The Genovese Westchester Pellegrino crew Inquiry...

[DannyTrio]

What I have, might not be 100% correct.

Peter 'Petey' Pellegrino - Rocco's youngest son IDd as a soldier in 60s, involved in narcotics
Carmine Pellegrino - his oldest son IDd as a soldier in 60s, ran a bakery in White Plains
Frank Pellegrino - his middle son, although I've seen him listed both as an associate and soldier in the 60s, later active in Florida
Joseph 'Joe Beck' Lapi - his son Angelo was a Bananna member, I think, IDd as a soldier in the 60s, later capo
Rosario 'Saro' Mogavero - well-known old-school member, IDd as capo in the 60s
Joseph 'Joey' Mogavero - his son, Genvovese soldier and identified member of the crew
Michelino 'Big Mike' Clemente - Genovese soldier and bigtime waterfront boss
John 'Peanuts' Manfredonia - bookie/drug dealer murdered in 78, IDd as a Genovese soldier at the time of his death
Richard 'Richie/Dickie/Diego' Manfredonia - John's older brother
James 'Jimmy' Angelina - acting capo for Pellegrino, but I've seen conflicting info
Morris 'Mickey Mouse' Barra - soldier and a big federal target for a counterfeit stamp racket
Joseph Barra - Morris' younger brother, I've seen him IDd both as a soldier and as an associate
Nick 'Bobby Blance Belangi - originally under Pellegrino, later transferred under Jimmy Alo
Giuseppe Bernava - originally under Pellegrino, later transferred under Jimmy Alo, known drug dealer
Nicholas 'Fat the Butch' DiConstanzo - boxing promoter, Cuba casino manager, and for a time operated one of the largest floating dice games in the country
Thomas 'Milo - originally under Pellegrino, later transferred under Jimmy Alo, operated dice games with DiConstanzo
Louis Milo - Thomas' brother, policy/gambling offender, under Pellegrino since the 30s before he was made
Nicholas 'Nick' Ratteni/Rattini - an old Pellegrino underling, transferred to Alo, later split and formed his own crew
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Giovanni 'John' Biello
Tommaso DIorio
Raymond Carasoli
Aristide Granatelli

These four guys alongside Ratteni were identified as 'young bloods' and armed robbers for Pellegrino in 1927.
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Vincent 'Jimmy Blue Eyes' Alo - I've seen him described as an underling for both Pellegrino and Adonis. It seems he might've been under Adonis. Then he split and was given part of Pellegrino's crew. Under Saro Mogavero, the former Pellegrino crew was HEAVILY involved in the drug trade. They even supplied it to Joe Civello in Dallas.

Some known and other possibly unidentified Pellegrino underlings are listed in the attached file below.


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[Pogo The Clown]

Does anyone know when Peter Pellegrino, Frank Pellegrino, Morris Berra and Joseph Berra? Thanks.


Pogo

[Villain]

@Eboli, according to some reports Mogavero was still sending dope shipments to Chicago during the mid 50s with the help of Jacob Klein (Luciano/Genovese guy)

Klein was described as Mogavero's main guy in Chicago in the late 50s. He was spotted meeting with Mogavero in Chicago on multiple occasions. It was assumed by the FBN the two of them were moving the drugs to the city with the help of a Chicago-based trucking firm under the control of The Outfit. The same company transported the drugs to other places in the Midwest, but I have to check if I can find what was the exact name.

Thanks for the additional info E. According to the FBN, Klein arrived in Chicago sometime around the mid 1930s on tge orders of Luciano members.

[B.]

The Pellegrinos themselves had strong ties to Dallas. Calabrian Dallas member Frank Ianni was said to be a cousin of Rocco Pellegrino and Pellegrino's sons were involved in a gambling operation in Dallas in the 1950s/60s.

[Pogo The Clown]

Does anyone know when Peter Pellegrino, Frank Pellegrino, Morris Berra and Joseph Berra? Thanks.

I rechecked my notes and I have Morris Barra dying in 1997. Any idea on the others?


Pogo

[eboli]

Does anyone know when Peter Pellegrino, Frank Pellegrino, Morris Berra and Joseph Berra? Thanks.

I rechecked my notes and I have Morris Barra dying in 1997. Any idea on the others?


Pogo

Peter Pellegrino - 1972
Frank Pellegrino - 1969
Joseph Berra - 1964

[Pogo The Clown]

Thanks Eboli. What about Rocco? I don't recall if I have his death year.


Pogo

[eboli]

Thanks Eboli. What about Rocco? I don't recall if I have his death year.


Pogo

May 1975, aged 86. His other son, Carmine, died in 2003.

[Dwalin2014]

Since I can't edit the first post. Another member of the Pellegrino Crew was Battisto 'Bart' Salvo, a Bronx/Westchester bookie and racketeer. He was described as a very violent underling of Pellegrino since the 1920s. In 1935 he was kidnapped and held captive. The following year he refused to testify against his kidnappers in court. The case received a ton of media coverage.

I remember there is an entire chapter about this case in Patrick Downey's book "Bad Seeds in the Big Apple" about the New York gangs from 1920s to 1940s; after the Salvo kidnapping, about half the gang were whacked, half were arrested, while the leader killed himself before either the mafia or the police got to him. The whole story would have made an interesting crime movie imo.

Didn't know Salvo was part of the Pellegrino crew, thanks for the information!

Speaking of Rocco Pellegrino, was he still active when he died? Is there any information available about his career, was he ever arrested etc? There doesn't seem to be much about him online.

[eboli]

Since I can't edit the first post. Another member of the Pellegrino Crew was Battisto 'Bart' Salvo, a Bronx/Westchester bookie and racketeer. He was described as a very violent underling of Pellegrino since the 1920s. In 1935 he was kidnapped and held captive. The following year he refused to testify against his kidnappers in court. The case received a ton of media coverage.

I remember there is an entire chapter about this case in Patrick Downey's book "Bad Seeds in the Big Apple" about the New York gangs from 1920s to 1940s; after the Salvo kidnapping, about half the gang were whacked, half were arrested, while the leader killed himself before either the mafia or the police got to him. The whole story would have made an interesting crime movie imo.

Didn't know Salvo was part of the Pellegrino crew, thanks for the information!

Speaking of Rocco Pellegrino, was he still active when he died? Is there any information available about his career, was he ever arrested etc? There doesn't seem to be much about him online.

He was an early organized crime figure and was described as a volatile thief, extortionist and murderer. His earliest recorded arrest is from March 1913, when he was 24 years old. He was arrested on a coroner's warrant for a homicide that took place a month before in White Plains, NY. He spent some time in the can for other, unrelated crimes. It looks like the most he did was a year on an assault charge before he was paroled in 1920.

I guess about this time he became more influential, and the arrests stopped. He had a few after that, but it was nothing serious - gambling fines, vagrancy, etc. Early on, White Plains was Pellegrino's stomping ground. It remained his HQ and crew power base for decades. Pellegrino operated out of a bakery which he owned. By the 1930s he had expanded in Westchester County, The Bronx, Manhattan, and other places. He had eight children, three in the life. Peter and Carmine were very involved with his business and ran policy rackets for him when they were still teenagers and young adults. Both of them were well known to the local and federal authorities. It's funny because Peter went by 'Petey' and Carmine was known as 'Pete'.

According to the feds, he was still active in the late 1960s when he was in his late 70s. Saro Mogavero was his longtime acting capo who eventually took over the crew. In the 1950s Jimmy Angelina was reported to have acted for him. Pellegrino likely started relying on acting captains to do the heavy lifting for him after the Kefauver Hearings, and because he got up there in age.

At some point I might do a write-up on him and his family members.

[Eline2015]

Pellegrino was also a member of Combaneesh (Combination), Camorra-type organization for mainlanders.

[HairyKnuckles]

Pellegrino was also a member of Combaneesh (Combination), Camorra-type organization for mainlanders.

That must have been before he was made with the Genovese Family.

So it looks like he did have a good sized crew and that he was in control until he died in the mid 1970s. So if I sum it up, Pellegrino used John Biello as acting skipper, then Clemente, then Saro Mogavero and Jimmy Angellino. Matthew Fortunato may have been acting at some point too. And it looks like Rattenni became official skipper after Pellegrino´s death. Saro Mogavero may have been given Patsy Delduca´s crew after his death in 1963 which some evidence suggests. He had that brush with the law when he stood trial for narcotics violation in 1963/1964 and did jail time (a couple of years) before his sentence was reversed after appeal. So while in jail, he could not have been acting skipper for Pellegrino. By the early 1970s, Joe Lapi was the skipper of Saro´s crew. So it looks to me that they are two different crews (Rattenni´s up in Weastchester; that is Pellegrino´s old one) and the one based in Lower Manhattan which was headed by Mogavero and later Lapi. What are your thoughts on this Eboli?

[Villain]

Pellegrino was also a member of Combaneesh (Combination), Camorra-type organization for mainlanders.

Thats quite interesting....

[HairyKnuckles]

Unless I'm confused, Rocco Barra and his brother Joseph were sons of Mickey Morris. Mickey had a brother (Joseph also a member) Rocco was born in 1927 and I have not found a DOD for him. Im sure it's this Rocco who was identified as a Genovese member. Saro and Joseph Mogavero were brothers.

[eboli]

Pellegrino was also a member of Combaneesh (Combination), Camorra-type organization for mainlanders.

Some early powerful Genovese crime family members like Vito Genovese, Willie Moretti, Richie Boiardo were all 'combaneesh' members. Pellegrino might've been an active participant in the Mafia–Camorra War because his name was connected to a few murders during the conflict. The next time Pellegrino's name popped up in a murder investigation was during the Castellammarese War almost fifteen years later.

So it looks like he did have a good sized crew and that he was in control until he died in the mid 1970s. So if I sum it up, Pellegrino used John Biello as acting skipper, then Clemente, then Saro Mogavero and Jimmy Angellino. Matthew Fortunato may have been acting at some point too. And it looks like Rattenni became official skipper after Pellegrino´s death. Saro Mogavero may have been given Patsy Delduca´s crew after his death in 1963 which some evidence suggests. He had that brush with the law when he stood trial for narcotics violation in 1963/1964 and did jail time (a couple of years) before his sentence was reversed after appeal. So while in jail, he could not have been acting skipper for Pellegrino. By the early 1970s, Joe Lapi was the skipper of Saro´s crew. So it looks to me that they are two different crews (Rattenni´s up in Weastchester; that is Pellegrino´s old one) and the one based in Lower Manhattan which was headed by Mogavero and later Lapi. What are your thoughts on this Eboli?

I think that after Genovese became boss, there was a family policy to split up some of these huge crews. I don't know if this was made out of fear that a younger, ambitious capo might challenge his authority or out of pragmatism for administrative efficiency. By the late 1960s, Nick Ratteni was described as a high-ranking Cosa Nostra member. Some law enforcement officials even said he was one of Vito's proteges. It makes perfect sense for him to inherit the crew considering he was under Pellegrino in White plains since the early 1920s and later his business was Yonkers-based, but I'm unsure if he inherited that crew or was promoted and assembled his own. I've seen conflicting info on it.

Saro and Joseph Mogavero were brothers.

The one I mentioned on the list is supposed to be the son. He was IDd as a member in the 1960s by investigators of the Waterfront Commission. He and his sister, Marilyn Bonaventura, were running some companies for Saro. I don't know if they mixed up the son and the brother's rank in LCN or if both of them were made. Interestingly enough, I haven't seen the brother IDd as a member of the Pellegrino Crew.