Henry Tameleo - Bonanno connection? (New England transfers)

[B.]

Unless there's another member source, I defer to Scarpa being formally introduced to Tameleo as a captain and Lombardo as underboss at the Bianco father's funeral in 1966. If he was promoted after that it would have been extremely short-term given his arrest/conviction but I don't see any evidence for it beyond Tameleo being defacto second-in-command in Providence prior to his incarceration.

The Piros connected to Gaetano Marino were from Siculiana like him. Where was Vincenzo Piro from? Be interesting if there was some kind of connection given Vincenzo Piro was related via marriage to Chicago and Rockford bosses, then Giuseppe Piro and Gaetano Marino ended up settling in Chicago. This is the first I'm aware of guys from Siculiana in Chicago too but it fits with the strong Agrigento presence.

However I should point out again that I'm not sure this is the same Gaetano Marino described by Gentile in Boston. It seems likely Gentile's friend was an Agrigentino but he doesn't say if he was a Siculiana paesano nor does he give us anything else to go on.

[B.]

Looking at boss Phil Buccola (who consistently used "Bruccola" in documents -- which is the true name?), he arrived to Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, in 1920 where an uncle named Antonino Blandina was living. As a 33-year-old merchant it seems likely Buccola was already involved in Cosa Nostra before coming to the US.

The location near the Brooklyn docks and Buccola's heritage in Palermo could indicate he associated with Gambino and Colombo members before heading to Boston. We know the New England Family had a close relationship to the Colombos, so perhaps some of this comes from Buccola. We do see some Gambino connections like Andy Parillo joining/transferring to the Gambinos and Vinny Teresa associating with NJ-based Gambino member Frank Miceli, but the Colombos come up far more often with NE.

Another possible connection I've mentioned before is that Manfredi Mineo's brother-in-law Antonino Grillo, a Palermo boss, may have lived with a son Francesco in Providence, Rhode Island, for a time in the late 1920s. This would have followed the Palermo war Grillo was involved in but I've had difficulty confirming if it was really the same Grillo -- his wife was named Lucia and son named Francesco like the Palermo boss and they had only recently arrived from Italy. Future Gambino underboss Salvatore Chiri also lived in Providence for a time, so there was a Palermitani element there even though we don't think of the Providence faction being Sicilian.

[Antiliar]

Vincenzo Piro was from Monreale, I believe.

[Joeyboy1982]

Alot of people didn't like Jerry Anguilla. He was a shrewd business man. That guy made so much money whitey Bulger and his whole crew couldn't shine his shoes. Some how the media twisted this all up. Anguilo real estate in boston was insane. He even owned a golf club in westbourough that guy made dough. Also why he wasn't liked and caused his downfall

No doubt. Rubbed many the wrong way and was more wealthy than feared for sure.

[B.]

Many people believe Providence and Boston were originally separate groups who merged to become one Family. This would fit my belief that "colony" Families were merged in some parts of the country pre-1930s, becoming sprawling mandamento-like regional groups rather than traditional small Families.

But what kind of Sicilian mafia presence was there in Rhode Island? Chiri's residence there before NYC and the possibility that Nino Grillo spent time there (Grillo also had relatives in Baltimore) indicates there was some kind of Palermitani colony. Most of the names we know of from the Providence faction of the New England Family were non-Sicilians, though, which raises the question whether Providence had its own Cosa Nostra Family that merged with Boston or an independent mainland group that was inducted into Boston's Cosa Nostra and gained power (like we see with other mainland factions nationally).

If Providence's original group was not Cosa Nostra, I don't consider that to be a true merging of organizations, but rather something more like Pittsburgh, Chicago, NYC/NJ, etc. where non-Sicilians gave up autonomy in exchange for Cosa Nostra membership and thrived within that "new" system.

[B.]

Family size:

- Teresa estimated 130 to 140.

- Patriarca was recorded saying he was happy he ran a small Family compared to the New York ones. He may have overestimated the size of certain NY Families, though, as he was recorded saying the Bonannos had between 200 and 400 members, so hard to know what "small" meant to Patriarca.

- For comparison to other non-NYC Families who were larger regional groups like NE:

^ Gentile said Pittsburgh had 70 members circa early 1930s. This was probably their peak.
^ Philadelphia Family had around 80-90 members at their peak.
^ FBI estimated Buffalo at 120 members. Easy to believe they had at least 90-100.
^ DeCavalcantes had a cap of 70 though not clear they ever peaked that high. They did hit the 60s at one point I believe.
^ The most reliable Chicago sources place them between 50 and 150.
^ Detroit would probably fall within the same range as Chicago, not sure a source has ever estimated their size.

Teresa's range seems too high for the New England Family, though I don't think it's unreasonable to think they were similar in size to groups like Philadelphia and Buffalo. Wouldn't be shocked if they were closer to the Pittsburgh/DeCavalcante size either.

[Antiliar]

Many people believe Providence and Boston were originally separate groups who merged to become one Family. This would fit my belief that "colony" Families were merged in some parts of the country pre-1930s, becoming sprawling mandamento-like regional groups rather than traditional small Families.

But what kind of Sicilian mafia presence was there in Rhode Island? Chiri's residence there before NYC and the possibility that Nino Grillo spent time there (Grillo also had relatives in Baltimore) indicates there was some kind of Palermitani colony. Most of the names we know of from the Providence faction of the New England Family were non-Sicilians, though, which raises the question whether Providence had its own Cosa Nostra Family that merged with Boston or an independent mainland group that was inducted into Boston's Cosa Nostra and gained power (like we see with other mainland factions nationally).

If Providence's original group was not Cosa Nostra, I don't consider that to be a true merging of organizations, but rather something more like Pittsburgh, Chicago, NYC/NJ, etc. where non-Sicilians gave up autonomy in exchange for Cosa Nostra membership and thrived within that "new" system.

Teresa, FWIW, said that Butsey Morelli retired and Patriarca replaced him (elsewhere he has Joseph Lombardo as the former boss or ordered Phil Buccola to replace him) in 1947. Morelli and the old Morelli gang seems to have been linked to Calabrian OC. Antonio Mancini, who shot and killed Alberto Alterio in 1921 in Manhattan, was from Providence, Rhode Island, where he was a grocer. The NY Daily News had a story claiming that Alterio was the head of the Camorra in the U.S. Sacco and Vanzetti's attorney, Herbert Ehrmann, wrote that he found out that Mancini was a member of the Morelli gang. Alterio was probably the same person as Alberto Altieri, who was a leader of the Navy Street gang.

[B.]

Great info on the Morellis.

Teresa seems to have been in the dark on the actual Family politics and the info about Morelli doesn't match up with what Patriarca said himself.

Here is what we can deduce from the Patriarca tapes and other sources:

- John Bruno was Ray Patriarca's main rival for taking over the Family when Phil Buccola left around the mid-1950s. Buccola remained official New England boss in Sicily until the Family decided on an official replacement.

- Patriarca said the election was between him and Bruno, with it being suggested by the Commission that the man who won the election would appoint the other candidate his underboss, i.e. if Patriarca won, Bruno would be his underboss and vice versa. However, Patriarca refused this arrangement as he intended to put Bruno on the shelf and felt it would look bad if he were to shelve his underboss.

- Patriarca said Vito Genovese was adamantly opposed to John Bruno becoming boss. Genovese allegedly said if Bruno was the only candidate that he (Genovese) would refuse to participate in the process until the New England Family produced a candidate besides Bruno.

- Source said Bruno died around the mid-1950s. If it's true Vito Genovese was involved in the election, it could indicate Bruno was still alive 1957-1959 when Genovese was boss, though what Patriarca said doesn't necessarily mean Genovese had to be boss. Genovese could have weighed in on the election as underboss given the Genovese represented the New England Family.

Bruno's common name and lack of identifying info makes him difficult to identify. I assume New England researchers know more about him, as he was a well-known racketeer, but I haven't been able to find much.

For Morelli, it seems like Teresa was again referring to defacto power, not official ranks. Patriarca does seem to have assumed Morelli's authority in Providence but I don't think Morelli was the official Family boss like Patriarca was. Buccola's underboss for a time appears to have been Mickey Rocco according to the Patriarca tapes -- Patriarca indicated that Rocco was demoted and shelved, then right before Buccola stepped down he reinstated Rocco as a member. At some point Rocco was apparently promoted to capodecina under the new Patriarca regime.

There's also what Patriarca said about Phil Buccola requesting that Patriarca transfer out of the NYC Family he was with and back into New England. It seems like this would coincide with Patriarca's rise as a NE Family leader, so maybe Buccola promoted Patriarca to capodecina when he transferred or otherwise began giving him more authority circa late 1940s.

[Pmac2]

i have a good understanding of the new england family. i think at its peak between rhode island,boston,worcester and ct. they didnt have more then 50 made guys. anguilos on tape saying he had 18 guys under him in 1980ish. i believe that was the made guys in boston. revere which is bascially the next town over reported directly to ray sr. there was a handfull of made guys in that town. worcester was weird it was a mix some guys were new england some guys reported to there capo big sam cufuri in springfield. rays on tape saying worcesters his out of respect for vito geovese he shares with that family. so between rhode island and a handfull of guys in ct there was about 50 tops. they had a guy in maine and small cities threw out. they had a made guy in milford ma. scatterd around

[B.]

I could believe they hovered around 50. Would fit Patriarca's perception that his Family was "small" compared to New York, where the smallest Families maintained over 100 members. It doesn't look like the old Sicilian members in Boston made their sons or relatives and many of the other members were non-Sicilian and thus didn't have older relatives in the organization -- both of these factors would have contributed to them being smaller.

50 is still a decent sized Family and like other Families that covered wide regions, it was more important to have designated representatives in certain areas rather than big crews of made members.

[B.]

Patriarca indicates Phil Buccola was boss from at least 1946 to the mid-1950s. I know Buccola is believed to have become boss much earlier but we can definitively say he was boss during that period. Are there any member sources who ID Buccola as official boss prior to that?

If it's true Joe Lombardo was official boss for a period earlier on, it's strange he would go on to be underboss but it could be like Giuseppe Morello being a former boss who was either Masseria's underboss or consigliere. More interesting to me is that Teresa said Lombardo presided over the "round table" -- this sounds similar to the "secretary" position that presided over San Jose's consiglio. We know from San Jose that the secretary had the authority to contact the Commission on behalf of the consiglio and request to take down a boss, so this was a very influential role equal or greater in power than the boss himself. If Lombardo was both underboss and secretary of the consiglio this may have contributed to the perception that Lombardo was the boss.

Back to Tameleo, he has been referred to as both the underboss and a former Bonanno member but so far there is little if any evidence to support either claim. Lombardo on the other hand is confirmed to have been the underboss, came from a Bonanno-linked hometown (Salemi), and spent time in Brooklyn before Boston. So I'd say it's likely the Patriarca Family had an underboss who was a former Bonanno member/associate, but it was Joe Lombardo and not Tameleo.

[Pogo The Clown]

They had 64 members in 1993. That is probably not too far off from their peak.


Pogo

[B.]

Thanks Pogo.

Even accounting for sleepers they probably weren't bigger than 80 members at any point.

----

Agrigento ties?

- Along with Gaetano Marino being a possible member of an outside Family living in Boston, later on James Fiore was a Buffalo member living in Winthrop, MA. He was nephew of the Falcone brothers and belonged to the Utica decina. He associated with Patriarca members but didn't transfer membership. Don't know where Fiore's father came from but if he was a blood relative of the Falcones some of his heritage was from Sciacca. Joe Falcone visited Fiore in Boston.

- There was a possible Patriarca member in Boston named Anthony Indelicato whose father came from Sciacca. The Indelicatos of NYC were from Sciacca and cousins of the Falcones, so could be a connection here with Fiore also living in the area. Was Indelicato's membership ever confirmed?

- Elderly Salvatore Giglia and the younger Biagio DiGiacomo, both from Aragona, were identified as capodecinas in the 1980s with Sicilian mafia ties. No other members from Aragona have been ID'd to my knowledge. They appear to have ties to paesani in Rockford but this group (?) is largely a mystery.

- Salvatore Michael Caruana, who went missing in the 1980s, was a made member close to the Patriarcas whose family likely descends from Agrigento. He was born in the US and I've seen nothing to indicate he was tied to Sicilian mafiosi but he was a major drug trafficker. A 1984 FBI report says the Sicilian mafia faction of Montreal (distinct from the Bonanno faction) collaborates with the Patriarca Family. The Sicilian mafia faction of Montreal was dominated by the Caruana-Cuntreras, so you have to wonder who their contact was in New England -- presumably it involved drugs. Michael Caruana was still on the street at this time so between his surname and drug activities I'd consider him a candidate.

[B.]

Early Sicilian connections:

- Girolamo Asaro was a powerful member in 1896 Castellammare and looks to have remained influential over a decade later in Manhattan where he's arrested as an international fugitive. He moves to Boston after 1908. Following his 1912 accidental death, several Schiro affiliates from New York attend his Boston funeral including Stefano Magaddino, Gaspare Milazzo, and Giuseppe "Bonipito" (Bonventre?). Following Girolamo's death, his family returns to NYC and investigations into his descendants in the Bonanno Family show no known ties to Boston.

- Looking through immigration records, a large number of Sicilians in Boston were not just from Salemi but also Marsala and Palma, Trapani. Other villages like Vita, Partanna, and Campobello di Mazara show up here and there. Salemi was by far the most dominant in terms of numbers so not surprising these top Boston mafia leaders came from there. Very few seem to be from the upper coast like Castellammare and Alcamo, though there are some as evidenced by the Asaros. Many Boston Sicilians list "Trapani" but hard to tell if they mean the town or the province.

- Salvatore Cangemi from Salemi was a close associate of his mafia paesans Gaspare Messina, Frank Cucchiara, and Joseph Lombardo. Strong candidate for membership in the early Boston faction.

Cangemi:



- Early Philadelphia member Biagio Passanante (b. 1883) moved to Boston in 1916 then moved back to PA two years later. He was from Campobello di Mazara, Trapani.

- People from Aragona were in Boston by the turn the of century. Alfonso Veneziano is the first one I see, marrying there in 1902. There were plenty of immigrants from Sciacca, Porto Empedocle, and other familiar Agrigento towns in Boston shortly after the turn of the century and through the next couple of decades. A Lorenzo Marino from Siculiana lived in Boston circa 1917-1918, which brings to mind the Gaetano Marino I found from Siculiana. There were many other Marinos in Boston from Sciacca.

- If Gentile's friend Marino wasn't from Agrigento, another possibility is a Gaetano Marino in Boston born 1890 in Riesi, Caltanissetta. He was living there during the general period Gentile visited but Gentile wasn't close to guys from Caltanissetta so the connection wouldn't fit his usual patterns. However this is a Sicilian Gaetano Marino we can definitively link to a Boston residence at the time. The LaMattinas were from Pietraperzia so there were mafiosi from that region in Boston.

- There were of course a ton of immigrants from Palermo in Boston, so DiCola, the Teresas, and Buccola fit in.

[Antiliar]

Like the informative post about possible early members of Boston.

- Getting back to Teresa's claims, he said that in the 1950s Lombardo was the overall boss, especially of Boston's North and West ends. Anthony Santaniello controlled the South End. Phil Buccola had the East End, and he was also Butsey Morelli's replacement in Providence. Lombardo retired and Buccola replaced him for a few years before he fled to Italy.

- According to Willie Fopiano in "The Godson," around 1932 Buccola was the boss, Lombardo the underboss, and Cucchiara the consigliere. Henry Selvitella and Tony Sandrelli were the capos.