I’ve posted it in the Sciacca files thread, but the informant gave the following information on December 1st, 1965(It starts on page 140 in file 1):
He stated that DiGregorio and his “group”, were pawns for Luchese and Magaddino, and that DiGregorio and Peter Crociata were “not capable of handling their jobs”. Due to DiGregorio’s “complete lack of ability and ignorance and factionalism”, the informant said the “group” will soon fall apart.
While refusing to use the specific terms, he identified DiGregorio, Peter Crociata, and Paul Sciacca as the boss, underboss, and consigliere of DiGregorio’s “group”, which he used instead of “family”. Instead of captain or caporegime, he referred to influential members as “rising stars”.
At first, it seemed to me that the informant was Bill, given the criticism of DiGregorio and the intimate knowledge of the family both piror to and during the split. I also guessed based on the refusal to use LCN terms like “underboss”, or “caporegime”, possibly based on a refusal to see DiGregorio’s ascension as illegitimate, not unlike his and Joseph’s view that the Commission itself was illegitimate. Bill did an interview with the FBI in April of 1964 where when asked about said “I don’t use them”. However, in subsequent reports it appears he did use those terms.
I learned that this informant was not Bill when looking at an October, 1967 report on Mary Ferrell.
https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... lPageId=63
The date and info NY T-5 gives matches the above informant. He’s also listed as the source identifying Bonanno members, many of whom show up on the December 1st report. Looking at the unredacted list of informants, I saw that NY T-5 was in fact NY 5297-C-TE, who by that time was deceased.
https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... elPageId=3
The only other time NY 5297-C-TE shows up on Mary Ferrell is in a September 1968 report, which just has the same membership list as the 1967 report, but no other information is attributed to him.
However, based on the fact he was listed as deceased by October 1967 is a big clue. The informant was firmly against DiGregorio and his “group”, and being designated as a TE meant he was a known member. The only two that come to my mind that match Joseph Notaro, and Frank LaBruzzo.
In the 1967 and 1968 report, the informant is listed as the source for mostly Brooklyn based members, but from the 1965 report he was familiar with other members as well, specifically noting that Michael Consolo took over part of Notaro’s crew. Despite this familiarity, in the 1965 report he didn’t know Armando Pollastrino’s last name, referring to him as Armand aka “Buddy”, or Rusty Rastelli’s true name.
It's spread out across a few different files, but here is what this informant said about both:
Armando (LNU) aka Buddy:
PC described this individual as a good-looking young man, age 39 or 40, who is always very well dressed. He was formerly under Joe Notaro and was close to Rusty. He is from the Bronx, but in the new reorganization, his influence has extended outside of the NYC area and he is considered one of the most important “rising stars” under DiGregorio. He is also highly regarded by Steve Magaddino and is very influential in matters relating to the Buffalo area.
Rusty (LNU):
PC described this individual as a young “rising star” who is close to [redacted](Probably Armando/Buddy). Both were formerly under Joseph Notaro. Buddy now hold considerable authority. He is from the Bronx and is married to a girl from the Howard Johnson family.
He did know they were both under Notaro, but says that Rusty was from the Bronx. The fact that he didn’t know Pollastrino’s last name, and thought Rusty Rastelli was from the Bronx, probably means the informant wasn’t Notaro, who would likely know Armando’s last name, and wouldn’t confuse Rusty for a Bronx based member.
I have no idea what he means by Rusty was married to the Howard Johnson family. Rusty was married for a time after Connie was killed, but her name was Irene Mckee.
The last bit of evidence I found was when I looked back through LaBruzzo’s file for clues. In January of 1966, there was a report done on LaBruzzo. On December 10, 1965. “NY T-1” reported that LaBruzzo was in ill health, and identified LaBruzzo’s doctor as a redacted Bonanno relative(possibly Martin Bonventre). In that same report, “NY T-1” gives the same info as our informant. LaBruzzo’s health would be no secret, but who his doctor was is only an informant close to him, or LaBruzzo himself, could share.
All this leads me to conclude that the informant likely could have been LaBruzzo. With his health problems worsening, increased law enforcement pressure, and being ostracized with the threat of being killed could have led him to speak to the FBI. I don’t have anything to base this on, but he could have also been trying to gain leverage to secure an eventual deal for Bonanno like Bill seems to have done.
Despite having a TE code in the 1967 report, in the December 1965 the informant was referred to as “PC”. I wasn’t sure what this meant, but I knew “PCI” meant potential confidential informant. When I asked in the general questions thread, OcSleeper guessed “Potential Cooperative” which would fit well. I haven't found anything yet indicating the informant was active after December, so it's not clear to me how he became a TE.
I hope this made sense, I’d love to hear any input others have. I want to be clear, I don’t think I’ve proved it was Frank LaBruzzo, just from what I’ve seen he would be the more likely candidate.
