Anthony Rotondo 2005 cross-examination

[brianwellbrock]

Was Rotondo initially arrested in theDec 99 bust ot October 2000? If its the former than how did he continue extorting places from jail? Or was he granted bail and out on the streets before deciding to flip? I believe Capo was the first to roll than Palermo?

He was nabbed in the 1999 bust. I don't remember if he got bail. I don't think so. Capo was the first to flip followed by Palermo. Rotondo flipped latter on in 2002


Pogo

Thanks. These guys sat for a while before flipping. It seems as though they were still earning and family affairs were being run without interuption. Looks like at least Vinny Ocean and Rotondo were still earning, it waant until Capo who was just a lowly solider who probably wasnt making that much before he was arrrsted flipped. After Capo went down Im sure his assets and money dried up

[B.]

Some time ago I went through the demographics of the Elizabeth/Newark Italo-population of its 4 Italo-quarters. Sicilians arrived later, the bulk of Elizabeth were mainland transplants from Mulberry Bend prior to 1900. We all agree that the Riberesi brought the mafia to Elizabeth, how is that possible in 1890 when it was nothing but Napoletan? The Colombos came from the Gambinos, they don't claim to be the oldest group and neither do the Gambinos for that matter. And mafia groups do not relocate en masse, it's a result of chain migration, not some pre-planned effort.

The DeCavalcantes didn't set up in Elizabeth (or probably NJ as a whole) until the 1920s as far as we know. Some of them may have been there in the years leading up to it which may be why the Amaris, Caterinicchios, Majuris, etc. came from NY to Elizabeth in the first place, but there is no reason to believe the DeCavalcantes started out in ELizabeth. That's why if there is even a little bit of truth to these claims that the DeCavalcantes were the earliest family (or one of the earliest), it must be in reference to the pre-DeCavalcante network operating elsewhere in the US and not in Jersey. Unfortunately we don't know who most of the early family members were at that time, otherwise we might be able to see some patterns/relationships.

This is a family that flew completely under LE's radar for 40 years after they set up shop in Elizabeth and they weren't even recognized by LE as an independent organization until the 1960s. Too much we don't know about their history and operating structure. It could have been as simple as five Riberesi mafiosi coming to the US in the 1800s and struggling to be farmers... something that would make them technically the first family, but with no influence or real underworld viability. Impossible to know at this point but I can't rule out the word of two important witnesses yet.

According to what Giovanni Brusca said Cosa Nostra in America is formed primarily by mafiosi from Agrigento.

Huh. Well Ribera is certainly in Agrigento, but without more information it's hard how to gauge his comment. Do you know if he ever met with any DeCavalcante members while he was visiting the US?

[B.]

I have wondered why the first mafiosi came to the US. The exodus started because of pressure from the fascists, but some members came before that. Some of them would have been fleeing personal legal issues, while others may have come because of family/economic opportunity. Why would a mafioso in the 1800s want to leave Sicily where he is relatively important and come to a small immigrant community?

Agrigento kind of gets overlooked because of the dominance of the big players who came over from Palermo and Trapani, though tons of influential members and future members came from there and it's been a solid mafia stronghold as far back as we can go. There have also been some strong Agrigento descended factions in different families. You still don't see much focus on them, though, even within the mob.

The DeCavalcantes might be the most Agrigento-centric family to have ever existed in the US. You never hear anything about early DeCavalcantes having any influence or even contact with the Commission or the national scene. Joe Bonanno never mentions them until Sam DeCav shows up. Their leaders attended Apalachin, so we do know they were tapped into national politics before Sam DeCavalcante became boss, there's just nothing much about them having any say, getting into any significant disputes, etc. They were always just kind of there doing their own thing right there in NYC and Jersey.

[Angelo Santino]

The first mafiosi came to the US in the 1840's, mostly in Louisiana as a result of the Italo-transcontinental commerce trade between Italy, New Orleans and South America. This is a forgotten era in our history. Italians were in America since the 1700's but New Orleans introduced the southern Italo element to America. In the 1870's another mass exodus occurred when southern Italians finished the railroad in Italy and moved abroad to Australia, Canada, the US and Buenos Aires. The mafia coming to America was a result of work/migration and it snowballed and a family was formed in New Orleans. The Civil War changed everything (Italians had their role in that too), the south lost and New York became America's first city. The earliest families would be New Orleans, St Louis, Boston and New York, all of them were up and running no later than 1870. San Francisco, Philadelphia were next on down the line.

But I'm trying my hardest to speculate. If in this influx of mafiosi into America the Riberesi were represented early on like Palermo and Corleone or Castellammare who maintained their tight compaesanismo nationally. That's plausible, by a wide margin. But in NYC let's refer to the the Sciaccatani, This subset was with the Palermitan Gambinos, a smaller but influential nucleus in Manhattan and later the Bronx. Gentile was pressured into joining D'Aquila because those were his compaesani. Here's a map of Ribera with a map of the Sciaccatani cities of NY members who were Gambino'd up. Ribera is smack in the middle.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Ribera+ ... 409639!3e0

Outisde of this immediate circle of affiliations is Menfi (Masseria family) to the north and Licata (Lonardo's of CL) to the south. Both of them were founding CL members and Gentile recollects their affiliation with D'Aquila so it's possible that goes back further. They arrived in CL during Lupo's day and his Family included Sciaccatani relatives, one who had a black hand brother in CL. The entire Agrigento contingent acted like a subset of the Palermitan crowd. The interior Sicilians (Corleonesi) and Trapani (Castellammare, an important fishing and trading city in it's day) were separate hubs of the same mafia network of Sicilian compaesanismo. Outside of NY in certain cities you had homogenous groups like the Riberesi of Eliz, Terrasinesi of Detroit or the Belmonte Mezzagnesi of Philly. But if in NY, they most likely would have been with one of the established Families. And we know many newly arrived mafiosi declared themselves into the NY Mafia in order to operate within mafia legalities. Many national bosses were first affiliated with a NY Family: Milazzo, Magaddino, Lo LaDuca, Messina, I'm sure there's others.

I was already accused of being an asshole today so for the record, I mean all this respectfully. I'm not saying there's no credence to it, I just don't see how and I'm trying very hard to think of how this could fit. But there's always been mafia myths, Via Beai Paoli in Palermo, Luciano's Sicilian Vespers (who many recollected as factual)...

I'm not saying it's not possible that the Riberesi element stayed independent of the larger Agrigento-Sciaccatani affiliation but that's hard to fathom. In 1911, four groups were described, it's difficult to believe Clemente would not have known about a fifth group. And if they weren't in NY, the other possible cities (based on Agrigentesi migration) might have been Cleveland, San Francisco, Chicago Heights, Montgomery County, PA, maybe LA. We agree that Sicilians, not the Tuscans brought the mafia to America. We can divide it further and look at Ribera migration. It won't tell us who was mafia and who wasn't, but it may indicate a possible biosphere with the right demographics where a theoretical Ribera-mafia organization could have flourished. That's the best I can muster.

[B.]

The only area I can come up with that might produce more leads would be Cook County, Illinois. There were a significant number of immigrants from Ribera there including Phil Bacino, but the only other Riberesi mafia members in Illinois that I know of are the DeGeorges and the Lolordo brothers (one of whom would become a NY-based DeCavalcante). There was also Chicago leader Michele Merlo who was from Agrigento province, less than an hour from Ribera. Pasquale Lolordo was close to Merlo and served as one of his pallbearers. There have been many Merlos in the DeCavalcante family but not sure if there is any connection to Michele Merlo. I doubt the DeCavalcantes started out in Illinois, but Cook county looks like it was an important part of the Riberesi network at the time.

As for Elizabeth, by 1907 there was a different Michele Merlo living there with a number of relatives, including cousins Giuseppe and Michele Merlo. Joseph and Michael Merlo are both names of members in the DeCavalcante family, so these could be their older relatives. This would mean the Merlos were in Elizabeth sometime between 1905 when they arrived from Sicily and 1907 when Merlo's daughter was born there. This just means some familiar names were already there, nothing more.

And speaking of familiar names, there was a Filippo Amari from Ribera born in 1829 whose father was named Gioacchino Amari and whose mother was a Morello. If she is related to the Corleone Morellos that would be very interesting. I wonder if this Filippo could be Phil Amari's grandfather. Gioacchino is also the first name of Jake Amari who was the DeCav underboss/acting boss and I believe either a nephew or young cousin of Phil Amari. I assume both Phil and Jake are related to these older namesakes. Jake Amari was said to have spent time in Corleone as a youth where he killed a LE officer and later on had contact with Toto Riina.

What's strange about D'Arco's comment is that he says the Luccheses came from this first NJ family and words it in a way that makes it sound like the Luccheses were the splinter group. I feel like he would have known all about Tom Gagliano and maybe even Reina. Who knows if he knew about the connections to the old Morello family. It makes even less sense to think of the Lucchese/Morello family splitting from the DeCavalcantes than it does to think the DeCavalcantes were the first family. Then there's the whole "la Chiesa" thing.

[Angelo Santino]

Ok, so we're talking Chicago Heights, which was a separate Family from the D'Andrea-Merlo group from Chicago's North End. Capone's group 'absorbed' CH in the 1920's, but prior to that, the Sicilians and mainlanders were bumping elbows and having photos taken together. After Capone took over the area, certain Sicilian members left Chicago for other cities. Perhaps the Riberesi of CH did the same. But then the question becomes how early does CH go back? We know Chicago goes back to the 1890's, one would think the CH chapter formed either during or after that period.

[Pogo The Clown]

Many national bosses were first affiliated with a NY Family: Milazzo, Magaddino, Lo LaDuca, Messina, I'm sure there's others.

I' not recalling Lo LaDuca. What group was he Boss of? Thanks.


Pogo

[Angelo Santino]

Many national bosses were first affiliated with a NY Family: Milazzo, Magaddino, Lo LaDuca, Messina, I'm sure there's others.

I' not recalling Lo LaDuca. What group was he Boss of? Thanks.


Pogo

Scranton after fleeing NY. He might not have been the top boss though.

[B.]

Many national bosses were first affiliated with a NY Family: Milazzo, Magaddino, Lo LaDuca, Messina, I'm sure there's others.

I' not recalling Lo LaDuca. What group was he Boss of? Thanks.


Pogo

Scranton after fleeing NY. He might not have been the top boss though.

How might he play into that statement I posted earlier about the Scranton family being the first group in PA... i.e. did he join with some of his townsfolk in that area and have you found some early info about the family he joined there? It wouldn't be that surprising to me if Scranton was the earliest PA group, as I don't have the the impression Philly was running full steam pre-1900s and I don't know enough about Pittsburgh.

Ok, so we're talking Chicago Heights, which was a separate Family from the D'Andrea-Merlo group from Chicago's North End. Capone's group 'absorbed' CH in the 1920's, but prior to that, the Sicilians and mainlanders were bumping elbows and having photos taken together. After Capone took over the area, certain Sicilian members left Chicago for other cities. Perhaps the Riberesi of CH did the same. But then the question becomes how early does CH go back? We know Chicago goes back to the 1890's, one would think the CH chapter formed either during or after that period.

So when you say we're talking about Chicago Heights, you're thinking Bacino, the Lolordos, and DeGeorge would have been originally aligned with that family and not the same Chicago family that Merlo had been with? Pasquale Lolordo gets mentioned as something of a protege of Merlo but not sure what it's based on. Lolordo was still in NYC until 1917/1918, not sure when he moved to Illinois.

Another note -- the Merlos I mentioned who were established in Elizabeth by the early 1900s were from Ribera, so it's not likely they were direct relatives of Mike Merlo of Chicago, though they were from close enough villages in Sicily to have some relation.

Would be curious of the Peterstown Book has anything of interest. Supposedly it covers ~100 years of Italian-American history there, but I don't know if that just means random photos and anecdotes or if he covers the actual immigration of Riberesi and other Italian groups and how they settled in Peterstown. It's done by the same guy who does the little Peterstown paper; he's involved with the Ribera club and has never shied away from mentioning DeCavalcante members in a legitimate context. It's $45, though, which is a big investment for something that may have little value.

Right now I'm just going to go through some lists of other families who were established in Elizabeth by the early 1900s and see what I can find.

[felice]

brusca visited usa in the early 80s. he was taken around by frank polizzi. polizzi introduced him to several made members and brusca could notice that most of them were from agrigento. there was even a big dinner which brusca talked about in his book.
later he talks about another dinner he had in florida with the local mafia members and even there he could say that most of the guys were from agrigento. trafficante was probably present.
the diecidue family is originary from agrigento, so is vincent lo scalzo.

[B.]

brusca visited usa in the early 80s. he was taken around by frank polizzi. polizzi introduced him to several made members and brusca could notice that most of them were from agrigento. there was even a big dinner which brusca talked about in his book.
later he talks about another dinner he had in florida with the local mafia members and even there he could say that most of the guys were from agrigento. trafficante was probably present.
the diecidue family is originary from agrigento, so is vincent lo scalzo.

Thanks for the info. Have you seen the statement Toto was talking about where Brusca says the US mafia was founded primarily by men from Agrigento? Or maybe Brusca was just making that assumption based on the NJ and FL members he met? Would be good to have more context on how it came up.

Right now I'm just going to go through some lists of other families who were established in Elizabeth by the early 1900s and see what I can find.

To follow up on this real quick, I've found a few families connected to Ribera and/or the future DeCavalcante family living in Elizabeth by the first decade of the 1900s. I mentioned the Merlos already, but some Occhipintis were there by then also (relatives of Sam DeCavalcante, Nick Delmore, and obviously Bobby Basile Occhipinti) and a couple other longtime Elizabeth Riberesi names I recognize like the Marabellas (none were members that I know of, but they were involved with local 394).

There are probably more, but these stood out. Would like to cross-reference some of the census records for Italian families living in Elizabeth with immigration records to see if some names I don't recognize were also from Ribera.

It's not much, but we can be sure there were Ribera immigrants living in Elizabeth by ~1905. I would guess there was a decent foundation of them there by the time Amari moved across the river in the 1920s.

[toto]

Yeah that was Brusca's statement after he was introduced around.

[bronx]

how come daunt a. was never charged with weiss? everyone else was

[bronx]

that was danny a.above comment

[brianwellbrock]

Yeah if the bulk of who Brusca met were Decavs and Trafficante members most if not all would of had Agrigento origin. So he may of just came to that conclusion.

Off topic, the Agrigento province seems to be an island of its own. Besides Palermo that seems like the most mobbed up place. They seem to be on par woth Palermo ln local influence but have a smaller population thus making it easier for a stranglehold.