Ciro Gallo (Bonanno)

[thekiduknow]

Great write up B. Seems the Bonanno/San Jose connection goes back a bit further then? Bonanno's son in law Greg Genovese was a member, and we know that Nick Guestalla and Prospect Mule, both Arizona guys, transferred to San Jose, and Bill lived out there. I think that Cerrito even came to their Sunday dinners from what I recall.

The Bonanno family represented San Francisco on the Commission and the relationship goes back at least as far as Nick Schiro's time as boss. A lot of info on this here if you haven't seen it: viewtopic.php?f=29&t=5857&p=140901

It looks like Greg Genovese was actually a San Francisco member, though he is sometimes listed with San Jose. His father's cousin Frank "Joe" Genovese was also a member.

Nick Guastella's ties to San Jose go back to the 1920s, when he traveled from Sicily with Sciortinos of Bagheria who were headed to San Jose. The Bonannos and SF/SJ are all intertwined for sure.

Thanks for the link, I'm excited to read it.

[B.]

Very helpful at untangling some of it -- thanks, Antiliar.

So it was Angelo Polizzi, but not the one from Buffalo who moved to LA. This one would be the father of Mike Polizzi, who moved from PA to Detroit and became a member there.

For those wondering, Adragna is pronounced "uh-drain-yuh" or close to it. "Adrana" would be a way to write it phonetically.

[B.]

Peter Lombardi/Lombardo from Trenton was 50 according to that report. So he was born in the early 1880s, making him an old timer by 1932 standards.

While the arrested men may not have been the sole mafia members involved in the Bazzano incident, it does give us the impression it was mainly a Northeastern US issue. Pittston boss Santo Volpe attends with aide Polizzi, two high-level Buffalo members attend, obviously we have NYC fully represented, and then there's this older figure Lombardi/Lombardo from Trenton.

There was a Pietro Lombardo (b. 1882, so the right age) from Alcamo who arrived in 1906 to a cousin Francesco Adragna, living in the same East Williamsburg / Bushwick area where the other Adragnas and Ciro Gallo lived. If this Lombardo also had connections to Trenton I'd say it's him, and would indicate the Alcamesi played a big role in the Bazzano situation, but just not enough info to say it's the same Lombardo. A Pietro Lombardo was arrested in a 1911 Brooklyn counterfeiting case.

You had top Philadelphia members like Joe Bruno Dovi and Joe Ida living near Trenton before moving to New Brunswick, so maybe this was someone close to them, an old Trenton-based Philly member who was lost to time. Could also have represented Frank Rizzo DeCavalcante, who was already active in Trenton back then.

[Angelo Santino]

I would pronounce it Ah-drawg-nyuh but in the US it's probably Ah-drag-nuh.

It brings back to the surname Bonanno and how early Ital's were anglicizing their surnames. "Bananas" is probably close to how his name was actually said in the US: Buh-nan-no, which if said fast in a sentence the ending begins sounding like an a.

[motorfab]

I would pronounce it Ah-drawg-nyuh but in the US it's probably Ah-drag-nuh.

No, it's Ah-dragn-Ah if I may. The two A are pronouced the same way in Italia (and in France or Spain)

[Eld]

Regarding Michael Russo. There is a line from the DeCavalcante tapes were Sam says (I'm quoting from memory):

You remember Mike Russo? He tried to get somebody to represent him on the commission

It would be interesting to get the background on that statement.

[PolackTony]

I would pronounce it Ah-drawg-nyuh but in the US it's probably Ah-drag-nuh.

No, it's Ah-dragn-Ah if I may. The two A are pronouced the same way in Italia (and in France or Spain)

In Italian, yes. But keep in mind that in Sicilianu and other southern dialects, the phonetics are quite different. Same in modern casual regional usage of standard Italian, which often is highly influenced by the phonetics of the local dialect.

[B.]

I would pronounce it Ah-drawg-nyuh but in the US it's probably Ah-drag-nuh.

It brings back to the surname Bonanno and how early Ital's were anglicizing their surnames. "Bananas" is probably close to how his name was actually said in the US: Buh-nan-no, which if said fast in a sentence the ending begins sounding like an a.

I was going off this, where they tried to clarify the pronunciation in court. I trust you for the proper pronunciation, though it sounds like these guys pronounced it in a way that lent itself to "Adrana" with a silent G (hence the newspaper spelling).

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Re: Frank Adragna

The elder brother Frank was close to the age of the one arrested in 1932, but I saw articles about a 1928 still fire/explosion where one of Giuseppe Adragna's sons died along with a Giuseppe Orlando. It doesn't identify which of Adragna's sons died. We know for sure it wasn't George, Joseph, or Vito. To my knowledge he had just the four sons who have been mentioned in this thread, though I don't know that for sure.

The deceased Adragna son was described as the "smaller" of the two bodies found in the still and the fact that they didn't include his name in the paper could suggest this was a younger son, perhaps not yet an adult. It could also be the eldest son Frank, which would mean the Frank Adragna arrested in 1932 couldn't be him. Maybe someone can confirm which of Giuseppe Adragna's sons died in the 1928 still fire.

The name Giuseppe Orlando also caught my eye. Given the Adragnas from Alcamo operated in Williamsburg and appear to be extremely well-connected, makes me curious if this Giuseppe Orlando would be a relative of Paolo Orlando or the Orlando Sciortinos from Camporeale who all originally operated in the same area. Haven't found any solid info on Giuseppe Orlando, not even records confirming his 1928 death.

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Also to address the theory from the Gentile issue of the Informer that "Joe l'Alcamese" is Giuseppe Adragna:

- I found confirmation that Giuseppe Adragna died in Brooklyn in February 1931. Gentile claims "l'Alcamese" was still alive after Bazzano's 1932 murder and was killed approximately a year after the political turbulence in the Pittsburgh family, which would place his death in 1933 or 1934.

- Gentile also refers to "the Alcamese" having an engagement with his fiancee. This would probably rule out Adragna given he was an older man, married with a full family in Brooklyn at this time.

However, we know the Adragnas were from Alcamo and had strong ties to Pittsburgh so I understand why Giuseppe Adragna is considered a candidate. Gentile may have gotten some details wrong and we may be missing more details on Adragna's life.

--

Regarding Michael Russo. There is a line from the DeCavalcante tapes were Sam says (I'm quoting from memory):

You remember Mike Russo? He tried to get somebody to represent him on the commission

It would be interesting to get the background on that statement.

Good detail. If the same guy was at the 1928 and 1932 meetings, he was a significant member in his day.

[Antiliar]

I would pronounce it Ah-drawg-nyuh but in the US it's probably Ah-drag-nuh.

No, it's Ah-dragn-Ah if I may. The two A are pronouced the same way in Italia (and in France or Spain)

It's the same pronunciation of the gn in lasagna. We don't say "la-sag-na," we say "la-san-ya." So properly speaking, Jack Dragna's surname was pronounced "dran-ya," and similarly Adragna is "ah-dran-ya." It's the equivalent of the Spanish ñ as in cañon, which we spell in English as canyon.

[JCB1977]

Taking a look at some of the arrestees:

Profaci members John Oddo and Tony Bonasera
Up and coming Profaci members who would gain immense stature in the years to come. Suspected in other mafia murders during this era. If they were involved, it was probably as hands-on participants in the murder itself.

Bonanno member Ciro Gallo
Like Oddo and Bonasera, there isn't an obvious reason for him to have participated in the Bazzano affair. Given Bazzano was murdered on Commission orders, they may have used members of different families to carry out the murder.

Gambino capodecina Joe Traina
Former stand-in for the capo dei capi who remained involved in high-level Commission activities for decades according to multiple sources. No surprise he would be involved in the Bazzano trial, especially on the heels of the Castellammarese War.

Buffalo members Paolo Palmeri and Sam DiCarlo
Palmeri was brother to a Buffalo underboss and close to high-level NYC members, accompanying Jimmy DiLeonardo on a visit to Sicily years earlier. He appears to have served as a high-level representative of the Buffalo family in the 1920s/1930s. A reference on the Magaddino tapes to someone who moved to NJ and essentially became too big for his britches might be Palmeri; perhaps Magaddino felt Palmeri's role in these affairs went to his head.

DiCarlo was the son of the former boss and previously represented the Buffalo family at the 1928 Cleveland meeting. Like Palmeri, there is a pattern of him serving as a national representative of Buffalo during this period, before and during the Commission years.

Pittston boss Santo Volpe
Speaks for itself. The boss of another PA family attended the underworld trial of another PA boss. Be interesting to know if he was there as a matter of protocol or if he actively participated in the trial for/against Bazzano.

Peter Lombardi of Trenton
Mystery figure, as far as I can tell. Checking records for Pietro/Peter Lombardi/Lombardo in Trenton, the only one I could find was a mental patient confined to the NJ State Hospital for decades, including the time of the Bazzano murder. If Lombardi/Lombardo was a figure from Trenton involved in the Bazzano affair, which family did he represent? The DeCavalcante and Philadelphia families both had a presence in Trenton in 1932, but it isn't known when the Gambino family first had members there. It's possible this was an alias or is an otherwise unknown member who represented one of the families with a presence in Trenton.

Pittsburgh figures Charles Sparlino/Spallino, Michael Russo, Michael Bua, Angelo Colizza (possibly Polizzi), and Frank "Adrana".
Newspaper reported erroneously that Santo Volpe was from Pittsburgh (easy to confuse with Pittston), so some of the above could be erroneous, too. Spallino, Bua, and Adragna were Pittsburgh area residents, at least.

One account has "Colizza" living in Dunmore, PA, which is near Pittston and one researcher believes this is Angelo Polizzi. He would have been very young at the time but we know he was a second-generation nationally connected figure and the 1928 Cleveland meeting also included young men. It's possible he attended as Volpe's aide, if this was indeed Polizzi.

I've seen speculation that Michael Russo is the same Mike Russo from NJ who attended the 1928 Cleveland meeting --- the name is so generic I have no clue and I don't know enough about the NJ Mike Russo to know if he had Pittsburgh ties. Could be another error, like with Volpe, and they mislabeled him as being from Pittsburgh. If this is the NJ Mike Russo, like with DiCarlo, it shows his role as a national representative was not just a one-off but a role he held before and during the early Commission years.

It turns out Frank Adragna is the eldest brother of Pittsburgh/NYC/CA mafia figures George, Joseph, and Vito. Francesco (b. 1892) shows up on a manifest with their father Giuseppe, heading to NYC, but it appears they didn't board. He did end up in the Pittsburgh area and died in the early 1960s, which might be why he isn't mentioned later on by the Bay Area sources.

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Assuming most of the arrestees were involved in the Bazzano affair, we can see where local Sicilian Brooklyn figures like Bonasera, Oddo, and Gallo may have been participants in the murder (none of them fit politically into a Calabrian vs. Neapolitan affair in Pittsburgh), among others, while most of the others were there as representatives of different US families, meaning it was more like the old National Assembly meetings than simply a meeting of the Commission alone.

This could suggest that in 1932 they were still sort of transitioning out of the old Capo dei Capi / Grand Council / National Assembly system and into the modern Commission system. Or it could tell us that they always kept remnants of the old National Assembly, which we see later with Apalachin.

Personally I don't buy the idea that the Commission members themselves strangled and stabbed Bazzano to death. Maybe the murder was committed in front of them, but they either planned Bazzano's murder in advance or at least knew it was a possible outcome, so I can't imagine they did it themselves unless it was for highly symbolic reasons. It's more likely to me that Brooklyn members Bonasera, Oddo, Gallo, and likely others either supervised or carried out the murder, disposing of Bazzano in their familiar territory of Brooklyn.

Great Post B!

Two interesting things I found on Spallino a while back. The first actually led me to the second. Of course, these things could just be coincidences.

On a manifest from the Peace Bridge, Buffalo, New York, August 1930, Calogero Spallino listed his birthplace as Palatzmarano, Italy. This looked familiar, and when I searched I found that John Bazzano was from Palizzi Marina, RC. On the same manifest, he lists his destination as 1324 Reedsdale St. This address was at one time a movie theater, and in the 1940s was North Side Cheese Company, owned by the Capizzi family.

He was also involved with killing the Canonsburgh informant in 1923 and the Monastero's were murdered while visiting him at the hospital.

There was also a Filippo Spallino who was said to be a gang leader...

[JCB1977]

July 18, 1918- Michael Bua aka Mike Bua


https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clip ... kIc37UZeFg

[B.]

Thanks for adding more on the Pittsburgh guys. I'm clueless about most of them.

It does look like Spallino's hometown is a phonetic transcription of Bazzano's same hometown, so appears Bazzano's paesan attended the trial.

Michael Bua was from Trabia, Palermo, like the Limas who previously lived in Pittsburgh area. He may have been representing a Sicilian element at the meeting.

We know from Gentile that Pittsburgh had a functioning consiglio a decade before this and many of the families kept their consiglio intact into the 1950s/60s. Some of the Pittsburgh attendees may have been part of the consiglio given we can't match them to admin positions and one of the consiglio's roles involved these types of judgments.

[JCB1977]

Thanks for adding more on the Pittsburgh guys. I'm clueless about most of them.

It does look like Spallino's hometown is a phonetic transcription of Bazzano's same hometown, so appears Bazzano's paesan attended the trial.

Michael Bua was from Trabia, Palermo, like the Limas who previously lived in Pittsburgh area. He may have been representing a Sicilian element at the meeting.

We know from Gentile that Pittsburgh had a functioning consiglio a decade before this and many of the families kept their consiglio intact into the 1950s/60s. Some of the Pittsburgh attendees may have been part of the consiglio given we can't match them to admin positions and one of the consiglio's roles involved these types of judgments.

If Mike Bua was connected to Limas, chances are he was also close to Orazio Runfola, one of the Pittsburgh leaders of the society of the banana who was indicted in conjunction with the group of black handers from Marion Ohio led by the Lima Brothers.

[B.]

Yeah, no idea if he was close to them but given the Pittsburgh and Trabia connection I'm sure they were aware of each other.

Going back to Mike Russo, the NJ Russo's age is a match for this one alleged to be from Pittsburgh. As we know from the Cleveland meeting, these guys don't necessarily give the police their accurate home address. Could be that Russo did live in Pittsburgh for a time, too, if it's the same guy. There were probably more transfers and movement than we're even aware of given there are gaps in records. If Gentile didn't tell us how often he moved and transferred, I don't think we'd know the full extent of his movement on our own.

If it's the same Russo and he lived in Pittsburgh for a time in the early 1930s, it is even more significant as it means he was a high-level representative for two different cities/families.

Also, I misspoke when I said "Robert Anastasio" lived in the Sheraton in 1932. As the above report shared by AL says, it was the St. George. Either way it is believed to be Albert Anastasia and the age is close.

[B.]

Don't want to let the Benny Gallo angle go yet. It's improbable that he arrived to the US with a possible relative of Ciro and Geraldo Gallo from Palazzo Adriano if there's no relation, so hoping we can find more to rule it in or out.

Have member sources mentioned Benny Gallo? Newspaper accounts describe him as an underworld leader at the time of his death and we know he was previously involved in counterfeiting. His background from Santa Ninfa / Salemi combined with his reputation in Williamsburg make it all but certain he was a Schiro member, but did someone ever say it outright?

Gallo also had a brother Joseph (b. 1898) who died in 1927. Very young, wonder if it was homicide like his brother three years later.

Chris Christie suggested (rightfully in my opinion) that Joe Bonanno didn't become an inducted member until after 1928, as there is a dramatic increase in his knowledge of mafia politics and important figures around that point. However, Gallo was around until 1930 and his death should have had meaning to Bonanno.

We could write a sequel to Man of Honor with the things Bonanno knew but left out for various reasons. Gallo is a minor detail to leave out when you consider he left out Italiano and Rappa.

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The other angle is Canzoneri. Is it a coincidence his family was from Palazzo Adriano like Ciro Gallo and both joined the Bonannos? Or was there some early thread connecting Palazzo to the Bonannos in NYC?