New Orleans.

[Angelo Santino]

DiLeonardo told me something interesting, that in the year leading up to his arrest (2002) he was invited by another Gambino to meet some members visiting from another city which he unfortunately didn't attend. That city- New Orleans. So that Family is at least 150 years old as of 2000. He doesn't know any further details he did say he thinks they are all "probably related, like Detroit."

Joseph Gagliano and Dominick Gullo were arrested a few years back.

Gravano recollected speaking to New Orleans in the 1980's.

Ancient history, Gullo and Gagliano seem like familiar surnames in regards to that city. Antiliar would be the foremost expert on it.

[B.]

The Gaglianos, assuming Joseph is related to the earlier ones, were from Porto Empedocle, Agrigento, and they have a deep history in New Orleans

Very interesting to say the least that the Gambino family was arranging a meeting with New Orleans in the 2000s.

Joe Colombo told Greg Scarpa that NO only had five members left in 1968, including the boss, underboss, and consigliere, with two soldiers under them. Colombo said they would be inducting more.

The FBI had a list of members/suspected members from the same period Colombo referred to and their list is much larger, but it's not clear what sources the FBI had for identifying the membership, as there were no known member sources in NO or nearby families.

I would trust a Commission member like Colombo, who gave Scarpa (and other Colombo members, as it was a formal speech at the Colombo Christmas party) specific information on them due to recent contact between NO and NYC. Colombo knew these details about the membership because New Orleans had requested to induct new members even though they weren't obligated to inform the Commission and did so out of respect.

What's amazing is that they may have had as few as five total members in 1968 yet were still around to meet the Gambino family in 2002. They really stretched themselves along.

[Angelo Santino]

The name Gullo is ringing in my ears. I swear I've encountered that name in my early researches but I never focused on NO. It's bothering me, I'll have to look for it.

Rick, do you've any idea of what I'm talking about? Am I confusing Gullo for Gullota?

[Antiliar]

Yes, there were several Gullotas in the Morello years. I'm really into the older stuff, I don't keep current.

[cavita]

1968 suspected member list in New Orleans.

[Angelo Santino]

So it's been a small group since at least the 1950's.

Between 1850 to 1890 existed an a worldwide Sicilian trade in the citrus industry which extended by Sicily to New Orleans to Buenos Aires. It's a forgotten piece of history but before everyone bought Florida oranges the Sicilians supplied the world until 1890. What I'm getting at, is how Sicilians, or in our interest Mafiosi, were involved with this trade and likely lead to its eventual decline as the mafia gutted the industry in a Sopranoesque bust-out.

Between 1850 and 1870, the New Orleans Mafia was the epicenter. Had the South won the Civil War, New Orleans would have remained America's premier city and there may have never been a powerful NY Mafia. For all we know there may have been multiple Families in New Orleans early on. Not saying there was, just saying that in the 1800's New Orleans was the hub. New York likely didn't dominate until the 1890's.

In 1870 the majority of Itals were in NO, by 1872 they were then in SF, Birmingham, NY, Pennsylvania, St Louis. The early NY Mafiosi all had ties to NO, including Morello who arrived there wearing a red bandanna around his neck which may have implicated some symbolism.

Also, you will read history books about how Sicilians and the blacks of the south found common interests with each other. Yes and no. It's a grey area, something Italian historians don't like to discuss is the "White Society" composed of Sicilians who for a year outshined the KKK in lynchings. You also had Republican political affiliated Mafiosi at this time. It was a grey area. Organic and not static. Anyone who says it's completely black and white is ignorant or mistaken.

Jump ahead to the 1960's, FBI wiretaps revealed the Commission edicts omitted NO out of respect for their being the first family.

[B.]

1968 suspected member list in New Orleans.

Thanks, man! That's what I was referring to.

"Suspected" means there was no member source or taped member identifying them as members. Suspected lists for other families range in accuracy, so hard to gauge this one, though if this was before Colombo identified five total members of the family, I would go with his number.

If it refers to the period after they informed the Commission they were making new members, there might be more weight to it. Since this is 1968 and Colombo made his statement that December, it is unlikely they quickly made this many members before year's end. Some of them very well could be the proposed members they were planning on making.

[B.]

Between 1850 to 1890 existed an a worldwide Sicilian trade in the citrus industry which extended by Sicily to New Orleans to Buenos Aires. It's a forgotten piece of history but before everyone bought Florida oranges the Sicilians supplied the world until 1890. What I'm getting at, is how Sicilians, or in our interest Mafiosi, were involved with this trade and likely lead to its eventual decline as the mafia gutted the industry in a Sopranoesque bust-out.

Between 1850 and 1870, the New Orleans Mafia was the epicenter. Had the South won the Civil War, New Orleans would have remained America's premier city and there may have never been a powerful NY Mafia. For all we know there may have been multiple Families in New Orleans early on. Not saying there was, just saying that in the 1800's New Orleans was the hub. New York likely didn't dominate until the 1890's.

Between 1870 the majority of Itals were in NO, by 1872 they were then in SF, Birmingham, NY, Pennsylvania, St Louis. The early NY Mafiosi all had ties to NO, including Morello who arrived there wearing a red bandanna around his neck which may have implicated some symbolism.

Great info, and to add to that, up until 1898 most Sicilians (mafia or not) were entering the US via New Orleans. Those that didn't stay in NO branched out from there, which is why we saw early mafia growth in Texas, Tampa, Birmingham, St. Louis, and maybe unknown groups in the lower part of the country.

After 1898, the primary port for incoming Sicilians/Italians became NYC, and Boston to a lesser degree, which greatly impacted the trajectory of immigrant mafiosi. It also explains why those early mafia families in the lower US either stagnated or died out while the east coast continued to thrive.

Unfortunately those pre-1898 New Orleans immigration records were minimal, usually including a name and not their hometown, destination,arrival/departure contacts, etc. like we would see on later immigration records in NYC. Makes it that much more difficult to map out the path/connections of early figures.

[Angelo Santino]

And The Great of Mistake '98 was when Brooklyn went from its own city into a NYC borough. But Sicilians were in South Brooklyn since the 1860's, Manhattan as well. Before 1890 it's hard to believe there were enough members to constitute more than one family. But we're going by what traces they left behind and "you don't see it, it's not there" is not a definitive conclusion.

If Antonino Governale was a Padrone, then he brought people over who later became mafia. If he was a mafioso himself (no evidence), then he was in Brooklyn since the 1870's and likely formed the Bonannos. We can't confirm he was a member, nothing implies he was except for Schiro and all the other connections. We try not to jump to conclusions and instead went with Orlando, who was confirmed to be a boss in both Tunis before deportation and then in Brooklyn until Petrosino deported him.

Point being, I'm very conservative about this shit. I don't look to form my own conclusions by picking some things and omitting others. I go where the facts and evidence take me. Antiliar, B. are of that same mindset and both actually help me be a better researcher.

[B.]

I appreciate the kind words. It can be difficult, as I enjoy speculating but I try to make it clear when I'm raising questions or making general observations. I sometimes make myself sick with how much I use "appears to be" and "possibly" in writing, but it would make me more sick to say something is definitive without evidence for it. Sometimes people want absolute facts but that's not something the mafia offers much of.

I like saying "mafia-adjacent". Like when we find someone who is surrounded by mafia presence but can't confirm membership, it makes sense to call them mafia-adjacent. I also use the word mafioso more generally, sometimes to refer to someone who may or may not be a member but is nonetheless immersed in the culture. I wouldn't call a confirmed associate a "mafioso", but it works for people in that grey area where we don't know. It's along the lines of what Bonanno said, "mafia" is an idea rather than the formal name of the organization so I use "mafioso" in that vein, like how the entire subculture is what forms the mafia and not only the members and ranks.

Anyway, I'm still gearing up to dig deeper into NO someday. Antiliar is a great resource on that family and there are others. There is an Agrigento element in that family that needs to be explored more... the Marcellos were from Ravenusa before going to Tunis, and as mentioned the Gaglianos are from PE. I've seen some other leads I want to dig into.

[Angelo Santino]

Yes, there were several Gullotas in the Morello years. I'm really into the older stuff, I don't keep current.

My idea of current is 1930. In our talks you've provided me a ton of info but it was so much that it was hard for me to keep track, especially since I never looked into this family. I know alot of guys were in and around Decatur St and a few famous names like Matranga.

I'm asking, as someone who knows next to nothing. Where can I start?

[Angelo Santino]

I appreciate the kind words. It can be difficult, as I enjoy speculating but I try to make it clear when I'm raising questions or making general observations. I sometimes make myself sick with how much I use "appears to be" and "possibly" in writing, but it would make me more sick to say something is definitive without evidence for it. Sometimes people want absolute facts but that's not something the mafia offers much of.

I like saying "mafia-adjacent". Like when we find someone who is surrounded by mafia presence but can't confirm membership, it makes sense to call them mafia-adjacent. I also use the word mafioso more generally, sometimes to refer to someone who may or may not be a member but is nonetheless immersed in the culture. I wouldn't call a confirmed associate a "mafioso", but it works for people in that grey area where we don't know. It's along the lines of what Bonanno said, "mafia" is an idea rather than the formal name of the organization so I use "mafioso" in that vein, like how the entire subculture is what forms the mafia and not only the members and ranks.

Anyway, I'm still gearing up to dig deeper into NO someday. Antiliar is a great resource on that family and there are others. There is an Agrigento element in that family that needs to be explored more... the Marcellos were from Ravenusa before going to Tunis, and as mentioned the Gaglianos are from PE. I've seen some other leads I want to dig into.

Palermitan and Corleonese too.

So much is lost to history, so much we'll never know. All I can say is that NO was the NY of its day and what the mafia looked like or what it entailed is lost to history. Now all we got a Carlos Marcello and a dozen names we never hear of again.

We have evidence of the Mafia in Sicily of the 1870's and 1890's being linked with New Orleans. I posted it before I'll try and locate it. But from what I gather, New Orleans and Palermitan mafiosi were in close contact.

[NickleCity]

The Capitano’s in Buffalo likely came through NO. On social media Sam Capitano indicates his great grandfather was born in Baton Rouge.

[Pogo The Clown]

Joe Colombo told Greg Scarpa that NO only had five members left in 1968, including the boss, underboss, and consigliere, with two soldiers under them. Colombo said they would be inducting more.

The FBI had a list of members/suspected members from the same period Colombo referred to and their list is much larger, but it's not clear what sources the FBI had for identifying the membership, as there were no known member sources in NO or nearby families.

I would trust a Commission member like Colombo, who gave Scarpa (and other Colombo members, as it was a formal speech at the Colombo Christmas party) specific information on them due to recent contact between NO and NYC. Colombo knew these details about the membership because New Orleans had requested to induct new members even though they weren't obligated to inform the Commission and did so out of respect.

What's amazing is that they may have had as few as five total members in 1968 yet were still around to meet the Gambino family in 2002. They really stretched themselves along.

I'm almost certain that was a miscommunication on the part of Scarpa, Colombo or both. There is an FBI chart from 1968 that list 33 members. We can assume that they were mistaken about the membership status of some of them but I find it very hard to believe that they were mistaken about 28 out of the 33 names they had listed as members. Looking at the names 6 are confirmed members but 1 might not have been with NO at the time. I'm almost certain that 2 others were already members by 1966.


Pogo

[Antiliar]

Maybe there were five active members.