1990s source on Sicilian->American transfers

[ng]

How many members does passo di ragano currently have?

[B.]

Cabrini, you made a great point that it shouldn't be looked at as a "rule" but simply a political move. If Luciano sent word that Sicilians shouldn't be recognized it would have little impact on the Genovese family. Most of the members were non-Sicilian and they didn't maintain strong ties to Sicily except through Luciano. Even though Luciano couldn't stop the other bosses from recognizing Sicilian members, it would still impact the bigger picture of NYC->Sicilian relationships in a deeply political way.

Looking over this thread again, I want to point out that Gravano and Valachi both used the word "accept" when referring to Sicilian mafiosi who joined NYC families. I'm sure I've seen it before, but it's not common for members to use the word "accept" to describe someone being newly inducted.

I also think that FBI report from Valachi is saying that Luciano's ruling had more to do with US families not guaranteeing that a Sicilian could join them. In the early days if someone followed the right protocol and wasn't a troublemaker, they could easily count on a transfer. Looking at the pre-1940s, I've never seen a single reference to a member who moved permanently to the US and kept formal affiliation with his original Sicilian family. When Gentile moved back to Sicily, he transferred to a Sicilian family and when he moved back to the US he immediately transferred again. At some point Milwaukee had a Sicilian mafia member who moved to Milwaukee and associated with the local family but never transferred (source: Maniaci), which became common on the east coast later on.

Valachi said "exceptions" were made where a Sicilian member could be sponsored / accepted and that fits our knowledge post-1930s. Transfers happened but they were exceptional.

--

Other examples of transfers:

- Giuseppe Buccellato came to the US in 1959 after the books closed and was recognized as a Bonanno member after the Bonanno war, if not earlier. He was either a member of the Castellammare or Tunis family before he came to NYC. Close to Natale Evola, who I believe was more influential in shaping the 1970s Bonanno Sicilian faction than we realize.

- Antonino Busciglio came to the US in the 1960s and a report says he was already a "made guy" in Sicily. He was identified as a made member of the Bonanno family by the early 1970s, suggesting he transferred, possibly with the help of Bonanno leader Angelo Caruso. The same might be true of his uncle Angelo Salvo.

- Bonanno captain Pietro Licata was identified by the fascist government in the 1930s as a mafioso in Sicily and appears to have already been a made member before coming to the US and joining the Bonannos.

[thekiduknow]

George Sciascia was also a transfer I believe.

[CabriniGreen]

Cabrini, you made a great point that it shouldn't be looked at as a "rule" but simply a political move. If Luciano sent word that Sicilians shouldn't be recognized it would have little impact on the Genovese family. Most of the members were non-Sicilian and they didn't maintain strong ties to Sicily except through Luciano. Even though Luciano couldn't stop the other bosses from recognizing Sicilian members, it would still impact the bigger picture of NYC->Sicilian relationships in a deeply political way.

Looking over this thread again, I want to point out that Gravano and Valachi both used the word "accept" when referring to Sicilian mafiosi who joined NYC families. I'm sure I've seen it before, but it's not common for members to use the word "accept" to describe someone being newly inducted.

I also think that FBI report from Valachi is saying that Luciano's ruling had more to do with US families not guaranteeing that a Sicilian could join them. In the early days if someone followed the right protocol and wasn't a troublemaker, they could easily count on a transfer. Looking at the pre-1940s, I've never seen a single reference to a member who moved permanently to the US and kept formal affiliation with his original Sicilian family. When Gentile moved back to Sicily, he transferred to a Sicilian family and when he moved back to the US he immediately transferred again. At some point Milwaukee had a Sicilian mafia member who moved to Milwaukee and associated with the local family but never transferred (source: Maniaci), which became common on the east coast later on.

Valachi said "exceptions" were made where a Sicilian member could be sponsored / accepted and that fits our knowledge post-1930s. Transfers happened but they were exceptional.

--

Other examples of transfers:

- Giuseppe Buccellato came to the US in 1959 after the books closed and was recognized as a Bonanno member after the Bonanno war, if not earlier. He was either a member of the Castellammare or Tunis family before he came to NYC. Close to Natale Evola, who I believe was more influential in shaping the 1970s Bonanno Sicilian faction than we realize.

- Antonino Busciglio came to the US in the 1960s and a report says he was already a "made guy" in Sicily. He was identified as a made member of the Bonanno family by the early 1970s, suggesting he transferred, possibly with the help of Bonanno leader Angelo Caruso. The same might be true of his uncle Angelo Salvo.

- Bonanno captain Pietro Licata was identified by the fascist government in the 1930s as a mafioso in Sicily and appears to have already been a made member before coming to the US and joining the Bonannos.

Thanks B. And I agree with your take, that Lucianos ruling had more to do with preserving the power of American families. He might have even been insecure about the level of influence some guys like Profaci and Bonnano had in Sicily.

[PolackTony]

Any theorizing as to why Luciano would’ve implemented this mandate? I guess you guys already touched on a possibility, limiting the influence of Sicilian families in local mafia politics. Just speculating, but I wonder if part of this was also a balance of power concern between the NY families. As B already noted, this issue was a moot point for Luciano’s family, as they wouldn’t likely be taking any Sicilian transfers anyway. But if Bonnano, Mangano, Profaci could bring in a bunch of transfers, not only would they have a strong line of association to a source of power outside of the US LCN and Commission, but perhaps they would be able to continue to swell their ranks. I don’t know if these transfers, if they had hypothetically occurred, would’ve been subject to the induction membership caps on the families, so I’m wondering if that could’ve also been part of Luciano’s concern.

[B.]

Valachi did say one of the reasons for Luciano's message was that Luciano felt members from "Italy" couldn't be trusted and might be informants. Luciano had a very close and strange relationship with LE sources where he was able to identify a number of informants, but who knows what this was based on. I find Luciano's behavior and motivations suspect in all kinds of ways from the 1940s until his death.

I don't think the concern was the more Sicilian NYC families having too many members. We can't be sure when exactly the caps were put in place, but we have reason to believe a transfer would take up a slot in the same way a new member does -- they aren't supposed to exceed the cap either way.

Paolo Violi said a Sicilian member could only transfer if he was deemed acceptable after a probation period and only if there was a slot available, which is the same protocol for inducting members. There is no way Paolo Violi invented the rules discussed on the Montreal tapes by himself, so we can assume he was describing standard transfer procedure for any given family, at least the Bonannos but probably everyone since the Sicilian mafia would have to agree to it as well. Gentile never talked about caps / slots but everything else he described is consistent with Violi and even modern transfers (i.e. Joe Gambino getting Lombardo "released" from Sicily via letter).

I don't think it's a coincidence that we haven't found concrete info on Sal Catalano, Gerlando Sciascia, or Nino + Pietro Inzerillo going through induction ceremonies in the 1970s. We're missing plenty of info, sure, though there is reason to believe they were Sicilian mafia members who transferred.

I suspect John Gambino was made in Sicily like his brother Rosario but unlike Rosario chose to transfer to NYC, maybe alongside the older Inzerillos. Gravano knew Gambino to be made already in 1976 but didn't have info on his induction. All three Gambino brothers were suspected by investigators of being made in Sicily, but we know Joe wasn't made until 1988 in NYC. John's exact entry into the Gambino family is still a mystery.

[cobra]

-tommaso buscetta speaked about it
-he said in usa the bosses feel they struggle a lot after they arrive
-now if they accepted all member from sicily then they feel its unfair

[scagghiuni]

How many members does passo di ragano currently have?

the mandamento about 100 if i remember right the dia report

[Villain]

Great stuff. Never knew about Lucianos mandate against transfers from Sicily.

[ng]

How many members does passo di ragano currently have?

the mandamento about 100 if i remember right the dia report

Thanks for answering that brother, ive read one but my italian is rusty and probably mistranslated it.

Is there a more recently released version than the 2019 version? I found all the maps fascinating personally

[B.]

Valachi on Luciano's ruling not to recognize Sicilian mafia members:

Harry Riccobene's comments are similar to Valachi's, though he comes from the POV of a US member who wants to transfer to Sicily:



Again the word "accepted" is used, which makes me think that is the FBI's interpretation, not necessarily the word Valachi and Riccobene used. Gravano did use it on tape, though.

Riccobene emphasizes that a transfer / recognition is not "automatic" at "present time", which could mean at one point it was easy to transfer back and forth in Riccobene's eyes. As mentioned, Gentile's account backs this up as well as other info about early US transfers. Riccobene was made in the 1920s and from multiple generations of Sicilian members so he may have had direct knowledge of all this. He knew the age rules for both the US and Sicilian Cosa Nostra, which was later confirmed by a Sicilian pentito, so he did have some obscure knowledge.

The idea of someone "proving themselves" also makes sense. Rather than just accept someone as a transfer because of a handwritten letter, it does seem families would prefer to use an empty slot only if the transfer would be an asset. Maybe this is why so many of the "zips" who joined NYC families were so powerful.