Bonanno 1960s chart

[B.]

His surname must be a variation of Annaloro, a common name in Caltanissetta where they came from. It's Angelo Bruno's true name and there was also an old capomandamento named Angelo Annaloro. Not that he's related to them (nothing would surprise me) but the surnames probably share an origin. Weird too you found Salvatore Bruno was from Villalba, same hometown as Angelo Bruno/Annaloro.

Great info about Bonanno/industry. Professions don't always corresponded to someone's value as a member, though they often did like you discovered with bakeries/garments. Andaloro might have proven himself capable in some other way and just happened to have a knack for teaching music which he used to pay bills. Nick Guastella was a bootlegger for Maranzano on the Hudson and went on to be a sculptor... an artist in Monterey, you'd think the guy was an old beatnik. There's even an old photo of him with a goatee.

[thekiduknow]

There's definitely something missing in Andaloro's background that lead him to become a member, whether legitimate or not. But by the time he was in Arizona/Tucson, it's hard to see what use he was to Bonanno.

Speaking of Guastella, any idea when he transferred to San Jose? I feel like he must have been transferred by 63, and same for Prospect Mule, but I haven't seen anything definite.

I actually think I had the wrong Bruno. The one who's parents were from Villalba was born 5/28/1915, but our Bruno was born 5/24/1915(What are the odds?). His mother was Rosalie Liotta, from Partanna. Haven't tracked down where his father, Leonard, was from.

Fellow Tucson member Michael Cosenza was from Caltanissetta.

Speaking of Bruno, found this a little bit ago:



Whats interesting is that the Brunos lived in Buschwick. Their address in 1920 was 321 Troutman street, the same block where the Troutman shootout happened. Based on pure geopgraphy, it would make sense he would be involved with the Bonannos in NY, but who knows? Not sure if any Brunos show up in any other NY families, so perhaps they were associates that got hyped into "big with the outfit"?

[B.]

Partanna and Bushwick fits the Bonannos.

Is the redacted name in reference to Bruno and they forgot to redact him in that one part, or is it about someone else connected to him?

The name Bruno shows up in and around other NYC Families but is hard to trace because of how common it is.

I think Guastella was an SJ member by 1963. He's on a list of local members by that time.

[thekiduknow]

I think it’s it’s one of those classic FOIA errors, and that the whole thing is about Bruno. He did have a few brothers so that part matches.

Good to know about Guastella, I didn’t add him as I was pretty sure he had already transferred. If he shows up on lists around that time, safe bet to assume he was with them. I think I saw Prospect’s name on a similar list.

[B.]

Looks like most (all?) of the pro-Bonanno people on the West Coast were shelved rather than transferred. I'd guess most of the Bay Area transfers happened before the war when they still had stature.

[B.]

Another confirmed member is Mariano LNU.

- Still living as of late 1967 and a member as of 1949/1950 when he and Mike Sabella sponsored Vito "Willie" Dara.
- Dara said "Mariano" was around his age, born ~1905.
- Willie had a brother named Mariano "Michael" Dara who was involved in crime but too young to fit
- Dara lived in Ozone Park when he was coming up but Mariano Asaro died in 1942 so not him.
- Common first name in Trapani province.

Dara's induction is further confirmation that Mike Sabella was made pre-1950s. He was a third cousin of Dara, though Dara was born in Marsala (father from Mazzara del Vallo).

The FBI said Dara was impatient in FBI interviews and in this one the FBI said they didn't press him for proper spelling or full details on the other inductees (planning to do that in a follow-up interview), so might have been the case for Mariano too. Seems likely he would have more info on his sponsor than just a first name. Could be a relative given his other sponsor was a cousin and the name Mariano shows up in the Dara family.

[Southshore88]

Another confirmed member is Mariano LNU.

- Still living as of late 1967 and a member as of 1949/1950 when he and Mike Sabella sponsored Vito "Willie" Dara.
- Dara said "Mariano" was around his age, born ~1905.
- Willie had a brother named Mariano "Michael" Dara who was involved in crime but too young to fit
- Dara lived in Ozone Park when he was coming up but Mariano Asaro died in 1942 so not him.
- Common first name in Trapani province.

Dara's induction is further confirmation that Mike Sabella was made pre-1950s. He was a third cousin of Dara, though Dara was born in Marsala (father from Mazzara del Vallo).

The FBI said Dara was impatient in FBI interviews and in this one the FBI said they didn't press him for proper spelling or full details on the other inductees (planning to do that in a follow-up interview), so might have been the case for Mariano too. Seems likely he would have more info on his sponsor than just a first name. Could be a relative given his other sponsor was a cousin and the name Mariano shows up in the Dara family.

Is there a chance it could be a relative of Mariano Asaro? I know Vincent Asaro’s nephew Ronnie G is a made member (although not the same as this case as he’s the only Ronnie in the family made).

Did Jerome Asaro (Vincent’s father) have a made brother in the Bonannos? I may be confusing him with someone else but I thought I remember reading that Vincent had a made uncle from his fathers family.

[B.]

Yeah Jerome's brother Joe was one of many made members in the Asaro clan. There have been Mariano Asaros in their family tree but not sure any fit that age. No indication Dara was close to them but the Ozone Park connection brought them to mind since the Asaros were the main Bonanno members there.

This Mariano might not have lived in Ozone Park since Dara's other sponsor was a cousin from Little Italy. Many Bonanno members had relatives named Mariano so something to keep an eye out for.

[thekiduknow]

I had a hunch that "Mariano" may have been Alphonse DeMarinis, as DeMarinis was born in 1906 and was close to Michael Sabella. I didn't know that Dara was from Ozone Park, or that his real name was Vito, so thanks for that info. Makes DeMarinis less likely as he was based in the East Village, and Mariano being the first name makes more sense.

Dara says that he was made with nine other guys, two of them being "Pepe" and "Farni". I wonder if the FBI ever followed up on any of the names.

[B.]

The Daras initially lived in the East Village before Brooklyn but I think "Mariano" is the first name of the sponsor. Worth considering similar last names too. I thought about Grimaldi's uncle Mariano DiStefano (who might also be tied to the Sciacca brothers) who we talked about a while back but again too old.

"Farni" might be Frank Fauney, though that would conflict with the informant I believe to be D'Angelo as Dara/Farni were made at a banquet in a restaurant without the blood/fire. The possible Fauney informant was made in Natale Evola's house with the full ceremony.

The restaurant/house discrepency is another issue, though the guy I think is Fauney said they had a dinner/banquet in addition to the ceremony. The timeline would fit at least. Farni could be someone else too but it's a similar name. Always the possibility I'm wrong about the identity of the informant though there are serious parallels.

A question is if Dara withheld any details of his ceremony... he was described as impatient in interviews and they were hesitant to push him for details. The FBI noted some member informants were initially reluctant to share details about their induction ceremony and it took multiple interviews for them to admit what actually took place beyond the induction itself. I think some of these guys were genuinely superstitious about the ceremony and a CI isn't under oath to share everything so they might gloss over it. The Bonannos stopped doing the ceremony later so who knows.

[thekiduknow]

He does say that the traditional ceremony was in use at one time, and described it. So he did talk about it, he just claimed he didn't go through it. Seems odd to admit that it is a thing, but hide that he went through it himself.

Looking at his files again, the FBI noted that Dara was the exception among the Bonanno informants in describing his ceremony. So some, or all, of the other informants, Bill, the LES member, the one I think was LaBruzzo, and the AZ informants(I think there were two?), went through the traditional ceremony and told the FBI about it. I'd bet Bill told them about the ceremony, although I haven't seen any files indicating that. The LES informant was asked about it, and it was noted he had told them about the initiation, although there's no details given.

[B.]

Yeah that's what makes me wonder about Dara. When the Bonannos and DeCavalcantes stopped with the full ceremony later they did it consistently, so if Dara was telling the truth they were doing both in the 1940s/50s. Same w/ Bonanno saying his was only a banquet given Maranzano sponsored him then presided over a full ceremony a year or two later.

[B.]

Kid, maybe you saw this but Peter Sciortino was interviewed in the 1940s about Ben Daguanno, who was at the time a fugitive from justice.

Don't know if Sciortino was a member yet but he was fairly forthcoming with info. He described Daguanno as being unable to write or read English, so obviously from Sicily. They both moved from Brooklyn to California where Sciortino worked for Daguanno in a gambling operation but Sciortino was not a full partner. From what he said, Daguanno seems to have had more influence in underworld circles than Sciortino at the time though maybe Sciortino was downplaying his own status.

Can't find a match for a Benjamin/Benedetto/Beniamino Daguanno, but the rare surname and his operating on Knickerbocker Ave brings to mind Giuseppe Daguanno who came from Sicily and operated on Knickerbocker later.

[thekiduknow]

Good find. I read through his file but didn't catch that. Sciortino was pretty open with the FBI. Apparently it got out, and Bonanno wanted Carl Simari to kill him in the late 60s.

I found him. In 1940, he lived at 103 Wilson Ave with Joseph DiGiovanna, who was captain Anthony DiGiovanno’s brother. The butcher shop on Knickerbocker Ave that Sciortino mentions was located at 205 Knickerbocker Ave. DiGiovanna listed that address on his WWII draft card, and on the census his employment was “manager”, so it looks like they were partners. DiGiovanna is described as a “mafia member” in the FBN book, with narcotic connections to California. A Benny Daguanno was arrested in 1954 for drugs in the San Francisco area. He was arrested with James LaSala, who was listed as an associate of DiGiovanna so they must be the same person.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/498658 ... 22&match=1

I’ll add him to the suspected members list, great find. I haven’t found anything yet on where form Sicily he was from, but I’ll keep looking.

Edit: I think his birth name was Alberto, and his sister was born in Paceco, Trapani.

[thekiduknow]

Pretty sure our Daguanno was Alberto Daguanno/D'Aguanno, born around 1905-1908. His WWII draft card, 1940s census, and his alien registeration have it as 1908, but passenger manifests have his birth year as roughly 1905/1906. His parents were Pietro Daguanno, and Elizabetta “Lizzie” Basirico. It does look like his family came from Paceco. In 1920, he arrived in the US with his mom and brother, and they were headed to his father's address at 135 Meserole St in Willamsburg Brooklyn.

An obit of his sister lists him as still alive in 1971.

Back to his drug arrest, he's described on one of those Senate committee reports as also associated with Cristofo Rubino, who hung around/was killed at the same democratic social club that DiGiovanna hung out at.