New LCNBios posts

[B.]

On the subject of Rugnettas, Joe Rugnetta's 1977 obit write-up in the Philly Inquirer is one of the better-researched articles about a member:



Direct link since it shows up small:
https://i.ibb.co/VYqVYkX/rugnetta.png

- The writer obviously had a source in the FBI and did additional homework above and beyond what most journalists do, as a lot of these details weren't obvious, especially at the time.

- They are mistaken about the Family not letting Calabrians be boss, as evidenced by Joe Ida. It's significant they mention the ethnic dynamics at all -- we know all about it but for a 1970s newspaper article that's pretty cool.

- Not sure the source on Ida taking over for Joe Bruno in 1941 given Bruno died in the mid-40s. They say Rugnetta became a capodecina in 1941 when Ida took over. Would make sense Ida would promote one of the top Calabrians to captain but this is highly-specific information I haven't seen elsewhere.

- Mentions when Rugnetta was promoted to captain he gained influence in the "family council". When Scafidi first began cooperating he thought there were three consiglieri -- this is consistent with the consiglio found in other Families, where the councils were typically made up of the boss, underboss, and three consiglieri (which sometimes included the official consigliere). However Scafidi was recently reinstated and still figuring out the set-up, but the fact that he thought this was even possible indicates to me there may have been an earlier history with a consiglio like we see early on in many other Families.

- If the writer had an actual source saying Rugnetta had joined a Family council and wasn't just using it in a general sense it wouldn't be surprising if Rugnetta was on it before he became official consigliere. He held every rank in the Family except for official boss -- he served as capodecina, underboss, and acting boss before becoming official consigliere.

[Pogo The Clown]

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.

I don't know if this factored into it but Felix Bocchichio and Charles Vilotti were proposed and scheduled to be made in this ceremony but they turned it down. If my memory is correct Felix Bocchichio was a different guy than the Felix Bocchino who was made in 1982.


Pogo

[B.]

Scafidi said in 1965 those guys turned it down "a long time ago", so I don't think they were proposed at the time. He did bring that up in context with that planned induction though to explain the process.

[thekiduknow]

Posted some small updates:
https://lcnbios.blogspot.com/2022/08/sm ... te_18.html

On the profile of Florida Bonanno member Stephen Maruca, he added a statement Joe Pistone made on the stand that Maruca and fellow Florida member Joe Puma became acting captains for Phil Giaccone's Florida members about ten days before the three captains hit.

Have there been other cases of there being two acting captains for the same crew? Ruggiero said that the Florida guys(seven in total) were disorganized, so that might have played a part.

[The Greek]

Posted some small updates:
https://lcnbios.blogspot.com/2022/08/sm ... te_18.html

On the profile of Florida Bonanno member Stephen Maruca, he added a statement Joe Pistone made on the stand that Maruca and fellow Florida member Joe Puma became acting captains for Phil Giaccone's Florida members about ten days before the three captains hit.

Have there been other cases of there being two acting captains for the same crew? Ruggiero said that the Florida guys(seven in total) were disorganized, so that might have played a part.

Supposedly Punchy Iliano and Albert Gallo were Co-Captains of a Genovese crew. I don’t think they were acting though.

[chin_gigante]

Have there been other cases of there being two acting captains for the same crew? Ruggiero said that the Florida guys(seven in total) were disorganized, so that might have played a part.

Giallanzo and Padavona both being acting captains for the Jerome Asaro crew, though in that instance it was more of Padavona acting for Giallanzo acting for Asaro.

[thekiduknow]

Thanks for responses. So looks like we have example of co captains, two acting captains, and an acting captain for an acting captain.

I wonder if they remained co-acting captains when Sonny Black took over Giaccone's crew.

[PolackTony]

Thanks for responses. So looks like we have example of co captains, two acting captains, and an acting captain for an acting captain.

I wonder if they remained co-acting captains when Sonny Black took over Giaccone's crew.

After Dom DiBella stepped down (dying of cancer) in the late 70s, the FBI, at least, believed that Vince Solano and Joey "Caesar" DiVarco were co-capos of the Northside crew in Chicago. As Ken Eto later described Solano as the "territorial boss" of that crew, and not DiVarco, it's hard to make sense of whether DiVarco actually had a captain status -- DiVarco seems to have functioned as a high-level "lieutenant" for Solano. DiVarco had seniority over Solano, so I think it's possible that they made DiVarco a captain more as a ceremonial thing, while Solano actively "called shots" for the crew. That both could've been captains is at least consistent with the fact that both Solano and DiVarco were present at the famous "Last Supper" meeting in 1976, which is presumably when DiBella formally stepped down. In 1983, however, it was Solano who was formally present as capo for the Northside at the Calabrese brothers' induction ceremony.

[thekiduknow]

Interesting info, thanks Tony. Having a "ceremonial" captain and a more operational captain sounds to me like a captain/acting captain situation, especially if Solano was at an induction. Could be DiVarco was in a more permanent acting captain role.

Not to say they couldn't have been co-capos. Could be they did divided the role between the "ceremonial" and "operational" functions of the position.

Supposedly Punchy Iliano and Albert Gallo were Co-Captains of a Genovese crew. I don’t think they were acting though.

Is there more info about how this set up worked? Did they oversee different members/areas?

[PolackTony]

Interesting info, thanks Tony. Having a "ceremonial" captain and a more operational captain sounds to me like a captain/acting captain situation, especially if Solano was at an induction. Could be DiVarco was in a more permanent acting captain role.

Not to say they couldn't have been co-capos. Could be they did divided the role between the "ceremonial" and "operational" functions of the position.

To be clear, I meant that DiVarco may have been a “ceremonial” capo in the sense of “honorific” — i.e., they may have given him a formal title just as recognition of his seniority, at the same time that they also formally made Solano a capo. Every other member shown in the “Last Supper” photo was either an admin member of capo, so it does seem to at least suggest that both Solano and DiVarco were present as successors to DiBella (the photo doesn’t prove anything conclusive, just suggestive). As with other Chicago formalities, we, of course, have very little info to go on here. I’d have to go back and look at exactly what the FBI’s source for this was — whether they were explicitly told by a CI that Solano and DiVarco were co-captains, or if they had conflicting reports and inferred the co-captain thing themselves to resolve the apparent discrepancy (I’ve definitely seen separate conflicting reports indicating that Solano and DiVarco, in turn, succeeded DiBella). It’s possible than one was official and one was acting. But Eto painted Solano as the operational head of the Northside and Nicky C stated that he was the capo, in the formal terms of the family. So, at least by the 80s, Solano seems to definitely have been both organizational and operational head of the crew. It’s possible that Solano and DiVarco were in charge of different members, but there appears to have only been a small number of made guys in the crew (as seems to have been the general MO in Chicago), so presumably they wouldn’t need two captains to co-administrate it on that basis. Solano was the head of LIUNA local 1, so one might assume that there was a division of rackets, with Solano in charge of union stuff and DiVarco heading street rackets, but Eto testified that Solano was using the union hall as a base for gambling, extortion, and prostitution operations, so he wasn’t just a labor racketeer. Several years had passed between 1976 and the 1980s info here, so it’s also possible that the formal arrangement changed over that time.

I’ve heard about the Iliano/Gallo thing with the Genovese too, which I’ve thought about in relation to Solano/DiVarco, but don’t know enough about the specifics in that case either.

[Snakes]

DiVarco was originally going to get the North Side from DiBella, but was heading to prison for a year on tax charges, so Solano got it instead.

[PolackTony]

DiVarco was originally going to get the North Side from DiBella, but was heading to prison for a year on tax charges, so Solano got it instead.

Yeah, that makes sense. For whatever reason, the FBI still seemed to think that they were both captains. It’s still an interesting question as to why both were present at the 1976 meeting, I think.

[Snakes]

DiVarco was originally going to get the North Side from DiBella, but was heading to prison for a year on tax charges, so Solano got it instead.

Yeah, that makes sense. For whatever reason, the FBI still seemed to think that they were both captains. It’s still an interesting question as to why both were present at the 1976 meeting, I think.

I think it was out of respect for DiVarco. He had presumably known DiBella a long time and was originally slotted for the spot.

[PolackTony]

DiVarco was originally going to get the North Side from DiBella, but was heading to prison for a year on tax charges, so Solano got it instead.

Yeah, that makes sense. For whatever reason, the FBI still seemed to think that they were both captains. It’s still an interesting question as to why both were present at the 1976 meeting, I think.

I think it was out of respect for DiVarco. He had presumably known DiBella a long time and was originally slotted for the spot.

Wait, was DiVarco imprisoned for tax evasion a second time in the 70s? DiVarco and Joe Arnold were each sentenced to one year for tax charges in 1972; unless I'm just not aware of it, he didn't have a second conviction following that in the 70s (hence him being at the "Last Supper"). The FBI and IRS raided several of DiVarco's social clubs around Chicago and Rush for gambling operations in 1979, but this was after DiBella was gone, of course.

In 1973, the FBI was informed that DiBella succeeded Prio following his death (the wording makes it sound that DiBella was made acting captain at this time; presumably, the official status would require being formally approved by the "board of directors" or the like). When Prio passed, DiVarco was in prison and thus the spot went to DiBella at that time (the CTE was clearly not a made guy, as Joe Arnold obviously couldn't be "considered" for anything):





The file that I have for Vince Solano only goes to 1974, unfortunately. One of the last entries reports that Solano was no longer active in criminal circles at that time (big lol).

[Snakes]

DiVarco was originally going to get the North Side from DiBella, but was heading to prison for a year on tax charges, so Solano got it instead.

Yeah, that makes sense. For whatever reason, the FBI still seemed to think that they were both captains. It’s still an interesting question as to why both were present at the 1976 meeting, I think.

I think it was out of respect for DiVarco. He had presumably known DiBella a long time and was originally slotted for the spot.

Wait, was DiVarco imprisoned for tax evasion a second time in the 70s? DiVarco and Joe Arnold were each sentenced to one year for tax charges in 1972; unless I'm just not aware of it, he didn't have a second conviction following that in the 70s (hence him being at the "Last Supper"). The FBI and IRS raided several of DiVarco's social clubs around Chicago and Rush for gambling operations in 1979, but this was after DiBella was gone, of course.

In 1973, the FBI was informed that DiBella succeeded Prio following his death (the wording makes it sound that DiBella was made acting captain at this time; presumably, the official status would require being formally approved by the "board of directors" or the like). When Prio passed, DiVarco was in prison and thus the spot went to DiBella at that time (the CTE was clearly not a made guy, as Joe Arnold obviously couldn't be "considered" for anything):





The file that I have for Vince Solano only goes to 1974, unfortunately. One of the last entries reports that Solano was no longer active in criminal circles at that time (big lol).

Nah, I think I got DiBella mixed up with Prio. I seem to remember reading another file stating that Solano was less well-known to law enforcement than DiVarco, so that's why they went with him. I'll have to hunt it up when I get a chance.