Family Councils / Consigli / Seggia / Elders / Inner Circle

[Ed]

Clemente was also of the opinion in 1962 that Anthony Anastasio was cooperating with LE, as LE cracked down on waterfront business that very few men knew about, including Anastasio. Didn't this end up being partially true?

Yes, Anthony Anastasio talked a bit after he was removed from his union leadership position by Gambino, although I don't believe he went all the way. I wonder he shared about his brother's murder? Surely he would have known many of the same details that were shared by Sanantonio.

[B.]

Clemente was also of the opinion in 1962 that Anthony Anastasio was cooperating with LE, as LE cracked down on waterfront business that very few men knew about, including Anastasio. Didn't this end up being partially true?

Yes, Anthony Anastasio talked a bit after he was removed from his union leadership position by Gambino, although I don't believe he went all the way. I wonder he shared about his brother's murder? Surely he would have known many of the same details that were shared by Sanantonio.

Thanks, man. So Clemente's hunch was right.

It's one of those things where LE at the time would have been interested in waterfront corruption and current mafia activity, but I'd be shaking the guy asking him exactly how his brother got hooked into the D'Aquila family.

[PolackTony]

Clemente was also of the opinion in 1962 that Anthony Anastasio was cooperating with LE, as LE cracked down on waterfront business that very few men knew about, including Anastasio. Didn't this end up being partially true?

Yes, Anthony Anastasio talked a bit after he was removed from his union leadership position by Gambino, although I don't believe he went all the way. I wonder he shared about his brother's murder? Surely he would have known many of the same details that were shared by Sanantonio.

Thanks, man. So Clemente's hunch was right.

It's one of those things where LE at the time would have been interested in waterfront corruption and current mafia activity, but I'd be shaking the guy asking him exactly how his brother got hooked into the D'Aquila family.

Lol, priorities man....

It’s a good question though. Given guys like Frankie Yale and Johnny Torrio (not himself Calabrese, but his stepfather was, possibly part of the network that may have linked Torrio to Colosimo), I’ve always wondered how/why Anastasia got plugged with D’Aquila rather than Masseria.

[B.]

He operated in D'Aquila / Mineo territory and was connected to the waterfront, so I'm sure that's a big reason, but there were Brooklyn Masseria guys, too, so it's not all cut and dry. Nino Colombo was a Calabrian who ended up with Profaci, along with the Neapolitan Abbatemarcos, so some interesting questions about all those guys. Michael Franzese said his grandfather Carmine was not a made member, so we can rule him out now as another Neapolitan Profaci member even though he was involved.

Oh yeah, one interesting thing in the Clemente conversation is Sal Profaci says his father Joe had been boss for 31 years at the time of the conversation (May 1962, soon before Profaci's death). We can consider this official confirmation that Joe Profaci became boss in 1931, something we already more or less knew but there used to be questions about when exactly Profaci became boss during the 1928-1931 period. Obviously Sal Profaci didn't mean Joe had been boss 31 years to the day, but that number matches up with Profaci becoming boss around the end of the Castellammarese War.

[Antiliar]

Clemente was also of the opinion in 1962 that Anthony Anastasio was cooperating with LE, as LE cracked down on waterfront business that very few men knew about, including Anastasio. Didn't this end up being partially true?

Yes, Anthony Anastasio talked a bit after he was removed from his union leadership position by Gambino, although I don't believe he went all the way. I wonder he shared about his brother's murder? Surely he would have known many of the same details that were shared by Sanantonio.

Thanks, man. So Clemente's hunch was right.

It's one of those things where LE at the time would have been interested in waterfront corruption and current mafia activity, but I'd be shaking the guy asking him exactly how his brother got hooked into the D'Aquila family.

Here's some material on Tough Tony Anastasio talking to the FBI:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/ ... daboutit-0

[B.]

Here's some material on Tough Tony Anastasio talking to the FBI:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/ ... daboutit-0

Thanks for the link. Interesting Coppolino was such a major point of discussion, as he comes up on the Clemente tapes.

[B.]

Another possible reference to Tampa having a consiglio:

- Salvatore Italiano was described by the FBN as being on the "Inner Council" of the Tampa mafia. This could have been a generic way of saying he was important, or it could indicate they heard info that Italiano did sit on a council (consiglio).

Note that Italiano is not one of the two men listed as an "elder" in the 1960s Tampa hierarchy chart.

[sdeitche]

Another possible reference to Tampa having a consiglio:

- Salvatore Italiano was described by the FBN as being on the "Inner Council" of the Tampa mafia. This could have been a generic way of saying he was important, or it could indicate they heard info that Italiano did sit on a council (consiglio).

Note that Italiano is not one of the two men listed as an "elder" in the 1960s Tampa hierarchy chart.

Salvatore "Red" Italiano fled Tampa in 1950 around the time that Jimmy Lumia was killed. There was friction between him and the Trafficante faction, in addition to the pending Kefauver Committee visit to Tampa (in Dec 1950). He relocated to Mexico City and died there in 1968.

[B.]

Do you know the back story on the Italianos' hometowns?

The FBN had him from Belmonte Mezzagno, while Ignazio Italiano was from Agrigento province. Are they confirmed relatives?

Thanks, Scott.

[sdeitche]

Do you know the back story on the Italianos' hometowns?

The FBN had him from Belmonte Mezzagno, while Ignazio Italiano was from Agrigento province. Are they confirmed relatives?

Thanks, Scott.

Related by marriage.

Salvatore Red Italiano married Ignazio Italiano's daughter, Maria.
Salvatore Red had a brother Joe. Joe married Ignazio Italiano's other daughter, Rosalia. Their son, Steve, was involved in the rackets.

[B.]

So the common surname was just a coincidence or do you think there was a distant blood relation?

[sdeitche]

So the common surname was just a coincidence or do you think there was a distant blood relation?

just spoke to a relative of theirs that does genealogy on the family. Salvatore Red was Ignazio's nephew. Red married his first cousin (as did his brother).

[B.]

Straight from the family, thanks so much. So the same Italianos had ties to both Belmonte and Agrigento.

Makes it more interesting that Ignazio Italiano and Giuseppe Traina (from Belmonte) both attended the Cleveland meeting.

[B.]

Since starting this thread I've had a chance to see more info on Detroit's set-up (thanks Scott and CC). Not only is it clear they had a consiglio in the traditional fashion, but they might be the best example of how a consiglio operated in a larger, thriving organization. Many of the other families we know of with a consiglio were either on a steep decline or the info was being recalled from years past.

From the Giacalone tapes, we know too they used the word "chair" for the consiglio, just like Milwaukee (who used "seggia" = chair). The tapes also indicate admin member John Priziola acted as a senior chairman over the consiglio. Like other councils around the US, it appears they allowed senior soldiers to sit on the consiglio given Black Bill Tocco's role as a soldier / "consigliere emeritus".

On the same subject... we know the US mafia influenced the Sicilian mafia to set up their Commission, but Buscetta said the Sicilian mafia wanted soldiers to be able to sit on their Commission. I wonder if that is a holdover from the consiglio, which comes from the Sicilians and allowed soldiers. In the US you would never hear of a soldier or really anyone below boss becoming an "avugad". Sicily may have been using the same principle for their Commission as they used for the consiglio by allowing someone of any rank. We can see the Sicilian Commission was consumed by the bosses regardless.

I don't mean to give the impression you had tons of soldiers on these US councils either. From the examples we have, most of the consiglio seats were held by the admin and captains, but it's significant that they allowed soldiers to have a seat at all. Appointment to the consiglio didn't depend on rank, but inevitably ranking members were more likely to get seats.

[davidf1989]

If I've "contradicted" myself in my reporting, it's because new information came to light.

Again, believe what you want to believe. I stand by my reporting. This gets exhausting....lol.

book manuscripts I've written:

Phil Leonetti
Tony Zerilli
Frank Salemme
Ralph Natale


SMB

I would be interested in reading a book about Frank Salemme.