Pittsburgh Illegal Gambling Bust

[FriendofHenry]

^^^
interesting. Was Porter a capo before and/or after la rocca died?
You'll find your answer above.

who stepped to Mannarino spot when he "checked out" and when u say that do u mean retired?
When Gabe died, "checked-out", Jo Jo took his spot as Under-Boss.

[Stroccos]

Maybe this is asked and/or talked about ad nauseum but I still don't know for certain why Michael Genovese inducted so few men. Didn't he have enough good candidates or where there other reasons? And did NY really forbid Pittsburgh to induct any more guys after Porter flipped? Could a guy like Ciancutti for instance, to the best of your knowledge, induct anybody today if he had a capable candidate?

Whose going to stop Ciancutti? We can only assume sonny is smart enough to know it’s over ! What would be the point make anyone ?

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

JCB, FoF & FoH, I appreciate your first hand info/stories on the Cleve/YoungsT/Pitt nexus. Please keep posting.
I will certainly be reading with great interest. Thanks, SP

[FriendofHenry]

as well as what other big cities were involved with Genovese?

where does Joey Naples come in?

Jimmy Prato aka. 2 Gun Jimmy, was the #1 Guy in the Mahoning Valley. Joey was his nephew and Jimmy made both he and Lenny. Don't ask me why, but they kind of split the duties as Boss after Jimmy stepped down. Joey and Lenny were bitter rivals and although most thought Lenny had Joey wacked, he really didn't. A rather notorious bank robber, an exMarine sniper, did it on his own to gain favor with Lenny. Only in the Mahoning Valley Shortly there after Michael send Henry to town to supervise Lenny, just in case.

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

JCB & FoH, how did Dominic Mallamo fit in with the crowd
in The Mahoning Valley?

[FriendofHenry]

Big Dom was JCB's Uncle. He and Paul Romeo from Campbell ran the Mahoning Valley way back when.

[JCB1977]

Michael held Chucky in the highest regard. It was his most trusted underling by 1987 (besides Charlie). Chucky made Michael millions. Chucky was very respected by associates because he was Michael’s guy but I’m positive he left a bad taste in a few members mouths. Sonny Amato was one of them. Michael made Sonny directly report to Chucky...keep in mind that Sonny’s Dad Frank Amato Sr was one of the earliest members, longtime Boss and most respected around the country. Michael answered to him. Sonny was also the brother in law to Kelly Mannarino (son in law to Frank Sr)...he was pissed to no end when he had to answer to Chucky. John Bazzano Jr as well.

Chucky was a family man first. His own family. He was very active in his kids lives and All turned out successful. His youngest, Tiffany, was had out of wedlock and he took her in and raised her with his 2nd wife Joy. The FBI knew he couldn’t handle being away from his kids and wife for too long. He was the perfect target.

Chucky was very close to Chicago, D’Elia from the Bufalinos, Joe Todaro in Buffalo and John Stanfa in Philly. Big John LaRocca would send Chucky to Florida to meet at Joe Sonken’s joint with representatives of these families back in the late 1970’s. Big John was grooming him and Michael was extremely loyal to Mr. LaRocca. Chuck’s uncles/Grandpa were Gialanella’s, they had the 2nd largest numbers bank for decades in the Pittsburgh area, they got along great with Big John. Chucky was charismatic, people genuinely enjoyed being around him. His downfall was his roots with Eugene Gesuale, major narcotics trafficker/pimp/hitman for hire. He brought all the heat in Pittsburgh, the FBI wanted him badly.

so John LaRocca sounds like wanted Chucky to become boss? What happened for Mike Genovese to get the spot instead?

did Genovese have the same contacts as Chucky when it came to other cities?

John LaRocca thought Chucky was charismatic and great at relations with other families. He wanted Jo Jo Pecora as top boss but Jo Jo got send to college in Lexington, hence, Mike Genovese took over. Mike was held in the highest regard by LaRocca. Mike was close to quite a few players around the country. Angelo Bruno, Joe Todaro Sr, John Scalish/Angelo Lonardo, Vito and Bill Jack from Detroit, Russell Bufalino in Scranton and Vito Genovese in NYC...among many others.

[JCB1977]

Maybe this is asked and/or talked about ad nauseum but I still don't know for certain why Michael Genovese inducted so few men. Didn't he have enough good candidates or where there other reasons? And did NY really forbid Pittsburgh to induct any more guys after Porter flipped? Could a guy like Ciancutti for instance, to the best of your knowledge, induct anybody today if he had a capable candidate?

To answer your question: NO. Sonny couldn't make anybody, he's not a boss. The LaRocca's were represented by the Genovese Family on the commission and they allowed Mike to make Chucky Porter (1986), Joey Naples (1987), Lenny Strollo (1987) and Henry Zottola (1989)...only to replenish the ranks. By 1989, Chucky Porter was indicted and Joe Sica's grandson, Joey Rosa (also the son of Capo Frank Rosa who died in 1982) agreed to testify against Chucky Porter and Louis Raucci. He gave the Feds quite a bit on Mike Genovese but they couldn't indict Genovese because it was 3rd hand information. Mike NEVER met with Joey alone or gave him direct orders. Mike communicated through Chucky who was more or less a street boss by 1987. Mike's name was used daily in the Porter trial, thus bringing alot of attention to a guy who stayed out of the limelight for 5 decades. There were wiretapped conversations at L.A. Motors where Mike Genovese was employed for 30 years as a car salesman and Mike was complaining to Sica that NY closed the books. Whether that was true or just an excuse Mike used to his family members because he didn't trust anybody after the Porter indictment is anyone's guess. The wiretapped conversations were confirmed by SA Roger Greenbank...I've been trying for 3 years to get transcripts of the conversations. I should note that Roger Greenbank said "when the conversation turned to something criminal" that Mike would go outside and walk around the block with his hands over his mouth.

[JCB1977]

Maybe this is asked and/or talked about ad nauseum but I still don't know for certain why Michael Genovese inducted so few men. Didn't he have enough good candidates or where there other reasons? And did NY really forbid Pittsburgh to induct any more guys after Porter flipped? Could a guy like Ciancutti for instance, to the best of your knowledge, induct anybody today if he had a capable candidate?

Maybe JCB has a better answer but there wasn't/isn't much if any family worth making

Hmm ok.. Transfers from NY where there is an abundance of wiseguys and like Lefty said in Donnie Brasco: all chasing after the same dime, to declining families also was never as common as an outsider like me would expect. I also never really understood why little Al d'Arco didn't accept his uncle's offer to be made in the Pittsburgh family, I reckon he would've made more money with a lot less headache. I can't imagine him not regretting that decision at times..

Little Al D'Arco's first cousin was Joe Sica, Capo from Penn Hills and father in law to Capo Frank Rosa and grandfather to infamous rat Joey Rosa. Joe Sica died shortly after his grandson testified. Mike went to see Joe who was semi retired by then and Mike said to him "Can you do anything to stop this?" Joe Sica said his grandson wouldn't event take his calls and that he was sick to his stomach over this.

[JCB1977]

Maybe this is asked and/or talked about ad nauseum but I still don't know for certain why Michael Genovese inducted so few men. Didn't he have enough good candidates or where there other reasons? And did NY really forbid Pittsburgh to induct any more guys after Porter flipped? Could a guy like Ciancutti for instance, to the best of your knowledge, induct anybody today if he had a capable candidate?

Whose going to stop Ciancutti? We can only assume sonny is smart enough to know it’s over ! What would be the point make anyone ?

Sonny is 85/86 years old and in seriously declining health

[Frank]

I guess it's to late, but couldn't Ciancutti have just gathered up the remaining relatives of past members and made them and told them to organize if you want or stay unstructured if you want. Just to keep the LCN going in Pittsburgh.

[JCB1977]

I guess it's to late, but couldn't Ciancutti have just gathered up the remaining relatives of past members and made them and told them to organize if you want or stay unstructured if you want. Just to keep the LCN going in Pittsburgh.

I don't even believe he was ever the boss. I'm not sure of what protocol was. You could say the same for Cleveland, Northeast PA, Milwaukee, KC etc and all the other families who went defunct.

[BillyBrizzi]

The wiretapped conversations were confirmed by SA Roger Greenbank...I've been trying for 3 years to get transcripts of the conversations. I should note that Roger Greenbank said "when the conversation turned to something criminal" that Mike would go outside and walk around the block with his hands over his mouth.

Man, Mike Genovese was one shrewd and smart operator, no Cirelli apartment style fiasco for him. Gotti should've used his playbook on ducking FBI audio surveillance. Just the mere fact that the man managed to stay out of jail during the 80's and 90's is a testament to his capability as a boss.. Very informative JCB, thanks..

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

http://old.post-gazette.com/regionstate ... nbank1.asp

[Stroccos]

Maybe this is asked and/or talked about ad nauseum but I still don't know for certain why Michael Genovese inducted so few men. Didn't he have enough good candidates or where there other reasons? And did NY really forbid Pittsburgh to induct any more guys after Porter flipped? Could a guy like Ciancutti for instance, to the best of your knowledge, induct anybody today if he had a capable candidate?

Whose going to stop Ciancutti? We can only assume sonny is smart enough to know it’s over ! What would be the point make anyone ?

Sonny is 85/86 years old and in seriously declining health

Yeah that’s my point he’s a finsihed , nyc can barely police there own backyard , sonny can make 100 guys it would mean nothing at this point , Hell Lenny strollo lives out in open ,