New LCNBios posts

[chin_gigante]

Angelo Lonardo also possibly identifies Lombardo as the official boss:

Lonardo will also testify that two individuals, John Nardi and Danny Green in the Cleveland LCN were killed in 1977. Prior to the murders, Lonardo and Jack Licavoli of the Cleveland Family came to New York to explain the problem to Salerno and Philip Lombardo, alias Benny Squint, who was at that time the "Boss" of the Genovese Family. Licavoli and Lonardo asked Salerno and Lombardo to request Castellano to carry out the "contract" on Green and Nardi if they appeared in New York to meet with him. Both Salerno and Lombardo approved the "contract" and agreed to do so. Before the "contract" could be fulfilled in New York, Nardi and Green were killed elsewhere in car bombing incidents.

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/di ... 4/1959194/

However, he says something different in his testimony before Congress:

In the early 1980s, I knew Salerno to be the boss of the Genovese family and also knew that Vincent Gigante (The Chin) was the consigliere and was being groomed to be the boss. I know that Salerno had a great deal of respect for Benny Lombardo and frequently sought his counsel on family matters. [...] Salerno was acting boss of the Genovese family in the late 1970s as the boss, Funzi Tieri, was sick. Salerno once told Licavoli and me that when Funzi died, he would become boss of the Genovese family.

[Pogo The Clown]

That's three Genovese members active during this period who say Tieri was not the true boss. Barone calls him acting, Cafaro says he was acting/fronting for Lombardo, and Pussy Russo was recorded saying Lombardo was the real boss. With Russo it's hard to tell if he meant Lombardo was the rappresentante officiale, or if he just meant he was the defacto power ala Accardo or Ricca. Either way the case isn't closed on Tieri / Lombardo and I defer to the member sources.

Pussy Russo's brother John was also recorded saying this in 1977: "And put this in your mind. Benny Squint is the boss. Don't let anybody tell you any other (expletive)."

Interesting. The "don't let anybody ttell you" line implies that there were other people saying that someone other than Lombardo was the Boss. So it was disputed even among the Genovese members.


Pogo

[thekiduknow]

https://lcnbios.blogspot.com/2022/08/do ... ember.html

New post about Philly member Dominic Rugnetta

[chin_gigante]

Good one on Rugnetta

[johnny_scootch]

Good one on Rugnetta

I noticed in that bio that they made Rugnetta and some other members of the family weren’t even aware. Having a NY state of mind that seems very odd but I think they did things like that in Chicago also.

[Ed]

https://lcnbios.blogspot.com/2022/08/do ... ember.html

New post about Philly member Dominic Rugnetta

So Dandy Jack Parisi was a confirmed Bruno member. Some earlier FBI Intel suggested he was a Gambino or Buffalino member. Did he transfer to the Bruno family after leaving Brooklyn, or did Philadelphia first induct Parisi? Wonder if sources got Dandy Jack mixed up with confirmed Gambino member Joseph Parisi (dead 1956), Alfredo Santantonio's brother-in-law. I remember seeing an FBI document where Angelo Bruno consulted with Dandy Jack Parisi in the early 1960s, suggesting he was a Bruno member.

[PolackTony]

Good one on Rugnetta

I noticed in that bio that they made Rugnetta and some other members of the family weren’t even aware. Having a NY state of mind that seems very odd but I think they did things like that in Chicago also.

Agreed that it’s interesting. With Chicago, the picture is that members only knew for sure about another guy’s status if they were formally introduced as amici. While I wouldn’t doubt that guys still speculated and gossiped, it was a “need to know” family. Nicky Calabrese, for example, testified that Jimmy LaPietra, while acting captain, had breached protocol by informing Calabrese of the guys who had been made following a ceremony in the 80s. I could see Philly in the past having that kind of operational security as well. For example, were guys in South Philly apprised when a guy in, say, Trenton, was made? Based on what Cappello told Scafidi — “Don't say nothing that I told you -- (they made a guy from) Joe Rugnetta's bar” — it sure sounds like Philly expected this kind of internal insulation within its ranks as well. Like Chicago, it seems at least from this comment that not only were members in general probably not informed when a guy was made, but they also weren’t supposed to be telling each other about it. NYC’s mafia culture was naturally going to be different in that you had way more total members and members of multiple families bumping up against each other on a regular and constant basis, so knowing who was made and with what family would be vital to managing and preventing conflict.

[dack2001]

Parisi was a Philly member close with Joseph Scalleat and probably got made into the Philly family when he did. He was one of several "hitters" from the 30's and 40's who ended up getting their button with Philly. I'm thinking Simone, Parisi, Caponigro, and Luciano among others.

[B.]

What's always interested me about the Rugnetta induction is the Family was fine with a single member of the Calabrian faction (and nobody else) being made in 1965, but later in the decade Joe Rugnetta and the Calabrians made a beef about the long-delayed Sindone, etc. induction because they didn't have a candidate of their own and didn't want the induction to take place in South Jersey (Sicilian faction territory).

The Sicilians didn't beef about Rugnetta being a lone candidate earlier, so not sure why the Calabrians felt entitled to complain when they didn't have one in the next round.

For Parisi and Scalleat, I've always figured some sort of arrangement was made with Pittston to have those two Philly members in Hazleton, one a relative of a Pittston member. Doesn't make much sense but the two Families must have agreed on it.

[chin_gigante]

On the secrecy note, we know that earlier in his time as boss Bruno held an impromptu induction ceremony at a wedding. He did not tell anyone else ahead of time but made sure everyone who had to be there was there.

That September a member source identified Dominic Rugnetta and the Marconi brothers, Alfonso and Guerino, as the last three known to have been made since October 1961.

Something about that didn't sit right with me so I checked my notes and remembered there was a bulletin dated Jan 29, 1965, which described how Rocco Scafidi provided information on several "new members":

- "Blitz" (formerly worked for Marco Reginelli)
- Angelo Turco
- "Tony Kiva" (worked for Antonio Caponigro, made in Trenton)
- Louie (also connected to Caponigro) [Dominick Luciano]
- "Cheese"/ "Shoes" (in Riverside, NJ) [George Scimeca]
- "Tom Mix" [Dominick DeVito]
- "Blizzard" (in the Chester, PA area) [Salvatore Passalacqua]
- Peter Casella (cousin of the future underboss, an old-time member who was reinstated having previously been "set aside")
- Dominick (a bartender for Joe Rugnetta inducted on Jan 16, 1965) [Dominic Rugnetta]

[Snakes]

When was Sindone inducted?

[thekiduknow]

I’m sure this has been discussed before, but interesting to learn that the Philadelphia seems to have this policy of reinducting shelved members.

Any more on Peter Casella’s story of being shelved and made again?

[B.]

I've always believed those names were new to Scafidi but not all newly-inducted members (at least not "new" as in 1965, maybe some were made in the early 1960s ceremonies). The Monte / Narducci ceremony was apparently pretty big and we don't know who all was included.

As for organizational gossip, they're not supposed to do it but of course they do. Some Families / decinas are more disciplined about it.

With the shelved members, they didn't re-make them, they just made it ceremonial where guys like Rocco Scafidi and Pete Casella were brought up front and reinstated in front of everyone but they didn't go through the finger pinch, etc. Both Scafidi and Casella were shelved for ten years if I remember right, wonder if the length is a coincidence or if that was sort of a policy in that Family. Scafidi was shelved for being a cowboy and was nearly killed for allegedly committing an unsanctioned murder right after he was made, while Casella was apparently sharing too much info with his wife.

When was Sindone inducted?

JD said around 1976 but I posted an excerpt above where Scafidi ID'd him as a "high-ranking member" by December 1975.

[B.]

George Scimeca Jr. is an interesting guy. His father Giorgio was probably made -- his naturalization was witnessed by early boss Giorgio Catania and they came from Caccamo like him. Scimeca Jr. is the only member to have lived in Riverside and the pronunciation of his surname ("Shuh-meca") lends itself to the Shoes nickname.

[chin_gigante]

Was there ever any confirmation if Frank "Snuffy" Iannarella was straightened out? I know he was proposed but can't find anything in my notes confirming if they went through with it. Riccobene once told the FBI if Iannarella was the same individual as someone he knew of then he'd never be made because of drugs. I remember someone once saying Leonetti confirmed Iannarella was made but I can't for the life of me find Leonetti saying that anywhere.