Banana Split

[HairyKnuckles]

Good list. I have a list of those that died in the war over on GBB. One hit you don't have on there is Michaelangelo Vitale. A soldier or may have been promoted to Capo. He was in Sicily recruiting for the the Bonanno faction and making sure the drugs flowed smoothly to the States. He was killed in 67' in Sicily.
Magaddino was the one that started the split. Chicago was getting mad about Bonanno planting his flag out in Arizona. Designed of LA, was afraid that Joe was planning on taking over his city. Joe Cerrito and Frank Lanza of the bay area asked for a meeting with Bonanno, and got Pietro and Nick to show up. Don't know what was said, but Nick was able to set up a crew in Los Gatos with Cerritos blessing. Gambino backed up Magaddino claim on the commission. Lucchese was backing up Gambino and was chipping away at the New Jersey crew connections and customers of the Bonanno family. Joe Colombo was Carlo Gambino gommah during this time. The Genovese family stayed out of it till the end, then they backed Joe Bonanno.

Yes, I´ve seen that list. If I remember correctly, you had Thomas Zummo on the list. But the Zummo hit was almost a year after the war and had nothing to do with that conflict. Massino testified that he did it on the sneak, without the knowledge of the higher ups. I know way too little about Vitale and his murder is not mentioned as being part of the struggle. At least not in the documents I have access to. If his murder was part of it, I thank you for the addition.

[B.]

If Chicago was upset about Arizona, why did it take them something like two decades to beef about it? My understanding is that the Bonannos had planted their flag there before the 1950s.

Interesting about Michelangelo Vitale. I have seen his name but never knew much about him. Vitale is a very common name in all of Sicily, but there were Vitales from Castellammare and I assume he was one of them? Sal Vitale's parents were from there as well but unconnected as far as I know... funny how he ended up with the Bonannos anyway.

Strange about M.Vitale being hit in Sicily if he was a Bonanno loyalist, though, as everything I've seen from Bonanno himself, wiretaps, and reports indicates that the Sicilians were backing Bonanno. Not to say the opposition didn't have their own connections, but would still be surprising.

[Giacomo_Vacari]

Carmine Galante is always credited with bringing over sicilian in the 1950 into the Bonanno family to beef up its numbers. That is not true, two soldiers in his crew, Giuseppe Buccellato and Michaelangelo Vitale were responsible for that. During the split, Giuseppe would go to Smittys crew, while Vitale would either remain in Consolo crew, which was Galantes crew, or split from that crew to form his own crew. Both men we're know as heavy hitters, and it was the Buccellato clan that killed Vitale in 67' in Sicily.

Hk, you are right. Massino killed Zummo without the Bonanno higher ups knowing about.

Chicago did not have a problem with Bonanno being out in Arizona, till Joe told Peter Licavoli of Detroit, and Joe Colletti of Colorado, he was going to require made members of other families to get his ok if they decide to move and live in Arizona. Arizona has been open since Chicago and Pueblo Colorado agreed with the commission to have Arizona, and Nevada be open territories.

[B.]

Carmine Galante is always credited with bringing over sicilian in the 1950 into the Bonanno family to beef up its numbers. That is not true, two soldiers in his crew, Giuseppe Buccellato and Michaelangelo Vitale were responsible for that. During the split, Giuseppe would go to Smittys crew, while Vitale would either remain in Consolo crew, which was Galantes crew, or split from that crew to form his own crew. Both men we're know as heavy hitters, and it was the Buccellato clan that killed Vitale in 67' in Sicily.

Chicago did not have a problem with Bonanno being out in Arizona, till Joe told Peter Licavoli of Detroit, and Joe Colletti of Colorado, he was going to require made members of other families to get his ok if they decide to move and live in Arizona. Arizona has been open since Chicago and Pueblo Colorado agreed with the commission to have Arizona, and Nevada be open territories.

You are right about Galante and the Sicilians. He was definitely close with them later on, but there is nothing to suggest he recruited anybody at any point. The worst is all of the info that says he recruited zips in the 1970s like Bonventre and Amato. Those two in particular came over with their families as teenagers, and the other zips definitely weren't recruited by Galante either. It's also doubtful that he was the main guy involved in getting the Pizza Connection moving in the 1970s, as he was in prison when a lot of the early stages of the operation were happening. My theory is that it was Natale Evola, who had relatives in Sicily and was a major heroin dealer, who was more influential in setting the stage in the US and that Galante simply stepped in when he got out of prison. Maybe someone else can prove me right/wrong, but that's what I think.

Was Buccellato ever under Galante, though? Maybe you've seen some info I haven't. I thought Buccellato came over after the books were closed and joined the main Middle Village crew. He may have been a member of the CDG family who transferred into the Bonanno family (despite the supposed ban on this). JD knows a lot about Buccellato so maybe he can weigh in.

I posted a list of Galante's crew on the Real Deal a few years ago and JD and others helped me add/remove some names. Here is what we came up with:

Captain: Carmine Galante
Soldiers:
Michael Zaffarano
Joseph Notaro
Peter Notaro (may have been one of the guys who was secretly made in Montreal or on the west coast later)
Michael Consolo
Frank Presenzano
Angelo Presenzano
Joseph Zicarelli
Anthony Riela
Vito DeFilippo
Armando Pollastrino
Salvatore Giglio
Mike Sabella
Philip Rastelli
Nicky Marangello
Frank Mari
Samuel Giarrusso
Patsy Giganti
Anthony Lisi
Joseph Mastrocola
Anthony Vigneri
John Petrone
Vic Cotroni (he was not promoted to caporegime until a bit later)
Giuseppe Cotroni
Luigi Greco

Other possibilities:
John Aquaro
Vincenzo Asaro
Jerome Asaro
Vito Bonventre
Bernardo Presenzano
Phil Giaccone
Peter Policastro (has been listed as an NJ member in FBI reports but he was a police officer despite being close to Galante and Zicarelli, so it is unlikely)
Other Montreal members


Thanks for the info about Arizona. You've been a great addition to the board, man.

[Giacomo_Vacari]

Actually it was Frank Garafolo who helped with that. Evola was Underboss and reached out to Paolo Gambino, Carlo brother, Pat Eboli, and a Lucchese who I forget his name, to get the Pizza Connection started. The zips took care of the operation while the American mob just sat back and collected. Giuseppe Buccellato and Michaelangelo Vitale came to the states in the late 1940s or early 1950s, at Mike Sabella request. When Galante became Capo, Sabella sponsored Buccellato, and Galante sponsored Vitale.
Your list, Phil Rastelli was not part of that crew, Vito Bonventre was part of Giovanni Bonventre crew.
Peter Notaro was one of the few members made when Bonanno heard what happened to AA when he returned from Sicily. The Asaros were not part of this crew.

[Lupara]

Philip 'Rusty' Rastelli was under Galante? That suprises me. Does that also mean that he might have been brought in the Bonanno family by Galante?

That's one massive crew if you ask me. No wonder Galante felt entitled to become boss.

[B.]

Actually it was Frank Garafolo who helped with that. Evola was Underboss and reached out to Paolo Gambino, Carlo brother, Pat Eboli, and a Lucchese who I forget his name, to get the Pizza Connection started. The zips took care of the operation while the American mob just sat back and collected. Giuseppe Buccellato and Michaelangelo Vitale came to the states in the late 1940s or early 1950s, at Mike Sabella request. When Galante became Capo, Sabella sponsored Buccellato, and Galante sponsored Vitale.
Your list, Phil Rastelli was not part of that crew, Vito Bonventre was part of Giovanni Bonventre crew.
Peter Notaro was one of the few members made when Bonanno heard what happened to AA when he returned from Sicily. The Asaros were not part of this crew.

I just checked and JD has Buccellato as coming into the US around 1960. Also, why would Mike Sabella have requested that two Castellammarese men in Sicily come to the USA? Mike Sabella it turns out was not related to the CDG Sabellas as his family was from Sciacca (seems he may have even been referred to as "the Sciaccitano" by Stefano Magaddino), so I am not sure I understand the connection there.

What time frame are you talking about when you mention Frank Garafola? I am referring to the early 1970s when things were just beginning to ramp up for the phase of the operation that we're most familair with. Sounds like you are mentioning an even earlier stage, but it would confirm Evola's involvement either way. I personally think it's a myth that the big heroin summit in Sicily was to set up the formal Pizza connection. I think some of the same connections withstood the two decades in between, but by the late 1970s it was a different beast given the dramatic changes in both the USA and Sicily mobs.

You could be right about those guys not being with Galante. Some of that list was definitely guess work based on various circumstances and bits of info. I intended the list to represent the late 1950s, though, so was Giovanni Bonventre still in the picture as a capo in the US at that time?

Anyway, it's a very interesting topic and I appreciate the discussion. Where does the info come about Buccellato, Vitale, and Notaro being sponsored come from if you don't mind?

[B.]

Philip 'Rusty' Rastelli was under Galante? That suprises me. Does that also mean that he might have been brought in the Bonanno family by Galante?

That's one massive crew if you ask me. No wonder Galante felt entitled to become boss.

As Giacomo said, Rastelli may not have been with Galante. I am trying to remember why I thought that but I'm drawing a blank.

Galante's crew was very big, though. He had most of the family's NJ and Bronx members, plus guys in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Lower East Side. He was said to be very tough on his guys and many of the members of his crew were feared in their own right.

[Giacomo_Vacari]

Buccellato followed Galante to Canada, then he went back to Sicily to make sure the drug supply ran smoothly, before he returned to the states in 1960. The time frame I was speaking of was 1966, but with the war, Frank could not do much as the Sicilians were still hiding as a result of their own war. Once Michele Cavataio was killed in 69', LCN could start the Pizza Connection. One thing to keep in mind is when Joe Bonanno said he didn't know a third of the members in his crime family, he wasn't lying as during the 1950s he allowed his UB and Con to conduct the inductions into the Bonanno family without Joe being there.

Giovanni Bonventre retired sometime after Appalachian, Bruzzo would take over the crew, after that DiMaria would take control, before that crew merged with the Zafarano crew in the 1970s. It would split with Lupo as capo. Phil Rastelli and Phil Giaccone we're part of the Aqauro crew.
Your question of how I know about those inductions and history is from word of mouth on the West Coast.

[B.]

Buccellato followed Galante to Canada, then he went back to Sicily to make sure the drug supply ran smoothly, before he returned to the states in 1960. The time frame I was speaking of was 1966, but with the war, Frank could not do much as the Sicilians were still hiding as a result of their own war. Once Michele Cavataio was killed in 69', LCN could start the Pizza Connection. One thing to keep in mind is when Joe Bonanno said he didn't know a third of the members in his crime family, he wasn't lying as during the 1950s he allowed his UB and Con to conduct the inductions into the Bonanno family without Joe being there.

Giovanni Bonventre retired sometime after Appalachian, Bruzzo would take over the crew, after that DiMaria would take control, before that crew merged with the Zafarano crew in the 1970s. It would split with Lupo as capo. Phil Rastelli and Phil Giaccone we're part of the Aqauro crew.
Your question of how I know about those inductions and history is from word of mouth on the West Coast.

Yeah, seems any member of the administration can preside over the making ceremony and some bosses choose not to. I would think the bosses would have had a difficult time being there for every ceremony in the 1950s for example, Bonanno in particular because he was travelling so much and busy with personal matters.

Don't take this the wrong way, but I have to wonder about what is meant by word of mouth on the west coast. Before I say any more, I just want to make clear I am not accusing you of anything, but my imagination has been sparked. I would be impressed if anyone knows all of these details on the west coast and is telling people about all of it on top of that. Who in recent times on the west coast would have known about internal operations for the Bonanno family in the 1950s and 1960s? I can only think of Bill or Joe Bonanno though maybe I am missing something. I understand if you don't want to share your source(s), but you also have to understand there is a bad history of using "word of mouth" as gospel on these sites and it is hard for some of us to accept info outright unless we know the source. It is one of the reasons many of us came to this board, really. That said, feel free to continue the discussion as it's still interesting to me.

[Giacomo_Vacari]

B, no worries. I understand with most posters they say but they won't name names. I will name names since they are no long alive nor are their families involved in anymore. There are two members I will leave out as they are still alive as far as I know. When I say word of mouth I mean from Bonanno members in the bay area. Vince Jimmy Styles DiGirolamo, Anthony Tony D Ditri, Salvatore Prospect Mule, Peter Notaro, and Bill Bonanno. Tony was made by Frank and Joe Bonanno never knew about it till Cerrito asked if Bonanno if Tony could be transferred into San Jose family. Joe told him to ask Frank if that was ok cause Bonanno never met the Ditri brothers till he retired. That was one of the topics that Cerrito and Garafolo had in Palermo in 64. Peter and Jimmy we're both made when Bonanno came back from Sicily after AA was hit, and he did not clear those with the other families. Most of the guys Bonanno made on the sneak when the books closed went to Arizona.

In my talks, Bonanno and Notaro were not forthcoming. Bill maintained that his father was against drugs but I have heard different form Bonanno members and San Jose members.

[toto]

There is no such thing called Pizza Connection as an operation of the mafia. It's the name of a legal case against a couple of different drug trafficking networks run by different factions of Cosa Nostra sometimes they cooperated with each other even though they were opposed to each other in Sicily. Drug trafficking had nothing to do with murder of Cavataio. They were doing drug trafficking all through 1960s but it was confined to people like Gaetano Badalamenti and the Greco cousins who were bosses of Ciaculli mafia family.

Majority of that Pizza connection case was against Gaetano Badalamenti and his nephews. This particular drug trafficking network was in operating since the murder of Cesare Manzella in 1963. It is mentioned by Felicia Impastato mother of Peppino that many people in Cinisi especially women were drug mules in 1960s. People from Cinisi had lots of relatives in mid-west and these mules used to visit them few times a year and each time they take a package with them. Many people became very rich working for Badalamenti and this was the main reason why the antimafia campaign of Peppino Impastato was opposed by many ordinary people. This is the proof to show there was no overall plan for drug trafficking called Pizza connection. It was some bosses who established it independently controlled it after inheriting it.

Later Bontate was involved and his drugs had different customers from Badalamenti. Badalamenti was mostly doing an end-to-end operation. Buying from source and moving and selling through pizzeria. Bontate and other like Inzerillo and Riccobono were more exporters - they exported to Gambino brothers or some of the mafia guys who transplated to New York like Ganci or Castronovo or Mazzara. These guys in turn moved the drugs to the end point also using pizzerias. The Palermo guys had an operation which had distinct points at which the drugs were purchased. Badalamenti's operation didn't have as many of these points.

Also, you got to remember a lot of the hatred in 1970s was because Badalamenti was so secretive about his drug operation and which made him very rich. This created jealousy and anger against him because he was not sharing and he was avoiding dealing with other families to prevent his contacts and operation from being shared.

So the point is it wasn't anything with a grand plan which needed any murders to establish them. It was just some drug operations which became massive over time. Even if Cavataio wasn't murdered the drug trafficking would have continued in the same way except Cavataio would have a piece of the pie.

[Giacomo_Vacari]

True Toto, but the sicilian clans wanted to pull resources together on this and one of the topics was to remove Cavataio who was the cause of the fighting, and was ripping off other bosses from their drug profits. He was not the boss of boss, but did have a seat on the sicilian commission. It did work and made more money for the mafia, but there is always jealousy among the mafia and with Badalamenti being so secretive, some of the bosses began to conspire against him. The Crecos also had the Magaddino, Bonventre, Maggio, and a few others as allies in those pipelines, it was Corleonesi who were jealous, and started the second sicilian mafia war.

[B.]

B, no worries. I understand with most posters they say but they won't name names. I will name names since they are no long alive nor are their families involved in anymore. There are two members I will leave out as they are still alive as far as I know. When I say word of mouth I mean from Bonanno members in the bay area. Vince Jimmy Styles DiGirolamo, Anthony Tony D Ditri, Salvatore Prospect Mule, Peter Notaro, and Bill Bonanno. Tony was made by Frank and Joe Bonanno never knew about it till Cerrito asked if Bonanno if Tony could be transferred into San Jose family. Joe told him to ask Frank if that was ok cause Bonanno never met the Ditri brothers till he retired. That was one of the topics that Cerrito and Garafolo had in Palermo in 64. Peter and Jimmy we're both made when Bonanno came back from Sicily after AA was hit, and he did not clear those with the other families. Most of the guys Bonanno made on the sneak when the books closed went to Arizona.

In my talks, Bonanno and Notaro were not forthcoming. Bill maintained that his father was against drugs but I have heard different form Bonanno members and San Jose members.

So you contacted all five of those guys and asked them for this info? And they told you all of that (except Bonanno and Notaro)? Wow.

Do you know where the San Jose / Bonanno connection originally comes from? There were a significant number of relationships there.

[Giacomo_Vacari]

No B, I just sat and listen. The connection between the Bonanno and San Jose goes back to when the Bonanno family represented San Jose on the Commission when the families were formed. The Bonannos would not represent the SF family till 1946 or 1947. The Bonanno family (not the crime family) has blood ties in the bay area, and even made members did as well. Joe Bonannos daughter would marry a member of the SF crime family that would obtain an administration position in that family, who happened to be the son of a made member in the Bonanno family. For the record, Bill Bonanno was a dick.