Info On San Diego Member Phil Damiano

[cavita]

Looking for more info on San Diego LCN member Phil Damiano if anyone has anything. What I do know about Damiano is limited. What I do have:

January 29, 1902 he was born in San Gregorio di Catania, Sicily.

October 27, 1920 immigrated through Ellis Island aboard the S.S. Giuseppe Verde and his destination was to his cousin Antonino Scafidi in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His mother was listed as Genoveffa Collica.

December 16, 1926 arrested in Milwaukee with Peter Balistrieri and Vito Balistrieri for assaulting and robbing Frank Pfaff. Damiano had slugged Pfaff in the head with a pistol. Phil and Peter were also charged with the intent to kill patrolman Ray Carlson when he pursued the men. Fearing deportation, Damiano fled the city when the case was indicted, apparently to Rockford, Illinois where he became a member there. Because Damiano couldn’t be located, the case was finally dropped on January 23, 1935. Vito Balistrieri had been arrested in Pueblo, Colorado at what appears to have been a Mafia meeting.

August 4, 1927 his truck on fire, he drove it two blocks to Engine Company number 10 in Milwaukee and they extinguished the fire. He was listed at living at 246 Milwaukee Street.

January 7, 1937 married Viola Simon in Rockford. They were both listed as living in Beloit, Wisconsin.

January 1938 was arrested in connection with a massive bootlegging ring near Woodstock, Illinois from April 1936 to March 1937. Others involved were Angelo Baraconi, Joe Capriola, both from Rockford, John Sardo, Joe DiGirolamo, Mike Anzaldo, Geno Andonna, all of South Beloit, Illinois, Frank Brown and George Stasin from Beloit, Illinois, Sam DiGaetano of Chicago, Tony Laudicina of St. Louis, Missouri and Albert Kanzenback of Waupun, Wisconsin.

November 1948 arrived back in the United States from Palermo, Sicily with his son Carmelo. They were returning to the Beloit, Wisconsin area.
December 27, 1951 was naturalized an American citizen in San Diego, California.

Listed in an FBI report as a “made” member of the Rockford mob. According to Milwaukee LCN informant Augie Maniaci from an April 10, 1968 FBI file, Damiano left Rockford years earlier for San Diego and worked there as a commercial fisherman but was under San Diego capo Joe Adamo there.
Conflicting info as his obituary states he moved to San Diego in 1926, lived there 10 years and moved back to Sicily in 1936 and that in 1960 he returned to San Diego and lived there until he died in 1978. He most likely lived in the Rockford area from 1937-1950.

March 5, 1978 died in San Diego, California.

[B.]

Bompensiero initially identified him as a Milwaukee member living in San Diego but later said he was originally made with Rockford which matches Maniaci's info. I'm not sure if Bomp made an error when he first identified him as a Milwaukee member or if Damiano's trajectory did go Rockford>Milwaukee>Los Angeles.

Beloit is Rockford territory but he did live in Wisconsin for a time so who knows. Bomp was very familiar with Milwaukee given he once lived there and had a close relationship to Francesco and Pietro Balistrieri (Milwaukee members in SD) as well as the boss Frank Balistrieri, but you'd think Maniaci would have mentioned Damiano being with Milwaukee if that was ever the case.

[cavita]

Bompensiero initially identified him as a Milwaukee member living in San Diego but later said he was originally made with Rockford which matches Maniaci's info. I'm not sure if Bomp made an error when he first identified him as a Milwaukee member or if Damiano's trajectory did go Rockford>Milwaukee>Los Angeles.

Beloit is Rockford territory but he did live in Wisconsin for a time so who knows. Bomp was very familiar with Milwaukee given he once lived there and had a close relationship to Francesco and Pietro Balistrieri (Milwaukee members in SD) as well as the boss Frank Balistrieri, but you'd think Maniaci would have mentioned Damiano being with Milwaukee if that was ever the case.

Exactly my thoughts- Maniaci never identified him as a Milwaukee member and I tend to think he was given refuge in the Rockford area due to ties between the two cities and he was then made there. The early era is frustrating trying to fill in these gaps and sometimes poor memories from informants complicates things.