Springfield Family 1963

[Antiliar]

Following up on a previous conversation, I was able to confirm that Antonio Musso married the daughter Vincenzo Piro of New Orleans/Los Angeles. The same Vincenzo Piro whose name was found in Orazio Tropea's phone book.

[PolackTony]

Following up on a previous conversation, I was able to confirm that Antonio Musso married the daughter Vincenzo Piro of New Orleans/Los Angeles. The same Vincenzo Piro whose name was found in Orazio Tropea's phone book.

Correct and the other daughter of Piro, of course, married Tony Lombardo. Vincenzo Piro’s son John Piro also took his son to have him baptized in Chicago (believe Lombardo was the cumpari), further indicating how close the Piros presumably were to the IL Families.

[B.]

I wouldn't be surprised if Springfield is much older than we know. Would have to see when the first Sicilian colony sprang up but I'm thinking 1910s at the latest based on known mafia figures and relatives passing through Southern Illinois at that time. St. Louis being as old as it is lends itself to the idea.

[Antiliar]

Following up on a previous conversation, I was able to confirm that Antonio Musso married the daughter Vincenzo Piro of New Orleans/Los Angeles. The same Vincenzo Piro whose name was found in Orazio Tropea's phone book.

Correct and the other daughter of Piro, of course, married Tony Lombardo. Vincenzo Piro’s son John Piro also took his son to have him baptized in Chicago (believe Lombardo was the cumpari), further indicating how close the Piros presumably were to the IL Families.

The difference is that with the Musso-Piro marriage record it listed their parents, but on the Lombardo-Piro one it did not. So I could confirm by documentation in the first case, but in the second I have to reach a conclusion. To make it worse, in Lombardo's death record his wife's name was Orazia. On his Petition for Naturalization she is Carmela. On the marriage record she is Camille, which matches the two birth records of their children. In the 1910 census, Vincenzo Piro has a 7-year-old daughter named Carmella. There's a conflict there too since it says she was born in Louisiana. She actually arrived from Italy with her family when she was 11 months old. So it's only by a preponderance of the evidence that we can conclude that Tony Lombardo married the daughter of Vincenzo. In the case of Musso, it's direct evidence, which is a lot more solid.

Musso Piro Marriage1 edit.jpg

[PolackTony]

Following up on a previous conversation, I was able to confirm that Antonio Musso married the daughter Vincenzo Piro of New Orleans/Los Angeles. The same Vincenzo Piro whose name was found in Orazio Tropea's phone book.

Correct and the other daughter of Piro, of course, married Tony Lombardo. Vincenzo Piro’s son John Piro also took his son to have him baptized in Chicago (believe Lombardo was the cumpari), further indicating how close the Piros presumably were to the IL Families.

The difference is that with the Musso-Piro marriage record it listed their parents, but on the Lombardo-Piro one it did not. So I could confirm by documentation in the first case, but in the second I have to reach a conclusion. To make it worse, in Lombardo's death record his wife's name was Orazia. On his Petition for Naturalization she is Carmela. On the marriage record she is Camille, which matches the two birth records of their children. In the 1910 census, Vincenzo Piro has a 7-year-old daughter named Carmella. There's a conflict there too since it says she was born in Louisiana. She actually arrived from Italy with her family when she was 11 months old. So it's only by a preponderance of the evidence that we can conclude that Tony Lombardo married the daughter of Vincenzo. In the case of Musso, it's direct evidence, which is a lot more solid.

Musso Piro Marriage1 edit.jpg

On Tony Lombardo's 1926 naturalization document in Chicago, he stated that his wife Carmela was born in Italy.

April 1993 CA Death Index entry for Camille Lombardo Becker (she remarried a guy named Rudolf Becker) states that her mother's maiden name was Tuminello. Social Security Index entry for April 1993 has Camille Piro Becker's parents as Vincent Piro and Angela Tuminello. I really don't think that there's any doubt here.

[Angelo Santino]

For CC's charts.

FBI files into the mid-1970s indicate they were never able to identify much of anyone except the admin. Local informants just knew who associated with one another, nothing about the org. Maybe Cavita can fill in gaps.

--

Springfield:

Boss - Francesco Zito - San Giuseppe Jato, Palermo
Underboss - Domenico "Nick" Campo - Montevago, Agrigento

Suspected Members / Close Associates of Zito:
Calogero Campo - Montevago, Agrigento
Ernest "Buster" Dinora - ??? (Born in Scranton, PA)
Vito Impastato - Cinisi, Palermo (very likely made)
Joseph Madonia - Monreale, Palermo
Peter Rano - San Cipirello, Palermo
Vincent Salvo - Castelvetrano, Trapani
Antonino "Tony" Zito - San Giuseppe Jato, Palermo (very likely made)
Filippo Zito - San Giuseppe Jato, Palermo (he was active with the SGJ Family in Sicily before US)
Salvatore Zito - San Giuseppe Jato, Palermo

Top non-Italian associate:
Frank Diaz - Spain

--

Notes:

- Suspected members are based on who was actually suspected by the FBI as well as guys with longstanding association with Frank Zito going back decades. Many were co-defendants in a big IRS case against Zito in 1931 and still alive.

- A Sam DiSpenza b. 1899 in Elmwood Park, Chicago, said by the FBI to be connected to Springfield in some way on a 1974 report by the Springfield FBI office. He was seen driving with Frank Zito.

- Frank's brother Tony Zito married the daughter of underboss Campo.

- FBI wiretaps showed them to use the word "decina"and "borgata". Context unknown, may have been them talking about another Family. They also talked a lot about people being "paesano" / "paesani" and Zito used the word "picciotto". Bugs very unproductive for org intel.

- Zito's address was found in the ledger of LA underboss Momo Adamo when he killed himself.

- Frank and Salvatore Zito lived in a San Giuseppe Jato colony in Alabama before Illinois.

- Ex-Chicago member Cesare Manzella lived here after his paesani were killed in the Chicago area in the late 1940s before he returned to Sicily. Evidently transferred back to Cinisi where he became boss and was killed in 1963.

- Francesco Longo of San Giuseppe Jato was very likely a member before he moved to Newark and was killed, as he is consistently mentioned by later informants as having been part of the core group with Zito. Tony Riela and Vincenzo Troia spent time in Springfield but hard to say if they joined this Family, but Longo definitely looks to have been a member here.

- Filippo Zito + another older Zito brother + uncle Antonino Salamone were ID'd as affiliati of the San Giuseppe Jato Family in the 1920s/30s alongside the Troia clan and the Zito-Salamones were related to a San Cipirello leader. Another brother was Rockford consigliere Joe Zito.

- One report thought Frank Zito was no longer boss as of 1965. Don't know if that's true or what. Don't know if this Family disbanded or just dwindled. No indication they made younger guys.

Do you have DOB's or DOD's? The Domenico Campo I found was born in 1881 and died in 1957, can't be the right now.

[PolackTony]

Domenico “Nick” Campo (1894-1984); Calogero “Carl” Campo (1899 or 1900 - 1969). Both born in Montevago to Pietro Campo and Antonina LaRocca.

[Angelo Santino]

There are two Joseph Madonia's in Springfield, one born 1889 and the other 1893.

[Angelo Santino]

Did Peter Rano die in 1962?

[Angelo Santino]

Need help with the three Zitos- Anthony, Filippo and Salvatore- DOB's, DOD's anything.

[Antiliar]

Following up on a previous conversation, I was able to confirm that Antonio Musso married the daughter Vincenzo Piro of New Orleans/Los Angeles. The same Vincenzo Piro whose name was found in Orazio Tropea's phone book.

Correct and the other daughter of Piro, of course, married Tony Lombardo. Vincenzo Piro’s son John Piro also took his son to have him baptized in Chicago (believe Lombardo was the cumpari), further indicating how close the Piros presumably were to the IL Families.

The difference is that with the Musso-Piro marriage record it listed their parents, but on the Lombardo-Piro one it did not. So I could confirm by documentation in the first case, but in the second I have to reach a conclusion. To make it worse, in Lombardo's death record his wife's name was Orazia. On his Petition for Naturalization she is Carmela. On the marriage record she is Camille, which matches the two birth records of their children. In the 1910 census, Vincenzo Piro has a 7-year-old daughter named Carmella. There's a conflict there too since it says she was born in Louisiana. She actually arrived from Italy with her family when she was 11 months old. So it's only by a preponderance of the evidence that we can conclude that Tony Lombardo married the daughter of Vincenzo. In the case of Musso, it's direct evidence, which is a lot more solid.

Musso Piro Marriage1 edit.jpg

On Tony Lombardo's 1926 naturalization document in Chicago, he stated that his wife Carmela was born in Italy.

April 1993 CA Death Index entry for Camille Lombardo Becker (she remarried a guy named Rudolf Becker) states that her mother's maiden name was Tuminello. Social Security Index entry for April 1993 has Camille Piro Becker's parents as Vincent Piro and Angela Tuminello. I really don't think that there's any doubt here.

Unfortunately I wasn't getting those results while I was looking for documents in the Family History Center. Today, at home, I'm getting those results. Additionally, Piro shows up for the surname of Sam Anthony Lombardo's mother, who also died in California after getting married in Yonkers. Looks like daughter Rose Marie died as Rose L. Smith in Temecula in 2001. Did you happen to find the marriage of Rudolf Becker and Camille Lombardo? I wonder what the story behind that is. Not common for a woman to marry a man 8 years her junior.

Edit: Nevermind. They married in San Bernardino in 1932. Looks like he fibbed about his age.:

San Bernardino County Sun 1932Sep24 Camille Lombardo Piro (wid of Tony) marry Rudolf Becker.jpg

[PolackTony]

Following up on a previous conversation, I was able to confirm that Antonio Musso married the daughter Vincenzo Piro of New Orleans/Los Angeles. The same Vincenzo Piro whose name was found in Orazio Tropea's phone book.

Correct and the other daughter of Piro, of course, married Tony Lombardo. Vincenzo Piro’s son John Piro also took his son to have him baptized in Chicago (believe Lombardo was the cumpari), further indicating how close the Piros presumably were to the IL Families.

The difference is that with the Musso-Piro marriage record it listed their parents, but on the Lombardo-Piro one it did not. So I could confirm by documentation in the first case, but in the second I have to reach a conclusion. To make it worse, in Lombardo's death record his wife's name was Orazia. On his Petition for Naturalization she is Carmela. On the marriage record she is Camille, which matches the two birth records of their children. In the 1910 census, Vincenzo Piro has a 7-year-old daughter named Carmella. There's a conflict there too since it says she was born in Louisiana. She actually arrived from Italy with her family when she was 11 months old. So it's only by a preponderance of the evidence that we can conclude that Tony Lombardo married the daughter of Vincenzo. In the case of Musso, it's direct evidence, which is a lot more solid.

Musso Piro Marriage1 edit.jpg

On Tony Lombardo's 1926 naturalization document in Chicago, he stated that his wife Carmela was born in Italy.

April 1993 CA Death Index entry for Camille Lombardo Becker (she remarried a guy named Rudolf Becker) states that her mother's maiden name was Tuminello. Social Security Index entry for April 1993 has Camille Piro Becker's parents as Vincent Piro and Angela Tuminello. I really don't think that there's any doubt here.

Unfortunately I wasn't getting those results while I was looking for documents in the Family History Center. Today, at home, I'm getting those results. Additionally, Piro shows up for the surname of Sam Anthony Lombardo's mother, who also died in California after getting married in Yonkers. Looks like daughter Rose Marie died as Rose L. Smith in Temecula in 2001. Did you happen to find the marriage of Rudolf Becker and Camille Lombardo? I wonder what the story behind that is. Not common for a woman to marry a man 8 years her junior.

Edit: Nevermind. They married in San Bernardino in 1932. Looks like he fibbed about his age.:
San Bernardino County Sun 1932Sep24 Camille Lombardo Piro (wid of Tony) marry Rudolf Becker.jpg

Any idea if this Becker guy had any OC connections or was just some random guy Carmella married?

[Antiliar]

All I could find is that he was a foreman and a stage production manager at R.K.O. Studios, so other than union activity I'm not seeing anything.

[cavita]

Frank Zito lived in Benld as a miner too and I think Frank Abbate from Cinisi was living there at the time he was killed. It shows up a lot -- there was a small but strong Sicilian colony there at one point and mafiosi lived/passed through. Johnson City is another one like that but way further south. Peoria had stuff going on too.

This is relevant:



- Obviously Gary and Rockford were their own groups, but the perception was the Springfield Family may have had people in other areas, including Peoria. Tony and I talked about Peoria since a 1960s Chicago informant said they had a mafia presence.

The following passage is an entry from Joe Zito’s FBI file from December 12, 1969 which reads: “During the 1930’s, JOE and FRANK ZITO bossed a gang of individuals who operated out of Gary, Indiana and Springfield, Rockford and Peoria, Illinois. The group was made up primarily of Chicago and Rockford hoodlums and they engaged in extortion and kidnaping.” It was this group that was most likely involved in the Spring Valley, Illinois kidnapping and extortion of Fred DeFilippi.

Attached is an excerpt from Phil Priola's FBI file regarding the kidnap ring and the Zito brothers. Some other interesting names in there which include Joe Balsamo aka Dominic Padro and Francesco Coppola. I have included what I have interpreted the redacted portions to be through research in newspapers and other FBI files. If anyone has any corrections, please let me know.

On March 28, 1933, [FRANCESCO COPPOLA (aka ANGELO VOTA), MIKE TALARICO, JOE VARSALONA, VICTOR CIESIELSKI, WESLEY E. PRITCHETT, JOHN SICILIANO, FRANK SMITH, DAN ZOOK, JULE VEYS, JOE MARANDO, EDWARD MOORE,] TONY BONACINA, PHIL PALMERO (aka PHIL PRIOLA), [VINCE BURMAN, CARL DELBONO and FRANK DELBONO (aka JOHN CASTAGNA)] were indicted at Peoria, Illinois.

[TALARICO, FRANK DELBONO] and [JOE VARSALONA] were convicted and sentenced to 42 years in Federal Penitentiary; [VICTOR CIESIELSKI] and [CARL DELBONO] were convicted of conspiracy and sentenced to serve two years in Federal Penitentiary; [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] were acquitted on a directed verdict; the indictment against [BURMAN] and [ZOOK] was dismissed since they testified for the government. The indictment against PHIL PRIOLA, who was a fugitive at the time of the trial of the other defendants, was also dismissed inasmuch as DE FILLIPI subsequently was killed in an automobile accident and the evidence against PRIOLA was insufficient to go to trial. TONY BONACINA was killed during a hold-up of a bank, shortly thereafter.

Investigation conducted by the Bureau in 1937, reflected that the [ZITO] group and the group involved in the DE FILLIPI kidnapping were all connected and headed by [REDACTED]. It would appear that following an alcohol tax indictment in June, 1935, in which [ZITO,] along with [PHILLIP VELLA, TONY DIGIOVANNI, JOE BALSAMO (AKA DOMINIC PADRO) and FRANK LICARI] were co-defendants, there was a split in the gang, part going with GEORGE SALADINO and the ZITO brothers and the balance remaining loyal to [VOTA?].

Inspector [REDACTED] considered all of the above group as possible subjects in the kidnapping of [REDACTED] in St. Louis, Missouri.

The attached article is from the December 17, 1931 Rockford Register Republic. I'm pretty sure the Vonacina is Tony Bonacina, mentioned above from the kidnap gang. Bonacina was killed during a bank robbery sometime in the late 30s and I always thought he was a Chicago guy but this article says he was out of KC with this DeCarlo fella. Anyone know who this DeCarlo was?

[Antiliar]

There was a Tony DeCarlo who was tried for robbing the Brotherhood National Bank in Kansas City, Kansas in Sept 1932. He was found guilty and a life sentence was urged. A Gus Nigro was tried with him. There were a couple people with the Nigro surname who were connected with the Kansas City, MO., DiGiovannis. Paul DiGiovanni was named as the boss of the Kansas City, MO borgata in the early 1920s, and his brothers Joseph and Pete had multiple arrests for bootlegging and were leaders in the KC Family. Francesco Coppola could be "Three Fingers" Frank Coppola, but there's not enough info to confirm that it was the same guy. Tony DiGiovanni could be one of the Chicago cousins of the KC DiGiovanni brothers. Fred Smith resembles Fred "Jukebox" Smith, but it's such a common name that we would need other documentation to confirm.