Brief Background
- Vincenzo (b. 1894) and Salvatore (b.1896) came to Buffalo from Licata, Agrigento, same hometown as much of the Cleveland Family as well as Chicago member Vincenzo "Jack McGurn" Gibaldi and Gambino soldier Andrea Torregrossa. Longtime Buffalo member John Cammilleri was from Campobello di Licata, inland from Licata, and a Cammilleri from Licata was on the same ship as Salvatore Callea when he arrived to the US in the early 1910s. There were thriving Agrigento colonies not only in WNY as a whole but also in Buffalo itself, producing a number of important mafia members.
Salvatore Callea:
- Vincenzo Callea looks to have come to the US initially in the early 1910s like his brother. Returned to Sicily at some point and arrived back to a relative in Brooklyn in 1920. Visited Sicily again and returned in 1923 with the brother-in-law of future Cleveland boss Salvatore Todaro, Stefano Giglio, from Licata like Todaro and Callea. Nicola Gentile had Stefano Giglio's Akron address in his address book and talked in his memoir about Todaro. Giglio has not been identiied as a mafioso but his relation to Todaro, friendship with Nicola Gentile, and voyage from Sicily with Salvatore Callea show he was well-accepted in these circles.
- Salvatore's voyages follow a similar pattern as Vincenzo. Another brother, Giuseppe, may have been in Buffalo before them but haven't come across info confirming/denying his involvement in mafia activity. I wasn't able to look into their family tree to substantiate relationships to other known mafia surnames from Licata but it wouldn't be a surprise to find some.
Mafia Activity
- Vincenzo Callea was arrested for bootlegging in Cleveland in 1921 and then again in Buffalo in 1927, his bond in the latter case posted by Calogero Romano who put up his home. Calogero Romano is listed in Nicola Gentile's address book and came from Pietraperzia, Enna, being described in Tom Hunt's book as an esteemed senior mafia figure very close to the Carlisis, moving from Chicago to Buffalo like them. Roy Carlisi would go on to marry Calogero Romano's daughter and become a Magaddino capodecina. The Carlisis were from Canicatti, Arigento, and were in turn close to the Calleas like their in-law Romano.
- In 1923, Vincenzo Callea was living in Welland, Ontario, near the New York border. Perhaps he moved to Canada for a time in response to his Cleveland arrest or there was another reason, but he was a short distance from Buffalo and the Buffalo Family by then already had an active Agrigentini group in Hamilton from Racalmuto. That same year his wife and children arrived to North America coming from Licata, heading to Vincenzo in Ontario. Arriving on the same ship were the Monachino brothers, Saverio and Pasquale, who came from Realmonte, Agrigento, and were heading to Montreal, Quebec. The Monachinos would go on to be Buffalo members in Auburn, NY and Canada. Another Callea from Licata, named Gaetano like the Callea brothers' father and sons but not proper age to be them, was also on the ship but appears to be accompanying the Monachino brothers suggesting relationships already existed in Sicily between coastal Agrigentini heading to WNY-Ontario.
- By 1924 Vincenzo's wife and children had returned to Sicily and that year Vincenzo accompanied them back to North America, heading directly to Buffalo instead of Canada. Vincenzo Callea and his brother Sam quickly became involved in bootlegging and went on to invest in restaurants and taverns frequented by other underworld figures.
- The Callea brothers were carried as suspects in the Filippo Mazzara and Giseppe DiBenedetto murders in 1927 and 1929, respectively, whether as conspirators or direct participants I'm unsure. Filippo Mazzara and Giuseppe DiBenedetto were from Castellammare del Golfo and both influential in the Buffalo Family. Along with the Calleas' suspected inolvement, LE believed the murder of Mazzara was connected to the Cleveland mafia war happening at this time and may have included assailants from Cleveland. Comments on the Magaddino tapes suggest Stefano was at odds with Mazzara in the 1920s so there may have been multiple factors at play and we can't rule out Magaddino working in tandem with the Calleas.
- Law enforcement noted telephone contact between the Calleas and Stefano Magaddino as well as phone contact with the Porrellos in Cleveland, from Licata like the Calleas. The Calleas were very close to their compaesani the Porrello brothers and partners in a joint Cleveland / Buffalo bootlegging operation during Prohibition. Angelo Porrello, living in Buffalo by the early 1930s, was killed in early 1933 in front of a tavern formerly owned by the Calleas.
Double Murder
- In August 1933, Vincenzo and Salvatore Callea were shot to death in front of their Buffalo restaurant by a team of up to five unknown men, two or three of which served as shooters using pistols and a shotgun. Two innocent bystanders were also injured. Allegedly the Calleas received a call from an unidentified person who asked to meet them at their restaurant. While the Calleas waited outside for their associate, the hit team pulled up in a car and occupants jumped out and began shooting. Salvatore Callea dove into a friend/associate's vehicle where he was killed by one of the gunmen, while Vincenzo was shot to death on the street.
- At the time of the murder the Calleas were described by authorities as "two of the largest alcohol distillery operators in Western and Central New York." They said the Callea brothers' operations involved multiple US states and letters were discovered in the deceased brothers' possession showing correspondence with Cicero, Illinois, as well as Detroit and Cleveland. Note the Calleas' friends the Carlisis were closely tied to Cicero and that's where Sam Carlisi later gained power.
- The double homicide of the Callea brothers is generally attributed to a bootlegging feud, though this may have been law enforcement or the media's best guess given their lack of inside access into what was going on at the time. I haven't seen later sources or insiders discuss the murdered Calleas. Their murders came on the heels of internecine warfare that killed many Licatesi in Cleveland, including their friends the Porrellos, so it's possible the Callea murders spilled over from Cleveland given the Cleveland war was largely the Licatesi massacring each other. The Buffalo murder of Angelo Porrello in front of a former Callea establishment just months prior to the Callea double murder lends itself to this connection.
- A Police Commissioner stated the belief that killers came from Cleveland to commit the Callea double murder. However, to my knowledge only the following local men were arrested: Joseph SanFilippo (b. ~1882), Charles Manguso (bartender at the Calleas' restaurant; b. ~1882), and Joseph Bonvissuto (owned the car Salvatore Callea was killed in; b. 1897). SanFilippo and Manguso (his true name likely Mancuso, though he used Manguso on records) were Sicilians but I can't pin down the hometowns -- Bonvissuto was from Licata like the Calleas and previously lived in Cleveland, though he doesn't appear to have been part of the hit team, rather had another car parked nearby.
- Roy Carlisi and his father Giuseppe were questioned by police about the Callea murders. It's unclear if they were suspected of involvement or were simply interviewed due to their friendship/association with the Calleas.
Other Connections
- Giuseppe Carlisi was linked to underworld activity and likely an early member, his sons becoming leaders in both Buffalo and Chicago. In addition to sons Roy and Sam, at least one other Carlisi son was involved in underworld activity in Chicago and a cousin, Al Tornabene, would go on to be a high-ranking Chicago member. Giuseppe Carlisi's nephew Joe "Frisco" Gentile (son of Carlisi's stepbrother) was murdered in Chicago in 1961, with Roy Carlisi captured on an FBI tape telling Stefano Magaddino he'd be traveling to Chicago to tend to this matter. Figures like the Calleas and Roy's in-law Calogero Romano tell us something about the men Roy Carlisi came up around.
- Buffalo member Charles Cassaro, heritage in Ravanusa, Agrigento, may have been a relative of the Carlisis. Roy and Sam's mother was a Cassaro and their hometown of Canicatti isn't far from Ravanusa. Roy and Sam Carlisi's sister married a Charles Cassaro and they moved from Chicago to Gloversville which fell under the Utica group's jurisdiction, though I don't know if this Charles Cassaro was the Buffalo member or a different one. The Buffalo member Charles Cassaro was close to other members from Agrigento like Stefano Cannarozzo (family from Ravanusa like Cassaro) and John Cammilleri (hometown right next to Ravanusa). A 1977 FBI report IDs Charles Cassaro as a capodecina alongside Roy Carlisi -- depending on the timeline of his promotion it's possible Cassaro took over for Cammilleri, murdered in 1974.
- Salvatore Callea's son Gaetano "Thomas" Callea (1921-1967) was identified by an FBI source as a made member of the Buffalo Family at the time of his death. He was close with member Salvatore Bonito and involved in bookmaking. Thomas Callea's wake was attended by captains Roy Carlisi and John Cammilleri, as well as underboss Fred Randaccio and members Peter A. Magaddino, Peter J. Magaddino, Antonio Magaddino, and Joseph Fino. His father's murder seems to have been no roadblock to Gaetano joining the organization and being properly honored by the leadership. He died young but I've seen nothing to suggest it was nefarious.
- Another significant Cleveland / Buffalo connection from the early period is Lorenzo Lupo, capodecina under Joe Lonardo in the mid-1920s and part of the faction loyal to capo dei capi Salvatore D'Aquila. Lupo was a boxing promoter from Vallelunga, Caltanissetta, and a cousin of the DiCarlos of Buffalo. He is believed to have become leader of the Lonardo faction after Joe Lonardo's death before being murdered himself in 1928. Later Lupo's relative Joe DiCarlo Jr. and his loyalists fled to Youngstown where according to Angelo Lonardo at least one of them (Tronolone) transferred from Buffalo to Cleveland.
- Stefano Magaddino talked about Joe Lonardo being actively involved in an early 1920s Assemblea meeting in Buffalo to help settle a volatile leadership dispute within the local Family. Michael DiLeonardo was told by Salvatore D'Aquila's decendants that Buffalo and Cleveland were two of the Families closest to D'Aquila, with Gentile's account of Lonardo supporting this. There do seem to be strong political links between Buffalo, Cleveland, and D'Aquila during this time.
- The rival Porrello faction is said to have been Masseria loyalists and the Calleas are noted for their close relationship to the Porrellos, suggesting they may have been part of the political opposition in both Buffalo and Cleveland where the sitting leadership was pro-D'Aquila. Adding to this is Vincenzo Callea traveling with Todaro's brother-in-law, Todaro being another Cleveland leader who had serious problems with the Lonardos.
- Jack McGurn apparently had a connection to Cleveland too, being from Licata. While his 1936 murder wasn't connected to these Cleveland / Buffalo intrigues like the Calleas, it adds to the pile of dead Licatesi. I wonder if any other group of compaesani was killed in such high numbers in such a short period. They were often the ones killing each other too.
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Unfortunately the early Calleas don't get mentioned by later FBI sources from what I've seen so we don't have proper context for who they were within the organization itself. The later membership of Salvatore's son Gaetano and Vincenzo/Salvatore's high position in interstate bootlegging in collaboration with the Porrellos is a good indication they were made members. They appear to have been a hub for the Agrigento network in Buffalo and brought the politics of Cleveland and Buffalo in close proximity, with indications of ties to Chicago, Brooklyn, and other cities.
