Making Ceremony Held By Angelo Bruno At Wedding

[chin_gigante]

I don't know whether this has been discussed before but it looks like the Philadelphia family were holding impromptu induction ceremonies a long time before the Merlino era.

- On 22 December 1962, PH-623* (which I believe was an office bug, correct me if I'm wrong) reported that Bruno had a conversation about a ceremony at a wedding in Trenton where four new members were inducted
- Bruno did not confide in anyone that the ceremony was going to happen, though he made sure that the four inductees would be there
- While at the wedding, Bruno told Ignazio Denaro and Joseph Rugnetta about his intentions
- He then called in the captains and let them know, and then he held the ceremony
- While at the wedding, Antonio Caponigro approached Bruno and requested that Alfred Salerno also be made
- Bruno had wanted to make Salerno for sometime but Caponigro was against it
Caponigro changed his mind but it was too late because Salerno was due to start a federal prison sentence in Atlanta the following week
- Bruno explained to Caponigro that he had to propose Salerno for membership so that the family could be polled for any objection

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Some thoughts:

Salerno had been arrested on New Year's Eve 1959 for operating an illegal still and evading $250,000 in taxes on illicit liquor. He was convicted in Camden and in July 1961 sentenced to five years in federal prison. In June 1962, Salerno was accompanied by Frank Nicoletti to Penn Jersey Vending to meet with Bruno. Salerno wanted help in appealing his conviction, so Bruno was going to obtain attorney Jacob Kossman. This would put the time-frame for the ceremony between June and December 1962.
The DeCarlo tapes also back this up. In October 1962, DeCarlo discussed how the Philadelphia family had continued making new members but that the books had finally been closed a couple of months ago. That would put the ceremony between June and approximately August 1962.
On 7 June 1962, Bruno met with Pasquale Massi, Lou Lalli, John Simone and Nicholas Piccolo. Simone brought 50 invitations for the 1 July wedding of the daughter of "Jimmy Brown" in Trenton. However, Bruno never ended up attending this wedding. Bruno's daughter Jean was married 26 August 1962, though this wedding can also be ruled out because it was held in Philadelphia.
The DeCarlo tapes specifically mention Carl Ippolito and Ralph Napoli being made in 1962. Then, in September 1964, Ernest Perricone told Rocco Scafidi that Alphonse and Guerino Marconi were the only individuals straightened out since the 1961 ceremony where Scafidi was reinstated. Obviously Perricone was wrong about the Marconis being the only ones inducted, though it opens the door to the Marconis, Ippolito and Napoli being the four inductees at the Trenton wedding.
This also raises the question of when Salerno was inducted. He was identified as a suspected member in 1967 and was a confirmed member by the time he was killed in 1980. After the 1962 ceremony the only confirmed induction that decade was Domenic Rugnetta in 1965. It's possible that Salerno was inducted sometime in the 1960s after completing his prison sentence, though it should also be noted that Frank Sindone and Joseph Perella were proposed to be made as early as mid-1964 and still weren't straightened out by 1969. It remains possible that Salerno skipped them, so to speak, like Rugnetta.

[jmack]

Your Philly information is pretty amazing. Great read.

[baldo]

Wonder if there is anyway to find out the venue at which the wedding was held in Trenton. A good chance it was the Roman Hall.

[dack2001]

Dominic Rugnetta wasn't the only member made in the ceremony in 1965. There is a separate FBI bulletin where Rocco Scafidi details additional members made at the Rugnetta ceremony including a "Tom Mix" who is most assuredly Mickey Diamond, as he is identified by the Penn Crime Commission 15 years later with this nickname. Angelo Turco, Vincensco Turco's brother, a Louie connected to Bananas, who is Louie Luciano and he may have been the other individual made in Trenton. A Blizzard, who is actually Passalaqua is mentioned, Peter F. Casella from Vineland, who is Pete Casella's cousin from Vineland who shows up on later member lists and an old-time member was reinstated. There was also a "Blitz" who was a guard in a crap game for Marco Reginelli and Cheese or Shoes from Riverside, New Jersey.

I suspect one of the members made at this Trenton wedding may have been this "Tony Kiva", who is listed on this same memo but as being made in Trenton. Tony Kiva is listed as connected to Bananas. Don't have a name for Tony Kiva.

[chin_gigante]

Great info, dack. Found that bulletin just there thanks to your description.

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[Orzan]

Thnks for the info!

[Pogo The Clown]

Interesting that the document IDs the Boss of the Newark family as Tony LNU. Any idea who this could be?


Pogo

[Antiliar]

Interesting that the document IDs the Boss of the Newark family as Tony LNU. Any idea who this could be?


Pogo

The last boss I'm aware of is Gaspare D'Amico. If there was a Tony after him it must have been for a very short time.

[Pogo The Clown]

Yeah that was why I was asking. I had thought the only known Bosses of the little known Newark family were Stefano Bedami and D'Amico (was Vincenzo Troia ever the Boss?) So this Boss Tony LNU looks to be newly discovered info (assuming it is correct of course). Looking over my list of the known and suspected Newark members the only one who could be a Tony is Anthony Reilla but I doubt it is him. So it must be an unknown member.


Pogo

[Ryan98366]

Amazing find. I read all of GA’s stuff and don’t remember hearing about this. Good work.

[BeatiPaoli]

To Everyone : I thought the Newark Family was disbanded in the mid-1930s. Wasn't these tapes from 1962? Unless the FBI misinterpreted Bruno's comments, and what Bruno really was referring to actually was a caporegime controlling the Newark rackets for another Family???

Regards,
BeatiPaoli

[B.]

Interesting that the document IDs the Boss of the Newark family as Tony LNU. Any idea who this could be?


Pogo

I wouldn't rule out Riela, but another candidate would be Tony Scavuzzo. Scavuzzo was from Vita, same hometown as many of the known Newark members (Monacos, Pizzolatos, Accardis) and was a mafia figure in Newark before moving to San Jose where he became a consigliere of the SJ family.

Never seen anything to indicate Scavuzzo was a boss or high-ranking member in Newark, though we have such little info on that family we can't rule anything out either. His compaesani had an influential faction in Newark so woudn't be crazy to find out Vita produced more than just Sam Monaco and also other family leaders.

--

- On Scafidis's 1965 list, I figured out who "Cheese / Shoes" in Riverside is. The only Philadelphia member to live in Riverside was George Scimeca. I thought he was already a member pre-1960s but maybe not. His father George Scimeca Sr. had his naturalization witnessed by early family boss Giorgio Catania, both men from Caccamo. Curious if Scimeca Sr. was an early member given his son's later membership and his own close relationship to the boss.

- Late 1950s and early 1960s looks to be when the majority of John Simone's decina was inducted. Most of the Trenton and Newark members were not made until after Joe Ida stepped down. Simone was promoted while Pollina was boss and both Pollina and Bruno appear to have helped fill up Simone's crew, which by the mid-1960s would be one of the largest (viewtopic.php?f=32&t=2846).

- I wonder if there might have been earlier Trenton captains. At Rocco Scafidi's 1950 induction, he described Jimmy Gioe sitting at a table and everyone else at the table was a capodecina or higher. He didn't say outright that Gioe was a captain at the time, but it's strange he'd specifically mention him at a table for the leadership if there wasn't some reason for it. Riccobene didn't identify Gioe as a captain in 1952. Gioe was still around years later when the Bruno office bug was on and he makes mention of Gioe, clearly a senior member, but nothing is said about him ever having had rank.

- The earliest reference I've seen to Alfred Salerno definitively being made comes from an associate of the Philly Down Neck crew who later cooperated. This associate ran into problems with Bobby Manna's crew. Alfred Salerno, who the associate identified as a soldier in the Bruno family, had a sitdown directly with Bobby Manna to resolve it. I don't know the exact year, but appears to be from the 1970s. Manna was likely still a soldier not yet consigliere so it makes sense Salerno was able to resolve it on his own.

- Another question is still when Patty Martirano was made. Fresolone says Martirano was already made when he started working for him, which wasn't until the 1970s. Wouldn't surprise me if he was part of those 1950s / 1960s inductions to build up the Simone crew, I just haven't seen anything concrete and there are still some question marks about who all got made in the 1970s.

[dack2001]

Speaking of Bruno's making ceremonies, I think it's unlikely that Patty Specs got made in the mid-50's, when he was in his mid-20's. It's not impossible but it's more likely he got made in the 60's, as you suggested. It seems improbable that Specs would be made that early but not be mentioned at all in the extensive 1961-1964 surveillance that the FBI had going on with Angelo Bruno's crew. Also improbable he would get made years before Napoli but essentially be behind him in the pecking order with that Newark crew. Seems clear the hierarchy with the Newark group was clearly Bananas than Blackie, and later Patty Specs. Same question about Dominick Dinorscia...he was clearly made when Pat Kelly gets assigned to him in the 1975/76. When did he get made? Both Patty Specs and Dinorscia were made and assigned to Simone by the mid-70's.

For the famous 69/70 ceremony that was on hold for four years, there is a document referencing Simone sponsoring a Charlie and a Joe, and that the Joe was partners with Simone. That could be Joe Tuccilo, who was a partner in Simone's numbers business and died in 1972. Probably not Joseph Costello Jr., as he is already being listed as a member in the mid-60's and was partners with his father and brothers in their vending business. I don't think Charlie would be Charlie Costello Jr. either because he was well known by the 80's and is never referenced as a member while his brother Joseph is always referenced as a member. Don't know who Charlie is.

I wonder if Dinorscia, Patty Specs and Salerno didn't get down in a ceremony that was separate from the 69/70 ceremony and from the ceremony after Bruno was release in 73. Like the wedding ceremony from the early 60's, but this one in the early 70's. Those three guys are guys with Caponigro connections, though they would ostensibly be assigned to Simone. Simone was spending most of his time in Florida in the early 70's running from his own subpoena and Dinorscia was acting capo of that crew for a time. We know there definitely was a ceremony after Bruno got out on his contempt case because Ciancaglini wasn't made when Bruno went in on the case. That ceremony after Bruno got out would likely be the one Ciancaglini was inducted at, maybe around 73/74. Stanfa got transferred or made at one of these 70's ceremonies as well.

[Pogo The Clown]

That is from Freselone. I don't recall the exact wording. If he specifically said the mid-1950s or he just said that Martirano got made when he was in his early 20s but the reference is somewhere in his book. Of course Freselone could have been mistaken or just assumed that about Martirano.


Edit: I checked the book and he says that Martirano was already a made man and an important man in the neighborhood when he (Freselone) started gravitating towards him. It is unclear if he gravitated towards him after his (Freselone's) father died when he was 11 (he was born in 1953 so about 1964) or when he was in HS. His HS years would have been 1966-1969/70. He implies that he was already doing jobs for Patty while in HS and says that in his senior year he started dating Patty's daughter (which Patty permitted). So it sounds like he had been around him for a while by then.


Pogo

[B.]

Fresolone's father Pat Fresolone died in 1964, so that would be the earliest Fresolone would have fallen under Martirano, though at that young age I can't imagine he knew much.

The early 1960s induction ceremony where Monte and Narducci were made was a big one that included members of the Simone crew. There were many inductees and not all of them have been ID'd. Some of the guys Rocco Scafidi couldn't identify/remember may have been Newark guys given he was much more familiar with members/associates from Philly and not Newark.

I agree with what Dack said about Martirano's status. Doesn't make much sense for Martirano to have been made before names like Napoli and for that matter some of the key Trenton members who weren't made until the early 1960s. The mafia doesn't always do what you'd expect, though. There were guys made in the 1980s you'd expect to have been made decades earlier. Even recently it's a surprise to see Sonny Mazzone wasn't made until 2015.

I'm curious when Caponigro himself was made. Both Fresolone and later Scoops Licata (on the Stefanelli tapes) said Caponigro started out under Albert Anastasia and switched to Philly, so that much is consistent, but we don't have much on when he became a member. We believed he had been a captain since the 1970s but it turned out he was never a captain and went straight from soldier to consigliere. Hard to assume too much without concrete info, but he must have been made by the late 1950s.

There is also the weird rumor about Caponigro being a candidate to take over Elizabeth when Nick Delmore died. Was that just some nonsense rumor or were transfers more common in Jersey at that time? It looks like Alessio Barasso of the DeCavalcantes transferred from another family. Many NJ members in the five families were Newark members who transferred when Newark was broken up. Caponigro rumor was probably nonsense, but there was precedent for NJ members moving around.