Members made in their teens

[PolackTony]

According to Ron Fino, Roy Carlisi (b. 1909) was made by the “Capone mob” in Chicago, apparently while in his early 20s (he subsequently transferred to Buffalo later in rhe 1930s).

Jackie Cerone (b. 1914) was probably made in the 1930s, putting him in either his teens or early 20s.

Tony Accardo (b. 1906) was likely made by 1931 at the latest, putting him in his 20s.

Tony Spilotro was also probably made in the 60s when he was in his 20s. According to Frank Cullotta, Paul Ricca took a liking to Spilotro after hearing about a bank robbery he pulled with Joey Lombardo around 1958, which likely put Spilotro on the fast track to being inducted. My guess is that he was made following the “M&M murders” in 1962, as this would certainly have qualified him for membership. A 1970s CI stated that, by that time, Spilotro had been made for “many years”.

There were likely other Chicago members in earlier decades made young, but we don’t have sources documenting when most Chicago guys were made. The pattern in later decades would certainly seem to have leaned towards making guys at a much later age, after they had proved themselves as associates for decades. The only direct accounting that we have of a Chicago ceremony was the 1983 ceremony, where the Calabrese brothers, both in their 40s, were the youngest inductees, while Rocky Infelise was 61. Despite who his brother was, Pete DiFronzo wasn’t made until he was 55, in 1988.

[Ivan]

Teets Battaglia was like 25 when made, wasn't he?

[PolackTony]

Teets Battaglia was like 25 when made, wasn't he?

I’m not aware of a source that proves when Battaglia was made, unless there is something I’m blanking on ATM. While he is one of the guys I would think was made relatively young, he plausibly could have been made any time from the 30s to the 50s.

[Ivan]

Teets Battaglia was like 25 when made, wasn't he?

I’m not aware of a source that proves when Battaglia was made, unless there is something I’m blanking on ATM. While he is one of the guys I would think was made relatively young, he plausibly could have been made any time from the 30s to the 50s.

Antiliar has him made in 1929 in the first post in this thread: viewtopic.php?t=6692&hilit=battaglia

[PolackTony]

Teets Battaglia was like 25 when made, wasn't he?

I’m not aware of a source that proves when Battaglia was made, unless there is something I’m blanking on ATM. While he is one of the guys I would think was made relatively young, he plausibly could have been made any time from the 30s to the 50s.

Antiliar has him made in 1929 in the first post in this thread: viewtopic.php?t=6692&hilit=battaglia

Yeah, I'm aware. That is his hypothesis/opinion of course (which he acknowledges up front, as Antiliar is careful about making outright claims without strong sources of evidence). Which I don't think is necessarily wrong, just that we don't have a source that actually identifies when Battaglia was made, as is also true for most Chicago members. He may well have been made then, but could also have been made years later. We know of other examples of guys who weren't made until decades after one might assume they were (like Rocky Infelise, who was even identified by the FBI as made in the 1960s, even though he wasn't actually made until 1983, or Frank Calabrese, identified by three FBI member sources as made by the early 1970s, even though he was not yet made).

It's unclear to me whether Chicago was inducting members in 1929, given that the Family itself was wracked by internal warfare and had two bosses or acting bosses killed in that year. If Battaglia was indeed made in 1929, was he inducted by a faction of the Chicago Family then at war with itself? Was he inducted by Capone into the Masseria Family and subsequently transferred to Chicago? For my own opinion, the fact that several relatives of Battaglia were murdered in the early 1930s by Taylor St would at least suggest that he was probably not made by that point (though it's possible that he wasn't able to or didn't want to protect them; again, what we don't know is much more than the little that we do know). Unless there is a member source that I'm spacing on or haven't yet seen, these things are a matter of opinion/debate/conjecture.

[antimafia]

If Dave Critchley (ukthesis) and Rick (Antiliar) are following this thread, I’d like to hear from them why there is uncertainty about the age at which Nick Gentile (b. 1885) — before moving from his native Siculiana to the US in 1903 — was initiated into the Porto Empedocle cosca. Repeating what is written in Gentile’s memoir, Critchley writes that Gentile joined a US Family in Philadelphia in 1905 but also that Gentile never provides an indication as to when he was initiated in Sicily before moving to the US.

[Pmac2]

Maybe a handful of guys were made in there teens in the USA I would bet less then 5

[Pmac2]

I mean 18 to 21 isn't that much of a difference

[B.]

If Dave Critchley (ukthesis) and Rick (Antiliar) are following this thread, I’d like to hear from them why there is uncertainty about the age at which Nick Gentile (b. 1885) — before moving from his native Siculiana to the US in 1903 — was initiated into the Porto Empedocle cosca. Repeating what is written in Gentile’s memoir, Critchley writes that Gentile joined a US Family in Philadelphia in 1905 but also that Gentile never provides an indication as to when he was initiated in Sicily before moving to the US.

I'm not aware of any info he provided that suggests he was made in Sicily before the US. He says in his memoir he was made in Philadelphia at age 21 and had been a member for eight years when he moved to Pittsburgh and proposed Gregorio Conti's nephew for membership in the 1910s. He later transferred to the Porto Empedocle Family for a time but gives no indication he was a member in Sicily before entering the US. He understood the Sicilian and US mafia to be one international organization and transferred between them but his initiation was in the US.

--

Unrelated to the above, Cheech already made a thread for members made in their 20s. That list is endless especially pre-1970s so I'd rather avoid discussing that here unless there is question as to whether someone was in their teens or twenties when they were made.

[Antiliar]

If Dave Critchley (ukthesis) and Rick (Antiliar) are following this thread, I’d like to hear from them why there is uncertainty about the age at which Nick Gentile (b. 1885) — before moving from his native Siculiana to the US in 1903 — was initiated into the Porto Empedocle cosca. Repeating what is written in Gentile’s memoir, Critchley writes that Gentile joined a US Family in Philadelphia in 1905 but also that Gentile never provides an indication as to when he was initiated in Sicily before moving to the US.

B is correct. There's nothing in any of his writings that suggests that Gentile was first made in Sicily. If he had been made in Sicily he would have just transferred to a different borgata like he did several times afterward.

[furiofromnaples]

John Gotti jr was 24 y old when was made in 1988.

[Antiliar]

Teets Battaglia was like 25 when made, wasn't he?

I’m not aware of a source that proves when Battaglia was made, unless there is something I’m blanking on ATM. While he is one of the guys I would think was made relatively young, he plausibly could have been made any time from the 30s to the 50s.

Antiliar has him made in 1929 in the first post in this thread: viewtopic.php?t=6692&hilit=battaglia

Joe Fosco said Teets was made by Capone. Willie Messino was his source for a lot of information. My own opinion had been that he was made in the early to mid-1930s, after Capone was sent to Alcatraz.

[Strax]

Wasn't Carlo Gambino made in Sicily when he was like 18?

[LarryC]

Wasn't Carlo Gambino made in Sicily when he was like 18?

Many were made in Sicily in their teens, especially in the 80's.

[PolackTony]

Teets Battaglia was like 25 when made, wasn't he?

I’m not aware of a source that proves when Battaglia was made, unless there is something I’m blanking on ATM. While he is one of the guys I would think was made relatively young, he plausibly could have been made any time from the 30s to the 50s.

Antiliar has him made in 1929 in the first post in this thread: viewtopic.php?t=6692&hilit=battaglia

Joe Fosco said Teets was made by Capone. Willie Messino was his source for a lot of information. My own opinion had been that he was made in the early to mid-1930s, after Capone was sent to Alcatraz.

Thanks for the source. Did Fosco say 1929, as opposed to, say, 1931?