Actual made guys in Youngstown/Mahoning Valley

[B.]

I mentioned the Tamburellos earlier. Some more info on them:

- From Sambuca, Agrigento, with ties to Bisacquino.
- Nicola Tamburello was active in bootlegging in Baltimore before moving to Youngstown where he was regarded as a top member of the "Sicilian faction".
- Giuseppe Tamburello joined his brother in Youngstown and was close to Nick Naples, who I believe was uncle to the well-known Naples brothers. He said he was a cousin of Naples -- does anyone know where the Naples were from?
- Joe left Youngstown around the early 1940s and moved to Baltimore where he operated an Italian specialty store and was close to Bisacquinese Gambino member Jimmy Caronna. He also lived in Pennsylvania for a time, my guess before Youngstown, but not sure where.
- Nick was deported in 1953 and died within months of leaving the US.
- By the 1960s Joe Tamburello was identified as a Gambino member in the Baltimore decina. He seems to have mainly used his mafia affiliation in the food business.

Interestingly, Vito Cascio Ferro was photographed in NYC with an Antonino Tamburello along with capo dei capi Giuseppe Morello and Carlo Costantino of the Bonannos. If I have the right guy, this Tamburello lived in New Orleans, was from Bisacquino, and his wife was a Caronna, so both names connect to members of the Baltimore Gambino decina. Cascio Ferro was himself from Sambuca and Bisacquino so maybe there's a connection. Jimmy DiLeonardo of Bisacquino also traveled overseas with a younger Nino Tamburello and DiLeonardo had close ties to Baltimore.

Don't know which Family the Tamburellos would have been "with" in Youngstown. Joe later shows up as a Gambino member but no indication whether this began in Ohio. Charles Cavallaro transferred from Pittsburgh to the Gambinos in the early 1930s but may have left the area while he was a Gambino and transferred back after returning to Youngstown in the 1940s. It at least shows there were Gambino ties to the area.

[Stroccos]

I mentioned the Tamburellos earlier. Some more info on them:

- From Sambuca, Agrigento, with ties to Bisacquino.
- Nicola Tamburello was active in bootlegging in Baltimore before moving to Youngstown where he was regarded as a top member of the "Sicilian faction".
- Giuseppe Tamburello joined his brother in Youngstown and was close to Nick Naples, who I believe was uncle to the well-known Naples brothers. He said he was a cousin of Naples -- does anyone know where the Naples were from?
- Joe left Youngstown around the early 1940s and moved to Baltimore where he operated an Italian specialty store and was close to Bisacquinese Gambino member Jimmy Caronna. He also lived in Pennsylvania for a time, my guess before Youngstown, but not sure where.
- Nick was deported in 1953 and died within months of leaving the US.
- By the 1960s Joe Tamburello was identified as a Gambino member in the Baltimore decina. He seems to have mainly used his mafia affiliation in the food business.

Interestingly, Vito Cascio Ferro was photographed in NYC with an Antonino Tamburello along with capo dei capi Giuseppe Morello and Carlo Costantino of the Bonannos. If I have the right guy, this Tamburello lived in New Orleans, was from Bisacquino, and his wife was a Caronna, so both names connect to members of the Baltimore Gambino decina. Cascio Ferro was himself from Sambuca and Bisacquino so maybe there's a connection. Jimmy DiLeonardo of Bisacquino also traveled overseas with a younger Nino Tamburello and DiLeonardo had close ties to Baltimore.

Don't know which Family the Tamburellos would have been "with" in Youngstown. Joe later shows up as a Gambino member but no indication whether this began in Ohio. Charles Cavallaro transferred from Pittsburgh to the Gambinos in the early 1930s but may have left the area while he was a Gambino and transferred back after returning to Youngstown in the 1940s. It at least shows there were Gambino ties to the area.

Interesting about the gambino connection

Wasn’t it In the early 70’s there was a sit down where Jack licavoli gave control of youngstown to Pittsburgh

Is this a indication that cleveland was technically in charge of Youngstown ?

What ever the case you it appears you weren’t operating there with out cleveland or Pitt approval

[Ivan]

My Mom spent her last year of high school in the Youngstown area 1965-1966.

Well she was lucky then! It's hard to beat "prosperous Las Vegas in Ohio."

Have you seen this? It's worth a watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZgrXAzH4t0

I want to say she actually lived in Warren.

Ah they're basically the same city. As noted above, there's almost no break in the built up area between them (although there is like 15 miles and 3 or 4 municipalities).

[PolackTony]

My Mom spent her last year of high school in the Youngstown area 1965-1966.

Well she was lucky then! It's hard to beat "prosperous Las Vegas in Ohio."

Have you seen this? It's worth a watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZgrXAzH4t0

I want to say she actually lived in Warren.

Ah they're basically the same city. As noted above, there's almost no break in the built up area between them (although there is like 15 miles and 3 or 4 municipalities).

Great documentary, thanks for posting.

[Ivan]

Great documentary, thanks for posting.

Hey, no problem. It's worth watching just for the part I've linked to directly here -- I fucking lost it when I first saw this part: https://youtu.be/UZgrXAzH4t0?t=4376

[PolackTony]

Great documentary, thanks for posting.

Hey, no problem. It's worth watching just for the part I've linked to directly here -- I fucking lost it when I first saw this part: https://youtu.be/UZgrXAzH4t0?t=4376

Hahaha. Forget the plant closures, car bombs, shotgun attacks, and dope. What really ruined Youngstown was the Steelers fans lol.

[Ivan]

Great documentary, thanks for posting.

Hey, no problem. It's worth watching just for the part I've linked to directly here -- I fucking lost it when I first saw this part: https://youtu.be/UZgrXAzH4t0?t=4376

Hahaha. Forget the plant closures, car bombs, shotgun attacks, and dope. What really ruined Youngstown was the Steelers fans lol.

That was especially fun for me because of my brother and all his hillbilly friends down near West Virginia where they live are always going on about "The Steelers" so that guy's joke really hit close to home.

[Ivan]

Fats Aiello looks like a total mook in footage of him

[PolackTony]

- 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.

I keep saying that these guys are interesting and it's because they really are. There is the local intersection in Youngstown of multiple LCN Families, the intersection of LCN regionally with the "Calabrian organization". But then there are also a lot of connections in various ways to the broader national network, from NYC to CA and almost everywhere in between.

Jasper Joseph "Fats" Aiello was born in 1913 in STL to Antonino "Tony" Aiello, born about 1889 in the Favarotta frazione of Terrasini, and Josephine Russo, born in STL in 1895 to Mariano Russo and Agostina Palmisano, of Termini Imerese. Tony Aiello and his brothers were infamous in the Prohibition era in both STL and Springfield, IL, where the Aiellos relocated around 1920 (I counted over 850 articles in the Springfield press in a 6-year span mentioning the Aiellos). During the 20s, the Aiello brothers were busted multiple times for bootlegging in Springfield and tied to violence that erupted in this period in Springfield, STL, and Chicago. In early 1927, Jasper Aiello, the 19-year-old son of Tony Aiello's brother Domenico, was shot to death in Springfield. Later that summer, Tony Russo and Vincenzo Spicuzza, both of STL and with close ties to Springfield, were found shot to death in the mobbed-up Chicago suburb of Melrose Park. Russo was the brother of Tony Aiello's wife Josephine Russo, and thus an uncle of Jasper "Fats" Aiello (investigators later told the Chicago press that the men were brought to Chicago by Joe Aiello -- no relation to the Terrasinesi Aiellos here, though the press mistakenly reported that they were all "brothers" -- as gunmen for Aiello's conflict with Tony Lombardo and Al Capone, and that Joe Aiello's meddling in STL was part of what triggered a war in the mafia there). Later that year, Tony Aiello's younger brothers Frank and Salvatore Aiello were shot to death in Springfield, and Charles Palmisano, a merchant from Termini Imerese who was very likely a relative of Josephine Russo, was murdered in STL (there were a number of other related murders in this period, which constituted a major war in the STL and Springfield mafia). It was reported that Tony Aiello was marked for death in Springfield and had to flee to relatives in STL for a time. In 1931, Tony Aiello shot and killed Joe Pisciotta, a convicted murderer and coal miner apparently from Castelvetrano, in Springfield and was exonerated on grounds of self-defense, as he claimed that Pisciotta pulled a pistol and threatened to kill him and his son Jasper.

In later years, Tony Aiello worked for the Catholic Church in Springfield and was an important man in the Italian community, serving for years on the committee of the Italian Citizens Club of Sangamon County. His brother-in-law Willie Russo (brother of Tony Russo killed in 1927, and another of Fats Aiello's uncle) was the reputed leader of a faction of younger, American-born mafiosi in STL that included members of the Licavoli, Bommarito, and Giammanco families from Terrasini. In 1930, Willie Russo was living in Ft Worth, TX< and in 1940 in Tulsa. But shortly thereafter, by the time of his WW2 draft card registration, Willie Russo was living in Cleveland. This was around the same time that Jasper Aiello seems to have moved to Youngstown, and I doubt it was a coincidence that Willie Russo's old buddy Jack Licavoli had relocated to Cleveland in 1938 (according to Danny Waugh, Licavoli had escaped being killed in Melrose Park in 1927 with Tony Russo and Vincenzo Spicuzza, at which point Licavoli then fled to Detroit). Willie Russo remained in Cleveland until he died in 1964.

So, Fats Aiello was from a line of infamous mafiosi with multiple relatives killed in the 1920s. I'd agree that he was most likely a Cleveland member and his ties via family to the Licavolis make this even more likely.

[Ivan]

So I take it there's no evidence Vince Deniro was made? What about Sandy Naples?

[FriendofHenry]

So I take it there's no evidence Vince Deniro was made? What about Sandy Naples?

That's an interesting question. No sure about Sandy who I never met but I met Vince when I went to his restaurant/lounge, The Lemon Tree Lounge went Dad took me there for dinner. It was located on Market Street in the Uptown. He ran the all the numbers in the Mahoning Valley for my Great Uncle John. At the time John was one of the most powerful Democratic Chairman's in the country.
Paul Romeo and "Big Dom" gave him all the numbers business in exchange for his political clout.
Directly across the street from The Lemon Tree Lounge is where Vince's car was parked. After he closed one night and started his car it blew up. Both the car and Vince were blown to pieces. Just like normal in those days: "Shit always happens in Youngstown"

[Ed]

So I take it there's no evidence Vince Deniro was made? What about Sandy Naples?

I researched that question while writing an article for Inormer's special Youngstown issue. At least one FBI non-member source (from the early 1960s) maintained Sandy Naples was a Buffalo or Pittsburgh Crime Family member. However, from what I could ascertain, neither Naples nor Vince DeNiro was a Mafia member.

Naples was an independent racketeer reportedly killed for refusing to cut the local Mafia members into his gambling profits. The bombing wars in the early 1960s wouldn't make sense if Naples were an inducted Mafia member.

Naples' former protege Vince DeNiro headed up a rival gambling organization affiliated with the Cleveland Crime Family. DeNiro, an up-and-comer, likely would have been inducted had the Naples organization not killed him in retaliation for Sandy Naples' murder.

The FBI didn't have reliable informant coverage during this era, so my conclusions could be off.

[Ivan]

Speaking of Fats Aiello, this is purportedly him win young. According to the source for this pic, his real name was Gaspare, with Jasper being an Americanization.

[FriendofHenry]

So I take it there's no evidence Vince Deniro was made? What about Sandy Naples?

I researched that question while writing an article for Inormer's special Youngstown issue. At least one FBI non-member source (from the early 1960s) maintained Sandy Naples was a Buffalo or Pittsburgh Crime Family member. However, from what I could ascertain, neither Naples nor Vince DeNiro was a Mafia member.

Naples was an independent racketeer reportedly killed for refusing to cut the local Mafia members into his gambling profits. The bombing wars in the early 1960s wouldn't make sense if Naples were an inducted Mafia member.

Naples' former protege Vince DeNiro headed up a rival gambling organization affiliated with the Cleveland Crime Family. DeNiro, an up-and-comer, likely would have been inducted had the Naples organization not killed him in retaliation for Sandy Naples' murder.

The FBI didn't have reliable informant coverage during this era, so my conclusions could be off.

Understand that just because I met Vince Dinero I never had any thoughts that he was a made man, now I know for sure he wasn't.

[Stroccos]

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.

was toledo originally Cleveland turf?
Yonnie was also expanding into Mansfield and Akron both Cleveland turf. So they probably had blessing to move on those areas.