General Mob Questions

[motorfab]

I'm not sure why they arrested Inzone, probably because he was associated with them in NJ or if if he really killed them. I think I read in a book (in Octopus or in one of my French books, I don't remember) that Giuseppe "Pino Scarpuzzedda" Greco arranged the hit on Tramontana & Romano. It seems credible

Indeed, Buscetta was close to the Gambinos/Inzerillo, and I share your opinion on his arrogance. Although his testimony is invaluable, he seemed to have a big ego. The main problem I had with him was that he denies his involvement in drugs when it's obvious and widely proven that he had his hands in it, and not just a little.

It was Badalamenti who asked him to return to Italy, bad move which led to 14 members of his family being murdered.

DiMaria was suspected of the murder of Trapani prosecutor Giacomo Montaldo.

As for Rina he was another zip, not related to Salvatore Riina, connected to the Gambino & Bonanno Families. Among other things He had been indicted for drug trafficking with Charles Battaglia (L.A. & Bonanno Crime Family) in Arizona in 1978. I don't know if he was convicted, but he was later arrested as part of Operation Iron Tower in 1988 with other zips including members of the Cherry Hill Crew

[Camo]

I'm not sure why they arrested Inzone, probably because he was associated with them in NJ or if if he really killed them. I think I read in a book (in Octopus or in one of my French books, I don't remember) that Giuseppe "Pino Scarpuzzedda" Greco arranged the hit on Tramontana & Romano. It seems credible

Indeed, Buscetta was close to the Gambinos/Inzerillo, and I share your opinion on his arrogance. Although his testimony is invaluable, he seemed to have a big ego. The main problem I had with him was that he denies his involvement in drugs when it's obvious and widely proven that he had his hands in it, and not just a little.

It was Badalamenti who asked him to return to Italy, bad move which led to 14 members of his family being murdered.

DiMaria was suspected of the murder of Trapani prosecutor Giacomo Montaldo.

As for Rina he was another zip, not related to Salvatore Riina, connected to the Gambino & Bonanno Families. Among other things He had been indicted for drug trafficking with Charles Battaglia (L.A. & Bonanno Crime Family) in Arizona in 1978. I don't know if he was convicted, but he was later arrested as part of Operation Iron Tower in 1988 with other zips including members of the Cherry Hill Crew

Thanks for your response again.

I was actually referring to something earlier when i mentioned him returning to Italy. It was the early stages of the Corleone takeover when Bontade and Inzerillo were both still alive and Badalamenti hadn't been run off yet. According to Buscetta (or as this book claims at least i haven't read his testimony yet) he was asked to come back and did for a bit and he was begged to stay and fight the Corleonesi but he refused and went back to Brazil, i can't remember which of the three it was. I doubt it was Bontade though with the way he was portrayed.

Thanks for the correction on Dalla Chiesa, i thought that could've been wrong since he was a General rather than a Prosecutor it was just because he was killed around that time and his wife died alongside him too. Thought since he was pursuing the Mafia that could have been a misinterpretation by the media. I don't believe i've encountered Montaldo's murder. I wonder who the actual shooter of Dalla Chiesa was if that's accurate then, it wasn't Giuseppe Lucchese he was there but the way it was written it clearly wasn't him.

I have to say a lot of my preconceived notions or narratives i had come across have been dispelled. For example Provenzano being "the real brains" behind the Corleonesi which was something i was always skeptical of as that's something people like to claim in these kinds of things, it's a contrarian thing i think another example is Fabio Ochoa being the real king of Colombian drug trafficking and not Escobar.

Not only does it seem like Provenzano wasn't the "real brains" it seems like he was genuinely stupid. Leggio couldn't attend the Commission personally because he was in exile so had to send someone else, he didn't want to send Riina because he felt he was too ambitious but he ultimately did because his other option was Provenzano and he thought he was an idiot saying "Provenzano shoots like a god, too bad he has the brains of a hen". This completely matches the perception I was getting of Provenzano before I read that, he very much seems to have been a moron. There's three different situations where Provenzano was on a hit and it ended up fucked up with Provenzano being the one who got injured, one of those times he was shot in the head and was lucky to live. Think about that, he was the one with the plan attacking some unknowing victim and he's the one who ended up shot. I'm not saying he survived three assassination attempts i'm saying he fucked up three hits so badly he almost got himself killed. The most famous time is the assassination of Michele Cavataio where Calogero Bagarella ended up dead too. That was apparently Provenzano's fault, they were supposed to go in dressed as policemen subdue and unarm Cavataio and his associates then kill them all, but Provenzano started shooting at the first person they encountered fucking the plan up and leading to a shootout where Bagarella was killed, Provenzano himself was shot in the hand.

Antonino Calderone said Provenzano was a terrible driver to the point that he had to tell all his members if they have a car not to let Provenzano drive it. While Leggio was in exile as Calderone's guest Provenzano was his bodyguard and helper, usually those duties would include driving but Leggio wouldn't let him drive his car lol. Dude was an idiot. Everyone describes Riina as the smart, cunning, devious one. Provenzano seemed to have been a hyperviolent revered assasin (which i find baffling itself considering all his apparent fuckups), otherwise he seems almost like the Mr. Bean of the Corleonesi. It's interesting that Provenzano is spoke of as personally violent (rather than ordering killings) far more than Riina and was thought of much more as an assassin which suggests he was the muscle and Riina was the brains if they had roles. Even when he was a bigshot there was the "Bagheria Concentration Camp" that he oversaw right next to his office. Buscetta also said Riina and Provenzano are on equal footing except Riina is "much more intelligent" than Provenzano therefore Riina has greater weight. Of course i'm going by one book i'm planning on reading whatever else i can and understand this isn't the final authority, however it sounds like the other sources i'm going to read like Calderone and Buscetta agreed themselves that Provenzano was stupid as well as Leggio if he was accurately quoted.

There's lots of others, the portrayal of Bontade, Inzerillo and Badalamenti i had in my head too. It's no wonder they got took out they especially Bontade seemed like flashy arrogant assholes. Bontade seemed very much in the mold of a John Gotti type only even worse since he came from nepotism and called himself "The Prince", he must have been despised especially by the struggling smaller Bosses after the Ciaculli Massacre arrests decimated them. Maybe the smartest thing the Corleonesi did was the kidnappings for ransom then sharing the money among the struggling Bosses who weren't being helped by the bigshots like Bontade, Inzerillo and Badalamenti. That was a major source of power for the Corleonesi in gaining loyal allies, the "Paesants" helped them out rather than the bigshots. It would be like if you were starving and poor and a rich man refused to buy you a meal, then a working class man came along and shared his meal to you, you'd be so grateful. The Corleonesi were monsters but they knew how to play the game especially Riina.

[cobra]

- october 1982 all families dissolve
- november 1982 new families created
- ciaculli boss: pino greco, underboss: vincenzo puccio, consigliere: mario prestifilippo
- christmas 1982: giovannello greco return to sicily with giuseppe romano aka u miricanu
- giovannello have shoot out like cowboys with pino in ciaculli streets
- pino wounded
- giuseppe romano return to usa but was killed, tramontana was with him and also killed
- about 10 murders took place for revenge to kill pino

[Camo]

- october 1982 all families dissolve
- november 1982 new families created
- ciaculli boss: pino greco, underboss: vincenzo puccio, consigliere: mario prestifilippo
- christmas 1982: giovannello greco return to sicily with giuseppe romano aka u miricanu
- giovannello have shoot out like cowboys with pino in ciaculli streets
- pino wounded
- giuseppe romano return to usa but was killed, tramontana was with him and also killed
- about 10 murders took place for revenge to kill pino

Interesting. I'm right at the part i've been commenting on in the book so i've not got to what you are describing, probably shouldn't have started commenting on it before i was finished but i didn't want to forget.

What do you mean by the last part? People were trying to kill Pino? Who and who was murdered? Giovannello i assume? Riina killed Greco later right his death wasn't related to this? Is Giovannello related to Pino or is he related to Michele/Salvatore as i don't believe they were related to Pino?

Sorry for so many questions (especially such basic ones) i'm just very interested in this right now.

[motorfab]

Yes, that's it, thanks for the reminder cobra.

Giovanello & Pino Greco were cousins and Pino shelved Giovanello and few others Giovanello's friends/relatives of Ciaculli. There's this crazy story where Pino had the house of a widow walled up because she refused to leave and had to leave in a hurry so she wouldn't end up trapped in her own house.

Nuts.