Historical Bosses of Palermo Province

[B.]

Yep, I was able to go through that book and also cross-check with some other (limited) sources.

I see that early New Orleans leader Frank Todaro was from San Cipirello and his father was Giuseppe Todaro and mother was a DiMaggio, both surnames that show up among the leadership of the San Cipirello mafia in the 1920s.

San Cipirello boss Vito Todaro had a brother named Giuseppe who was described by investigators as a part of the San Cipirello mafia. Curious if that would be Frank Todaro's father.

--

More recent bosses of San Cipirello:
Gregorio Agrigento
Salvatore Mule

Camporeale:
Antonino Sciortino (interesting given the California / Brooklyn Orlando Sciortinos were from there)

[B.]

Here is something very interesting:

- San Cipirello boss Vito Todaro became a fugitive in the 1920s after surviving a murder attempt in 1921. Immigration records show he came to NYC in May 1922 and listed his arrival contact as Giovanni Pecoraro, whose address matches the same Giovanni Pecoraro who was a top leader of the former Morello family in NYC.

- Giovanni Pecoraro had only recently returned from Sicily in February 1922 with Ciro Terranova and would be killed the following year, in 1923.

- Giovanni Pecoraro was originally from San Cipirello as well and had been in Sicily at the same time as Vito Todaro. They both left Sicily within a couple months of each other and Todaro arrived to Pecoraro.

So the two top San Cipirello mafia figures on each side of the ocean were involved in conflicts around the same time and obviously in close contact. Curious how long Vito Todaro may have stayed in NYC and how Pecoraro's murder the following year affected his situation. Todaro might be the uncle of NO's Frank Todaro, too.

As usual, the web tightens.

[B.]

Okay wow, Vito Todaro's 1922 ship to the USA was the same one mentioned in the "Enzo and Piddu" thread that contained Ignazio Lupo and Antonino Grillo.

So San Cipirello boss Vito Todaro, Palermo boss Antonino Grillo, and former NYC boss Ignazio Lupo were all on the same ship heading to the US and arrived May 1922 together.

This is just a couple months after Todaro's compaesano Giovanni Pecoraro's trip, who Todaro was arriving to. Pecoraro was with Lupo's in-law Terranova on his own trip.

[B.]

No edit function, so on we go.

Dave Critchley has Pecoraro being from Piana dei Greci, but his son Michele was from San Cipirello. Pecoraro's connection to Vito Todaro from San Cipirello lends itself to that connection. Not sure the exact origins of the elder Pecoraro but San Cipirello fits in somewhere.

[cavita]

Filippo Zito from SGI.. the same one who was the older brother to Frank, Tony and Joe Zito from Springfield and Rockford, respectively? I know there was a brother Filippo who remained in SGI and was involved in Mafia affairs there and never came to the US.

[B.]

Filippo Zito from SGI.. the same one who was the older brother to Frank, Tony and Joe Zito from Springfield and Rockford, respectively? I know there was a brother Filippo who remained in SGI and was involved in Mafia affairs there and never came to the US.

Didn't even think to make the connection, but that very well could be him. This Filippo Zito was heavily involved with the mafia there, being a "capo esecutore".

- The Antonino Salamone who shows up in these reports is said to be the maternal uncle of Filippo Zito. Again, I don't think this could be the future San Giuseppe boss Salamone but nonetheless a relative.

- Filippo Zito is also listed as the the brother-in-law of San Cipirello leader Domenico Pardo (keep in mind San Giuseppe and San Cipirello run right into each other -- it's amazing they have separate cosche).

- A Salvatore Immordino is also listed as one of the rank and file mafa figures in San Giuseppe during the 1920s under the leaders listed above. Do you know when the Rockford member of the same name came to the US? I also suspect Phil Emordeno, who you have ID'd as a Rockford captain, was an Immordino. I see you have him living in Frankfort, NY, where there was a San Giuseppe colony that included Frank Longo and Salvatore Polizzi.

- There was also a Gaspare Calo involved in San Giuseppe. I see Lennert has a Gaspare Calo from Casteldaccia as Joseph Zito's brother-in-law, so maybe there is a connection. It's clear from this investigation that the leaders of the mafia in San Giuseppe Jato were connected to mafiosi from all the towns around Palermo.

- The Giovanni Ganci mentioned earlier in addition to being described as influential in the mafia, was also a gabelloto. I wonder what Giuseppe Ganci's father's name was.

- Vincenzoi Troia's brothers-in-law the Ruffino brothers were also gabelloti. All of the estates were listed because they were dominated by mafia figures.

[cobra]

-ganci giuseppe b.1933/09/26 d.1986/02/11 son of ganci vincenzo

[cavita]

Filippo Zito from SGI.. the same one who was the older brother to Frank, Tony and Joe Zito from Springfield and Rockford, respectively? I know there was a brother Filippo who remained in SGI and was involved in Mafia affairs there and never came to the US.

Didn't even think to make the connection, but that very well could be him. This Filippo Zito was heavily involved with the mafia there, being a "capo esecutore".

- The Antonino Salamone who shows up in these reports is said to be the maternal uncle of Filippo Zito. Again, I don't think this could be the future San Giuseppe boss Salamone but nonetheless a relative.

- Filippo Zito is also listed as the the brother-in-law of San Cipirello leader Domenico Pardo (keep in mind San Giuseppe and San Cipirello run right into each other -- it's amazing they have separate cosche).

- A Salvatore Immordino is also listed as one of the rank and file mafa figures in San Giuseppe during the 1920s under the leaders listed above. Do you know when the Rockford member of the same name came to the US? I also suspect Phil Emordeno, who you have ID'd as a Rockford captain, was an Immordino. I see you have him living in Frankfort, NY, where there was a San Giuseppe colony that included Frank Longo and Salvatore Polizzi.

- There was also a Gaspare Calo involved in San Giuseppe. I see Lennert has a Gaspare Calo from Casteldaccia as Joseph Zito's brother-in-law, so maybe there is a connection. It's clear from this investigation that the leaders of the mafia in San Giuseppe Jato were connected to mafiosi from all the towns around Palermo.

- The Giovanni Ganci mentioned earlier in addition to being described as influential in the mafia, was also a gabelloto. I wonder what Giuseppe Ganci's father's name was.

- Vincenzoi Troia's brothers-in-law the Ruffino brothers were also gabelloti. All of the estates were listed because they were dominated by mafia figures.

Here are some things that are going to blow your mind:

Regarding the Zito brothers- Frank, Filippo, Joe and Tony, their mother was a Salamone. Undoubtedly, she was the sister to Antonino Salamone you mentioned.

Domenico Pardo. I’ve seen that name before in Rockford. On June 15, 1929 one Dominick Pardo/Padro was listed a “society pickpocket” and was arrested on Broadway Street in Rockford. He was using the alias Joe Balsamo and was sentenced to 1-10 years in Pontiac Prison and the papers reported he arrived in Rockford from Chicago in June 1929. This same Padro/Pardo was arrested on October 13, 1934 when authorities raided 416 Wall Street in Rockford and found thousands of fake whiskey labels and counterfeit U.S. revenue stamps, several shotguns, revolvers and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Also seized were complete records of their business transactions in the huge illicit liquor “combine.” Arrested along with Padro was Joe Zito, Tony DiGiovanni, Frank Licari and Phillip Vella. Padro pled guilty and was a given a suspended sentence in Leavenworth with the provision he leave the country within 90 days at his own expense. He had also used the alias Sam Caruso. Additionally, at the time of the 1934 arrest, Padro/Pardo was listed as 53 years old.

The Rockford Salvatore Immordino and the one you mention are one and the same. He moved back and forth between Frankfort, New York and Sicily before arriving in 1923 permanently and settled in Madison, Wisconsin. At some point in the 1940s he moved to Rockford along with son, Phil.

[B.]

Yep, the mafia keeps blowin' my little mind here.

Filippo Zito is surely the brother of the Illinois Zitos then if their mother was a Salamone and his maternal uncle was Antonino Salamone. Given Salamone was related to the San Cipirello leadership, the Zitos were related to mafia bosses in Sicily as well then. Makes sense they in turn became leaders here.

Looks to be the same Domenico Pardo who was boss of San Cipirello, as he became a fugitive and it appears many of the fugitives from these two towns came to the US. Salvatore Immordino was himself under investigation so that probably explains him coming to the US when he did as well. Prefect Mori cracked down on San Giuseppe and San Cipirello hard, and rightfully so, as the mafia was ruthlessly dominant there.

So the San Giuseppe and San Cipirello mafia leadership more or less just re-planted itself in the US when Mori cracked down on them. I wonder how long Vito Todaro stayed in the US -- while he was going to NYC leader Giovanni Pecoraro's home, I have to imagine he would have visited his compaesani in the midwest. Makes complete sense why Vincenzo Troia went there, as many of these men had already been his peers and subordinates in San Giuseppe Jato. He very well might have become an early boss of Springfield as we have theorized.

--

What's interesting about the Trainas of San Giuseppe being prominent mafiosi there (and relatives of the Troias) is the FBN erroneously had Giuseppe Traina of Belmonte Mezzagno listed as being from San Giuseppe Jato in their files. While they got Joe Traina's wife and children correct, I believe they got the parent + sibling info wrong, possibly from another Giuseppe Traina who lived in San Giuseppe Jato.

Vincenzo Troia's cousin Vincenzo Traina, who may have succeeded Santo Termini as mafia boss, had brothers named Giuseppe and Antonino who were involved with the mafia in San Giuseppe Jato. The Belmontese Joe Traina's FBN file says he had brothers named Vincenzo and Antonino. More than that, it says Joe Traina's mother was a "Termina" (Termini, i.e. Santo Termini -- remember the Puleio-Troia-Termini-Trainas of SGJ were a clan of relatives) and sister married a Motisi (a San Giuseppe Jato name).

It appears the FBN erroneously mistook Joe Traina of Belmonte Mezzagno for the Giuseppe Traina who was involved with the San Giuseppe Jato mafia, and in turn was a cousin of Vincenzo Troia. The FBN may have asked Italian authorities for background info on the mafioso Joe Traina and Italian authorities provided them the Giuseppe Traina from San Giuseppe, a known mafia figure.

[B.]

Here is how I'm understanding the succession in these two villages:

San Cipirello
Vito Todaro (19??-1922) - Fugitive, survived 1921 assassination attempt, came to NYC in 1922 to meet Giovanni Pecoraro (length of stay unknown)
Domenico Pardo (1922-192?) - Fugitive, came to Rockford 1920s, became involved in local mafia
Ignazio Bilello (19??-19??) - Fugitive, unknown where he fits in
Giuseppe DiMaggio (19??-19??) - Unknown where he fits in, responsible for attempt on Todaro's life in 1921, may have taken over when Todaro-Pardo leadership left, said to be opposed to the Puleio-Troia-Termini leadership in SGJ while Todaro-Pardo faction appeared to be allies of them (could indicate he seized the opportunity to take over around mid-1920s when the previous San Cipirello and San Giuseppe bosses fled and Termini was incarcerated)

San Giuseppe Jato
Antonino Puleio (1910s-1920) - Fugitive, mayor of SGJ, responsible for ordering murder of politician Salvatore Mineo
Vincenzo Troia (1920-1925) - Fugitive, town councillor of SGJ, fled to Illinois then settled in Newark, top level US mafia figure 1930-1931, murdered 1935
Santo Termini (1925-1927) - Mayor of SGJ, tried in 1926 for mafia crimes and incarcerated
Vincenzo Traina (1927-19??) - Unknown where he fits in, but as a member of Puleio-Troia-Termini clan likely took over after the other three
Giuseppe Troia (1945-19??) - Became boss and mayor in 1940s, a doctor, was described as part of the senior leadership in 1920s

The years are an educated guess and some of these guys could have been "sostituti", underbosses, or otherwise in acting or defacto positions. All were described as "capomafia", a position synonymous with boss/rappresentante.

[cavita]

Here's some things regarding the background of the Zito family

[cavita]

Some information on Phil Emordeno and his father Salvatore Immordino:

Phil Emordeno was born April 6, 1911 to Salvatore and Irene DiMaria in Frankfort, New York, however his birth certificate listed his last name erroneously as Mordino. His mother died in 1913 at age 22 and Phil was placed in an orphanage in Utica, New York until Frank Cangelosi took him out of the orphanage and brought him to Madison, Wisconsin to stay with Phil’s uncle Michael Immordino. Cangelosi was married to Michael Immordino’s sister Giovanna. For the first part of 1921 Phil was enrolled in fifth grade in Madison, Wisconsin. In the latter part of 1921 at the request of his father, Phil went back to SGI and stayed with his father for about 18 months. While Salvatore was in Sicily during this time he remarried. His father returned to the United States and when Phil came back to the United States he returned with a man named Joe Bruno. Bruno’s son used to run a pool hall in Madison. Bruno returned to Sicily due to ill health and later died in Sicily. It’s believed that Bruno’s son later moved to Rockford. Phil was reunited with his father in Springfield, Illinois, in about 1924. Phil stayed in Springfield until about 1926 when he and his father then went to live in Madison, Wisconsin.

Salvatore Immordino was born February 6, 1889 in San Giuseppe Iato and was the son of Filippo Immordino and Antonia Fratello and it was believed he first came to the U.S. in 1905 or 1906 possibly settling in Frankfort first.

[Angelo Santino]

Questions/Things I ran into...

1 Is Bisacquino still a group? It's not listed on any mandamenti and when I looked it up, the result said Bisacquino was Riina's territory.

2 Re. Stoppliaglieri, I'm wondering/asking if perhaps law enforcement were allowed in as early members? It's even stated in books about it that the war between the Stop.. and the Gard... was also a war between law enforcement old and young. B. raised an interesting point when he asked was law enforcement federal or private during this period? These mafia rules have limitations because when you go far back you will find contradictions. For instance, the rule against a Family having two brothers at the top evidently wasn't a thing if you look at Sangiorgi and see multiple bros. atop several groups.

3 Giammona was said to be a mediator between the "old" and the "new" Mafie. What this tells me, along with the Stops... similarities to the Fratellanza in AG, was that they were "linked in" to the Mafia world, cop boss or not.

4 This Stop... was allegedly in Uditore and Amoroso was indicted for stuff he did in Porto Montalto where he was in a war against "the Badalamentis." Is there a group that the Badalamentis have traditionally been part of? May show how far back said group goes.

5 The Stop was said to have grown quickly and spread beyond Monreale to Parco, San Giuseppe Jato, Santa Cristina, Montelepre, Borgetto, Piana dei Greci, Misilmeri, Uditore (Palermo). In Misilmeri there was also the Fontana Nuova which had an alliance with the Stop. So splitting hairs, we don't know if the Fontana Nuova was a Stop.. group or if they were separate groups entirely.

6 Just clarifying, "Stoppliaglieri" was an outsider term, its members never used that. Same goes for Gardiniere. This is the early equivalent of "Young Turks" vs the "Mustache Petes." In Ag we do have evidence of them using that term Fratellanza as the name of their org.

[B.]

2 Re. Stoppliaglieri, I'm wondering/asking if perhaps law enforcement were allowed in as early members? It's even stated in books about it that the war between the Stop.. and the Gard... was also a war between law enforcement old and young. B. raised an interesting point when he asked was law enforcement federal or private during this period? These mafia rules have limitations because when you go far back you will find contradictions. For instance, the rule against a Family having two brothers at the top evidently wasn't a thing if you look at Sangiorgi and see multiple bros. atop several groups.

3 Giammona was said to be a mediator between the "old" and the "new" Mafie. What this tells me, along with the Stops... similarities to the Fratellanza in AG, was that they were "linked in" to the Mafia world, cop boss or not.

Just to explain here what I was saying on the phone...

- Were comune police forces in ~1870s Sicily privatized to any degree? If police were privatized, or only answered to the local government, I could see them making exceptions for police officers in the mafia, as they would have been entirely under the direction of the mafia in some villages.

- The modern mafia has a rule against inducting law enforcement or in some cases even relatives of law enforcement. Sal Vitale wasn't supposed to be made because he was a prison guard. In these cases though these are men who worked for institutions of the state.

- We know the mafia did not have an absolute rule against inducting "security guards" because that's essentially what gabelloti are, the favored profession of countless early mafiosi. A gabelloto was a security guard but operated as a total agent of the landowner (and mafia). It shows, though, that the mafia did not have a problem with "security" professions when they were private, which makes me wonder how they would react to a private police force. How would the modern mafia feel if a proposed member used to work as a mall cop? A gabelloto is sort of an antiquated, rural equivalent of a mall cop.

- One of the San Jose member informants talked about how the Lombardinos of the Newark/Profaci family had a relative also named Lombardino who was a police officer in NJ and carried out a mafia killing early on. No reason to believe this person was a member, but it shows even earlier US mafiosi were willing to tolerate relatives in law enforcement, suggesting maybe the rules did shift around this over time.

Something about the Stoppliaglieri doesn't sound right. Antonino Giammona was one of the top Palermo bosses at this time, so why would he "mediate" between a fake mafia group created by a police officer and a real mafia group in Monreale unless there were recognized mafiosi on each side? He would take the side of the real mafia every time, unless there is more to the story we're missing or something got confused.

The Fratellanza case in Favara, Agrigento, is amazing because of what they discovered about them, but I think they were missing the bigger picture. The investigators believed the two warring factions were separate mafia organizations (that had the same rules, rituals, etc.) and were relatively newly formed, and that they then combined their organizations into one mafia family once the war stopped. I believe it's more likely the two warring factions had originally been one family, broke into two rival factions, then returned to their original family again, just like we see in any internal mafia war. The Colombo family didn't technically break into two separate families in the early 1990s, but if the 1990s Colombo war was the first time investigators stumbled upon the mafia I can see why they'd thnk they were different organizations that decided to join as one later.

I wonder if Monreale in the 1870s was similar, but what throws a wrench into it is this whole police angle.

[B.]

Cavita -- excellent info. Given that investigations targeted Filippo Zito and other relatives of theirs, I'm sure all of the brothers would have been experiencing discomfort in Sicily by the early-mid 1920s. Not surprised so many came to the US by the mid-late 1920s.

I didn't see any references in these reports as to who Salvatore Immordino was related to in San Giuseppe Iato, just that he was identified as one of the lower rung of mafiosi under the Puleio-Troia-Termini leadership. By lower rung I don't necessarily mean he was unimportant, as he was important enough to be identified with a select group of top mafia figures in the area, but the investigators basically said there was the top leadership, then a rung of senior figures who helped run things (mostly if not completely close relatives of the bosses), then another rung below them. We could speculate how these three divisions correspond to rank, but I don't think the investigation was aiming for those kinds of details beyond identifying the bosses and the most active conspirators.

--

I wish there were more details about the Vincenzo Riela (age 58 in 1926, son of Antonino) who either made a public statement or testified. The wording made it sound like he implicated the Termini group in the Mineo murder and called them mafiosi, but the document may have just been saying he testified in the case and it was referring to the accusations in the case rather than accusations made by Riela himself. Given his age and father's name, I wonder if he was an uncle of the Illinois/Newark Antonio Riela. Tony's father was Andrea Riela but his grandfather could have been Antonino if Tony was the eldest son, which might point to a relation to Vincenzo.

I have to imagine given the era, Antonio Riela would not have been held in such high regard and might not have even been made if his uncle had testified against the San Giuseppe Iato leadership in the 1920s. Nick Gentile talked about having to make a serious effort to get a Cleveland member made because his father had been an informant in Sicily, so they were ultimately able to induct him but it was difficult. I'm leaning toward Vincenzo Riela either not being a close relative or maybe the language is confusing and he testified on behalf of the defense like Calogero Brusca did.

Tony Riela's mother was a Polizzi and sources have called Frank Polizzi Riela's nephew, so I suspect Frank's father Salvatore Polizzi was a first cousin of Tony Riela, making Frank his "nephew" in the Sicilian fashion. Hopefully I'll eventually get a better lead on the Salvatore Polizzi of Frankfort/Utica who fled to Windsor, Wisconsin, which is right by Madison and I know that's no coincidence. I've seen the "Polizza" / Polizzi name come up with other San Giuseppe figures.

EDIT: Didn't see the Longo name come up at all, but as mentioned there was a Carmelo Sunsari. I'm sure this is the same name as "Sunsaro", i.e. Antonio Sunsaro who was shot with Troia.