Revisiting Philadelphia 1963

[Angelo Santino]

From the email I sent you last week. Looks like you missed it.

Missing members (confirmed):
Samuel Scafidi (Vineland/Bridgeton, son of Joe)
Peter Casella (the cousin, Antonio's son)
Anthony Piccolo
Guerino Marconi
Angelo Turco (brother of Vincenzo)
Michael Amico (Trenton)
Alfred "Freddy Franco" Felice (Florida)
Angelo Cherico
Francesco DiBella
Ignazio "Thomas" DiGirolamo (Bristol/Trenton)
Leonard Galante
Joseph Garro
Dominick LePore
Dominic "Louie" Luciano (Newark)
Salvatore "Sam" Passalacqua (South Jersey)
Giuseppe "Joe Booza" Sabato (Enna/Castrogiovanni)
George Scimeca (Caccamo)
James Trombetta
Frank Zirpoli
Dominick "Mickey Diamond" DeVito
Raffaele/Ralph "Blackie" Napoli
Anthony Narcisi
Joseph Scalleat (Hazleton)
Antonio "Nino Marino" Sciglitano
Orlando Puppo
Vincent Catania

Not members:
Mario Maggio (confirmed as associate via FBI bug)
Carmine Battaglia (Genovese member)
Lorenzo D'Amore (Riccobene said he wasn't, and Ed Valin thinks D'Amore is the Calabrian informant who couldn't be made because he was an ex-cop)

All of the above confirmed by the FBI or other reliable sources.

I think Anthony Sciglitano (cousin of Joseph + Antonio) was made by this time but not positive.

A few small mistakes but this list is overall solid for reference:
https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... lPageId=20

Added. Yeah, sorry, I received a flood of emails relating to other things and yours got buried. I am just getting to it today.

So question- how should the members be laid out? Can we break people down into crews? If not, we can separate them by city or family origin.

[B.]

Laying them out by where they lived is probably the best bet, but if there is a way to combine hometown/ethnicity with location that'd be cool.

The Casellas were from Belmonte and I think Antonino was older than that -- he was also killed in the 1930s.

[Angelo Santino]

Laying them out by where they lived is probably the best bet, but if there is a way to combine hometown/ethnicity with location that'd be cool.

The Casellas were from Belmonte and I think Antonino was older than that -- he was also killed in the 1930s.

Yeah that's doable. I'll need help with Chester because some of the addresses I found for what I believe is their members live in Philadelphia. I think Newark, Cumberland, Trenton and Chester kinda go hand in hand with origin and crew. It's only when we go into Phila. where 4 of the 8 crews were based that information gets murky.

[B.]

Great breakdown. Not sure myself of Chickie Narducci's ancestry, but Narducci isn't a Sicilian surname. Very likely Napolitan'.

Not relevant to the 1963 chart, but along with calling Narducci a siggy, Leonetti also says the Ciancaglinis were siggies. In both cases he uses it when referring to their treachery (the Ciancaglini sons in this case, not the father who he praises). Leonetti points out multiple times that treachery is a Sicilian trait, just as he was taught by Scarfo ("siggies are only capable of greed and treason").

However I'm pretty sure the Ciancaglinis were non-Sicilians from Abruzzo like other members. Both Narducci and Ciancaglini were closer to the Sicilian faction when they came up, so maybe Leonetti just assumed they were Sicilian. Might be sort of the inverse of the Messinesi and most mainlanders getting called "Calabarese", where in this case Messinese like Frank Sindone and mainlanders like Narducci and Ciancaglini were politically "Sicilian" because of their association with that element.

The book also calls Tony Caponigro a Sicilian but that might be from Scott, as it's not directly quoted from Leonetti like with Narducci and Chang.

[Angelo Santino]

Bump.

Been sick with Covid. I'm back at my office sipping expresso and enjoying a Cuban.

cuban.jpg

Time to get back into it..

Michael Amico (Trenton)
William Averone Willie 8/24/1914 Philadelphia 2830 South 8th Street , Philadelphia Philadelphia Franesco Averona Jennie Lattino Florencia Chiriaco Al's Lunch
Louis Campbell 10/17/1897 Philadelphia 639 RANDOLPH ST, Camden, NJ Camden William Campbell Jessie Cianfrana Monteroduni, Isernia, Molise??????? Lenore Deturo No legitimate business known FBI # 340350; PPD # 76932
Peter Casella 8/14/1923 Hammonton, NJ 209 Washington St, Hammonton, NJ Hammonton, NJ Antonio Casella Rosina Pavesi Grocer Belmonte Mezzagno Palermo Sicily
Vincent Catania
Joe De Bella Philadelphia Philadelphia
Felix John DeTullio Skinny Razor 8/3/1907 Philadelphia 2367 Baird Blvd, Camden, NJ Camden Rose Amodeo Hildegard Part owner of TV Bar, Universal Exterminator, Co.; Rheingold Beer Distributors FBI # 928463; PPD # 68570
Dominick DeVito Mickey Diamond 3/8/1929 Frank Devito Frances Moncuso
Francesco DiBella
Ignazio DiGirolamo Thomas (Bristol/Trenton)
Albert Esposito LULU 2119--South 19th Street, Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia Lulu's Luncheonette FBI # 2239484
Alfred Felice Freddy Franco (Florida)
Joseph V Fusci Caccamo Philadelphia Philadelphia FBI # 209251
Leonard Galante
Joseph Garro
James Gatto Lefty Philadelphia Philadelphia
John Girgenti Camden Camden Joseph luncheonette business FBI # 758354D
Joseph Girgenti Joe The Gent Camden Camden FBI # 536902
Frank Greco 6640 ElmWood Ave, Philadelphia Philadelphia FBI # 279146
Joseph Lazzaro Joe Gibbons 1891-1964 FBI # 639848
Dominick LePore
Dominic Luciano Louie Newark (Newark)
Guerino Marconi
Raffaele/Ralph Napoli Blackie
Anthony Narcisi
Frank Narducci 1/26/1932 Hamilton Phi, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Philadelphia Thomas Narducci Mollie Balonni Adelaid Colone FBI # 219686B
John Orafallo Philadelphia Philadelphia
Anthony Parella Vineland, NJ Vineland
Salvatore Passalacqua Sam (South Jersey)
Anthony Piccolo Philadelphia
Sam Pungitore Philadelphia Philadelphia
Orlando Puppo
Giuseppe Sabato Joe Booza (Enna/Castrogiovanni)
Samuel Scafidi Vineland (Vineland/Bridgeton, son of Joe)
Joseph Scalleat (Hazleton)
Giuseppe Sciglitano Joseph 04/17/1895 820 W 3rd St, Chester Chester Delaware Valley Beverage Co. FBI # 764668
Antonio Sciglitano Nino Marino Chester
George Scimeca (Caccamo)
James Trombetta
Angelo Turco (brother of Vincenzo)
Frank Zirpoli

[B.]

Some starters. Can try to find more detail later.

Puppo - Caccamo
Catania - Most likely Caccamo like early boss Giorgio Catania
Sciglitano - Calabria
DiGirolamo - Marsala
Turco - Should be Canicatti like his bro

If Sam Pungitore is Rosario Pungitore (b. 1897) he's Calabrian. Have never been able to definitively confirm but Rosario is the best candidate I've found.

If you or Tony can find Tony Perella's origins I'll give you a medal. Most likely Sicilian, related via marriage to the Scafidis. Rocco Scafidi pronounced Cheech Barrale's surname "Berella" to the FBI so I suspect Perella might be a phonetic variation of Barrale. Barrale was intermarried with the Scafidis too. Perella was also apparently an in-law of Jimmy Gioe who was Belmontese so that's my best guess.

[PolackTony]

If you or Tony can find Tony Perella's origins I'll give you a medal. Most likely Sicilian, related via marriage to the Scafidis. Rocco Scafidi pronounced Cheech Barrale's surname "Berella" to the FBI so I suspect Perella might be a phonetic variation of Barrale. Barrale was intermarried with the Scafidis too. Perella was also apparently an in-law of Jimmy Gioe who was Belmontese so that's my best guess.

The surname was actually Pirrello, from Misilmeri, though in various records they have it as Parelli/Perella/Perrillo, etc.

In 1962, one of the Philly CIs reported that Angelo Bruno and Pat Massi attended the viewing for Tony Perella's mother Rose on 12/05 in Vineland. The Rose Perella who died in Vineland in December of 1962 was born Rosa Orlando ~1877 in Misilmeri. Her husband was Antonino "Tony Perella" Pirrello, who was born ~1866 in Misilmeri. Antonino arrived in NYC bound for Philadelphia in 1903, and was joined by Rosa in 1906. Anthony Perella was born in NJ in 1908 (little brother Joseph Perella was born in 1918). In 1920, they lived in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, NJ, where Tony Perella Sr worked as a laborer at a glass manufacturer; he died in 1924, and by 1930 the family had relocated to neighboring Vineland.

Older sister Ada Pirrello/Perella, of course, married Joe Scafidi. Now here's something else interesting. Tony Perella's daughter Rosemary was born in 1930 in Gary, IN. Not sure who her mother was, and I wasn't able to confirm if/when her father may have been living in the Chicago area. In 1940, she was living with her siblings in the home of Tony's mother Rosa in Vineland. Tony, apparently, wasn't around, and I don't know if he was just living somewhere else, was incarcerated, or what. No mother was present either.

As you'll recall, we recently discussed the issue that Perella had with Bruno in 1962 over introductions to Sicilian member Calogero Sinatra (I believe that Bruno was still trying to smooth out the issue with Perella when his mother Rose died in 1962). Bruno suspected that Perella had gone behind his back to complain to an "avugad", and then later convened a meeting of the Philly family and warned the membership to not go talking to either New York or Chicago without his permission. Now it seems likely that Perella may very plausibly have had a connection to Chicago.

viewtopic.php?p=223844#p223844

[B.]

Worth a few medals right there.

First time I've seen Misilmeri come up. Close to Belmonte though so it fits.

The Gary part throws me for a loop. Never heard of this crowd having ties to the midwest offhand but with Caccamo playing a big role in Philly and Chicago Heights there could be some unknown patterns we just haven't found with Belmonte. The Belmontesi faction should have been familiar with mafia members from the Chicago "triangle". Celeste Morello has said the Philly Belmontesi came from a mafia lineage in Sicily which would all but guarantee relationships with Bagheria, Ciminna, etc. Might not be a coincidence that Belmonte and Caccamo formed the foundation of this Family together.

The Trapanesi in Philly/NJ are another possible Chicago connection to look for. The core of those guys were from Campobello di Mazara which is basically a sub-comune of Castelvetrano and DiGirolamo was from Marsala so that speaks for itself.

[PolackTony]

Worth a few medals right there.

First time I've seen Misilmeri come up. Close to Belmonte though so it fits.

The Gary part throws me for a loop. Never heard of this crowd having ties to the midwest offhand but with Caccamo playing a big role in Philly and Chicago Heights there could be some unknown patterns we just haven't found with Belmonte. The Belmontesi faction should have been familiar with mafia members from the Chicago "triangle". Celeste Morello has said the Philly Belmontesi came from a mafia lineage in Sicily which would all but guarantee relationships with Bagheria, Ciminna, etc. Might not be a coincidence that Belmonte and Caccamo formed the foundation of this Family together.

The Trapanesi in Philly/NJ are another possible Chicago connection to look for. The core of those guys were from Campobello di Mazara which is basically a sub-comune of Castelvetrano and DiGirolamo was from Marsala so that speaks for itself.

Thanks, buddy. While there was a notable contingent of immigrants from Misilmeri in Chicago (Little Sicily), we haven't really seen them associated with the mafia much. There were a couple of them in the Heights as well, though I haven't seen any in Gary itself. Possible that Perella was in the Chicago area due to paesani links in the city, and then wound up in Gary for whatever reason. Gary was also one of the world's major steel-producing centers at the time, so possible he just wound up there for work. He was also 22 in 1930 when his daughter was born in Gary, so who knows how integrated he was at that point into the mafia network.

Good points on potential Belmontese/Trapanese links to Chicago. The Caccamo thing makes it very likely that there were some links, but perhaps most of these were older and less salient later on when we were getting info from CIs. The Bruno/Perella thing, at least, certainly suggests that Perella had ties to Chicago which Bruno worried might cause political issues for him.

[B.]

Thinking about the last part a little more...

- The Maggios from Campobello had strong ties to the Marinos of Pittsburgh/San Jose who were from the Bagheria area. One of Michael Maggio's daughters married Angelo Marino and their cheese companies did business together. That's how Vincent Catania was ID'd as a Philly member, as Catania was introduced to one of the San Jose informants by Angelo Marino as an "amico nostra" visiting from Philadelphia. Catania was probably Caccamese and I believe worked for Maggio Cheese. Domenico Pollina from Caccamo was also employed by Maggio Cheese for a time.

- Angelo Marino's first cousin was also a made member in Milwaukee, so the Maggios' in-laws had ties to the midwest node in the Bagheria network. It looks like an uncle, the brother of Angelo's father Salvatore Marino, may have been a made member in Sicily who visited the US. Remember too the visiting Sicilian "tourists" (which included mafia members, including the Palermo mayor) first went to Chicago then other cities, including San Jose where they were hosted by the Marinos.

- The Maggios would have been no strangers to Grande Cheese given how close these national mafia-owned cheese companies were.

Though I can't place the Maggios in the midwest themselves, their origins in Trapani and close ties to mafiosi from Caccamo in Philly and then Bagheria in Pittsburgh/San Jose show they at least had similar connections to what we see from Chicago area members.

--

One of the mysteries of Philly is the Enna/Castrogiovanni faction. We know next to nothing about Enna mafiosi and their ties, only that Riccobene told Morello his grandfather was a member in Sicily and they had enough members to form their own small Family/faction when they came to Philly. In terms of where they fit in nationally we can only guess they had ties to other members from Enna and Caltanissetta but I haven't seen much to confirm it. We know Chicago/Gary had important people from Calascibetta which is today in Enna and very close to Castrogiovanni (now the town of Enna).

[PolackTony]

Thinking about the last part a little more...

- The Maggios from Campobello had strong ties to the Marinos of Pittsburgh/San Jose who were from the Bagheria area. One of Michael Maggio's daughters married Angelo Marino and their cheese companies did business together. That's how Vincent Catania was ID'd as a Philly member, as Catania was introduced to one of the San Jose informants by Angelo Marino as an "amico nostra" visiting from Philadelphia. Catania was probably Caccamese and I believe worked for Maggio Cheese. Domenico Pollina from Caccamo was also employed by Maggio Cheese for a time.

- Angelo Marino's first cousin was also a made member in Milwaukee, so the Maggios' in-laws had ties to the midwest node in the Bagheria network. It looks like an uncle, the brother of Angelo's father Salvatore Marino, may have been a made member in Sicily who visited the US. Remember too the visiting Sicilian "tourists" (which included mafia members, including the Palermo mayor) first went to Chicago then other cities, including San Jose where they were hosted by the Marinos.

- The Maggios would have been no strangers to Grande Cheese given how close these national mafia-owned cheese companies were.

Though I can't place the Maggios in the midwest themselves, their origins in Trapani and close ties to mafiosi from Caccamo in Philly and then Bagheria in Pittsburgh/San Jose show they at least had similar connections to what we see from Chicago area members.

--

One of the mysteries of Philly is the Enna/Castrogiovanni faction. We know next to nothing about Enna mafiosi and their ties, only that Riccobene told Morello his grandfather was a member in Sicily and they had enough members to form their own small Family/faction when they came to Philly. In terms of where they fit in nationally we can only guess they had ties to other members from Enna and Caltanissetta but I haven't seen much to confirm it. We know Chicago/Gary had important people from Calascibetta which is today in Enna and very close to Castrogiovanni (now the town of Enna).

Great summary of the potential links with the Maggios. Chicago had many immigrants from the Vallo Di Mazara region as a whole, and the Maggio ties to people from Caccamo and Bagheria further point to potentially multiple links across the US.

The potential Enna/Caltanissetta network/s remain barely understood, it seems. Apart from Calascibetta, Chicago also had guys from surrounding or nearby comuni such as Villarosa, Nicosia, Santa Caterina Villarmosa, and Pietraperzia. As we’ve discussed before, Vallelunga also basically borders Valledolmo and is thus little more than a stone’s throw from the old Termini Imerese district hinterland.

[cavita]

Thinking about the last part a little more...

- The Maggios from Campobello had strong ties to the Marinos of Pittsburgh/San Jose who were from the Bagheria area. One of Michael Maggio's daughters married Angelo Marino and their cheese companies did business together. That's how Vincent Catania was ID'd as a Philly member, as Catania was introduced to one of the San Jose informants by Angelo Marino as an "amico nostra" visiting from Philadelphia. Catania was probably Caccamese and I believe worked for Maggio Cheese. Domenico Pollina from Caccamo was also employed by Maggio Cheese for a time.

- Angelo Marino's first cousin was also a made member in Milwaukee, so the Maggios' in-laws had ties to the midwest node in the Bagheria network. It looks like an uncle, the brother of Angelo's father Salvatore Marino, may have been a made member in Sicily who visited the US. Remember too the visiting Sicilian "tourists" (which included mafia members, including the Palermo mayor) first went to Chicago then other cities, including San Jose where they were hosted by the Marinos.

- The Maggios would have been no strangers to Grande Cheese given how close these national mafia-owned cheese companies were.

Though I can't place the Maggios in the midwest themselves, their origins in Trapani and close ties to mafiosi from Caccamo in Philly and then Bagheria in Pittsburgh/San Jose show they at least had similar connections to what we see from Chicago area members.

--

One of the mysteries of Philly is the Enna/Castrogiovanni faction. We know next to nothing about Enna mafiosi and their ties, only that Riccobene told Morello his grandfather was a member in Sicily and they had enough members to form their own small Family/faction when they came to Philly. In terms of where they fit in nationally we can only guess they had ties to other members from Enna and Caltanissetta but I haven't seen much to confirm it. We know Chicago/Gary had important people from Calascibetta which is today in Enna and very close to Castrogiovanni (now the town of Enna).

@B.

Can you explain more on the Sicilian "tourists" as in where they went, when and why they were here?

[B.]

Sure thing:

- A mysterious group of Sicilian politicians / businessmen visited the US in the early 1960s ostensibly to promote tourism to Italy/Sicily. They initially visited Chicago where they met with unnamed local members and were greeted by Bonanno member John DiBella. They also visited Buffalo and the CA Bay Area where they attended a banquet with the San Jose leadership.

- Angelo Marino told one of the San Jose informants that among this group was the Mayor of Palermo, who he said was a made member that stayed the night at Marino's father's house. The mayor at that time was Salvo Lima, so this would seem to confirm the question of his membership. Buscetta said Lima's father was a member in Sicily but didn't know about Salvo's status.

- Tying back to Philly, I believe there's a report about how Vallelunga boss Calogero Sinatra met up with this group as he was visiting his cousin Angelo Bruno in the US at the time.

Given the group included at least one important Sicilian mafia member and they were hosted by different US Families my presumption is these were mafiosi. Wouldn't surprise me if the Chicago meeting included Rockford given their Sicilian ties but aside from DiBella from Wisconsin there's nothing about the attendees.

[cavita]

Sure thing:

- A mysterious group of Sicilian politicians / businessmen visited the US in the early 1960s ostensibly to promote tourism to Italy/Sicily. They initially visited Chicago where they met with unnamed local members and were greeted by Bonanno member John DiBella. They also visited Buffalo and the CA Bay Area where they attended a banquet with the San Jose leadership.

- Angelo Marino told one of the San Jose informants that among this group was the Mayor of Palermo, who he said was a made member that stayed the night at Marino's father's house. The mayor at that time was Salvo Lima, so this would seem to confirm the question of his membership. Buscetta said Lima's father was a member in Sicily but didn't know about Salvo's status.

- Tying back to Philly, I believe there's a report about how Vallelunga boss Calogero Sinatra met up with this group as he was visiting his cousin Angelo Bruno in the US at the time.

Given the group included at least one important Sicilian mafia member and they were hosted by different US Families my presumption is these were mafiosi. Wouldn't surprise me if the Chicago meeting included Rockford given their Sicilian ties but aside from DiBella from Wisconsin there's nothing about the attendees.

I'm wondering if Gaspare Calo (from Rockford) who had moved back to Sicily was part of this and if this was the reference. He is listed here as Gallo and the Tony Mack was Tony Demonte of Chicago. Calo was to visit Buffalo, Rockford, Springfield and California. However it doesn't mention he was traveling with others.

[B.]

Was Calo ostensibly legitimate? I think that would be a factor in who was part of the traveling group. If he was in the US at that time he might well have met with them, though. I don't know anything about him.