Antonio LoMonaco- Early Rockford Consigliere?

[cavita]

Antonio LoMonaco. Who was this mystery man and most likely early mafia member? LoMonaco was born November 11, 1884 in San Giuseppe Iato, Sicily to Gaetano LoMonaco and Giovanna Pipitone. San Giuseppe Iato was a stronghold for the mafia in Sicily and was also the birthplace of LoMonaco contemporary mafia powerhouse Vincenzo Troia. At the age of 17 in 1901, LoMonaco married Giuseppa Reda in San Giuseppe Iato and it was just a few year later in 1907 that LoMonaco and his bride immigrated to the United States eventually settling in Madison, Wisconsin which had a large population of San Giuseppe Iato natives.

LoMonaco’s early years in Madison are largely unknown but by November 1923 he had apparently aligned himself with the Regent Street group that fought for control over the city’s illicit bootlegging business. During this time, he had become the owner of the building that housed the Belvedere Café at 808-810 Regent Street. The proprietor of the café was Tony Musso and another man involved in their business was Andrew DiSalvo, the brother of future Madison LCN boss Benedetto DiSalvo.

That November LoMonaco was involved in a bootlegging case and was bonded out of jail by one Anton Navarra, who was alternately described in the papers as a leader in the Regent Street gang, interpreter and bail bondsmen. Whatever his role, it was suspected by LoMonaco and Musso that Navarra was informing on the gang to authorities. On March 16, 1924 Navarra was shotgunned to death as he passed in front of the window at his grocery at 746 West Washington Avenue. Two suspected gunmen that were tied to Musso were questioned but released.

LoMonaco was eventually convicted on the bootlegging charges and sent to prison. It was during October 1924 that LoMonaco’s wife Giuseppa and young daughter were on their way back to Madison from visiting him in prison that their car was involved in an accident and both mother and daughter died in that crash.

Perhaps because of the heat in Madison or the reminder of his wife and daughter, LoMonaco left Madison and followed his friend Tony Musso to Rockford, Illinois where a few Madison Sicilians had already moved to. On March 24, 1926 the Rockford Register Republic reported that LoMonaco and Leoluca Trombatore were opening a new fruit and vegetable stand at 107 E. State Street. Trombatore would eventually get deported in 1938 for his bootlegging activities and operation of a brothel along with his brother Stefano.

LoMonaco took his first known arrest in Rockford on April 30, 1927 on a charge of illegal possession of alcohol during a liquor raid at his home at 508 Wall Street. LoMonaco paid a minor fine and went about his business. The newspapers had reported that on December 1, 1928 LoMonaco and George Saladino were the new owners of the Sunny Italy Restaurant at 1022 ½ South Main Street. Saladino was an early Rockford mafia member and possibly early capo and their restaurant was a front for bootlegging activities.

By June 1929 LoMonaco had opened the Blue Light Café at 417 Cedar Street and it was on June 11th that found LoMonaco in trouble again. One Sylvester Wolosek and two companions were “using profane language” according to LoMonaco and he asked them to stop. LoMonaco claimed the three men attacked him so he knifed Wolosek about the head and back. Whether or not Wolosek and company knew of LoMonaco’s powerful standing with the Italian organized criminal element, charges were dropped in the knifing case. By this time, LoMonaco’s pal Tony Musso had become the leader of the mafia in Rockford and himself had made the newspaper many times for his arrests.

On October 8, 1929 LoMonaco was arrested near Brodhead, Wisconsin for operating an alcohol still capable of producing 550 gallons of liquor a day. Also arrested along with LoMonaco were Charles Sunzeri, 35, Mike Licari, 50, Peter Sanfilippo, 44, Sanfilippo’s son Tony and Tom Adams, 56.

Another incident, this time at the Oriental Tavern on Charles Street in Rockford saw Peter Sanfilippo get shot through the hand. On December 1, 1929 Pete Sanfilippo had brought LoMonaco, Charles Sunzeri, Gust Engstrom and Phyllis Wolfe Engstrom to the tavern he had previously owned to retrieve his possessions. Helen Adwell Cooper was the new proprietor and apparently she wouldn’t let the group in and had her manager Gilbert Wooster also confront the group. According to the newspapers an all-out melee ensued when the Sanfilippo group broke in with the women pulling each other’s hair and the men savagely fighting. At one point, Wooster pulled a gun and fired once, striking Sanfilippo in the hand. On the day the case went to trial, Ms. Cooper stood up in court and refused to testify and because Wooster couldn’t be found to testify all charges were dropped. Perhaps word had gotten to them that this group was tied up with the growing Italian underworld element and they backed off.

Over the next year. LoMonaco was charged with liquor violations several times at the Blue Light Café for selling alcohol and each time the charges were dismissed or a fine was simply paid. Reports at the time were that the Italian bootleggers were quite cozy with authorities and political higher ups. Accusations of payoffs and bribery were rampant but nothing was ever proven relating to these reports.

By 1930 federal agents were called in to help “mop up” the Rockford area as bootlegging had gotten so out of hand that agents stated the area was as bad as Cicero, Illinois. Tony Musso and his group were supplying Al Capone and his gang with illicit alcohol and were distributing the Rockford goods all the way west to Iowa and Nebraska and north into Wisconsin. On October 17, federal agents arrested LoMonaco and fellow San Giuseppe Iato countryman Joe Stassi in a speakeasy at Clover and Montague Streets. The car LoMonaco was driving was owned jointly by him and Vincenzo Troia, the mafia powerhouse from the east coast who was living in Rockford at the time. Stassi himself had been arrested a couple years prior for kidnapping a bootlegger and was a confirmed Rockford LCN made member in future FBI reports.

The 1930 liquor conspiracy round up saw over two dozen Rockford men arrested and convicted, many of whom served their time in Leavenworth Penitentiary. Tony Musso was one of those that was sentenced to two years which was quite a bit of time to be away from his “family” in Rockford. It was during Musso’s term in prison it was reported that Phil Caltagerone was named acting boss of the family in Musso’s absence. Tony LoMonaco had his charges dismissed from this roundup when the government failed to prove his involvement in the liquor conspiracy case. It was men such as LoMonaco, Phil Caltagerone, George Saladino, Joe Guttilla and Joe Stassi that were just the ones to step up to lead the family while many of the group’s members were languishing in prison.

With the repeal of Prohibition, LoMonaco continued to rack up liquor violation charges for selling bootleg alcohol or selling liquor without a license. At least six times from 1935-1936 to be exact and each time he paid a modest fine and escaped prison time.

LoMonaco was caught in an interesting incident which occurred on February 24, 1937. On that day an alert Rockford Police patrolman recognized 28-year-old William Dentice of Milwaukee who was wanted in Milwaukee for questioning in a counterfeiting case. The passengers inside Dentice’s car were Tony LoMonaco and 27-year-old Joe “Blackie” Calderotta. Calderotta, I believe, was an early Rockford mafia member and was a notorious criminal involved in everything from gambling, robbery, attempted murder and kidnapping. Calderotta was also named in later police reports as a member of a syndicate in Rockford that controlled gambling along with boss Tony Musso and underboss Gaspare Calo among others. Dentice was well known to Milwaukee police as a bootlegger but was never convicted on these charges. Dentice had also been picked up for investigation in Chicago and Joliet, Illinois over the years. Interestingly. Dentice was found murdered behind the wheel of his car a few months later on June 8, 1937 at North Jefferson and East Menomonee Streets in Milwaukee and his killers were never found.

By the 1940s LoMonaco had opened a shoe repair business at 1018 West State Street in Rockford called Tony’s Shoe Repair and seemed to live out the rest of his life in peace. He had been sick for some time and was living at the home of his daughter Frances Mandell at 1203 Morgan Street when he passed away on May 30, 1949 at the age of 64.

It is worthwhile to note that LoMonaco’s sister Francesca married into the Bommarito family of St. Louis. That name was a famous mafia name in that city and in Detroit where the two cities were closely connected criminal-wise. LoMonaco was also survived by a sister Ann Caruso in St. Louis and a brother Joe in Albany, New York.

So, what was LoMonaco’s position exactly in the structure of the Rockford LCN group? This is not known and it’s hopeful that some future FBI report will shed some light but it is my feeling that due to his close association with LCN boss Tony Musso that LoMonaco was possibly a consigliere up until shortly before his death before Joe Zito took over the spot. Though this is purely speculation, I feel he’s a good candidate for this much respected position.

[Frank]

Nice as ussual

[Antiliar]

Great story. One of the items that intrigues me is the Leoluca Trombatore that you mentioned. There was a New Orleans boss with the same name. I also wonder if these guys were made somewhere else or were part of another borgata before founding Rockford. You also wrote about a Sanfilippo, which was the same surname as the Chicago Heights boss.

[Antiliar]

Great story. One of the items that intrigues me is the Leoluca Trombatore that you mentioned. There was a New Orleans boss with the same name. I also wonder if these guys were made somewhere else or were part of another borgata before founding Rockford. You also wrote about a Sanfilippo, which was the same surname as the Chicago Heights boss.

[PolackTony]

Great story. One of the items that intrigues me is the Leoluca Trombatore that you mentioned. There was a New Orleans boss with the same name. I also wonder if these guys were made somewhere else or were part of another borgata before founding Rockford. You also wrote about a Sanfilippo, which was the same surname as the Chicago Heights boss.

There was also Calogero SanFilippo of St Louis, and a Giuseppe SanFilippo who was the father-in-law of Vincenzo Benevento of Chicago (and I suspect a mafioso as well). It would be interesting to see if there are any connections to this Pietro SanFilippo. From what I can tell he was born ~1885 and arrived in the US around 1905. The son that Cavita referenced should be Peter Anthony, born in Madison. Interestingly, given the LoMonaco connection, Pietro's wife was Antonia Licari of San Cipirello, right next to San Giuseppe Jato. Pietro himself I'm not sure exactly where he was from In Sicily. There are SanFilippos all over. Calogero SanFilippo from St Louis I'm not sure about either but my hunch is that he was probably from Agrigento somewhere. Tony Sanfililipo from Chicago Heights was from Lascari, and Giuseppe SanFilippo in Chicago was from Termini Imerese.

From family trees it seems that Pietro died sometime in the 30s perhaps and the family then relocated to California, but I haven't seen a death record for him so I'm not sure about that.

[Antiliar]

According to Daniel Waugh, Calogero Sanfilippo Jr. was born on December 25, 1899, in Casteltermini, Sicily, and arrived in America in 1911. His passenger manifest indicates that his parents were Giuseppe and Antonina Fazio Sanfilippo, and his siblings were Antonina and Giuseppe, and that they came from Sciacca. It looks like there were two more sons, Francesco and Salvatore, at 336-338 East 12th Street in New York.

Vincent J. Benevento of Chicago married Jane (Jenny) Sanfilippo in 1930. She was the daughter of Charles (Calogero) Sanfilippo (AKA Cutaia or Cutilla) (13 Oct 1878- May 1963) and Lena (or Vita). The Sanfilippos lived at 1057 W. Grand Avenue. He was born in Partanna to Vito Sanfilippo and Mamie Marchese. Per a family tree on Ancestry.com, Calogero was the son of Vito Sanfilippo and Benvenuta Marchese, and his siblings were Giuseppe, Antonino, Maria, and Rosa.

So the various Sanfilippos probably weren't related.

[PolackTony]

According to Daniel Waugh, Calogero Sanfilippo Jr. was born on December 25, 1899, in Casteltermini, Sicily, and arrived in America in 1911. His passenger manifest indicates that his parents were Giuseppe and Antonina Fazio Sanfilippo, and his siblings were Antonina and Giuseppe, and that they came from Sciacca. It looks like there were two more sons, Francesco and Salvatore, at 336-338 East 12th Street in New York.

Vincent J. Benevento of Chicago married Jane (Jenny) Sanfilippo in 1930. She was the daughter of Charles (Calogero) Sanfilippo (AKA Cutaia or Cutilla) (13 Oct 1878- May 1963) and Lena (or Vita). The Sanfilippos lived at 1057 W. Grand Avenue. He was born in Partanna to Vito Sanfilippo and Mamie Marchese. Per a family tree on Ancestry.com, Calogero was the son of Vito Sanfilippo and Benvenuta Marchese, and his siblings were Giuseppe, Antonino, Maria, and Rosa.

So the various Sanfilippos probably weren't related.

Thanks for the confirmation on the St Louis Calogero, I had suspected that he was from Agrigento. You're absolutely correct about the Chicago Calogero SanFillipo/Cutilla, of course (and him being from Trapani is important given his apparent connections to the Gennas), I had mixed him up with yet another group of SanFillipos.

Unsurprisingly, there were also SanFilippos in Chicago from Casteltermini.

[cavita]

Great story. One of the items that intrigues me is the Leoluca Trombatore that you mentioned. There was a New Orleans boss with the same name. I also wonder if these guys were made somewhere else or were part of another borgata before founding Rockford. You also wrote about a Sanfilippo, which was the same surname as the Chicago Heights boss.

There was also Calogero SanFilippo of St Louis, and a Giuseppe SanFilippo who was the father-in-law of Vincenzo Benevento of Chicago (and I suspect a mafioso as well). It would be interesting to see if there are any connections to this Pietro SanFilippo. From what I can tell he was born ~1885 and arrived in the US around 1905. The son that Cavita referenced should be Peter Anthony, born in Madison. Interestingly, given the LoMonaco connection, Pietro's wife was Antonia Licari of San Cipirello, right next to San Giuseppe Jato. Pietro himself I'm not sure exactly where he was from In Sicily. There are SanFilippos all over. Calogero SanFilippo from St Louis I'm not sure about either but my hunch is that he was probably from Agrigento somewhere. Tony Sanfililipo from Chicago Heights was from Lascari, and Giuseppe SanFilippo in Chicago was from Termini Imerese.

From family trees it seems that Pietro died sometime in the 30s perhaps and the family then relocated to California, but I haven't seen a death record for him so I'm not sure about that.

Pietro Sanfilippo did live in Madison before coming to Rockford. The only reference I could find to him as to his birthplace was on his Leavenworth penitentiary record and it stated Renella, Italy but that may not be true. One newspaper article I found said there were indications he was related to Charles Sanfilippo of Chicago. Another Chicago connection for him was that he was positively identified as the man who shot Joe Tomasello in Chicago. The son made a positive identification of Sanfilippo because the father and he were acquaintances. When it came time in court to identify him however, due to so many Sanfilippo supporters lining the walls of the courtroom, the young Tomasello backed down and said he couldn't positively identify Sanfilippo.
Additionally after moving to California, Sanfilippo and his son Anthony I believe owned a grocery store. The son ended up getting killed in a robbery there around 1956.

[Antiliar]

Pietro Sanfilippo did live in Madison before coming to Rockford. The only reference I could find to him as to his birthplace was on his Leavenworth penitentiary record and it stated Renella, Italy but that may not be true. One newspaper article I found said there were indications he was related to Charles Sanfilippo of Chicago. Another Chicago connection for him was that he was positively identified as the man who shot Joe Tomasello in Chicago. The son made a positive identification of Sanfilippo because the father and he were acquaintances. When it came time in court to identify him however, due to so many Sanfilippo supporters lining the walls of the courtroom, the young Tomasello backed down and said he couldn't positively identify Sanfilippo.
Additionally after moving to California, Sanfilippo and his son Anthony I believe owned a grocery store. The son ended up getting killed in a robbery there around 1956.

There's a Rinella near Rome, so Renella probably is a mistranslation of some Sicilian city.

Did you find anymore information on Trombatore? Do you think it could be the New Orleans member?

[cavita]

Pietro Sanfilippo did live in Madison before coming to Rockford. The only reference I could find to him as to his birthplace was on his Leavenworth penitentiary record and it stated Renella, Italy but that may not be true. One newspaper article I found said there were indications he was related to Charles Sanfilippo of Chicago. Another Chicago connection for him was that he was positively identified as the man who shot Joe Tomasello in Chicago. The son made a positive identification of Sanfilippo because the father and he were acquaintances. When it came time in court to identify him however, due to so many Sanfilippo supporters lining the walls of the courtroom, the young Tomasello backed down and said he couldn't positively identify Sanfilippo.
Additionally after moving to California, Sanfilippo and his son Anthony I believe owned a grocery store. The son ended up getting killed in a robbery there around 1956.

There's a Rinella near Rome, so Renella probably is a mistranslation of some Sicilian city.

Did you find anymore information on Trombatore? Do you think it could be the New Orleans member?

I'll look into it. There were Trombatores in Rockford during that time up until the two I mentioned were deported.

[cobra]

-rinella on salina island

[PolackTony]

-rinella on salina island

That's what I was wondering too. Some of these small islands had penal colonies as well, where many Mafiosi were exiled. I don't know if that was the case for Isola Salina though.

[cavita]

Pietro Sanfilippo did live in Madison before coming to Rockford. The only reference I could find to him as to his birthplace was on his Leavenworth penitentiary record and it stated Renella, Italy but that may not be true. One newspaper article I found said there were indications he was related to Charles Sanfilippo of Chicago. Another Chicago connection for him was that he was positively identified as the man who shot Joe Tomasello in Chicago. The son made a positive identification of Sanfilippo because the father and he were acquaintances. When it came time in court to identify him however, due to so many Sanfilippo supporters lining the walls of the courtroom, the young Tomasello backed down and said he couldn't positively identify Sanfilippo.
Additionally after moving to California, Sanfilippo and his son Anthony I believe owned a grocery store. The son ended up getting killed in a robbery there around 1956.

There's a Rinella near Rome, so Renella probably is a mistranslation of some Sicilian city.

Did you find anymore information on Trombatore? Do you think it could be the New Orleans member?

I'll look into it. There were Trombatores in Rockford during that time up until the two I mentioned were deported.

Well it appears in Rockford from the 1920s and 1930s there were Leoluca Trombatore and his brother Stefano. Leoluca appears to have been born about 1893 and they possibly had a father named Carmelo who was born about 1857 and was possibly living in Chicago in 1929. These Trombatore brothers had family living in Chicago and when they were deported in 1938 one brother brought his family with him back to Italy while the other brother left his family in Chicago. The article didn't specify which brother did what.

[cavita]

Pietro Sanfilippo did live in Madison before coming to Rockford. The only reference I could find to him as to his birthplace was on his Leavenworth penitentiary record and it stated Renella, Italy but that may not be true. One newspaper article I found said there were indications he was related to Charles Sanfilippo of Chicago. Another Chicago connection for him was that he was positively identified as the man who shot Joe Tomasello in Chicago. The son made a positive identification of Sanfilippo because the father and he were acquaintances. When it came time in court to identify him however, due to so many Sanfilippo supporters lining the walls of the courtroom, the young Tomasello backed down and said he couldn't positively identify Sanfilippo.
Additionally after moving to California, Sanfilippo and his son Anthony I believe owned a grocery store. The son ended up getting killed in a robbery there around 1956.

There's a Rinella near Rome, so Renella probably is a mistranslation of some Sicilian city.

Did you find anymore information on Trombatore? Do you think it could be the New Orleans member?

I'll look into it. There were Trombatores in Rockford during that time up until the two I mentioned were deported.

Well it appears in Rockford from the 1920s and 1930s there were Leoluca Trombatore and his brother Stefano. Leoluca appears to have been born about 1893 and they possibly had a father named Carmelo who was born about 1857 and was possibly living in Chicago in 1929. These Trombatore brothers had family living in Chicago and when they were deported in 1938 one brother brought his family with him back to Italy while the other brother left his family in Chicago. The article didn't specify which brother did what.

Then there was this from the January 12, 1963 New Orleans newspaper

[B.]

Awesome write-up, especially given his age.

The name Leoluca is usually found in Corleone, as that's the patron saint. I'd guess if it's not the same Leoluca Trombatore who was boss of NO it's another one from Corleone.