What do You Know about the Mafia in Trenton?

[JoelTurner]

There were several families operating in Trenton, New Jersey; information about the city can get confusing.

I'm making this post to share what I know and organize the information that's readily available. If you know anything about the Mafia in Trenton, you can share it in this thread.

Members:

Philadelphia Family:

- Albert Pontani
- Carl Ippolito
- Charles Costello
- John Simone
- Joseph Costello

Gambino Family:

- Andrew Avellino
- Anthony Tassone
- Joseph Farinella
- Nicholas Russo

DeCavalcante Family

- Frank DeCavalcante
- Sam DeCavalcante

[baldo]

Pat spirito- Philly
Girolamo guarraggi- decav
Iavarone - Philly (not sure if made)
Mike tramonatana- unsure which family

A lot of bookies and loan sharks back in the day (probably still today).

[Pogo The Clown]

Mike tramonatana- unsure which family

Philly.


Pogo

[Stopflexing]

Didn’t the Luccheses have a crew in Trenton?

Is there much action in Trenton these days? Trenton seems like it’s turning into another Camden

[JoelTurner]

Iavarone - Philly (not sure if made)

Was this Dominick Iavarone?

[JoelTurner]

Mike tramonatana- unsure which family

Philly.


Pogo

Wow apparently he was “Daylight”. I kept seeing the name in different reports but I never realized they figured out who he was.

[JoelTurner]

Messimo Pontani of Trenton was arrested with the Accardi brothers and Charles Todaro, noted Newark mobsters. They were all involved in an alcohol still in Vineland, NJ.

Messimo Pontani was Albert “Reds” Pontani’s father. This was his census information (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4XN-Z9W). He was probably an associate, I don’t think that he was made.

[B.]

This thread is from 2017 and there might be a couple mistakes (Freddy Salerno may not have been made yet for example) but it breaks down the Simone crew which included the Trenton members:

https://theblackhand.club/forum/viewtop ... =32&t=2846

Not to self-promote but this article is about Freddy Felice who was a FL-based member of the crew and includes a lot of info on the Trenton Villalbesi with the Simone crew:

https://mafia.substack.com/p/philadelph ... lorida-man

Ignazio DiGirolamo is one I'm not sure about. He was from Marsala and there is conflicting info on whether he was w/ Philly or the DeCavalcantes. Marsala would fit the early Philly Trenton guys from Campobello (the Maggios) but there's a wiretap that indicates he may have been with Elizabeth.

Pietro Giallombardo was an important Trenton guy early on but hard to tell if he was w/ Philly or the Gambinos. His brother Giuseppe was an early Gambino member and they were connected to the Trainas, but Philly also had guys from Belmonte Mezzagno and Jimmy Gioe was a Trenton Philly member from there.

[JoelTurner]

This thread is from 2017 and there might be a couple mistakes (Freddy Salerno may not have been made yet for example) but it breaks down the Simone crew which included the Trenton members:

https://theblackhand.club/forum/viewtop ... =32&t=2846

Thanks! This looks like a big boost

Not to self-promote but this article is about Freddy Felice who was a FL-based member of the crew and includes a lot of info on the Trenton Villalbesi with the Simone crew:

https://mafia.substack.com/p/philadelph ... lorida-man

Excellent read, but boy what a bizarre story. I'd heard the name before but I didn't know much about him.

[JoelTurner]

Trenton Members:

Philadelphia Family:

-Albert Pontani - 1927-93
-Carl Ippolito - 1908-85
-Charles Costello - 1910-94
-Frank Pollastrelli - 1907-86
-John Simone - 1911-80
-Joseph Altimari - 1939-04
-Joseph Costello - 1925-64
-Joseph Costello - 1932-07
-Michael Amico - 1904-71
-Michael Cammerota - 1927-64
-Michael Tramonatana - 1908-79
-Pasquale Spirito - 1939-83

Gambino Family:

-Anthony Tassone - 1926-09
-Andrew Avellino - 1912-63
-Joseph Farinella - 1930-01
-Nicholas Russo - 1910-85

These members were a part of the Brooklyn based Aurello-Gravano crew

DeCavalcante Family

-Frank DeCavalcante - 1890-50
-Girolamo Guarraggi - 1949-21
-Sam DeCavalcante - 1912-97

Unclear:

-Ignazio DiGirolamo - 1935-2004
-Pietro Giallombardo

[B.]

Other Philly members:

Vincenzo Gioe
Salvatore Gioe
Michele Maggio
Giuseppe Maggio

Maggios later moved.

[JoelTurner]

I wasn’t able to find much on Pietro Giallombardo. I think this was his 1930 census (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4XJ-XZ4) which would make his birth ~1886.

Going by what was said in the Newark family thread about his ties to Traina and his brother being a Gambino member, my guess is that he was the one who started their presence in Trenton.

[B.]

I can see him being w/ Philly since he attended the meeting where John Bazzano was condemned and killed. The other two PA Families and Buffalo were repped but Philly is absent. If he was a Gambino soldier I'm not sure why he'd need to attend from Trenton but it could go either way.

This is him in 1932:

[JoelTurner]

Antonio “Tony Bananas” Caponigro’s first arrest was in Trenton. He would have been ~16.



—————

He was arrested again in Trenton in 1934

[B.]

Awesome find.

What's weird is he lived in Philly during his late youth and as you found was active in Trenton, which would later oversee the Newark members of the Philly Family, but somehow he ended up on record with Albert Anastasia (both Fresolone and Licata said this) before being released to Philly.

Was he an associate of the Gambino Family's Trenton crew originally or what exactly happened?