explain why the leadership may have been more “comfortable” with him.

[PolackTony]

My theory is San Francico was Schiro-aligned while San Jose was D'Aquila aligned which might be why they kept two small "unimpressive" Families in the Bay.

This is a good hypothesis and I would agree. We know that other regional Families, like in Philly, were consolidated around this period, but the fact that this didn’t happen in the Bay Area is an interesting question in need of an explanation.