The induction ceremony took place in a small private back room at the Italian-American brotherhood Club in Cleveland's Murray Hill district, on Mayfield Road. The sacred mafia vow of omerta was administered to the duo by the underboss, Angelo 'Big Ange' Lonardo. Also present in the ceremony was mob boss, James T Licavoli, and Charlie Casra, a retired member of the Cleveland family.
This portion is from the book Mob Nemesis by that FBI agent who worked Cleveland and Buffalo. The other stuff sounds made up.
Pogo
It's a new morning in America... fresh, vital. The old cynicism is gone. We have faith in our leaders. We're optimistic as to what becomes of it all. It really boils down to our ability to accept. We don't need pessimism. There are no limits.
Thanks, checked out the book. Here's what Joe Griffin writes about the 1970s-1980s Cleveland ceremonies:
Sometime in 1977 Anthony Liberatore and John Calandra were made members of the family. Lonardo said that murder usually was a prerequisite for becoming a member but in the case of Calandra and Liberatore this was not one of the facts they considered.
The induction ceremony for Calandra and Liberatore took place in the basement of the Roman Gardens Restaurant in the Murray Hill section of Cleveland. Licavoli and Lonardo were initially present for the ceremony. 'Jimmy the Weasel' Fratianno was eating dinner upstairs and eventually wandered downstairs, unannounced and uninvited. He was, nonetheless, asked to remain. Lonardo and Licavoli had both forgotten how to conduct the LCN initiation ceremony and they asked Fratianno for assistance. Fratianno repeated the LCN oath to Calandra and Liberatore. Both Calandra and Liberatore had their fingers pricked by Licavoli to draw a small amount of blood. Lonardo explained to them the rules of the LCN - no one leaves the family alive, they should never talk to the FBI, they were expected to refrain from the use and/or sale of narcotics (what a joke that was!), they could never become involved in prostitution, and they could never become involved with another member's wife. They were instructed that they should keep Licavoli and/or Lonardo aware of all family matters and never 'do anything' without first getting permission.
In the summer of 1979 Joseph Gallo and Thomas Sinito were also made members of the Cleveland family. Their induction ceremony took place in the back room of the Italian-American Brotherhood Club on Mayfield Road in the Murray Hill district. Present during this ceremony were Licavoli, Lonardo, and Charlie Casara, and old, retired member of the Cleveland family. Lonardo joked that this time he and Licavoli remembered the oath and the ceremony.
In early 1983 Lonardo presided over another induction ceremony wherein Russell Papalardo and Joseph 'Joe Loose' Iacobacci Jr were made members of the Cleveland LCN family. They were recommended for membership by both Joe Gallo and Tommy Sinito. At the time of these inductions Lonardo was told that Iacobacci had committed the Joe Bonarrigo murder. He told us that Bonarrigo and Curly Montana were responsible for the murder of John Nardi. A third individual, whose identity was not known to Lonardo, was also involved in the hit.
'You don't go crucifying people outside a church; not on Good Friday.'
The induction ceremony took place in a small private back room at the Italian-American brotherhood Club in Cleveland's Murray Hill district, on Mayfield Road. The sacred mafia vow of omerta was administered to the duo by the underboss, Angelo 'Big Ange' Lonardo. Also present in the ceremony was mob boss, James T Licavoli, and Charlie Casra, a retired member of the Cleveland family.
This portion is from the book Mob Nemesis by that FBI agent who worked Cleveland and Buffalo. The other stuff sounds made up.
Information originally derived from that thing about Sinito getting made from the Wayback Machine has been circulating forever and is written by some strange woman who as noted was writing historical fiction loosely based on the Cleveland Mafia. I wouldn't put too much stock in it; her reconstructions of events were similar to William F. Roemer's but much worse. The books she was working on as far as I know never appeared. You could ask Porello directly about her as that's from his site.
