Changing Families

[JCB1977]

Jimmy "The Weasel" Frattianno- Cleveland to Los Angeles, San Francisco
Pete Licavoli- St. Louis to Detroit
Yonnie Licavoli- St. Louis to Detroit
James Licavoli- St. Louis to Cleveland
Joseph Barbara- Buffalo/Scranton-Wilkes-Barre
Joseph Scalleat- Scranton-Wilkes-Barre and Philly (May have been the liason between the families)
Anthony DeStefano- Scranton-Wilkes-Barre and Buffalo

[Angelo Santino]

Jimmy "The Weasel" Frattianno- Cleveland to Los Angeles, San Francisco
Pete Licavoli- St. Louis to Detroit
Yonnie Licavoli- St. Louis to Detroit
James Licavoli- St. Louis to Cleveland
Joseph Barbara- Buffalo/Scranton-Wilkes-Barre
Joseph Scalleat- Scranton-Wilkes-Barre and Philly (May have been the liason between the families)
Anthony DeStefano- Scranton-Wilkes-Barre and Buffalo

Fratianno was made in the LA Family, when he got out of prison, him and Roselli "transferred" to Chicago. When Dominick Brookliere of LA went to prison in 1976, Fratianno transferred back to LA after he was offered the role of Acting Underboss. In the past I wondered why LA would request Fratianno. Part of me kinda wonders if Brookliere and Lo Cicero were setting Fratianno up to bury himself. That's what happened when Fratianno misrepresented himself to NY as the acting boss.

[Angelo Santino]

But from the examples everyone has posted, it can be surmised that changing families coincides mostly with changing cities. When it comes to NY/Jersey/Philly members don't switch between each other. That would probably cause a lot of friction. Associates are another matter.

Unless anyone has any other alternatives, it seems Family Switching occurred more frequently in the US than Sicily due to the size of the country.

Another guy you can add is Vito La Duca, Morello-Scranton.

And a side topic: Made in Sicily, transferring to America...

1) Morello- Corleone, NYC-Corleonesi
2) Crocivero- Acquasanta (Palermo), NYC-Palermitani
3) Fontana- Villabate, NYC-Gambino
4) Maranzano- CDG, NYC-Bonanno
5) Orlando- Tunis, NYC-Bonanno

There are other members such as Lupo, D'Aquila, Mineo, Fanaro, Profacis, Traina, Mule and many many others who were probably members in Sicily. Many of their families were members/associated and or like Mineo arrived in the USA and were greeted as men of honor. He also arrived with the Boss of Resuttana.

[JCB1977]

Jimmy "The Weasel" Frattianno- Cleveland to Los Angeles, San Francisco
Pete Licavoli- St. Louis to Detroit
Yonnie Licavoli- St. Louis to Detroit
James Licavoli- St. Louis to Cleveland
Joseph Barbara- Buffalo/Scranton-Wilkes-Barre
Joseph Scalleat- Scranton-Wilkes-Barre and Philly (May have been the liason between the families)
Anthony DeStefano- Scranton-Wilkes-Barre and Buffalo

Fratianno was made in the LA Family, when he got out of prison, him and Roselli "transferred" to Chicago. When Dominick Brookliere of LA went to prison in 1976, Fratianno transferred back to LA after he was offered the role of Acting Underboss. In the past I wondered why LA would request Fratianno. Part of me kinda wonders if Brookliere and Lo Cicero were setting Fratianno up to bury himself. That's what happened when Fratianno misrepresented himself to NY as the acting boss.

Frattianno was born and raised in East Cleveland and was close to Tony Milano and John Scalish. Frattiano went to L.A because Tony Milano arranged that because Scalish refused to open the books. Frattianno was a very respected mobster in Northeast Ohio and carried alot of weight. Weren't Peter & Carmen Milano out in L.A. by 1976? I'm 100% positive that they were. Jimmy was considered a high ranking associate of Cleveland and was also called upon to resolve problems for the Cleveland family...ex: Danny Greene among others.

[Pogo The Clown]

Weren't Peter & Carmen Milano out in L.A. by 1976? I'm 100% positive that they were.

Yeah. Peter Milano was already a Capo in LA by 1974. He would have been made in the late 60s/early 70s by Nick Licata.


Pogo

[Angelo Santino]

Weren't Peter & Carmen Milano out in L.A. by 1976? I'm 100% positive that they were.

Yeah. Peter Milano was already a Capo in LA by 1974. He would have been made in the late 60s/early 70s by Nick Licata.


Pogo

Which Fratianno claims he had hold back laughing when he heard that news. Fratianno had a strong bias against Pete Milano and everyone else who's fathers were powerful figures. To Fratianno, he was the only serious worker. Although he liked Mike Rizzitelli as a protege.

[B.]

Rizzitello was apparently a Colombo associate before he moved to LA. There is a bit in Frattiano's book about visiting with the Colombos in NY and I believe it was Andy Russo who gave him a hard time about Rizzitello not being made... joking around, "If you don't make him, we will," kind of thing.

[Angelo Santino]

Rizzitello was apparently a Colombo associate before he moved to LA. There is a bit in Frattiano's book about visiting with the Colombos in NY and I believe it was Andy Russo who gave him a hard time about Rizzitello not being made... joking around, "If you don't make him, we will," kind of thing.

I think I read in TLM that Rizzitello was made by the Gallo's but that the ceremony wasn't recognized.

[Pogo The Clown]

1)Gentile - Philly, Pittsburgh, Siculiana, Bonanno, San Fran, Boss of Kansas City in the early 20's (or so he says), Pittsburgh, Gambino. (And yes, he emphasized a formal transfer of affiliation between each group).

That seems like an awful lot of transfers. He sounds sort of like the Forrest Gump of the early mob. I haven't read his memoirs and the only thing I know of him is what you and a few others have posted about him. His story is interesting and he no doubt was involved and knew a lot about inner workings but is his story credbile?


Pogo

[Angelo Santino]

1)Gentile - Philly, Pittsburgh, Siculiana, Bonanno, San Fran, Boss of Kansas City in the early 20's (or so he says), Pittsburgh, Gambino. (And yes, he emphasized a formal transfer of affiliation between each group).

That seems like an awful lot of transfers. He sounds sort of like the Forrest Gump of the early mob. I haven't read his memoirs and the only thing I know of him is what you and a few others have posted about him. His story is interesting and he no doubt was involved and knew a lot about inner workings but is his story credbile?


Pogo

This is over the course of 30 years. In 1906 he was made in Philadelpia. He is from Siculiana, in Norristown there was a Sciaccatani network of expatriates who left NYC, so that makes sense. In 1915, after much travel, he moved to Pittsburgh and was influential (if you believe him) from 1915 until 1919 when he returned to Sicily and was allegedly part of Siculiana. When he returned in 1921, there was the Second Mafia War raging, he was being pressured to declare a family and join D'Aquila (with his Sciaccatani population that makes sense, and he would join it in 1933ish) but instead went with Schiro for two weeks, went to San Francisco and had the papers sent between bosses. Next you year he is Boss of Kansas City and I have a difficult time believing that given the Balestares or whoever where the power for 30 plus years. He returns to Sicily, comes back and gets involved in the Cast War, joined Pittsburgh, but is influential in NYC affairs, after the Volpe murders, Mangano and Anastasia bring him to NY and he became a Gambino, in 1937 he is busted in New Orleans in a narcotics conspiracy and flees back to Sicily.

The names exist, without Gentile, people like Gregorio Conte or Vito DiGiorgio would have never been considered boss. So the truth is somewhere in between his own bias and the truth.

[Pogo The Clown]

Many thanks Christie. Wht wass Gentile's role in the Castellammare War?


Pogo

[Angelo Santino]

Many thanks Christie. Wht wass Gentile's role in the Castellammare War?


Pogo

An arbitrator between the sides. He and Giuseppe Traina and Vincenzo Troia went to meet with Maranzano in upstate NY to try and find a consensus for settling the war. He claims Maranzano took them hostage and held them in a barn for days while he would explain why he was waging this war. Following that, Traina agreed with much of what Maranzano said, Gentile called foul because they were General assemble representatives who were made part of a commission to meet with the Bonannos to settle the war. Bonanno, in his book, recounts Maranzano's farm in upstate New York where loyalists would visit including Joe Traina. Was this the same event or did Traina stop on by on other occasions? Both Gentile and Bonanno are recollecting events from December of 1930 30 and 50 years after it occurred. Good question.

[JCB1977]

Weren't Peter & Carmen Milano out in L.A. by 1976? I'm 100% positive that they were.

Yeah. Peter Milano was already a Capo in LA by 1974. He would have been made in the late 60s/early 70s by Nick Licata.


Pogo

Which Fratianno claims he had hold back laughing when he heard that news. Fratianno had a strong bias against Pete Milano and everyone else who's fathers were powerful figures. To Fratianno, he was the only serious worker. Although he liked Mike Rizzitelli as a protege.

My statement was geared towards the respect he had for Mr. Tony, not Tony's sons. However, Milano certainly hooked Frattiano up in L.A. Whether he would laugh at that or not, I'll guarantee he paid Peter and Carmen the utmost respect when he was around them...he knew better.

[B.]

I wish Gentile had said more about what was going on in Philly when he was made there. I have found almost nothing on the pre-Sabella years and it almost seems like the Sabella family was a combination of a few different groups who had only been loosely connected before that. I'm not just talking about the Italian ethnic groups we all know about, but also based on Sicilian city.

[Lupara]

That seems like an awful lot of transfers. He sounds sort of like the Forrest Gump of the early mob.

More like the Indiana Jones of the mob.