Joe Bonanno’s attempted takeover?

[JoelTurner]

Not that he wasn’t an effective and influential boss but Bonanno’s interference and meddling in families all over the U.S can be attributed to his delusions of grandeur. He rubbed too many people the wrong way and he fucked himself with the Commission plot in the early 60s. The way he speaks in his autobiography as if he was a member of the aristocracy of a medieval kingdom made me laugh.

He seems to have been cut from the same cloth as Maranzano and Galante except he got a good ending

[JoelTurner]

There were also Castellammarese in Montreal but to my knowledge the Montreal decina never had any members from there. After Maranzano was murdered in 1931 Joe Bonanno's first cousin Giuseppe Silinonte took a trip to Montreal but could be a coincidence -- he was a bootlegger active with the Castellammarese mafia group in Endicott at the time. It's been said for years that Maranzano sent his family to stay in Montreal during the war but not sure that's been substantiated (he did own property in Ontario where he lived for a time). Joe Bonanno also passed through Montreal some years after he became boss but it was long before the decina was formed.

I wonder where that story would start. I don’t remember Joe Bonanno saying it; there couldn’t have been too many people who would know where the boss’ family was during a major mob war.

I don't know about the non-Sicilians some of whom apparently had ties to their own groups, but I suspect there was a Sicilian mafia element in Montreal already that opened the door for the Bonanno decina to form. No proof, obviously, but the mafia very rarely makes "cold calls" when establishing itself in places and usually uses existing nodes in the network. Based on the patterns of other mafia outposts, this is more likely to me than Carmine Galante showing up in Montreal cold and forcing a bunch of random Italians to work for him. Probably a little of both.

If there was a mafia presence in Montreal at the time, which seems likely, what would they have been? They weren’t with Buffalo or the Bonannos; could they simply have been guys made in Sicily who moved there?

Paolo Violi may have been a Buffalo associate before he moved to Montreal, as he was around the Luppinos in Ontario before that. We don't know the names of the alleged Bonanno members who got poached in Ontario but there were apparently a number of them based on the Magaddino tapes. Bonanno not only infringed on Magaddino's jurisdiction but inducted them "illegally" without Commission approval.

Violi wound up with the Bonannos after the 50s, that makes him a Buffalo associate who got poached.

[PolackTony]

in the Near Northside Little Sicily neighborhood where Priola lived and where Prio and his guys (the “three Doms”) came up. So there’s the possibility of a connection there, at least. Worth noting that per CI DeRose’s account, Prio and his guys had initially been with the upstart faction but then betrayed them and sided with the Accardo admin. Thus, Prio became capodecina after Oneglia and DeJohn were clipped and DeGeorge exiled.

Do we know who this group came up with as in Capone or someone else? I know that Joe Aiello was on the North Side. If they had come up with him, they may have been less inclined to support Capone’s guys like Accardo/Ricca especially when they sensed an opportunity.

My take is that they were part of the group that was left of the Aiello faction after Aiello was clipped, but we really don’t know how many of the mafiosi in Little Sicily strongly supported Aiello. When Corleonese Little Sicily mafioso Giuseppe Oliveri was killed in 1928 with his Alcamese partner, the police attributed it to a conflict with Aiello and linked Oliveri to the Capone faction. In another example, Salvatore Aiello (said to be Joe Aiello’s brother, though my info makes it seem more likely that he was both brother-in-law and cousin) transferred to Milwaukee but then transferred back to Chicago after the war. Augie Maniaci claimed that Salvatore had disagreed with his “brother’s” campaign against Capone in the first place. “Little Joe” Aiello, another Aiello relative, remained as a Chicago member, Hod Carriers Union official, and President of the Società San Giuseppe di Bagheria into the 1960s. Several of Joe Aiello’s actual brothers (no idea if they were actually members and if so remained active) stayed in Chicago until they died decades later. So, I don’t think that all of the mafiosi in Little Sicily necessarily supported Aiello’s war against Capone or faced any real problems there after the conflict was resolved. But your thinking that some unresolved tensions simmered and came to the fore in the 1940s, when Accardo was newly rappresentante and senior members like Ricca and D’Andrea were in legal trouble, is something that I’ve pondered. Could be that some of these guys had resented having to make peace with the dominant rival faction. Could be that they were “traditionalists”. Could be that they were motivated by simple desire for power and greed.

I don’t want to get too far into the weeds with Chicago here. There’s a lot that we really just don’t know, though we can make educated guesses and hypotheses. The Chicago Origins, “Dumping Ground”, “Cheese War”, and several other threads go into considerable detail on a lot of these things. Worth noting that what became the Capone faction predated Capone’s 1928 induction into the mafia. As I see it, Capone (and Ricca, Frank Rio, Phil D’Andrea, etc) wound up taking over the faction of the mafia that had primarily developed in the Taylor St and Chinatown/Near Southside Italian communities (I.e., the D’Andrea/Merlo/Genna/Esposito faction) where Sicilian mafiosi had been engaged in close collaboration with Mainlander gangsters as these communities had large numbers of Italians from different regions. Whereas the Aiello faction emerged out of a different dynamic in the Near Northside Little Sicily, which was dominated by Sicilians. Many of those seemingly involved in the 1940s conflict were from Little Sicily, but the mafia in that community had a much older and broader history than the 1928-1930 Aiello group, so it’s hard to say what the internal dynamics between Aiello and others based there may have been like.

[davidf1989]

Did Bonnano put out a contract on Frank Desimone the boss of the Dragna Family?

[JoelTurner]

But your thinking that some unresolved tensions simmered and came to the fore in the 1940s, when Accardo was newly rappresentante and senior members like Ricca and D’Andrea were in legal trouble, is something that I’ve pondered. Could be that some of these guys had resented having to make peace with the dominant rival faction. Could be that they were “traditionalists”. Could be that they were motivated by simple desire for power and greed.

I wouldn’t say that it was necessarily “unresolved tensions” that lasted for 13 years and bubbled up. They probably just smelled blood in the water with The Outfit’s senior leadership getting indicted. If they hadn’t come up with the Capone/Ricca/Accardo group, they probably had no actual loyalty to them.

Worth noting that what became the Capone faction predated Capone’s 1928 induction into the mafia. As I see it, Capone (and Ricca, Frank Rio, Phil D’Andrea, etc) wound up taking over the faction of the mafia that had primarily developed in the Taylor St and Chinatown/Near Southside Italian communities (I.e., the D’Andrea/Merlo/Genna/Esposito faction) where Sicilian mafiosi had been engaged in close collaboration with Mainlander gangsters as these communities had large numbers of Italians from different regions. Whereas the Aiello faction emerged out of a different dynamic in the Near Northside Little Sicily, which was dominated by Sicilians.

Were these two groups two factions of the original Chicago Family or could they have been two separate families entirely?

[PolackTony]

But your thinking that some unresolved tensions simmered and came to the fore in the 1940s, when Accardo was newly rappresentante and senior members like Ricca and D’Andrea were in legal trouble, is something that I’ve pondered. Could be that some of these guys had resented having to make peace with the dominant rival faction. Could be that they were “traditionalists”. Could be that they were motivated by simple desire for power and greed.

I wouldn’t say that it was necessarily “unresolved tensions” that lasted for 13 years and bubbled up. They probably just smelled blood in the water with The Outfit’s senior leadership getting indicted. If they hadn’t come up with the Capone/Ricca/Accardo group, they probably had no actual loyalty to them.

Worth noting that what became the Capone faction predated Capone’s 1928 induction into the mafia. As I see it, Capone (and Ricca, Frank Rio, Phil D’Andrea, etc) wound up taking over the faction of the mafia that had primarily developed in the Taylor St and Chinatown/Near Southside Italian communities (I.e., the D’Andrea/Merlo/Genna/Esposito faction) where Sicilian mafiosi had been engaged in close collaboration with Mainlander gangsters as these communities had large numbers of Italians from different regions. Whereas the Aiello faction emerged out of a different dynamic in the Near Northside Little Sicily, which was dominated by Sicilians.

Were these two groups two factions of the original Chicago Family or could they have been two separate families entirely?

Same family.

[JoelTurner]

Did Bonnano put out a contract on Frank Desimone the boss of the Dragna Family?

If I understood correctly, Joe Bonanno attempted to manipulate Frank Bompensiero into killing Frank DeSimone. He was trying to convince Bompensiero that DeSimone was going to kill him and that he should strike first. The plan leaked and the Commission made Bonanno back off.

[davidf1989]

Did Bonnano put out a contract on Frank Desimone the boss of the Dragna Family?

If I understood correctly, Joe Bonanno attempted to manipulate Frank Bompensiero into killing Frank DeSimone. He was trying to convince Bompensiero that DeSimone was going to kill him and that he should strike first. The plan leaked and the Commission made Bonanno back off.

Thanks for your message and were Bonnano and Bompensiero close associates

[dack2001]

A real biography of Joe Bonnano would be an interesting subject. An author would have to ignore his hagiography and Bill's nonsense but there is enough out there.

[JoelTurner]

Did Bonnano put out a contract on Frank Desimone the boss of the Dragna Family?

If I understood correctly, Joe Bonanno attempted to manipulate Frank Bompensiero into killing Frank DeSimone. He was trying to convince Bompensiero that DeSimone was going to kill him and that he should strike first. The plan leaked and the Commission made Bonanno back off.

Thanks for your message and were Bonnano and Bompensiero close associates

I think they were friends but I’m not 100% sure. I don’t want to give you any wrong information.

[JoelTurner]

A real biography of Joe Bonnano would be an interesting subject. An author would have to ignore his hagiography and Bill's nonsense but there is enough out there.

I enjoyed Bonanno’s autobiography even if his whole persecution complex was an eye roll.

There’s a lot of stuff that we would never have known like the whole Anastasia/Costello vs Lucchese/Genovese plot

[Gelis]

Bonanno's autobiography is one of the best mob books out there for authenticity; as in been there, done that. But if not for the knowledge we have about it's legality, we would struggle with it today due to so many errors of fact.

[davidf1989]

Did Galante start off as the driver for Bonanno or something?

[Don_Peppino]

Has anyone been able to establish when the Bonannos got involved in the narcotics trade? Specifically Joe Bonanno himself?

[Don_Peppino]

Has anyone been able to establish when the Bonannos got involved in the narcotics trade? Specifically Joe Bonanno himself?

The reason I asked is because that seems to be the true bone of contention. We always analyze whether or not, Bonanno was trying to "takeover" and not so much, what the other bosses stood to gain with him out the way. For example, this forum has shown to me how much Bonanno was involved in the Garmet industry. You could make the case that, they were third behind (obviously) Luccheses and Genoveses. Skip to the 70s and you have the rise of the Gambinos through Tommy being "gifted" a piece. That piece probably came at the Bonannos expense.
When it comes to the Heroin, I don't think it could be understated the magnitude of Bonanno and Luciano orchestrating the meeting in Sicily. I understand there were representation from Detroit but no other New York involvement, that's known. Couple that with the fact that he pretty much cease a major hub, Montreal and had access to a pipeline through the Colorado Family, and going further out west to California through Tuscon. Skip to the 70s and who are the leaders in drugs? The Luccheses and Gambinos. Food for thought. I say they used Stefano Magaddino's jealousy, knowledge of the Bonanno Family and standing within the Castellamarese community to usurp Bonanno. Thus making Magaddino weaker without the united front of the Castellamarese. It pretty much removed a whole block on the mob political scene.
Any thoughts???