Actual made guys in Youngstown/Mahoning Valley

[Stroccos]

are you considering warren part of the Mahoning valley ?
John Mirabella also operated in Youngstown at some point , He was in the yonnie licavoli crew , So I assume he was either with Cleveland Detroit

Tommaso argento operated in youngstown as well made guy with cleveland

[Stroccos]

- Cavallaro was originally a Pittsburgh member before transfering to the Gambinos for a time. There was a source who said he was Cleveland later but this source got a number of Family affiliations wrong and I suspect Cavallaro may have re-joined Pittsburgh. An informant reported that Cavallaro was called to a formal meeting by Pittsburgh capodecina Paul Romeo and all of the other attendees were with Pittsburgh. It was also reported that Pittsburgh member Dominick Mallamo was responsible for Cavallaro's interests after his murder. He was a Sicilian from Agrigento but Pittsburgh had a large number of Calabrians and Sicilians who coexisted in the Family.

- Cavallaro was also very close to Joseph Romano who appears to have been a Pittsburgh member in Youngstown with close ties to Sharon, where Pittsburgh member Sal Marino once lived and the two were in the same circle. Romano was from Altavilla Milicia and Marino was from Santa Flavia near Bagheria. Romano fled to Chicago after the attempt on his life.

- Jasper Aiello was made but it's not clear which Family. He was originally from St. Louis and Springfield, Illinois, where his Family was active in the local mafia. His family was from Terrasini and he was allegedly related to the Licavolis.

- Stefano and Filippo Zoccoli were powerful Pittsburgh members from Calabria who lived in Youngstown then Midland PA.

- Joe Pieri was a member of the Detroit or Cleveland Families while living in Youngstown before transferring back to Buffalo. A Magaddino wiretap suggests it might have been Detroit but he was close to Cleveland too.

- When Joe DiCarlo was in Youngstown he may have been a member of Detroit, Cleveland, or even the Colombos. He was identified as an alleged Colombo member after he moved to Florida, though, so that may have been later.

- Jimmy Lupo, Cleveland member who moved to Youngstown after the murder of his cousin Lorenzo Lupo who was a Lonardo capodecina.

- Paul Romeo as mentioned was a Pittsburgh capodecina from Calabria and his brother Mike and son Paul Jr. were identified as made.

- Charles Vizzini, affiliation unknown but likely either Cleveland or Pittsburgh. From Agrigento and previously lived in Detroit and Rochester.

- Nick Ditta was allegedly a "member" when he lived in Youngstown and later moved to Detroit where he was a member of that Family. Not sure who he was with earlier.

- Nick Tamburello was a likely made guy before he was deported. From Sambuca in Agrigento, not sure which Family. His brother Joe also lived in Youngstown for a time and was later identified as a Gambino member in Baltimore.

- Others identified as made in Youngstown were Albert Antonelli, Joseph Bardinello, Nick Barone, William Lantini, Calogero Malfitano. Not sure their affiliation but it looks like Malfitano was Cleveland and the others could be Pittsburgh.

--

Keep in mind the informant(s) who said there was a "Sicilian" and "Calabrian" organization was only partly right. There was a local Calabrian organization but its top members were made with Pittsburgh and the Sicilian group was a faction of members from different Families.

joe dicarlo moved to cleveland for a bit prior to moving to Youngstown
intersting the feds had dicarlo and mallamo with Cleveland,
Sam dicarlo was lsited as a cleveland member in the 25 valachi chart
mallamo also listed as cleveland member on the 25 year chart

jasper aiello operated a aborotion clinic in Cleveland so i assumed hes was with cleveland, a informant stated he married jack licavoli sister but i found no connection , allegedly related to big al polizzi as well

[trafficante]

"The Calabrian Organization" (non-Cosa Nostra)
Paul Romeo
Dominick Mallamo
Rocco Martel
+20 (approx.) others

You could possibly add MIke Romeo, Joseph Mallamo, and Rocco Martelli's brother Frank to this list, but I'm not sure if all of them were actually made in the Calabrese Organization.

[trafficante]

More Calabrese Organization names:

[Stroccos]

Based on this, it may have been Calogero "Charles" Vizzini who brought Calabrians like the Romeos into the Pittsburgh Family:



Vizzini was from the same part of Agrigento as Pittsburgh member Charles Cavallaro and the two were close. Vizzini had lived in Battle Creek, Michigan, and Detroit before Youngstown and was also close to Detroit member Frank Cammarata. Vizzini's affiliation has been hard to pin down but if it's true he was an "instructor" who "taught" the Pittsburgh-affiliated Calabrians then he was probably a Pittsburgh member like Cavallaro.

Tommaso Argento is also from agrigento and came to Cleveland via Pittsburgh

[B.]

Mallamo was definitely a Pittsburgh member along with Romeo. JCB can tell you a lot about him.

The Sicilians are harder to figure out since they had strong ties to multiple Families active in the area and even Families based in other areas. I could see some of them being with Cleveland but some were with Pittsburgh or Detroit and local sources could identify who was made but struggled with the particular Family.

I've wondered when Jack Licavoli and Leo Moceri transferred to Cleveland. They were originally Detroit members even after moving to Ohio but based on a 1964 wiretap Licavoli was by then a Cleveland capodecina and Moceri was a member under him along with Delsanter (who was first made by Cleveland). Ernie LaSalle was originally made by Detroit but didn't transfer when they did... if he ever did, it was in the 1970s but then he died in 74.

[Ivan]

Wonder if Youngstown ever might have had one a family of its own like 100 years ago. It's big enough (between Rockford and Madison in size), especially if you factor in how vice is disproportionately popular there.

[FriendofHenry]

Wonder if Youngstown ever might have had one a family of its own like 100 years ago. It's big enough (between Rockford and Madison in size), especially if you factor in how vice is disproportionately popular there.

Not in my "wheelhouse" but maybe one of our research members like JCB might know?

[Stroccos]

Mallamo was definitely a Pittsburgh member along with Romeo. JCB can tell you a lot about him.

The Sicilians are harder to figure out since they had strong ties to multiple Families active in the area and even Families based in other areas. I could see some of them being with Cleveland but some were with Pittsburgh or Detroit and local sources could identify who was made but struggled with the particular Family.

I've wondered when Jack Licavoli and Leo Moceri transferred to Cleveland. They were originally Detroit members even after moving to Ohio but based on a 1964 wiretap Licavoli was by then a Cleveland capodecina and Moceri was a member under him along with Delsanter (who was first made by Cleveland). Ernie LaSalle was originally made by Detroit but didn't transfer when they did... if he ever did, it was in the 1970s but then he died in 74.

Good points ,

Leo Moceri was released from prison in apx 1957( he was on the lam in LA for a long time) , he then moved to warren Ohio for a few years. So we can assume he was transferred under Cleveland around this time.
Ernie Lasalle seems to have followed Moceri to Akron after he was released from prison as well ,

Jack Licavoli moved to the Cleveland area around 1938, I assume he transferred around then. As he began rackets in warren , Cleveland and youngstown and he allegelly whacked some people for the family so the cleveland group could take over the slot machines rackets

One thing i always found interesting was that according to Ray ferrito he said licaovli told him he would be made out of detroit for the danny greene hit

it almost seems cleveland pretty much absorb Yonnies old crew ?

[B.]

Yeah, LaSalle was living with Moceri for a while. They had a falling out at one point over money but still continued to associate. LaSalle was originally from NYC and close to the Lucchese Family. He spent some time back in NYC in the 1960s then came back to Ohio. According to Bomp, Moceri and LaSalle were approved by Nick Licata to transfer to the LA Family and Joe DiCarlo and Joe Pieri were going to come with them but it never happened. Moceri was supposed to get approval from Cleveland while LaSalle had to get approval from Detroit since they were with different Families.

Lot of questions about the Toledo group. They were obviously "Detroit guys" but Bomp said Yonnie Licavoli was "LCN Boss" of Toledo then it was absorbed by Detroit which suggests it was independent in some way for a time. Another source said Licavoli had a falling out with Detroit and went to Toledo. So there were at least issues between him and Detroit for a time, it's just a question of whether they were a small recognized Family or just a semi-independent crew who had problems with the Detroit leadership.

[B.]

The 1964 Scalish recording is a very interesting little snippet because it's Scalish meeting with a capodecina named "Jack" (Licavoli) and others about organizing a Family meeting where the Cleveland membership will be told they can't associate with members of the Bonanno Family. They debate the protocol for organizing the meeting, whether it should be Scalish who organizes it or if Licavoli should do it. It sounds like they decided the captains should be responsible for inviting the members of their decina and that's where it's said that "Jack" will notify "Leo" (Moceri) and "Tony" (Delsanter) about the meeting.

[PolackTony]

- Cavallaro was also very close to Joseph Romano who appears to have been a Pittsburgh member in Youngstown with close ties to Sharon, where Pittsburgh member Sal Marino once lived and the two were in the same circle. Romano was from Altavilla Milicia and Marino was from Santa Flavia near Bagheria. Romano fled to Chicago after the attempt on his life.

We've discussed Joe "Stoneface" Romano on one of the Chicago threads before; he was an interesting figure. Described by a CI in the '60s as the "leader of the 'Sicilian faction'" in Youngstown, he survived being critically wounded by two shotgun blasts in Youngstown in 1960, when he was 60 years old. As B noted, Romano then resettled in Chicago, where he died in 1969. Romano had close ties there, as Chicago is the primary US colony from immigrants from Altavilla. When Romano re-entered the US after a trip to Sicily in 1946 via Detroit, he stated that he had first entered the US in 1924 and lived in Chicago and then Youngstown. The earliest that I've been able to ID him positively in the US was in 1940 in Youngstown. His kids were born in the 1920s in Altavilla, so he likely traveled back and forth. At his 1946 entry, Romano stated that he had first entered the US in May 1924 via NYC on the ship "Conti Verdi". The only arrival I could find in May 1924 that even remotely matches this was for an Antonio Romano on the SS Giuseppe Verdi, who stated that he was born about 1900 in Minturno, Caserta (today in Lazio), bound for Chicago. I haven't found a match for this guy in Chicago later as of yet, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if Joe Romano had initially entered the US under a false identity, perhaps fleeing the law in Altavilla. Romano's wife was Angela LaMantia, also of Altavilla, sister of the Angelo Lamantia notorious in Chicago and Wisconsin during the Prohibition era (his arrest in Chicago in 1928 led to Joe Aiello being indicted on murder conspiracy charges for allegedly plotting to assassinate boss Tony Lombardo and Al Capone; in 1931 in Milwaukee, Angelo LaMantia allegedly murdered his wife's brother, Frank Aiello [no known relation to the Chicago Aiellos], son of presumed Milwaukee member Isidoro Aiello, grandson of former Milwaukee boss Vito Guardalabene, and brother of Milwaukee member Vito Aiello). LaMantia had gone on the run for a number of years, wanted for multiple homicides in Sicily and the US, before returning to Chicago in the 1940s, where he likely was a member. Joe Romano's son, Alfonso Romano, born in Altavilla in 1925, was naturalized in Chicago in 1957. A good guess is that Romano may have been a member in either/both Altavilla or Chicago initially, transferred to Pittsburgh after moving to Youngstown, and then subsequently transferred to Chicago in his later years. There were/are a ton of Romanos in Chicago from Altavilla, so Stoneface Romano very likely had multiple relatives there. The LaMantias' mother was also a Romano, so Romano and his wife may have been cousins of some sort, and likely related to the Giuseppe Romano who was President in the 1930s of the Societa Maria S.S. Lauretana di Altavilla Milicia in Chicago, a major paesani society still active today.

[B.]

Along with Chicago, Romano also fled to Sharon PA after the attempt on his life where he linked up with "members" of the "Marino organization". This was a reference to Salvatore Marino who left Sharon for San Jose many years earlier but it makes me wonder if there were other Pittsburgh members in and around Sharon or if the informant was just referring to old associates of Marino. Both JCB and I believe Salvatore Marino was likely a Pittsburgh captain before transferring to San Jose and becoming a captain there -- along with marrying into the Maggios of Philly (a cheese marriage), the Marinos were closely connected to Milwaukee, NYC, Buffalo, and the Sicilian mafia but there isn't a lot of inside info on Sal before San Jose. Through his cheese companies his ties went far beyond those examples too.

A question I have is whether there were ever multiple Pittsburgh decine in Youngstown, if members reported to different captains at any point (Youngstown-based or not), or if there was pretty much one continuous decina. There was a separate decina in Steubenville under Jimmy Tripodi who had at least three soldiers under him according to Bomp. Then the possibility of a one-time decina under Marino in Sharon though we can't be sure if that overlaps with the Romeo decina in Youngstown. Magaddino identified Romeo as a Pittsburgh captain and he was identified by other sources as a leader of the adjacent Calabrian organization but I don't know when he was promoted within the Pittsburgh Family. According to another source he had the authority to organize and preside over a formal meeting of Sicilian and Calabrian Pittsburgh members in Youngstown to vote on a murder, so within Cosa Nostra his decina looks to have included both Sicilian and Calabrian members by the 1960s with no indication that anyone else in Youngstown was equal in rank to Romeo at the time.

Then there's Zoccoli who lived in Youngstown followed by Midland PA and was reportedly a ranking member of the Pittsburgh Family before transferring to San Jose and becoming chairman of the consiglio. He was a baptismal compare of Jimmy Tripodi in Steubenville and his daughter married future LA boss Pete Milano. I don't know if Zoccoli would have been part of the Youngstown succession or predated Tripodi but his name is in the mix at least. I doubt there were four decine (Youngstown/Romeo, Sharon/Marino, Midland/Zoccoli, and Tripodi/Steubenville) at the same time but plenty of reason to think all four guys were high-ranking Pittsburgh members along the PA/OH border at times. The existence of a small, separate Steubenville decina at least tells us we can't assume there weren't more crews spread out throughout the region. Pittsburgh had around 70 members in the early 1930s according to Nicola Gentile which may have allowed for more groups earlier on.

[DoubleZ]

Mallamo was definitely a Pittsburgh member along with Romeo. JCB can tell you a lot about him.

The Sicilians are harder to figure out since they had strong ties to multiple Families active in the area and even Families based in other areas. I could see some of them being with Cleveland but some were with Pittsburgh or Detroit and local sources could identify who was made but struggled with the particular Family.

I've wondered when Jack Licavoli and Leo Moceri transferred to Cleveland. They were originally Detroit members even after moving to Ohio but based on a 1964 wiretap Licavoli was by then a Cleveland capodecina and Moceri was a member under him along with Delsanter (who was first made by Cleveland). Ernie LaSalle was originally made by Detroit but didn't transfer when they did... if he ever did, it was in the 1970s but then he died in 74.

Good points ,

Leo Moceri was released from prison in apx 1957( he was on the lam in LA for a long time) , he then moved to warren Ohio for a few years. So we can assume he was transferred under Cleveland around this time.
Ernie Lasalle seems to have followed Moceri to Akron after he was released from prison as well ,

Jack Licavoli moved to the Cleveland area around 1938, I assume he transferred around then. As he began rackets in warren , Cleveland and youngstown and he allegelly whacked some people for the family so the cleveland group could take over the slot machines rackets

One thing i always found interesting was that according to Ray ferrito he said licaovli told him he would be made out of detroit for the danny greene hit

it almost seems cleveland pretty much absorb Yonnies old crew ?

IIRC, a CI document stated when Moceri was released from prison he was told he was leaving Michigan to “take care of things in Cleveland” by a Detroit LCN administrator. My memory is a little hazy on the specifics, but that comment always stuck with me. “Take care of things” in what context? With this comment in mind, was Detroit lending a helping hand, establishing a point man in the area, both?

It also always surprises me to see Detroit made/connected guys in this area. A question I have is how were these connections established in this region? Are these part of the Detroit Licavoli crew? Only logical crew that comes to mind in Detroit, historically speaking.

DZ

[B.]

Something to keep in mind is Cleveland's books were closed between 1931 and the late 1940s, then again from 1949 to the 1970s. It was extremely difficult to get made in Cleveland, though to be fair what we know of Detroit and Pittsburgh is they also went long lengths of time without making anyone and that's true for most US Families.