Mikey Mancuso after his release from prison.

[gohnjotti]

I understand he was released from prison in '94, promoted to captain at some point, and by 2004 he was acting underboss.

He promoted to Acting Capo in 2003 then Acting UnderBoss in 2004.

I personally don’t think Cicale was ever on a ruling panel but I could be wrong. Anything Cicale says to Ed Scarpo or anyone should be taken with a grain of salt.

It came out in 2005/6. I believe in one of the detention memos. It would have been very brief since Basciano was imprisoned in November and Cicale was imprisoned not long after in March.


Pogo

I think what may have happened is, upon Basciano's November 2004 imprisonment, he wanted to set up a panel with Cicale, Mancuso & Rabito. Sometime between then and January 2005, Mancuso decided he was going to be in control and took over the family affairs. I say this because in January 2005, Basciano had that prison conversation with Massino where he griped about Mancuso taking over the family, and Massino retorted that Basciano had done the same himself when he was locked up. I don't see any other explanation as to why Basciano would complain about Mancuso taking over - after all, he was the acting underboss.

Also, the panel may have never come to fruition in the first place - it might have just been a Basciano plan that Mancuso ignored. This is because, on the topic of Randy Pizzolo, Mancuso seemed to have the authority. Cicale initially tried to lie about whether there was a plot about Pizzolo, but Mancuso found out and ordered it to go through, saying "Nothing skips a beat." Mancuso also told Cicale "If anybody has anything to say, I gave the order." Remember, this all happened mere days after Basciano's imprisonment - Basciano was jailed on Nov. 19 and Pizzolo was killed on Nov. 30. Later, when talking to Massino about it, Massino asked; "Who gave the okay to clip 'im? You did?" and Basciano answered "Michael."

Also there is the issue of the murder contract on Mancuso. According to Cicale, Mancuso was a tyrant and was "giving Dominick a hard time." Tommy Lee, the messenger between the imprisoned mobsters, said "Dominick shouldn't back down to anybody." A lot can be taken from those words - I personally don't think it was an 'okay' for Mancuso to be whacked as Cicale has said, I think it was simply Basciano telling Cicale not to take orders from Mancuso. I don't think Mancuso would've felt he had the authority to whack Cicale anyways.

[B.]

Basciano also wanted to hit Patty DeFilippo, who Mancuso had been close to for years. Basciano had an outburst in court when Tommy Lee testified about it. Basciano seems to have been having problems with members of his former crew for a while before he became acting boss. Whether this factored into the issues that Cicale/Basciano had with Mancuso is hard to say but I would guess they weren't close friends by that time.

Montagna took over as acting boss after Mancuso and people at the time had the misconception that he was some kind of young Basciano stooge, but Montagna was a zip who went from the Sicilians Amato/Sciascia to DeFilippo, where he stayed after Basciano was given his own crew. Basciano was out of the picture by the time Montagna took over, so the question is if Montagna was taking orders from Mancuso or otherwise operating on his behalf, or if Montagna was by then running the family on his own authority?

We know Montagna was a force to be reckoned with but it's unlikely that Mancuso dipped out of the picture in 2006, only to grab the boss position out of nowhere years into his prison sentence. It's more likely he was the defacto boss from 2006 and was able to keep that influence through to becoming official boss. The key to figuring this out would be to know who ultimately ordered or approved the Seccafico hit. It was the murder of a Bronx soldier while Montagna was acting boss, so Montagna was likely a key part of the conspiracy, but did the final order come from Mancuso? Seccafico had disrespected DeFilippo and the Spiritos, Mancuso's people. He likely had an opinion on it at the very least.

It's popular to downplay the so-called "Bronx faction" (which includes non-Bronx members) but keep in mind the Bronx faction has been responsible for just about all of the family's murders since 1999, starting with Sciascia, the hits done by Basciano's people, and then Seccafico. You could even stretch it and say that the Montreal hits Montagna was involved with were indirectly related because of his ties to that faction. It's possible that even through attrition, prison sentences, etc. the Bronx faction has a reputation for violence that has kept Mancuso in place.

[CabriniGreen]

@ B

That's a great point you make about the Bronx, and their propensity for violence. Other posters have said that Mancuso wasn't respected, which I never understood. Question I asked is how did he become boss then? You usually have a very strong crew, or you have backing from one (usually two) or more bosses. I've seen people post that Mancuso wasn't respected because he killed his wife, which struck me as ridiculous. My examples (just two..) were Granello and Trigger Mike from the " Ivey League", the Genovese. Point being that killing his wife wouldn't be enough to make him lack respect on the streets or in prison.

( An aside, I had a 1st cousin, ran drugs out of a building in the old Cabrini, Killed his wife, and they gave him a cell block to run in prison.)


In this era of a mob that tries to limit violence, I find it very telling that violent guys like Maddonna and Mancuso get boss positions.
So either he had 1. A very powerful ( respected, known for violence, maybe not necessarily big earners, sorta like the Bergin) crew.
2. Backing from a majority of the family crews. ( kinda like Cammaranno now)
3. Backing from the other families, which I always found intriguing, because the Genovese and Luchesses
have strong Bronx factions. Now by backing what I mean is that, Mancuso is a known killer, already locked up. With all the rats and undercovers, the families might place a higher priority on guys who simply can keep their mouths shut. And aren't in a position to hurt them, no ones going to meet with Mancuso in jail right? So it's , " safe(?)" for the other bosses to have him there on top? Just a thought.....

I got some more questions, I gotta gather my thoughts. Any insights you guys have are greatly appreciated....

[Rocco]

I always saw Mancuso as the Boss due to attrition of the Bronx crew that at the time held leadership/power in the family. Also seems like the Bronx crew rose to power due to the collapse of the Massino reign. While the Bronx crew was always there .. there was always more power in Brooklyn/SI/Queens until the Federal Onslaught of those crews. Kinda like what happened to the Lucchese family after the collapse of Amuso/Casso reign in Brooklyn/Queens crews etc. You saw the Bronx crews grab the power back etc.(Maddona/DiNapoli/Crea)

[gohnjotti]

Basciano also wanted to hit Patty DeFilippo, who Mancuso had been close to for years. Basciano had an outburst in court when Tommy Lee testified about it. Basciano seems to have been having problems with members of his former crew for a while before he became acting boss. Whether this factored into the issues that Cicale/Basciano had with Mancuso is hard to say but I would guess they weren't close friends by that time.

Montagna took over as acting boss after Mancuso and people at the time had the misconception that he was some kind of young Basciano stooge, but Montagna was a zip who went from the Sicilians Amato/Sciascia to DeFilippo, where he stayed after Basciano was given his own crew. Basciano was out of the picture by the time Montagna took over, so the question is if Montagna was taking orders from Mancuso or otherwise operating on his behalf, or if Montagna was by then running the family on his own authority?

We know Montagna was a force to be reckoned with but it's unlikely that Mancuso dipped out of the picture in 2006, only to grab the boss position out of nowhere years into his prison sentence. It's more likely he was the defacto boss from 2006 and was able to keep that influence through to becoming official boss. The key to figuring this out would be to know who ultimately ordered or approved the Seccafico hit. It was the murder of a Bronx soldier while Montagna was acting boss, so Montagna was likely a key part of the conspiracy, but did the final order come from Mancuso? Seccafico had disrespected DeFilippo and the Spiritos, Mancuso's people. He likely had an opinion on it at the very least.

It's popular to downplay the so-called "Bronx faction" (which includes non-Bronx members) but keep in mind the Bronx faction has been responsible for just about all of the family's murders since 1999, starting with Sciascia, the hits done by Basciano's people, and then Seccafico. You could even stretch it and say that the Montreal hits Montagna was involved with were indirectly related because of his ties to that faction. It's possible that even through attrition, prison sentences, etc. the Bronx faction has a reputation for violence that has kept Mancuso in place.

Good post B, I agree with what you're saying.

[gohnjotti]

I've seen people post that Mancuso wasn't respected because he killed his wife, which struck me as ridiculous. My examples (just two..) were Granello and Trigger Mike from the " Ivey League", the Genovese. Point being that killing his wife wouldn't be enough to make him lack respect on the streets or in prison.

I've always thought its ridiculous as well. It was 1981 for chrissakes, I doubt anyone remembers. And the fact that he was on record at the time, and then made very soon after he got out of prison, shows that they really didn't care about the manslaughter thing.

In this era of a mob that tries to limit violence, I find it very telling that violent guys like Maddonna and Mancuso get boss positions.
So either he had 1. A very powerful ( respected, known for violence, maybe not necessarily big earners, sorta like the Bergin) crew.
2. Backing from a majority of the family crews. ( kinda like Cammaranno now)
3. Backing from the other families, which I always found intriguing, because the Genovese and Luchesses
have strong Bronx factions. Now by backing what I mean is that, Mancuso is a known killer, already locked up. With all the rats and undercovers, the families might place a higher priority on guys who simply can keep their mouths shut. And aren't in a position to hurt them, no ones going to meet with Mancuso in jail right? So it's , " safe(?)" for the other bosses to have him there on top? Just a thought.....

I got some more questions, I gotta gather my thoughts. Any insights you guys have are greatly appreciated....

I kinda doubt the other families had a huge say on who took over the Bonannos. Following the Massino turmoil, most families kept their distance. By 2012 they were getting a semblance of order, but they still weren't respected by other families. Case in point: When an extortion victim of Genovese capo Anthony Antico called on Bonanno street boss Vinny Badalamenti to back him up, Antico said: "Tell 'em he can bring Vinny TVs, he can bring Vinny Magnavox, everybody."

[Dwalin2014]

While it's no surprise Mancuso didn't lose respect from fellow mafiosi after killing his wife (another example of the "code of honor" hypocrisy), still it's weird how he manages to dodge life sentences; the wife killing alone was a senseless murder of an innocent person that theoretically shouldn't even include a parole elegibility, and now he is in jail for ANOTHER murder, and still will be getting out, even though he never ratted.

[JeremyTheJew]

While it's no surprise Mancuso didn't lose respect from fellow mafiosi after killing his wife (another example of the "code of honor" hypocrisy), still it's weird how he manages to dodge life sentences; the wife killing alone was a senseless murder of an innocent person that theoretically shouldn't even include a parole elegibility, and now he is in jail for ANOTHER murder, and still will be getting out, even though he never ratted.

what is he away for this time exactly?

[gohnjotti]

While it's no surprise Mancuso didn't lose respect from fellow mafiosi after killing his wife (another example of the "code of honor" hypocrisy), still it's weird how he manages to dodge life sentences; the wife killing alone was a senseless murder of an innocent person that theoretically shouldn't even include a parole elegibility, and now he is in jail for ANOTHER murder, and still will be getting out, even though he never ratted.

what is he away for this time exactly?

He took a 15 year plea for conspiring to murder Randy Pizzolo. Pretty good considering he was the acting boss of a crime family and was also implicated in the Gerlando Sciascia hit.
Also, in the 80s, he was charged with manslaughter in the killing of his wife. According to his lawyer, it was a freak accident.

[Pogo The Clown]

While it's no surprise Mancuso didn't lose respect from fellow mafiosi after killing his wife (another example of the "code of honor" hypocrisy), still it's weird how he manages to dodge life sentences; the wife killing alone was a senseless murder of an innocent person that theoretically shouldn't even include a parole elegibility, and now he is in jail for ANOTHER murder, and still will be getting out, even though he never ratted.

Welcome to our great American justice system.


Pogo

[gohnjotti]

While it's no surprise Mancuso didn't lose respect from fellow mafiosi after killing his wife (another example of the "code of honor" hypocrisy), still it's weird how he manages to dodge life sentences; the wife killing alone was a senseless murder of an innocent person that theoretically shouldn't even include a parole elegibility, and now he is in jail for ANOTHER murder, and still will be getting out, even though he never ratted.

Welcome to our great American justice system.


Pogo

At least you guys have “minimum sentences” and stuff. A couple months back here in NZ a lady got probation for manslaughter even after she tried to cover it up to cops and bragged about it to the persons relatives.

[Rocco]

Basciano also wanted to hit Patty DeFilippo, who Mancuso had been close to for years. Basciano had an outburst in court when Tommy Lee testified about it. Basciano seems to have been having problems with members of his former crew for a while before he became acting boss. Whether this factored into the issues that Cicale/Basciano had with Mancuso is hard to say but I would guess they weren't close friends by that time.

Montagna took over as acting boss after Mancuso and people at the time had the misconception that he was some kind of young Basciano stooge, but Montagna was a zip who went from the Sicilians Amato/Sciascia to DeFilippo, where he stayed after Basciano was given his own crew. Basciano was out of the picture by the time Montagna took over, so the question is if Montagna was taking orders from Mancuso or otherwise operating on his behalf, or if Montagna was by then running the family on his own authority?

We know Montagna was a force to be reckoned with but it's unlikely that Mancuso dipped out of the picture in 2006, only to grab the boss position out of nowhere years into his prison sentence. It's more likely he was the defacto boss from 2006 and was able to keep that influence through to becoming official boss. The key to figuring this out would be to know who ultimately ordered or approved the Seccafico hit. It was the murder of a Bronx soldier while Montagna was acting boss, so Montagna was likely a key part of the conspiracy, but did the final order come from Mancuso? Seccafico had disrespected DeFilippo and the Spiritos, Mancuso's people. He likely had an opinion on it at the very least.

It's popular to downplay the so-called "Bronx faction" (which includes non-Bronx members) but keep in mind the Bronx faction has been responsible for just about all of the family's murders since 1999, starting with Sciascia, the hits done by Basciano's people, and then Seccafico. You could even stretch it and say that the Montreal hits Montagna was involved with were indirectly related because of his ties to that faction. It's possible that even through attrition, prison sentences, etc. the Bronx faction has a reputation for violence that has kept Mancuso in place.

I think you are on to something. I think Mancuso was able to be Boss because he was a protégé of Pattys. Vinny was at odds with Patty for a while before he was given his own crew, Massino didn't like Vinny but he was an earner so the profitable thing to do was separate them. But Patty had much more respect from the family then Vinny ever did so its only natural that Mancuso would have support from the Family to become Boss. The Seccafico hit was almost 110% approved if not sanctioned by Mancuso at at Spirito's behest. This hit also solidified Mancuso's role of boss. Nothing earns the respect of your fellow wiseguys then pulling off a hit and getting away with it...well so far that is. If and when Spirito Sr comes home they will more then likely be running the family w/Mancuso

[Chucky]

Basciano also wanted to hit Patty DeFilippo, who Mancuso had been close to for years. Basciano had an outburst in court when Tommy Lee testified about it. Basciano seems to have been having problems with members of his former crew for a while before he became acting boss. Whether this factored into the issues that Cicale/Basciano had with Mancuso is hard to say but I would guess they weren't close friends by that time.

Montagna took over as acting boss after Mancuso and people at the time had the misconception that he was some kind of young Basciano stooge, but Montagna was a zip who went from the Sicilians Amato/Sciascia to DeFilippo, where he stayed after Basciano was given his own crew. Basciano was out of the picture by the time Montagna took over, so the question is if Montagna was taking orders from Mancuso or otherwise operating on his behalf, or if Montagna was by then running the family on his own authority?

We know Montagna was a force to be reckoned with but it's unlikely that Mancuso dipped out of the picture in 2006, only to grab the boss position out of nowhere years into his prison sentence. It's more likely he was the defacto boss from 2006 and was able to keep that influence through to becoming official boss. The key to figuring this out would be to know who ultimately ordered or approved the Seccafico hit. It was the murder of a Bronx soldier while Montagna was acting boss, so Montagna was likely a key part of the conspiracy, but did the final order come from Mancuso? Seccafico had disrespected DeFilippo and the Spiritos, Mancuso's people. He likely had an opinion on it at the very least.

It's popular to downplay the so-called "Bronx faction" (which includes non-Bronx members) but keep in mind the Bronx faction has been responsible for just about all of the family's murders since 1999, starting with Sciascia, the hits done by Basciano's people, and then Seccafico. You could even stretch it and say that the Montreal hits Montagna was involved with were indirectly related because of his ties to that faction. It's possible that even through attrition, prison sentences, etc. the Bronx faction has a reputation for violence that has kept Mancuso in place.

JD had mentioned before that Badalamenti was aligned with Mancuso as well, and he replaced Montagna as acting boss after his deportation. Odds are Mancuso was boss a few years before it was publicly known. Capeci also reported that Mancuso was "keeping an eye" on the situation in Montreal around the time of Nick Rizzuto Jr's murder.

[slimshady_007]

Just found this thread, and its a great discussion. Any idea who all of the active Mancuso supporters are? The ones that come to mind for me are John Spirito Jr, Ernest Aiello, Vinny tv, Enzo Stagno, Pat Maiorino. Who else?

[gohnjotti]

Just found this thread, and its a great discussion. Any idea who all of the active Mancuso supporters are? The ones that come to mind for me are John Spirito Jr, Ernest Aiello, Vinny tv, Enzo Stagno, Pat Maiorino. Who else?

Off the top of my head I can also think of capo John Palazzolo, as well as possibly capos John Sciremammano and the Caroleo Bros. (acting capos).