B. wrote: ↑Wed Apr 19, 2023 11:06 am
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.
I'll try and narrow down the admin years for it to be corrected.
And, was thinking about this today. We need to do a follow up "macro" episode w you, Tony and me. We went into the nitty gritty history. Part 2 will be more of an analysis of this family with all 3 of us chiming in.
What stands out about the Ida / Reginelli / Oliveto admin is there were no Sicilians. A source said a Calabrian and Sicilian each had to sit on the admin in Philly but in this case it was Calabria, Abruzzo, and Basilicata and the Sicilians apparently tolerated the arrangement. Most of what we hear is about the Calabrians raising issues related to representation and ethnic preference -- this was even true when Testa took over, as Leonetti said Scarfo resented that Testa chose a fellow Sicilian for underboss even though Scarfo was nonetheless made consigliere.
Scafidi described Denaro as head of the Sicilian faction under Bruno. He's fairly mysterious. Born in "Palermo", came to America in adulthood, was made in the 1930s according to Bruno, and was close to Domenico Pollina before the two had a falling out years before Denaro backed Bruno against Pollina in 1959. Scafidi said that Denaro and his uncle Joe Scafidi dealt with issues by the letter and were very old-minded which is why he wanted to transfer to Phil Testa's crew as Testa did more to look out for his soldiers and help them when they caused trouble. I've never been able to confirm if Denaro was from Palermo citta or one of the more common villages like Belmonte or Caccamo that fed into the Family. I can't think of anyone else in the Family from the citta.
Some of the FBI's summaries have errors when you compare them to the source material. If this is based on the tape I think it is, Bruno said Pollina offered him the rank of underboss and he turned it down so Pollina asked him to be a capodecina but Bruno said he'd only do it if he could live in Florida with no members under him. This is what increased tension between them. Bruno was a soldier in Pollina's crew before that.
I believe Bruno was acting boss for a short time between Pollina being deposed and the Commission confirming Bruno but I don't think he was acting boss before Oliveto, Rugnetta, and/or Pollina. He said when Pollina was taken down some old timers in the Family pushed him to be the new boss and he initially didn't want to do it but finally agreed.
Magaddino did play a huge role mediating the dispute and talks about it on his tapes. We know Sam Giancana flew out to attend as well as he was recorded discussing it with Accardo shortly after he got back and like all the other sources said Pollina got caught lying.
B. wrote: ↑Wed Apr 19, 2023 6:12 pm
Some of the FBI's summaries have errors when you compare them to the source material. If this is based on the tape I think it is, Bruno said Pollina offered him the rank of underboss and he turned it down so Pollina asked him to be a capodecina but Bruno said he'd only do it if he could live in Florida with no members under him. This is what increased tension between them. Bruno was a soldier in Pollina's crew before that.
I believe Bruno was acting boss for a short time between Pollina being deposed and the Commission confirming Bruno but I don't think he was acting boss before Oliveto, Rugnetta, and/or Pollina. He said when Pollina was taken down some old timers in the Family pushed him to be the new boss and he initially didn't want to do it but finally agreed.
Magaddino did play a huge role mediating the dispute and talks about it on his tapes. We know Sam Giancana flew out to attend as well as he was recorded discussing it with Accardo shortly after he got back and like all the other sources said Pollina got caught lying.
Do you recall where Mooney said that Pollina got caught lying? For reference to anyone else, here are the excerpts from Accardo and Giancana's bugged 09/08/1959 conversation about the Commission where Philly came up:
Mooney says that "they made a new boss there... and then the old underboss had to make a new boss, a week later he turned around for a new underboss and all that shit".
Accardo's reference to "the young kid.. Dominick" who Giancana said "backed out" was clearly Oliveto, as the FBI believed; even though Oliveto was 53 at this time he was 14 years younger than Dom Pollina.
(Tangential here, but you also have to appreciate Mooney's reference to Carlo Gambino as "official whaddyacallit" lol).
"Hey, hey, hey — this is America, baby! Survival of the fittest.”
B. wrote: ↑Wed Apr 19, 2023 11:06 am
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.
I thought Yogi and Leonetti were both upped to captain at the same making ceremony in 1981. Strange that they are listed as a soldiers here.
Just finished. Probably not the most useful place to put this but, if anyone hasn't started listening to this podcast yet try this episode. Interesting all the way through. On top of outlining the family historically its got great analysis and commentary of the various eras of bosses Philly has had as well.
Thanks for the kind words. Talking about all this stuff again makes me want to re-read all of the books.
I'd love to see Anastasia do one final book on the early 2000s to present. You have the Martorano, Casasanto, Maniscalco, and DiPietro murders, the Ligambi era, Merlino holding on to power from prison followed by his release, Nicky Jr.'s failed takeover, association with NYC Families, the release of the Scarfo era guys, a recorded making ceremony, everything from the Stefanelli tapes and the big indictment, plus a lot more waiting to be unearthed.
B. wrote: ↑Fri Apr 28, 2023 9:59 pm
Thanks for the kind words. Talking about all this stuff again makes me want to re-read all of the books.
I'd love to see Anastasia do one final book on the early 2000s to present. You have the Martorano, Casasanto, Maniscalco, and DiPietro murders, the Ligambi era, Merlino holding on to power from prison followed by his release, Nicky Jr.'s failed takeover, association with NYC Families, the release of the Scarfo era guys, a recorded making ceremony, everything from the Stefanelli tapes and the big indictment, plus a lot more waiting to be unearthed.
It's a shame we didn't get Persiano on the witness stand. He could have shed some light on a lot of recent developments
'You don't go crucifying people outside a church; not on Good Friday.'
B. wrote: ↑Fri Apr 28, 2023 9:59 pm
Thanks for the kind words. Talking about all this stuff again makes me want to re-read all of the books.
I'd love to see Anastasia do one final book on the early 2000s to present. You have the Martorano, Casasanto, Maniscalco, and DiPietro murders, the Ligambi era, Merlino holding on to power from prison followed by his release, Nicky Jr.'s failed takeover, association with NYC Families, the release of the Scarfo era guys, a recorded making ceremony, everything from the Stefanelli tapes and the big indictment, plus a lot more waiting to be unearthed.
Could start a petition on change.org. Enough people would sign it showing him there's an interest there.
When it comes to the Ligambi era, it's hard to write about because very little actually happened and the murders haven't been solved and the case which came at the end of Ligambi's tenure isn't no 1999 trial. Years ago Scott and I were talking and he mentioned wanting to write a book on Ligambi and I told him it'd amount to 4 chapters, he reluctantly agreed. And Merlino 2.0 years have equally been boring. Not for us, but for a wider audience who enjoyed the more violent war-torn 80's and 90's.
But I'm with you, I'd love to see George write another.
Have you guys read Mob Files? It's a collection of his articles that go past the 2000's. It includes interviews with Merlino's mom and wife, Martines' wife and others. If you enjoyed his books, Mob Files is of the same cloth, just in article form.
