Upcoming TMA Philadelphia episode...

[JoelTurner]

I can’t wait for this episode!

[InCamelot]

Not sure if its helpful but it would be great to center a discussion on Philly around the aspects which make Philly unique from other families. Their "corporate culture" to quote the podcast's earlier episodes.

For one their resilience. No Family has been through what they experienced between 1980 and 1999 in terms of internal conflict and FBI prosecution but they bounced back from every blow. Of course they'd have been stronger without all of that but they weathered it and rebuilt even when it didn't seem possible.

Maybe you guys cover this in the upcoming episode, but what would you say are some of the reasons behind their resilience?

[Don_Peppino]

One thing come to mind is the Italian community in Philadelphia has always been relatively small compared to other place. And furthermore, the areas they inhabited were very tight. A everybody knows everybody kinda thing. Its hard to penetrate a group that his tight in membership and know who and where you come from. Donnie Brasco could never happen there. Someone like Ron Pretive has to come through a Stanfa (a outsider in his own right) but not the core group. That's why Stanfa failed. New York politics wasn't gonna work on a group with a gang mentality.

[AustraliaSteve]

B. and Tony, thanks for expounding on Caponigro for me. Relating it back to Australia (as I always do), it’s somewhat similar in the sense that occasionally, there are examples of Sicilians, Laziale and northerners working with the predominantly Calabrian organisation, albeit seldom in high positions such as we see in the Philly family.

Looking forward to listening to the episode.

[Angelo Santino]

Back in like 2016 Angelo and I talked about doing a YouTube video about Angelo Bruno. He'll get discussed a lot on any Philly episode we do. Scarfo too.

I'm not against talking about modern stuff on the show when it makes sense. Not current events or breaking news but we could offer observations about the Merlino guys in a way that would hopefully be interesting and relevant to the bigger picture of the mob. They wouldn't be the focus of an episode but they're part of the story.

One of the concerns with modern stuff is that you're talking about living people but the cat is so far out of the bag in many cases I have little personal reservation if it's done in the right context. There's a difference between talking about Joey Merlino's heritage or general observations about his leadership vs. discussing his connection to recent unsolved murders or his wife and kids. On one hand I don't want to sugarcoat who these people are but I also want to talk/write about them objectively in a way that they probably wouldn't disagree with themselves. That means not praising them but not going out of the way to denigrate them either.

So yeah, I'm comfortable referencing modern history and people still living today, it just has to be done with some consideration in mind.

Currently editing...

I'd like to include a succession chart from Ida to Scarfo. The post Ida/pre-Bruno era is confusing with all the AB's. I know the info is on this board but can we go over the B, U, C, Acting positions from the end of Joe Ida's tenure up to the end of Brunos? Testa-Scarfo onward is easy enough.

[chin_gigante]

Just going off memory, but I think the leadership of the family after Ida went:

Dominick Olivetto (briefly, as acting underboss) -> Joseph Rugnetta (acting boss, deposed) -> Pollina (acting boss, taken down by the commission)

[Angelo Santino]

One thing come to mind is the Italian community in Philadelphia has always been relatively small compared to other place. And furthermore, the areas they inhabited were very tight. A everybody knows everybody kinda thing. Its hard to penetrate a group that his tight in membership and know who and where you come from. Donnie Brasco could never happen there. Someone like Ron Pretive has to come through a Stanfa (a outsider in his own right) but not the core group. That's why Stanfa failed. New York politics wasn't gonna work on a group with a gang mentality.

It's why I see the Philadelphia family as an example of "Americanization." People often regard the concept as a half-life, going from pure to impure over the course of three-four generations but I'd argue Americanization is the transplanting and furthering of the same network in a new land. Philadelphia was founded by western Sicilians and eventually came to include a significant portion of other demographics, all of which are mostly gone/forgotten. The members today, if they watched this episode probably can't relate to the factions of yesteryears. Someone old enough like Ligambi might recall it, but it hasn't been a factor for going on 50 years. Today, they likely regard each other as South Philly Italians, they all know each other, many are related and they are entangled into the local community judging by their love of mummers. Some of these members have older relatives that were members which likely helps with their career, even if they aren't from a Sicilian background, blood relations are still a factor in today's LCN. The only organizational difference between the Philadelphia Family and Families in Sicily is that they're in Philly. They have the same society, methods of recruitment and built-in clannishness.

Some groups like Detroit, Tampa and Elizabeth have roots going back to a cluster of towns right up to present day. That's one example of the mafia's success as a society. But alternatively, families like the Genovese, New England and even Philadelphia, largely lack those bloodlines and have evolved with the members they bring in, the tracks are in place and the culture remains the same. The tradition/society was "passed on" to members who grew into it and carried it with the same discipline if not more than the Sicilians who controlled these groups a century ago. That's Americanization to me.

This is all mafia theory though, I think Eric and I spend more time thinking about family origins than the guys in Philly do. I laugh at the idea of approaching Chang's lotto stand and striking up a conversation about the Calabrian faction. He'd get annoyed and act irritated "I told you, I don't want to talk about any Calabrian faction, what's so redundant about that?," while someone like Merlino might smile and say "yeah, that's nice."

[Angelo Santino]

Just going off memory, but I think the leadership of the family after Ida went:

Dominick Olivetto (briefly, as acting underboss) -> Joseph Rugnetta (acting boss, deposed) -> Pollina (acting boss, taken down by the commission)

Thanks. Any idea on the other admin members during this time?

[Don_Peppino]

Just going off memory, but I think the leadership of the family after Ida went:

Dominick Olivetto (briefly, as acting underboss) -> Joseph Rugnetta (acting boss, deposed) -> Pollina (acting boss, taken down by the commission)

Thanks. Any idea on the other admin members during this time?

I believe Marco Reginelli was underboss until he died in 1956.

[chin_gigante]

Just going off memory, but I think the leadership of the family after Ida went:

Dominick Olivetto (briefly, as acting underboss) -> Joseph Rugnetta (acting boss, deposed) -> Pollina (acting boss, taken down by the commission)

Thanks. Any idea on the other admin members during this time?

After Rugnetta was deposed as acting boss, I believe he served as Pollina's underboss

[B.]

Dominick Olivetto was consigliere then underboss and acting boss. Due to legal restriction he had to step down and capodecina Joe Rugnetta became acting boss then underboss when Pollina became acting boss. Not sure who the consigliere was in the interim before Bruno took over and Rugnetta was chosen, if anyone.

[ShotgunTheRifle]

When is this supposed to be released?

[Angelo Santino]

What needs correcting?

B
1946–1959 — Giuseppe "Joseph" Ida — deported in 1958, deceased in 1960s–1970s

1958–1959 — Antonio "Mr. Miggs" Pollina — removed by the Commission
1959–1980 — Angelo "The Gentle Don" Bruno — murdered on March 21, 1980
1980–1981 — Philip "the Chicken Man" Testa — murdered on March 15, 1981
1981–1990 — Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo Sr. — removed by the Commission, deceased in 2017
Acting 1981–1984 — Salvatore "Chuckie" Merlino
Acting 1989–1990 — Anthony "Tony Buck" Piccolo – stepped down

U
1946–1956 — Marco "Small Man" Reginelli
1956–1957 — Dominick Olivetto — retired
1957–1959 — Antonio "Mr. Miggs" Pollina — deposed by Commission
1959–1970 — Ignazio "Natz" Denaro
1970–1980 — Philip "the Chicken Man" Testa — became boss
1980–1981 — Peter "Petey" Casella — deposed by Commission
1981–1986 — Salvatore "Chuckie" Merlino — demoted, deceased in 2012
1986–1989 — Philip "Crazy Phil" Leonetti — turned informant

C
1946–1977 — Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Rugnetta
1977–1980 — Antonio "Tony Bananas" Caponigro — murdered by Commission
1980–1981 — Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo Sr. — became boss
1981–1982 — Frank Monte — murdered
1982–1989 — Nicholas Piccolo
Acting 1984–1987 — Anthony Piccolo

[B.]

- Rocco Scafidi identified Oliveto as the consigliere when Joe Ida was boss and Reginelli as underboss in the first half of the 1950s. He said Oliveto was formerly a capodecina. I don't believe Oliveto was consigliere in the 1940s when Ida and Reginelli initially took over. The consigliere before Oliveto is unknown but I've always suspected Michele Maggio was an earlier consigliere it's just unconfirmed. However when Scafidi first cooperated he thought there were three consiglieri (Oliveto, Denaro, Rugnetta) which could suggest they once used a consiglio.

- Lorenzo D'Amore was a high-level associate of the Calabrian faction who couldn't be made as he was ex-Carabinieri but had a lot of great inside info. He said when Ida fled that Rugnetta became acting boss with Oliveto as underboss. Oliveto was subsequently replaced as underboss by Domenico Pollina and Rugnetta was forced to step down as acting boss in 1959 and then became underboss. This is when Pollina became acting boss. It's unknown who, if anyone, was consigliere when Pollina and Rugnetta were acting boss and underboss respectively.

- Harry Riccobene said when Reginelli died in 1956, Oliveto became acting underboss then acting boss when Ida fled. If Oliveto was only acting as underboss and never official it's possible he still held the title of consigliere until Bruno took over and Rugnetta was elected consigliere. Or it could have been vacant.

- Phil Testa might not have become official underboss right away when Denaro died in 1970. A newspaper article from 1977 says he became "sottocapo" around 1974. Rocco Scafidi confirmed that Testa was underboss by late 1975 but I haven't seen anything before that. In Leonetti's book, it says Testa wasn't yet the underboss when Bruno was in Yardville in the early 1970s but it seems like Testa was likely acting boss during Bruno's incarceration.

- I think Leonetti implies he was acting boss himself for a short time between 1986 and early 1987 before he was arrested but can't remember if he says it outright.

[B.]

Not sure if this 1983 chart has been posted before:



- Some errors, like Casella / Riccobene listed as captains instead of Leonetti / Larry Merlino plus Natale carried as a member but a good snapshot of contemporary intel.