The Tunis Family

[PolackTony]

I don't know if there's any connections, but in Chicago there was an associate of Chuckie English named Sam Farrugia, and I think there was a Bonanno soldier named Natale Farrugia.

FWIW, Sam Farrugia’s father was Francesco Farruggia, who was from Agrigento city, so unlikely to have been a relative of Marcello’s mother.

[JoelTurner]

From the other thread:

- A 1956 article clears up Carlos Marcello's background. It states his father Giuseppe Minacore was born in Ravanusa, Agrigento, and moved to Tunis with his family while Giuseppe was still a child. It states Marcello's mother Luigia Farruggia/Ferruggia was born in Roccamena but moved to Tunis when she was a baby. Giuseppe Minacore moved to the US at age 18, but returned to Tunis to marry Luigia, which is where Calogero "Carlos" was conceived and born.

Thanks I missed that

[johnny_scootch]

Probably a good idea to combine this thread with the one B. made 2 years ago.

I agree but idk how to do that

Only the moderators can do it, great first post btw.

[B.]

I don't know if there's any connections, but in Chicago there was an associate of Chuckie English named Sam Farrugia, and I think there was a Bonanno soldier named Natale Farrugia.

FWIW, Sam Farrugia’s father was Francesco Farruggia, who was from Agrigento city, so unlikely to have been a relative of Marcello’s mother.

Sally Fruits of the Bonanno had roots in Montaperto which is right by Agrigento citta. The Farruggia name under its different spellings is heavily concentrated in AG.

[Antiliar]

Probably a good idea to combine this thread with the one B. made 2 years ago.

I agree but idk how to do that

Only the moderators can do it, great first post btw.

Topics merged

[PolackTony]

I don't know if there's any connections, but in Chicago there was an associate of Chuckie English named Sam Farrugia, and I think there was a Bonanno soldier named Natale Farrugia.

FWIW, Sam Farrugia’s father was Francesco Farruggia, who was from Agrigento city, so unlikely to have been a relative of Marcello’s mother.

Sally Fruits of the Bonanno had roots in Montaperto which is right by Agrigento citta. The Farruggia name under its different spellings is heavily concentrated in AG.

Yeah, that’s right. Forgot about Sally Fruits. And yes, the Farruggia surname (and so far as I know, that’s the original spelling) is heavily concentrated in AG, particularly AG Città, Raffadali, and Aragona.

[motorfab]

- Looking through the FBN book, the Maugeri brothers Corrado and Giovanni were born in Tunisia. Their family appears to come from Catania and Eastern Sicily, possibly a sign that a Catanesi element in Tunis already existed that the Calderones' uncle Saitta joined up with.

- A Francesco/Francois Licari is listed in the FBN as a figure living in Milan who was born in Tunis in 1915. I'm not sure what his exact Italian/Sicilian heritage is, but he was known as "il Tunisino" (i.e. the Tunisian) and was a drug trafficker associated with fellow Tunis-born Giovanni Maugeri of NYC. Maugeri was also associated with the Sorci brothers, who as Calderone said had their own ties to Tunis.

I was doing some research on Giovanni Maugeri, I found a few other links with Tunis.

-I'm just starting with an aside on François Licari who was connected to Maugeri in Milan. Licari was a Frenchman born in Tunis, it is very likely that he used the name Francesco (Italian version of François) when he fled to Italy. Note, it's not very smart to just change your first name when you're wanted. Anyway, he was likely not Italian, except for his origins

Very little information about him but according to the FBN, he fled to Italy because he was wanted for his collaboration with the Germans during the war (in short, he was probably a member of the Gestapo like many other French mobsters). In this regard, appears in his list of associates Antoine D'Agostino, fugitive for the same reason, but who fled to Montreal. Coincidentally, D'Agostino is of Italian origin (Naples) and was born in Algeria, another French colony which is located next to Tunisia.

-Regarding Maugeri, he was deported from the USA in 1957 and settled in Milan. He was very active in drug trafficking between Milan & Marseille and has the same address book as Licari (Dominique Albertini, Sorci, Cuomo, Bellanca and all the clique).

Where it becomes interesting for Tunis (sorry for the long intro without much relation to the initial subject), is that in Milan he was in business with other Sicilian-Tunisians. 3 names stand out: Benito Gallo, Salvatore "il Tunisino" Gambino & Antonio "Nenè il Tunisino" Bruno. Corrado Maugeri (born in Bizerte, Tunisia), Giovanni/John/Jean's brother was also part of the group

The gang was obviously involved in drugs and Bruno, who was officially a butcher, distributed bags of cocaine with sausages.

Gambino & Gallo were killed in 1974 and Maugeri was found dead in a bag in a canal in a Milan neighborhood in 1975.

The names Bruno, Gambino & Gallo are quite common, so it's not easy to find possible connections with other mafiosi from Tunis, but I found it interesting to find all these guys from Tunisia in Milan.

[B.]

Where it becomes interesting for Tunis (sorry for the long intro without much relation to the initial subject)

You fucked up, Fab. You're talking to a guy who is always concise and to the point.

No, excellent job my friend. I appreciate more details on Maugeri as I know little to nothing about him. Milan had a Cosa Nostra presence so these guys' travels show them to stay within the network even when going to other outposts.

[JoelTurner]

Is it known where exactly these Maugeris were from?

There was a Salvatore "Sam" Maugeri in Santa Cruz, CA who was identified as the leader of a narcotics ring in 1944. He had replaced Charles LaGaipa who was killed the year prior. A bunch of made guys were a part of it.

He was born Sep 13 1892 in San Giorgio Morgeto, Reggio Calabria, Calabria

[motorfab]

Is it known where exactly these Maugeris were from?

There was a Salvatore "Sam" Maugeri in Santa Cruz, CA who was identified as the leader of a narcotics ring in 1944. He had replaced Charles LaGaipa who was killed the year prior. A bunch of made guys were a part of it.

He was born Sep 13 1892 in San Giorgio Morgeto, Reggio Calabria, Calabria

I think Giovanni's real real name was Moceri. I have another FBN file where his name is spelled that way and the newspaper articles I found are also spelled "Mauceri"

Where it becomes interesting for Tunis (sorry for the long intro without much relation to the initial subject)

You fucked up, Fab. You're talking to a guy who is always concise and to the point.

Thanks, will do my best to fuck-up even more in the future, you know me I love to find connections with obscure mobsters that only interest me haha

[motorfab]

Sorry my phone messed-up, it obviously Mauceri, not Moceri.

[PolackTony]

Is it known where exactly these Maugeris were from?

There was a Salvatore "Sam" Maugeri in Santa Cruz, CA who was identified as the leader of a narcotics ring in 1944. He had replaced Charles LaGaipa who was killed the year prior. A bunch of made guys were a part of it.

He was born Sep 13 1892 in San Giorgio Morgeto, Reggio Calabria, Calabria

Interesting find. San Giorgio Morgeto is an important town in the Ontario Calabrian community, with strong ties to Calabrian OC there and Buffalo LCN. On the “Combaneesh” thread, B recently brought up SGM in relation to the Longos, who were from SGM. Dominick Longo became an LA member, so we see at least two Morgeti with ties to SoCal.

Maugeri is one of the surnames present also in the Guelph, ON, colony from SGM:

http://morgeti.blogspot.com/2007/03/san ... o.html?m=1

In a prior post here, B believed that the Tunis Maugeri/Mauceri had origins in Catania. Both spellings can be found in Sicily and Reggio Calabria, but it’s worth noting that it is primarily concentrated in Catania.

[motorfab]

Very late response, but it seems that according to the FBN Sam Maugeri was born December 16, 1897 in Catania and not September 13, 1892 in San Giorgio Morgeto. Was the FBN wrong?

[JoelTurner]

Very late response, but it seems that according to the FBN Sam Maugeri was born December 16, 1897 in Catania and not September 13, 1892 in San Giorgio Morgeto. Was the FBN wrong?

(https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/444 ... lo-maugeri)

Both his WW2 draft card and his grave give his DOB as Sep 13 1892.

[motorfab]

Ok thanks Joel. I guess it's still a possibility that they were also wrong about his place of birth then