Historical Bosses of Palermo Province

[Angelo Santino]

Palermo map.jpg

[B.]

Incredible.

[Antiliar]

The chart looks great.

[Angelo Santino]

Thanks. I'm going to try and add a list of Gambinos and their links to Palermo but we'll see how that goes. The modern stuff isn't my forte.

[Angelo Santino]

Another one to start would be Palermo Province. First page is a list of every group?

[B.]

Antiliar -- are you want to include the "regents" (acting bosses) of the families as well?

[Antiliar]

Antiliar -- are you want to include the "regents" (acting bosses) of the families as well?

I guess it can't hurt, but it should clearly state what they are.

[B.]

I ask because Giovanni D'Agati looks to have been the regent after Montaldo in Villabate, then more recently a regent was Giampiero Pitarresi.

Early Villabate Giulio D'Agati was related to the Pitarresis, one of whom was identified in the Sangiorgi report. So a century later we see the same names.

[Antiliar]

I ask because Giovanni D'Agati looks to have been the regent after Montaldo in Villabate, then more recently a regent was Giampiero Pitarresi.

Early Villabate Giulio D'Agati was related to the Pitarresis, one of whom was identified in the Sangiorgi report. So a century later we see the same names.

I forgot about your Villabate thread when I made the list, so go ahead and add any names (along with their time periods) that you think would be relevant.

Just went to look up church records in Villabate at FamilySearch, but unfortunately they end in 1894, so can't look up Joe Profaci. Interestingly, I discovered that the stato civile records of Bagheria and in the Villabate records.

BTW, Giuseppe Fontana, son of Rosario, was the capomafia of Villabate. The Giuseppe Fontana who allegedly killed Notarbartolo then joined up with Toto D'Aquila was his cousin. the son of Vincenzo. He was killed in 1913 in New York. So the son of Rosario was Joe Profaci's godfather.

[B.]

Oh awesome, thank you for clarifying that.

So it is true that a Giuseppe Fontana was the boss of Villabate at the time, just not the same one.

I wonder if Giulio D'Agati took over directly from Fontana (he was old enough) or if there was someone in the interrim. I've also seen nothing on who the boss(es) might have been between D'Agati and Antonino Cottone, but Cottone was boss of Villabate by some point in the 1940s when he got involved in the Greco clan's internal mafia war.

The Vincenzo Fontana identified as a member by Sangiorgi was also the son of a Rosario, so this Vincenzo Fontana may have been the boss's brother, and another cousin of the NYC Giuseppe Fontana (who in turn was the son of another Vincenzo, as you said, for maximum confusion).

[Angelo Santino]

There were two Gambino Giuseppe Fontanas. The first one was arrested with everyone in the Barrel Murder and was from Resuttana. The second, more popular one, was the Villabatese killed in 1913.

[B.]

More you can add:

Sancipirello -
Domenico Parda, identified in an early Italian report as an early "capo maffia" of Sancipirello. Related to boss Antonino Salamone of San Giuseppe Jato.

San Giuseppe Jato -
Giuseppe Troia, described in an Italian report as the successor to his brother Vincenzo Troia when he fled to the US in 1925. A later article says Giuseppe Troia became boss after the allied liberation of Sicily in WWII, so he may have been the boss for close to 20 years or there was some interruption in his reign and he took over again after WWII.

Antonino Puleio, described in an Italian report as a fugitive "capo maffia" of San Giuseppe. A contemporary of the Troias, he may have been Vincenzo Troia's predecessor but not positive the timeline. He might have been boss around 1920 from what I read, so if he fled around that time that could be when Vincenzo Troia took over.

Vincenzo Traina, identified as a "capo maffia" of San Giuseppe Jato. Where he fits in the timeline I'm not sure, but he was a contemporary of the Troias and Puleio. I thought it might be a mistake and they meant Vincenzo Troia but it's not, as there are numerous reference to Traina being a figure in San Giuseppe at the time.

Castelbuono -
Mariano Lanza, father of San Francisco boss Francesco Lanza. An FBI CI in San Francisco (not Lima, but possibly James Lanza himself, who Ed believes was a CI) stated that James Lanza was a third generation boss, with his grandfather (Mariano) having been a boss in Sicily. I'd estimate this would have been in the late 1800s.

[B.]

A possibility is that Giuseppe Troia was not official capo and was his brother's sostituto before Vincenzo decided to permanently settle in the US, then became boss in the 1940s. Or he was boss the whole time and simply laid low during Mussolini which is why it "seemed" like became boss after Allied Invasion.

Vincenzo Traina is described as part of a faction with the Troias and Santo Termini. So if he was boss it seems to have been in line with the Troia leadership.

Two DiMaggio brothers, one of which is described as a capo mafia, are described as opponents/rivals of the Troia-Termini-Traina group but I'm not sure if they are Mafiosi from San Giuseppe or elsewhere. Will try to find out. DiMaggio is a mafia name in Passo di Rigano and Torretta.

[B.]

Ok, a little (...) more follow-up and some clarification on San Giuseppe Jato and San Cipirello:

- The boss of San Cipirello in 1920 was Vito Todaro. In 1921 he survived an attempted hit by Giuseppe DiMaggio, one of the aforementioned brothers who was also identified as a "capo maffia" at some point. In another account, Giuseppe DiMaggio is described as the "capomaffia" opposed to the Troia-Termini faction, so maybe he was not the boss but a leader of a rebel faction. Not sure if the DiMaggios were part of San Cipirello or San Giuseppe.

- Domenico Pardo appears to have become boss of San Cipirello when Vito Todaro became a fugitive, apparently by the mid-1920s. Pardo faced legal troubles stemming from the deep investigation into mafia activities during this time.

- Francesco Leone is another San Cipirello boss who became a fugitive.

- Another identified boss of San Cipirello was Ignazio Bilello, yet again a fugitive.

No idea where/when Leone and Bilello fit into the timeline, or DiMaggio if he was a San Cipirello boss. Obviously there was an internal mafia conflict in 1921 and most of these men faced legal issues, so some of these men could have been "sostituti". Given how many of them became fugitives, they may have only temporarlily held the role before fleeing hence so many men identified as bosses.

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- Antonino Puleio is described as a power in the San Giuseppe mafia by 1914 and dictated local civic politics, becoming mayor of San Giuseppe Jato that year. Seems he may have been the boss by the 1910s, as San Giuseppe has a history of the mafia boss also being mayor.

- Vincenzo Troia was a municipal councillor in San Giuseppe while Puleio was mayor. He tried to join an animal rights organization, but finding none, took the personal task of taking stolen mules to the port of Trapani and accompanying them to Tunisia to ensure the health and safety of the animals. Investigators say this was a mafia-sponsored front for cattle theft and San Cipirello boss Vito Todaro was also involved in this. The Trapani and Tunis connection is interesting given Troia's close association with Maranzano in both Palermo and the US, as well as the Schiro-Maranzano family's close ties to Tunis.

- Santo Termini was the mayor following Puleio and was the successor of Vincenzo Troia as boss of San Giuseppe. He was put on trial in 1926 for mafia crimes and corruption with other mafiosi from San Giuseppe. I don't know what the verdict/sentence was, but he was identified as an inmate afterward. It appears Termini was born in Castelvetrano, Trapani, but no indication when he came to San Giuseppe. He had several brothers also involved with the local mafia.

- In 1924, Santo Termini and Antonino Passananti received money from a Carmelo Napoli to help him get to Tunis and then Marseille. However, Napoli was sent back due to "irregularities" in the documents they gave him and sent back to Sicily, but he only recuperated some of the money he gave to them. Could this be the same Antonino Passananti from Partinico who was active in NYC? No other info is given on him here.

- Vincenzo Traina was a cousin of Vincenzo and Giuseppe Troia, as well as a cousin of the Termini brothers. If it's true he was also the capo as suggested in one account, he most likely succeeded Santo Termini as boss, maybe when Termini was incarcerated.

- Giuseppe Troia may not have been the boss in the mid-1920s, or as I thought was an interim leader when his brother fled. He was a doctor described as one of the senior mafia members under boss Santo Termini. Giuseppe Troia was boss post-WWII in the 1940s when he, too, became the mayor. So Giuseppe Troia is yet another mafia boss who was a doctor and mayor, another sign that the Troias were part of the mafiosi upper class.

- In addition to Vincenzo and Giuseppe Troia, brother Gaetano was also identified as a mafioso and another brother Antonino and their father Benedetto both appear to have been linked to municipal corruption under Santo Termini along with other well-known San Giuseppe mafiosi. Another individual linked with them is a Carmelo Sunsari -- note that an Antonio "Sunsaro" was one of the surviving victims of the Vincenzo Troia murder in Newark.

- It appears there is some relation between earlier boss Antonino Puleio and the Troias, as a Troia cousin was landowner Antonino Fiore, who is also listed as Puleio's nephew. Appears Puleio is an uncle, at least by marriage, of the Troias. Not surprising then that Troia succeeded Puleio as boss. As mentioned above, the Troias, Terminis, Puleios, and Trainas all have some degree of relation, so it's unsurprising they represented a unified front of mafia leadership during this era.

- Land records for estates in the San Giuseppe Jato and San Cipirello area during this period show complete dominance by the mafia, with the estates controlled by the mafia leadership and most of the gabelloti being relatives of the mafiosi if not mafiosi themselves.

- San Giuseppe mafioso Filippo Zito was referred to as a "capo esecutore della mafia", which I assume means he was a top killer. Ignazio Terrana is similarly described as a "capo esecutore materiale della maffia".

- Like San Cipirello boss Domenico Pardo, Filippo Zito is also listed as a cousin of Antonino Salamone, but the future Salamone who became San Giueppe boss would be too young, so maybe a relative.

- Former San Giuseppe town councillor Giovanni Ganci was described as "one of the most influential" men involved with the mafia circa 1926. Could be a relative of Giuseppe Ganci (Pizza Connection fame and a close associate of San Giuseppe compaesani Frank Polizzi and Tony Riela).

- A Vincenzo Riela, 58-years-old, and the son of an Antonino Riela, testified about the murder of politician Salvatore Mineo, who the San Giuseppe Jato mafia was accused of killing. It is hard for me to understand the exact context, but it sounds like he may have made statements against the accused, suggesting he was not a close relative of the NJ Antonio Riela. Not sure, though -- he could have testified for the defense and I misunderstood.

- One mafia figure accused with Santo Termini was Sebastiano Rampudda, who had his "compare" Calogero Brusca testify on his behalf. This is the only reference to a Brusca I see in this era. Unsurprisingly he is assisting a mafioso.

- The 1920s investigation stated the San Giuseppe Jato mafiosi associated with a Giuseppe Bonanno but it doesn't state where he lived. Joe Bonanno's uncle Giuseppe "Peppe" was long deceased at this point, so probably a coincidence, but the San Giuseppe mafia did associate closely with Trapani.

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This is an illuminating statement:

In 1927 the Hon. Rocco Balsano declared before Judge Triolo: "If there was a municipality in Sicily where the maffia was omnipotent, it was that of San Giuseppe Jato

This appears to be true. At least three mafia bosses in San Giuseppe between the 1910s-1940s were the mayor and others held councilor positions in local government. It appears they controlled everything and had a stranglehold on all aspects of life in the villages of San Giuseppe Jato and San Cipirello.

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The following were identified alongside Santo Termini as both mayors and mafia bosses between 1918 and 1925:

Francesco Cuccia - Mayor and mafia boss of Piana dei Greci.

Antonino Lopez - Mayor and mafia boss of Mezzojuso. (the names Lopez/Lopes do show up in Mezzojuso)

Several other mayors of Sicilian towns were listed with the implication of mafia association/membership, but they weren't described as "capomafia" so not including them.

Lorenzo Speciale - capomafia of Partinico in the 1920s

[Antiliar]

I assume you're gathering the info from this book: https://books.google.com/books?id=m9f1K ... 22&f=false

Too bad it's out of print, but it's on Scribd!
https://www.scribd.com/document/8851465 ... -Battaglia


Another title of interest is this one: https://books.google.com/books?id=rInaA ... A3oECAMQAg

This has excerpts from the San Giuseppe book: https://vittimemafia.it/29-maggio-1920- ... ore-mineo/