"NY 1839:" the FBI's first Mafia informant

[Villain]

Villain,
Maybe Roselli knew about Siegel's murder in advance but maybe not. It could be an empty brag. On the other hand, perhaps they consulted Roselli about who might be qualified to manage the casino after Siegel's death. Before Isabella's disclosures, I never really thought about Roselli's role, if any, in the building of the Flamingo.

Thanks and I agree.

Btw, whats your take on the alleged Moretti/Ricca situation?

[RickyBrown]

amazing job on this article pal

[Ed]

Villain,
Maybe Roselli knew about Siegel's murder in advance but maybe not. It could be an empty brag. On the other hand, perhaps they consulted Roselli about who might be qualified to manage the casino after Siegel's death. Before Isabella's disclosures, I never really thought about Roselli's role, if any, in the building of the Flamingo.

Thanks and I agree.

Btw, whats your take on the alleged Moretti/Ricca situation?

As you know, the Genovese and the Oufit were always close, so I could imagine Moretti was designated as the point man, for simplicity's sake. In addition, I know Moretti spent time in California, so he could have become friends with Roselli that way. However, others could probably provide a better answer.

I don't know how the timelines work out, but I wonder if it's true that Roselli, had it not been for his arrest, could have been the man who "invented" Las Vegas. But, of course, whether or not Roselli could do what Siegel did is another story.

Thanks again to everybody who commented. Like you say B., the article was a long time in the making.

[B.]

According to Bompensiero, Moretti was killed in part because the US Treasury agent Moretti was close to congratulated Bomp on his promotion to capodecina just a few days after it happened and both Bomp and Dragna suspected the info was given to him by Moretti. They contacted their avugad the Lucchese Family who initiated an investigation into Moretti w/ the Commission and the rest is history.

Given Bomp and Dragna's close relationship to Roselli, it's easy to imagine Roselli was privy to if not part of the plot against Moretti.

For his relationship to Chicago, Moretti was a high-ranking Genovese member and inevitably would have had a relationship to them. I doubt he was the "messaggero" as it was later defined. That fits Tony Goebels Ricci better for the era if they did have a single individual designated that way (whether by name or function).

[davidf1989]

Excellent work so was Isabella an informant before Greg Scarpa?

[Angelo Santino]

This was amazing. Absolutely amazing.

Salut.

[nash143]

Brilliant Ed, a really enjoyable and informative read!

[Ed]

Angelo, Nash, I really appreciate the kind feedback.

David, Yes, Isabella talked before Scarpa. How much Isabella revealed is unclear. Although Villano wrote that he shared enough confidential information that the Bureau should have looked into it further but didn't for reasons unknown.

[axx]

Had no clue Villano's book even existed. The article is a result of top notch work and is enjoyable to read. Also the Pantoliano reference.

[thekiduknow]

Great article, not only for uncovering who that informant was but revealing more about his life through additional sources.

I quickly searched through Joey Pants' book on archive.com, and I don't know if he expands on this later on, but somewhere in there he says that his mother told him Florio was his actual father.

[thekiduknow]

According to Bompensiero, Moretti was killed in part because the US Treasury agent Moretti was close to congratulated Bomp on his promotion to capodecina just a few days after it happened and both Bomp and Dragna suspected the info was given to him by Moretti. They contacted their avugad the Lucchese Family who initiated an investigation into Moretti w/ the Commission and the rest is history.

I recently received some of George White, the FBN agent Moretti was close to, papers and in a letter he says that Moretti did in fact tell him he was in the Mafia after his Kefauver testimony:

[B.]

According to Bompensiero, Moretti was killed in part because the US Treasury agent Moretti was close to congratulated Bomp on his promotion to capodecina just a few days after it happened and both Bomp and Dragna suspected the info was given to him by Moretti. They contacted their avugad the Lucchese Family who initiated an investigation into Moretti w/ the Commission and the rest is history.

I recently received some of George White, the FBN agent Moretti was close to, papers and in a letter he says that Moretti did in fact tell him he was in the Mafia after his Kefauver testimony:

Nice job. I personally believe Bomp's story that the original spark came from LA's suspicion that Moretti was giving info, not just his testimony and Valachi's belief that Genovese masterminded it. Bomp essentially implicated himself in the murder conspiracy by providing that intel which gives it weight.

Moretti had a lot of high-level friendships so maybe the lines got blurred rather than him "informing". The ex-Carabinieri Calabrian CI in Philly told the FBI that he went to a gathering at Moretti's house and the governor of New Jersey was there. He probably saw White as a peer.

[Snakes]

Nice work, Ed; as always.

[thekiduknow]

According to Bompensiero, Moretti was killed in part because the US Treasury agent Moretti was close to congratulated Bomp on his promotion to capodecina just a few days after it happened and both Bomp and Dragna suspected the info was given to him by Moretti. They contacted their avugad the Lucchese Family who initiated an investigation into Moretti w/ the Commission and the rest is history.

I recently received some of George White, the FBN agent Moretti was close to, papers and in a letter he says that Moretti did in fact tell him he was in the Mafia after his Kefauver testimony:

Nice job. I personally believe Bomp's story that the original spark came from LA's suspicion that Moretti was giving info, not just his testimony and Valachi's belief that Genovese masterminded it. Bomp essentially implicated himself in the murder conspiracy by providing that intel which gives it weight.

Moretti had a lot of high-level friendships so maybe the lines got blurred rather than him "informing". The ex-Carabinieri Calabrian CI in Philly told the FBI that he went to a gathering at Moretti's house and the governor of New Jersey was there. He probably saw White as a peer.

For what its worth, I found a "transcript" of White's conversation with Moretti in a book called "Mafia" by Ed Reid:





If Moretti's closeness to White was well known, it would make sense they would suspect Moretti once White mentioned Bomp being promoted.

Also, big news that Bonanno was just a messanger lol

[B.]

What I wonder is if Moretti had been in California a short time before White congratulated Bomp on his promotion. Bomp said his promotion was just three days before White made the comment. Bomp must have either been introduced to Moretti as a capodecina or knew that the news had been shared with Moretti in that short window of time.

There was likely at least national gossip about Bomp's promotion given how well-connected he was. Years later Santo Trafficante was upset that Desimone never promoted Bomp back to his former captain position and was also unhappy that Angelo Marino had been made a capodecina in San Jose. We don't think of these high-level guys caring about who is a captain over in California but apparently they did. Bomp was living in Tampa when Santo got made so they were close but I find it interesting Santo had an opinion on Marino.

EDIT: There was that Trafficante who was an SF member and I believe he was a brother or uncle of Santo so maybe he did keep tabs on the Bay Area. Sorry to go off on a tangent but the Moretti situation is intriguing.