Some DeCavalcante Family Info (1980s-1990s)

[cavita]

Also, Tony Riela from Newark has also intrigued me as he spent some time in the Midwest LCN before moving to New Jersey. I have an FBI file that he most likely entered the U.S. illegally in 1926 under the "matched case" subterfuge. Riela claimed he was from Terranova, Sicily but was in fact from San Giuseppe Iato, Sicily like Troia.

[B.]

I think a lot of these early members hooked up with different families when they moved. Troia seemed to be a powerhouse on the East Coast and then all of a sudden he hooks up with the small Madison family. Then serves a few years in Rockford before moving to Springfield and then on to Newark. Must be something like a floating membership or something.

Yep, Gentile is a great example of that. There was a conversation a little while back where we were talking about how pre-1920s the idea of cosa nostra being one organization was stronger and they were more open to members moving from family to family.

Also, Tony Riela from Newark has also intrigued me as he spent some time in the Midwest LCN before moving to New Jersey. I have an FBI file that he most likely entered the U.S. illegally in 1926 under the "matched case" subterfuge. Riela claimed he was from Terranova, Sicily but was in fact from San Giuseppe Iato, Sicily like Troia.

Maybe it was you who first pointed it out a long time ago on the RD, but Riela had assumed the identity of the other Antonio Riela from Terranova. The question is how he was able to get the other Riela's personal information.

The Newark family seems to have been dominated by San Giuseppe Iato and Villabate members. Never seen anything to suggest that the Elizabeth family was ever affiliated with the Newark family, only people (like Capeci and others) who have assumed that they were connected. The only indirect connection I've ever seen is the Villabate Profaci members who may have been under Newark originally that attended the Cleveland meeting in 1928. They were joined at that meeting by the Chicago Riberesi LoLordo and Bacino, who were both associated if not full-on members of the early DeCavalcante family.

[johnny_scootch]

There was a conversation a little while back where we were talking about how pre-1920s the idea of cosa nostra being one organization was stronger and they were more open to members moving from family to family.

They had trust that enabled a member to move from one family to another most of the time off the strength of a letter. Today they don't trust another member as far as they can throw them.

[Angelo Santino]

There was a conversation a little while back where we were talking about how pre-1920s the idea of cosa nostra being one organization was stronger and they were more open to members moving from family to family.

They had trust that enabled a member to move from one family to another most of the time off the strength of a letter. Today they don't trust another member as far as they can throw them.

That's true but that goes back to the disintegration of the Sicilian/Italian culture in America as a whole. In 1900, relatives were spread across cities and states, travel (for work) was frequent, and considering that Sicily itself could fit into most USA states, it's amazing how the population expanded yet kept those contacts for a time. In the 1930's there were reforms that made immigration much more difficult, prior to that travels back and forth to Italy was a great business to be in. After 1930, after regulations and the great depression things became more localized as, on a broad level, the Italians were settling into their new cities and becoming American... None of the above relates to the mafia directly but concerns the Italian-American lifestyle, which the mafia used as a track in to run on. It's amazing they maintained a national cohesion up to the 1980's, by this time most of the second generation were localized members, very different world than the mafia of the 1900's and 1930's who had friends, family, compaesani in 3 or 4 cities nationally. Cut to today, There's little evidence that Chicago or NY have any contact with each other.There are no national meets and Albert Vena or whoever's at the top probably has never met Joe Ligambi or Frank Cali or any east coast powerhouse. Much of this has to do with scrutinizing law enforcement but much of it had to do with an Americanization of members themselves.

All of the above is true. But then we have the DeCavalcante (and Gambinos) who maintain contacts to this decade (and defy what I explained above). They appear to be in close contact with relatives, collaborate and recognize each other as members of the same thing. Cafaro said the Gen Brugad did not. Those families are the ones with the strongest Mafia ties, it shows just how powerful that network is and just imagine in its heydey when immigration soared, every group acted similar to that tenfold. Visually it would be like viewing the Verzon netowork. But it was a continuous evolution not a static one.

As far as the Mafia goes, you don't see it today, but back in the day (1900-1920) the mafia functioned more closely to that of it's Sicilian mother, at it's essence it is a freemasonry of OC or a criminal benevolent association in that it provides protection for its members. In Sicily, there's no evidence for or against that members "switched families," the earliest we have is Allegra who despite being from one city with a mafia family was assigned to another family when he was made in another city (I'm not remember the names of the cities right now, but this occured in the 1920's). That style was never applied in the US, someone wasn't made by the Bonannos and assigned to the Genovese. Other more recent sources indicate that family switching is incredibly rare, people can form new families but going from Corleone to Trapani is something I have yet to hear about. But then I don't know everything, I'd be interested in Toto's take.

[toto]

In Sicily the families some families have been dissolved and the members put in different families. For example, Gioacchino Pennino (the nephew) mentioned about Conte Federico family that was dissolved. It also happened as a punishment to Palermo Centro family after Salvatore La Barbera was murdered and his brother jailed in the 1960s. Only after the mafia commission was reformed fully did they organize the family newly. Some people might say those guys got transferred but I would not agree that it's a transfer in such a case.

The only transfer in Sicily was mentioned by Buscetta was Porta Nuova member Rosario Anselmo who wanted to marry the daughter of Raffaele Spina (Noce family) but Anselmo was from a poor background so the girls family opposed it. Buscetta told Anselmo run away with the girl then they have to let you. But when he did this and the marriage happened Calcedonio Di Pisa boss of Noce made a beef in the commission that Anselmo now belongs to Noce. The commission made a decision to transfer Anselmo from Porta Nuova to Noce. The only time such a thing happened. Actually, this transfer was used by Cavataio, Matranga and Manno to bring new allies on to their side to oppose having a commission. It's probably why it didn't happen again.

In America the fluid Italian communities due to recent immigration meant that these things happened more regularly at that time. But when the people and the mafia is fixed in location there's no need for such transfers. Even what happened with Valachi (and others) I would not say it was transferring but it was due to reorganization of the families. It only looks like a transfer because the families stayed the same. If they created 2 more families for example then it would be clearer that it was reorganization and not transfer. The transfer I would say happens in exceptional cases. Also, just because some guy goes hundreds of miles away and starts working with some other guys and paying tribute to the boss there does not mean he was released by his first family. It can easily be explained that it was communications issue that led to these things. Then when a reorganization happened these guys might be able to choose where they went permanently.

Also, I don't believe the letter of introduction was the same as being formally introduced. I think that still had to take place. Only they showed the letter to show who they were. Remember a new guy is unlikely to new who the mafiosi are in a community immediately but if somebody gave him a letter and said show it to such and such then its an indication he's a mafiosi as well. But my guess is still somebody will have to introduce them similar to how Anthony Rotondo and Richard Cantarella met each other and they both knew and understood they were mafiosi but still they got an introduction later. They still use such things as letter or notes today. I'm trying to think but I think it was the Gambino's sending a note to a family in Sicily to make sure a guy they were going to make didn't belong to that family. It happened in the past few years I think.

Buscetta showed such a letter to a guy in Mexico who was a member of Porta Nuova. But the guy was so poor Buscetta was helping him instead of the other way.

About forming new families, the other bosses or the commission form the new families. Without this blessing it will never be considered. In the past few years Zen is a new family and Kalsa also is separated from Porta Nuova in Palermo.

[cavita]

I think a lot of these early members hooked up with different families when they moved. Troia seemed to be a powerhouse on the East Coast and then all of a sudden he hooks up with the small Madison family. Then serves a few years in Rockford before moving to Springfield and then on to Newark. Must be something like a floating membership or something.

Yep, Gentile is a great example of that. There was a conversation a little while back where we were talking about how pre-1920s the idea of cosa nostra being one organization was stronger and they were more open to members moving from family to family.

Also, Tony Riela from Newark has also intrigued me as he spent some time in the Midwest LCN before moving to New Jersey. I have an FBI file that he most likely entered the U.S. illegally in 1926 under the "matched case" subterfuge. Riela claimed he was from Terranova, Sicily but was in fact from San Giuseppe Iato, Sicily like Troia.

Maybe it was you who first pointed it out a long time ago on the RD, but Riela had assumed the identity of the other Antonio Riela from Terranova. The question is how he was able to get the other Riela's personal information.

The Newark family seems to have been dominated by San Giuseppe Iato and Villabate members. Never seen anything to suggest that the Elizabeth family was ever affiliated with the Newark family, only people (like Capeci and others) who have assumed that they were connected. The only indirect connection I've ever seen is the Villabate Profaci members who may have been under Newark originally that attended the Cleveland meeting in 1928. They were joined at that meeting by the Chicago Riberesi LoLordo and Bacino, who were both associated if not full-on members of the early DeCavalcante family.

Yes, Riela did use the name of another man named Tony Riela. I always wondered if it was a cousin or perhaps he paid the man. Madison also had a large San Giuseppe Iato population- some of those names in addition to Troia were Scamardo, Licari, LoMonaco and Stassi. Interestingly the Zito family from Springfield was also from San Giuseppe

[B.]

I was just rereading some of the older posts in this topic...

One thing I didn't really consider about the formation of the DeCavalcantes is that they may have originally been created in New York. The Peterstown informant mentioned that Amari and other Ribera immigrants left NYC and came to Elizabeth in the 1920s, but we know they didn't completely abandon NY. Based on the formation of the Ribera club in 1923 we can assume that they were already a family in Elizabeth by that year. But it's likely that they were already a family or at least members of another family (be it NY or Sicily) before moving to NJ. There are a few possibilities:

- The Ribera boys were members of the Sicilian mafia living in NYC and unaffiliated with the other NY families, and were then allowed to establish a new family in NJ.
- They were members of an established NYC family (i.e. one of the "five families") who were allowed to establish a new family in NJ.
- They were already established as their own US family in NY and maybe even elsewhere before moving their base of operations to NJ.

How about the 75 member limit? You have to wonder if that means they had 75 members at the time the rule was established or if it was just an arbitrary cap put on them that had nothing to do with with their peak size.

They had between 30 and 40 mostly older members in the early 1960s. We know they had inducted new members in the 1940s, as that is when Sam DeCavalcante was made and probably others like Frank Majuri. Louis LaRasso was either made very young (which is possible) in the 1940s or in the 1950s (which would mean LaRasso was promoted to underboss not long after being made). There were a handful of other guys who had to have been made in the 1940s and 50s as well. What is clear is that there were inductions between 1940 - 1960, so it's unlikely that not only 35 to 45 members had died since the 1920s or 30s to get the family down to the 30 to 40 number, but even more than that would have had to die due to the new members having been made.

Sorry, I know that paragraph up above is a confusing cluster, but it seems impossible to me that they ever had 75 members in the NY / NJ area between the 1920s and 1960s. I also don't think they were ever that large between the 1960s and early 2000s. The only way I can see them being near that size is if a large percentage of "legitimate" Riberesi men (and possibly of other Sicilian backgrounds) were members. The Peterstown informant claims that his father, who was legitimate, was approached in 1928 about joining but turned it down. Maybe there were a number of men like that who were proposed and didn't turn it down?

Another possibility is that they did have 75 members spread out between NJ, NY, CT, Illinois, and maybe even Birmingham, with a lot of them being completely unknown, old, and/or seemingly legitimate (which is something we have seen with a number of their NJ members). Maybe the Birmingham family was the same organization? Maybe LoLordo, DeGeorge, and Bacino were originally part of that pan-American organization also?

JD found info about Johnny Grande who may have been the DeCavalcante CT head before LaSelva, and Frank Majuri was active in rackets in CT in the 1930s, so it's looking more likely that the DeCavalcantes had a presence if not members there by that time.

I don't know... it's all a mystery but I still think it may be incorrect to think of them as "the New Jersey family", at least in their early days. No doubt that's what they became, but it may not have happened until they were more settled in America.

[LcnBios]

I think there's something to the idea of a probable early NYC connection. Some unknown CI told the FBI that Salvatore Caterinicchi and at least one other guy were originally members in New York. The Gambinos are the obvious choice for that early connection, specifically the Arcuris and other upper Manhattan guys from Agrigento, but it may well have been multiple Families. We know the DeCavs maintained a presence in Manhattan and (later on at least) in Brooklyn and stayed close to the Gambinos all the way up to the latest indictment. The founders could have been early NY members who broke off into their own group for whatever reason and branched out while keeping some interests in NYC.

In Connecticut it was a mix of mainland Italians (Michael Puglia, the LaSelvas) and a few Sicilians like Frank Carbone (Syracuse) and Louis DiGiovanna (Agrigento again). Carbone was active in New York early on and a close associate of 'Bobby Doyle' Santuccio of the Genovese. How that particular crew came together and wound up under the DeCavs is a question I'd love to see answered.

Editing to add that the Bonannos also had some connections to the DeCavs, again with Agrigento as the common link. The Louis DiGiovanna mentioned above was from the same town as the Bonanno Family DiGiovannas. Angelo Salvo (same town as Arcuris) was very close to the DeCavs through LaRasso and the Majuris. Salvo's nephew was given a spot in Local 394 in the 1960s. Interesting to note both Salvo and DeCav Capo Anthony Carubia were misidentified as Gambino members through most of the 1970s.

[B.]

I think you're definitely onto something with the ongoing Gambino connections, especially since the Gambinos are looking like the first NYC family and the leaping off point for other early families/members.

Caterinicchio and the other member were implied to be members of an NYC family or just members that happened to live in NY at one point? I assume it's the former, which would mean hewould have been an NYC member as late as the 1920s given his young age at the time. There were some Cocchiaro/Cocchiaras that look to have been associated with NYC familes early on, too, and Frank Cocchiaro kept a large presence there.

While the chances get slimmer and slimmer that we'll ever know the origins of other families, I can believe there are still a number of DeCavalcante members who have gotten a good history lesson from the old timers. Can only hope one of them will flip or will get caught on tape. We know Stango isn't our man, though.

[LcnBios]

For Chaps, re the 1991 meeting that led to Manny Riggi being shelved. The circumstances were convoluted so this is the basics. If anything substantially different from this account turns up in other sources I'll add it later.

Around 1991 Manny Riggi was approached by Rudolph Farone, Anthony Rotondo and Vincent Palermo. According to Riggi, they spoke with him about his father being jailed and offered their support if anything needed done. Riggi went to Joseph Caruano and claimed the NY trio were basically offering to kill John D'Amato. Caruano then got together with Charles Majuri and Joseph Ferrara, who weren't captains yet, and they took the story to John D'Amato.

The NY trio were summoned to a meeting at Guy Alessi's catering hall in Bayonne. Those present included D'Amato, Vitabile, Abramo, Caruano, Paul Farina, Ferrara and Majuri. The NY trio were essentially brought up on charges and ordered to explain themselves. They admitted making a comment to Riggi but insisted it was only a show of support for his father who was now off the street. D'Amato accused Riggi of taking their comment and exaggerating things in order to get the NY faction in trouble. Riggi was shelved.

What the NY trio didn't know until after the meeting was they were slated to be killed if D'Amato felt they were lying. James Gallo, Louis Consalvo and Gregory Rago were waiting in the restaurant's freezer, and Frank Nigro and Nicholas Cottone were set up outside. All were armed and planning to kill the whole group if needed.

If Riggi was scheming or just being paranoid, or if the NY faction was really plotting something, isn't really clear. The end result was D'Amato rewarded Ferrara and Majuri for reporting the situation to him by promoting them to captains sometime afterward. They along with Caruano then convinced D'Amato to take Louis LaRasso off the shelf and make him a captain as well. Then LaRasso and D'Amato both wound up dead less than a year later, both at the insistence of these same NY crew leaders.

Some other random info:

- When Anthony Capo was made he was told the induction would be kept low key for awhile. The reason being he was still getting LE attention for the Weiss hit. Exceptions were going to be John Pate (partner in loansharking) and Capo's old family friend Vincent Sarullo in the Gambinos. They ended up forgetting the idea that same night and introduced him to Gambino Soldier Philip Mazzara at a club in Brooklyn.

- James Gallo and Joseph Conigliaro shot each other when trying to shake down Vincent Ensulo in the early 1970s. Conigliaro was paralyzed as a result. Gallo got out of jail and killed Ensulo with a guy named Johnny Horse Orsolini (ph). Orsolini wound up finding religion and Gallo, Capo and Palermo plotted to kill him. This was one of about a half dozen murder plots they had going when the big indictment fell.

- Around 1997 Anthony Capo got into a dispute with a couple of Colombo associates. They reached out to relative Joseph Bilotti (the Gambino member) and he called Capo to meet in SI. They argued for a minute, Capo turned to leave and Bilotti ran up and punched him in the side of the head. The Colombo associates joined in, Bilotti turned on them for hitting a made guy and Capo left. He met with Farone/Palermo and told them what happened. Farone wanted to kill Bilotti and the others immediately and they drove around for awhile trying to find them. A sitdown was arranged by Larry Schiro, with Joseph Arcuri and Louis Vallario representing the Gambinos and Amari/Vitabile/Palermo the DeCavs. When Palermo and Capo showed up to the location they realized the others had already started the meeting without them and a decision had already been reached that there was to be no more violence. Palermo was furious about this and felt Vitabile was always too soft with the Gambinos. They were still going to kill the associates at least, regardless of the decision. This was another of the conspiracies interrupted by the indictments.

[felice]

great info as usually JD

[Chaps]

Thanks JD for the information. Pure quality as always. Whenever I receive the files I requested, and some are quite large, I'll reciprocate.

[B.]

Sheds some new light on the D'Amato murder for sure. Seems a little suspicious that a murder conspiracy against him got nixed, only for outlandish rumors about sleeping with black men to come out the next year and seal his fate. My theory has always been that D'Amato's mistress was also sleeping with Anthony Capo, as it was Capo she gave this info to, and that they concocted the rumor.

The vague line that Farone, Rotondo, and Palermo gave to Riggi reminds me of the Genovese allegedly telling Caponigro "take care of your problem" (though thinking of it now, I don't know of any reliable source for that). It makes for easy denial and/or misinterpretation. Interesting that it was D'Amato's fellow NY leaders who may have wanted him dead. Murder of LaRasso also makes more sense with his reemergence in the family being tied to this situation.

The Bilotti situation is pretty crazy. Amazing that he would strike another made member, but then chastise associates for joining in. I have to wonder if got mad at the associates because they were setting themselves up to be killed, not so much that they broke the rules. It shows the level of dominance the Gambinos had over the DeCavs that Bilotti got away with attacking a member because of some associates from another family. Any idea who they were or what their relation was to him?

[Rocco]

Sheds some new light on the D'Amato murder for sure. Seems a little suspicious that a murder conspiracy against him got nixed, only for outlandish rumors about sleeping with black men to come out the next year and seal his fate. My theory has always been that D'Amato's mistress was also sleeping with Anthony Capo, as it was Capo she gave this info to, and that they concocted the rumor.

The vague line that Farone, Rotondo, and Palermo gave to Riggi reminds me of the Genovese allegedly telling Caponigro "take care of your problem" (though thinking of it now, I don't know of any reliable source for that). It makes for easy denial and/or misinterpretation. Interesting that it was D'Amato's fellow NY leaders who may have wanted him dead. Murder of LaRasso also makes more sense with his reemergence in the family being tied to this situation.

The Bilotti situation is pretty crazy. Amazing that he would strike another made member, but then chastise associates for joining in. I have to wonder if got mad at the associates because they were setting themselves up to be killed, not so much that they broke the rules. It shows the level of dominance the Gambinos had over the DeCavs that Bilotti got away with attacking a member because of some associates from another family. Any idea who they were or what their relation was to him?

I always thought that it was a bullshit rumor to get D'Amato out of the driver's seat. With D'Amato close to Gotti and Riggi gone... It was really the only way to clip D'Amato. They couldn't say he was a rat(the typical LCN conspiracy driven hit). So they came up with the gay shit. D'Amato was a known playboy who even hit the town with Gotti pickin up broads. His brother Frank was said to voice his opinion that it was all bullshit that John wasn't queer. And that's when they put a hit out on Frank. Just another move to take over. NY vs NJ jockeying for power with Riggi gone.

[Hailbritain]

I've read it was a jealous girlfriend who made the rumour up and told Anthony rotondo