New LCNBios posts

[johnny_scootch]

New bio on Carmine (Turi) Franzese.

[PolackTony]

New bio on Carmine (Turi) Franzese.

When I first saw your post, I got hyped because I thought this meant that JD had found info confirming the LCN membership of Carmine “The Lion” (who JD of course noted as a suspected Colombo member).

Still a great bio on “Little Carmine”, though. I didn’t know that his mother was non-Italian. JD notes that her maiden name was Grace Cosgrove and I was able to confirm that she was of Anglo-Canadian and German ancestry. JD also notes that a couple of CIs reported that when Carmine was made in 1976, there was resentment from some quarters as there were those who believed that others deserved it more than him. One CI even reported that the then jailed Sonny Franzese opposed Carmine’s induction for unknown reasons. This seems a little surprising, given that sources had previously painted Carmine as a highly respected associate who acted as the right hand man for Joe Brancato, which makes me wonder if his ancestry was the issue.

One source also said that Carmine Galante “sponsored Tutti Franzese of the Colombo Crime Family with the approval of Joseph Brancato”. I don’t know if this claim was previously discussed on the board. As I don’t know who the source is, I’m not sure how to weigh the claim. Could be just confusion on the part of the CI, or it could be that Galante was in fact involved in some way with Carmine Franzese’s induction. Clearly the source was not Scarpa, or JD would have stated this, so I have no idea if the source was a made guy in the position to actually know anything of substance about Franzese’s induction.

[johnny_scootch]

One source also said that Carmine Galante “sponsored Tutti Franzese of the Colombo Crime Family with the approval of Joseph Brancato”. I don’t know if this claim was previously discussed on the board. As I don’t know who the source is, I’m not sure how to weigh the claim. Could be just confusion on the part of the CI, or it could be that Galante was in fact involved in some way with Carmine Franzese’s induction. Clearly the source was not Scarpa, or JD would have stated this, so I have no idea if the source was a made guy in the position to actually know anything of substance about Franzese’s induction.

I highly doubt this informant was made, seems to me like this person was misinterpreting and confusing different things he was hearing.

I thought it was funny that all those Colombo guys had to attend Carmine's daughters wedding on one day and be at the same exact location for Lenny Dello's daughters wedding the very next day and then here comes Rocco Miraglia's daughter getting married the very next weekend!

[Tonyd621]

In November 2014 among 129 included in Bonanno Organized Crime Family List compiled by Federal government..."

Do we have this list posted somewhere?

[johnny_scootch]

In November 2014 among 129 included in Bonanno Organized Crime Family List compiled by Federal government..."

Do we have this list posted somewhere?

Here it is

https://lcnbios.blogspot.com/2018/06/bo ... -2014.html

[PolackTony]

One source also said that Carmine Galante “sponsored Tutti Franzese of the Colombo Crime Family with the approval of Joseph Brancato”. I don’t know if this claim was previously discussed on the board. As I don’t know who the source is, I’m not sure how to weigh the claim. Could be just confusion on the part of the CI, or it could be that Galante was in fact involved in some way with Carmine Franzese’s induction. Clearly the source was not Scarpa, or JD would have stated this, so I have no idea if the source was a made guy in the position to actually know anything of substance about Franzese’s induction.

I highly doubt this informant was made, seems to me like this person was misinterpreting and confusing different things he was hearing.

I thought it was funny that all those Colombo guys had to attend Carmine's daughters wedding on one day and be at the same exact location for Lenny Dello's daughters wedding the very next day and then here comes Rocco Miraglia's daughter getting married the very next weekend!

Agreed on both points lol. Obviously, Galante wasn’t going to be directly sponsoring Colombo members. The one thing that made me stop and think about it was that we do know that at times guys from different Families did in fact attend each other’s ceremonies, so there could be some kernel of truth just at that level. Without getting a sense of who the informant was, it could also just be a complete error.

[B.]

Maybe Galante spoke on his behalf to get his name cleared since it sounds like Sonny Franzese was trying to blackball him. There have been examples of members from other Families sponsoring someone into a different group (John Misuraca with San Jose for example) but I doubt this took place in 1970s NYC, especially with Galante.

Great write-up. Always found it interesting Franzese was such a rising star in the 1970s then faded in the 1980s before his death.

[PolackTony]

Maybe Galante spoke on his behalf to get his name cleared since it sounds like Sonny Franzese was trying to blackball him. There have been examples of members from other Families sponsoring someone into a different group (John Misuraca with San Jose for example) but I doubt this took place in 1970s NYC, especially with Galante.

Great write-up. Always found it interesting Franzese was such a rising star in the 1970s then faded in the 1980s before his death.

Yeah, another great bio. Doesn’t look like there was any personal tie between Turi Franzese and Galante, but they were from the same (broadly general) part of town so who knows. As JD details, CI accounts painted him as a respected associate but then it seems that his induction was somewhat controversial. It could be some other issue that we otherwise don’t know about, but the fact that he was only half-Ital jumped out at me. We know the NYC Families relaxed the full Ital rule when they re-opened the books in ‘76, but I can imagine that it still would have been controversial for a lot of guys. Or, at least, as we see with a lot of discourse around the rules, guys who didn’t like him for other reasons could well have weaponize it as ammunition against him. Just speculating, of course, as none of the sources that JD discussed reported what the issue was that guys had with Franzese being inducted.

[JakeTheSnake630]

Is this speculating that maybe Jackie Deross was an informant? Or is this an informant talking about DeRoss? Also never knew that Moose Panarella was his bro in-law. This site is awesome I love recommending it to people.

"On September 16, 1975 Unsub, believed to be Colombo Associate John 'Jackie' DeRoss, interviewed by FBI: "...[DeRoss] stated on one occasion about a month ago, he met with Joseph Brancato and Tutti Franzese at a restaurant in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn with [Captain Charles] Panarella." (DeRoss, Panarella's brother-in-law, was inducted into the Colombos around 1977.)"

[funkster]

Did not know that either.

[B.]

Intriguing post about Tony Riela flying to Los Angeles two days before the Carmine Galante murder then traveling to Springfield the day after Galante's murder where Riela met with Anthony Zito and other Springfield figures: https://lcnbios.blogspot.com/2025/04/bo ... -1979.html

He also drove to Chicago before flying back to Newark.

[PolackTony]

Intriguing post about Tony Riela flying to Los Angeles two days before the Carmine Galante murder then traveling to Springfield the day after Galante's murder where Riela met with Anthony Zito and other Springfield figures: https://lcnbios.blogspot.com/2025/04/bo ... -1979.html

He also drove to Chicago before flying back to Newark.

Very cool photo of Riela with Tony Zito and Frank Campo in Springfield. Doesn’t seem like the Feds were able to find out who Riela may have been meeting with in LA.

[B.]

Riela used his Springfield contacts to make formal introductions between the Bonanno and Milwaukee Families to set-up Donnie Brasco's operations a couple years before this too.

[JoelTurner]

Riela’s sister Ignazia Fileccia lived in LA. She passed away in 1981 so he could have gone to visit her during this trip

[B.]

Makes sense he'd be visiting his sister. In terms of other possible connections, wasn't LA captain Polizzi's family from San Giuseppe Jato? Polizzi was from Buffalo originally but it brings to mind Riela's close friend/relative Frank Polizzi.