Interesting 60's Pittsburgh / Cleveland MF FBI File tidbits:

[Villain]

Pittsburgh operated differently than most families. They had more of a Camorra structure where they put one boss in over a specific geographic territory and members and associates of that specific area answered to the boss:

Ripepi- Washington/Fayette County
Mannarino- New Kensington/Westmoreland County
Amato- Braddock, Turtle Creek, East Pittsburgh (By 1937, Amato operated in Braddock but he let Louis Volpe run East Pittsburgh)
Regina- Johnstown, Cambria County
Mike G- East Liberty, city of Pittsburgh
Sica- Penn Hills

Very good explanation buddy and thanks.

[JCB1977]

Thanks to Doobeez for posting this:

NOTE: This information was provided by informants who- to my knowledge- either weren't made members or weren't forthcoming with the internal structure. Not all information is accurate.

viewtopic.php?f=44&t=1944

1: The Pittsburgh LCN members refer to each other as kissing cousins and are divided among four families: La Rocca, Mannarino, Amato and Ripepi.

2: Ripepi was a former boss. (I've seen this mentioned elsewhere)
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 7&tab=page

3: Informant claims Pittsburgh is not part of the national network.

4: Informant claims Cleveland LCN sent a Hymlie Martin to operate the numbers rackets, that failed and so CL asked Frank Amato to take charge of the group. (Flawed obviously, however there was an earlier leader murdered shortly after coming from Cleveland in the 20's so there could be something to Amato having backing from Cleveland.)
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 9&tab=page

5: Hierarchy as follows:
Bosses: Seb. John LaRocca and Frank Amato
Lieuts: Sica, Rosa, Volpe, Genovese
Members: Zied, Valenti, Fontana, Genovese, Miano,
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 0&tab=page

6: Charles Cavallaro was originally part of Pittsburgh but "probably" later became a member of CL "for the purposes of straightening out problems in the Youngstown area. (This is hard to make sense of).
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 1&tab=page

7: One of the Four Families Mannerino consists of:
Head: Gabrial "Kelly" Mannarino
Right Hand Man: Sonny Ciancutti
Members: Sam Mannarino
Andrew Mangini
John Fontana
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 3&tab=page

8: Informant PG-T-7 claims Valenti attended Appalachin meeting merely as a representative of Ripepi and that Scalish of CL represented Milano.

9: One of the Four Families Ripepi consists of:
Head: Tony Ripepi
Right Hand Man: John Bazzano
Members: George Adragna
Vito Adragna (currently residing in San Jose)
Frank Valenti

10: Dominic Anzalone was once head of the family.
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 4&tab=page

11: One of the Four Families Amato consists of:
Head: Frank Amato
Right Hand Man: Joe Sica
Members: Frank D. Amato
Louis Volpe
Joseph Volpe
Joe Rosa

12: Nick Gentile headed the Pittsburgh Family from 1915 to 1925 but informants have no info relative. A bit off.
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 5&tab=page

13: One of the Four Families La Rocca consists of:
Head: John La Rocca
Right Hand:
Members: Michael Genovese
Joseph Pecora
Archie Nelson
Felix Genovese (not a member)
Fiore Genovese (not a member)
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 6&tab=page

14: Frank Brancato of Cleveland had a nephew that was "given" by "the Outfit" to Weirton, WV but currently Weirton "is down." Weirton is the next town over from Steubenville.
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 3&tab=page

I've read these files as well. And I could completely see why the informant confused this:

1. The 4 "families" the informant is referring too were the four major factions in the Pittsburgh family. Keep in mind LaRocca and Amato allowed their territory bosses to operate with a high level of autonomy in certain geographical locations, so it is not surprising that an associate could have easily misunderstood this.

2. LaRocca had all of Pittsburgh (city limits), Amato had all of Braddock and Eastern Suburbs (Turtle Creek, Rankin, Wilmerding etc), Ripepi had all of Washington/Fayette County and Mannarino had all of Westmoreland County/New Ken. They were the 4 heavyweights at the time these files were documented.

***LaRocca called the shots in Pittsburgh, he trusted Amato, Ripepi and Mannarino to run their territories without interference. So in essence, they were all bosses over their territories.

[JCB1977]

Hell Kelly kelly mannarino was talking openly with the FBI as did many others .

But as to informants with out knowing who they were it's hard to judge there information .

That was Sam Mannarino talking to the Feds

[Frank]

Thanks to Doobeez for posting this:

NOTE: This information was provided by informants who- to my knowledge- either weren't made members or weren't forthcoming with the internal structure. Not all information is accurate.

viewtopic.php?f=44&t=1944

1: The Pittsburgh LCN members refer to each other as kissing cousins and are divided among four families: La Rocca, Mannarino, Amato and Ripepi.

2: Ripepi was a former boss. (I've seen this mentioned elsewhere)
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 7&tab=page

3: Informant claims Pittsburgh is not part of the national network.

4: Informant claims Cleveland LCN sent a Hymlie Martin to operate the numbers rackets, that failed and so CL asked Frank Amato to take charge of the group. (Flawed obviously, however there was an earlier leader murdered shortly after coming from Cleveland in the 20's so there could be something to Amato having backing from Cleveland.)
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 9&tab=page

5: Hierarchy as follows:
Bosses: Seb. John LaRocca and Frank Amato
Lieuts: Sica, Rosa, Volpe, Genovese
Members: Zied, Valenti, Fontana, Genovese, Miano,
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 0&tab=page

6: Charles Cavallaro was originally part of Pittsburgh but "probably" later became a member of CL "for the purposes of straightening out problems in the Youngstown area. (This is hard to make sense of).
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 1&tab=page

7: One of the Four Families Mannerino consists of:
Head: Gabrial "Kelly" Mannarino
Right Hand Man: Sonny Ciancutti
Members: Sam Mannarino
Andrew Mangini
John Fontana
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 3&tab=page

8: Informant PG-T-7 claims Valenti attended Appalachin meeting merely as a representative of Ripepi and that Scalish of CL represented Milano.

9: One of the Four Families Ripepi consists of:
Head: Tony Ripepi
Right Hand Man: John Bazzano
Members: George Adragna
Vito Adragna (currently residing in San Jose)
Frank Valenti

10: Dominic Anzalone was once head of the family.
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 4&tab=page

11: One of the Four Families Amato consists of:
Head: Frank Amato
Right Hand Man: Joe Sica
Members: Frank D. Amato
Louis Volpe
Joseph Volpe
Joe Rosa

12: Nick Gentile headed the Pittsburgh Family from 1915 to 1925 but informants have no info relative. A bit off.
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 5&tab=page

13: One of the Four Families La Rocca consists of:
Head: John La Rocca
Right Hand:
Members: Michael Genovese
Joseph Pecora
Archie Nelson
Felix Genovese (not a member)
Fiore Genovese (not a member)
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 6&tab=page

14: Frank Brancato of Cleveland had a nephew that was "given" by "the Outfit" to Weirton, WV but currently Weirton "is down." Weirton is the next town over from Steubenville.
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 3&tab=page

I've read these files as well. And I could completely see why the informant confused this:

1. The 4 "families" the informant is referring too were the four major factions in the Pittsburgh family. Keep in mind LaRocca and Amato allowed their territory bosses to operate with a high level of autonomy in certain geographical locations, so it is not surprising that an associate could have easily misunderstood this.

2. LaRocca had all of Pittsburgh (city limits), Amato had all of Braddock and Eastern Suburbs (Turtle Creek, Rankin, Wilmerding etc), Ripepi had all of Washington/Fayette County and Mannarino had all of Westmoreland County/New Ken. They were the 4 heavyweights at the time these files were documented.

***LaRocca called the shots in Pittsburgh, he trusted Amato, Ripepi and Mannarino to run their territories without interference. So in essence, they were all bosses over their territories.

Have you ever seen any info of these territory bosses being called Capo Squadrone?

[UTC]

Isn't that Calabrian?

[JCB1977]

Thanks to Doobeez for posting this:

NOTE: This information was provided by informants who- to my knowledge- either weren't made members or weren't forthcoming with the internal structure. Not all information is accurate.

viewtopic.php?f=44&t=1944

1: The Pittsburgh LCN members refer to each other as kissing cousins and are divided among four families: La Rocca, Mannarino, Amato and Ripepi.

2: Ripepi was a former boss. (I've seen this mentioned elsewhere)
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 7&tab=page

3: Informant claims Pittsburgh is not part of the national network.

4: Informant claims Cleveland LCN sent a Hymlie Martin to operate the numbers rackets, that failed and so CL asked Frank Amato to take charge of the group. (Flawed obviously, however there was an earlier leader murdered shortly after coming from Cleveland in the 20's so there could be something to Amato having backing from Cleveland.)
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 9&tab=page

5: Hierarchy as follows:
Bosses: Seb. John LaRocca and Frank Amato
Lieuts: Sica, Rosa, Volpe, Genovese
Members: Zied, Valenti, Fontana, Genovese, Miano,
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 0&tab=page

6: Charles Cavallaro was originally part of Pittsburgh but "probably" later became a member of CL "for the purposes of straightening out problems in the Youngstown area. (This is hard to make sense of).
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 1&tab=page

7: One of the Four Families Mannerino consists of:
Head: Gabrial "Kelly" Mannarino
Right Hand Man: Sonny Ciancutti
Members: Sam Mannarino
Andrew Mangini
John Fontana
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 3&tab=page

8: Informant PG-T-7 claims Valenti attended Appalachin meeting merely as a representative of Ripepi and that Scalish of CL represented Milano.

9: One of the Four Families Ripepi consists of:
Head: Tony Ripepi
Right Hand Man: John Bazzano
Members: George Adragna
Vito Adragna (currently residing in San Jose)
Frank Valenti

10: Dominic Anzalone was once head of the family.
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 4&tab=page

11: One of the Four Families Amato consists of:
Head: Frank Amato
Right Hand Man: Joe Sica
Members: Frank D. Amato
Louis Volpe
Joseph Volpe
Joe Rosa

12: Nick Gentile headed the Pittsburgh Family from 1915 to 1925 but informants have no info relative. A bit off.
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 5&tab=page

13: One of the Four Families La Rocca consists of:
Head: John La Rocca
Right Hand:
Members: Michael Genovese
Joseph Pecora
Archie Nelson
Felix Genovese (not a member)
Fiore Genovese (not a member)
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 6&tab=page

14: Frank Brancato of Cleveland had a nephew that was "given" by "the Outfit" to Weirton, WV but currently Weirton "is down." Weirton is the next town over from Steubenville.
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 3&tab=page

I've read these files as well. And I could completely see why the informant confused this:

1. The 4 "families" the informant is referring too were the four major factions in the Pittsburgh family. Keep in mind LaRocca and Amato allowed their territory bosses to operate with a high level of autonomy in certain geographical locations, so it is not surprising that an associate could have easily misunderstood this.

2. LaRocca had all of Pittsburgh (city limits), Amato had all of Braddock and Eastern Suburbs (Turtle Creek, Rankin, Wilmerding etc), Ripepi had all of Washington/Fayette County and Mannarino had all of Westmoreland County/New Ken. They were the 4 heavyweights at the time these files were documented.

***LaRocca called the shots in Pittsburgh, he trusted Amato, Ripepi and Mannarino to run their territories without interference. So in essence, they were all bosses over their territories.

Have you ever seen any info of these territory bosses being called Capo Squadrone?

I have not...keep in mind that when agents were writing these reports, they butchered the spelling of names and had a difficult time with the language barriers. A bunch of wasps in suits trying to speak 7 different dialects of Italian, so words easily got mixed up and some explanations were pure bullshit they were feeding these suits. But this is the first time I am hearing or seeing "Squadrone".

[JCB1977]

Isn't that Calabrian?

If it is, it would make sense for the area.

[Angelo Santino]

JCB, greetings,

We've been over this recently and came to that conclusion. However a few things that aren't reflected in the above is that by this point (the late 60's), Ripepi and Amato's stars were fading, they were in the twilight of their criminal careers. New Kensington would cease to exist as a faction within another 5-10 years.

Frank Amato's ranks at various points seem suspect to me. Underboss and then Boss back to underboss and then after getting up there in age became consigliere. Not saying it didn't happen, just odd. There were many informants providing incorrect information but one stated Ripepi had been the former "Top Man" and I wonder if there's any validity to that.

And we still don't know who proceeded Amato as consigliere in 1968. The last known one I believe was Gentile in 1932.

[Stroccos]

JCB, greetings,

We've been over this recently and came to that conclusion. However a few things that aren't reflected in the above is that by this point (the late 60's), Ripepi and Amato's stars were fading, they were in the twilight of their criminal careers. New Kensington would cease to exist as a faction within another 5-10 years.

Frank Amato's ranks at various points seem suspect to me. Underboss and then Boss back to underboss and then after getting up there in age became consigliere. Not saying it didn't happen, just odd. There were many informants providing incorrect information but one stated Ripepi had been the former "Top Man" and I wonder if there's any validity to that.

And we still don't know who proceeded Amato as consigliere in 1968. The last known one I believe was Gentile in 1932.

always thought Genovese was the coniglere after amato ,

[JCB1977]

JCB, greetings,

We've been over this recently and came to that conclusion. However a few things that aren't reflected in the above is that by this point (the late 60's), Ripepi and Amato's stars were fading, they were in the twilight of their criminal careers. New Kensington would cease to exist as a faction within another 5-10 years.

Frank Amato's ranks at various points seem suspect to me. Underboss and then Boss back to underboss and then after getting up there in age became consigliere. Not saying it didn't happen, just odd. There were many informants providing incorrect information but one stated Ripepi had been the former "Top Man" and I wonder if there's any validity to that.

And we still don't know who proceeded Amato as consigliere in 1968. The last known one I believe was Gentile in 1932.

The New Ken faction was still going through the 1980's with Sonny Ciancutti at the helm. PA Crime Commission reports said Joe Sica was a Consigliere. By the 1980's, Sica was inactive but was an advisor to John/Mike. When Nicky Scarfo and Phil Leonetti came into Monroeville to meet with the Pittsburgh contingent over the shaking down of bookmaker Joe Nistico (Scarfo's brother in law), Mike Genovese refused to meet with them. He sent Joe Sica, Lou Volpe and Chucky Porter as that meeting was filmed by the FBI in 1986. Charlie Imburgia was definitely Consigliere from 1988-2002

[JCB1977]

JCB, greetings,

We've been over this recently and came to that conclusion. However a few things that aren't reflected in the above is that by this point (the late 60's), Ripepi and Amato's stars were fading, they were in the twilight of their criminal careers. New Kensington would cease to exist as a faction within another 5-10 years.

Frank Amato's ranks at various points seem suspect to me. Underboss and then Boss back to underboss and then after getting up there in age became consigliere. Not saying it didn't happen, just odd. There were many informants providing incorrect information but one stated Ripepi had been the former "Top Man" and I wonder if there's any validity to that.

And we still don't know who proceeded Amato as consigliere in 1968. The last known one I believe was Gentile in 1932.

always thought Genovese was the coniglere after amato ,

Nope, Mike was a Capo and was considered a "co-boss" with Big John

[FriendofHenry]

Nope, Mike was a Capo and was considered a "co-boss" with Big John
Wasn't Jo Jo also "co-boss" along with Michael under John?

[JCB1977]

Nope, Mike was a Capo and was considered a "co-boss" with Big John
Wasn't Jo Jo also "co-boss" along with Michael under John?

Not according to FBI files. Jo Jo was always Mike's main guy. Jo Jo was high up but not considered a boss back in the 1960's. Jo Jo's star was on the rise from the early 70's, or shall I say that he was a force to be reckoned with from the 1970's. West Virginia put him on the map.

[Angelo Santino]

I meant before Amato, the years 1932-1968 we have no idea who is consigliere.

After the Cleveland chart(s) are concluded, whenever that is, we can resume a Pittsburgh project if you so feel inspired, I'd do a 70's or 80's one since that seems to be the most concrete era and could procure most of the photos. As for all things pre 1930 Pittsburgh, per usual I don't feel comfortable discussing it but I will admit that I'm buried in the 1920's and had to take a break, if only for my own sanity's sake.

[FriendofHenry]

Nope, Mike was a Capo and was considered a "co-boss" with Big John
Wasn't Jo Jo also "co-boss" along with Michael under John?

Not according to FBI files. Jo Jo was always Mike's main guy. Jo Jo was high up but not considered a boss back in the 1960's. Jo Jo's star was on the rise from the early 70's, or shall I say that he was a force to be reckoned with from the 1970's. West Virginia put him on the map.

Obviously when Michael made the trip to Appalachian with John that made him John's guy and that would be the case in the 60s.
However I believe that Michael, Gabe and Jo Jo were considered John's ruling panel some time there after.
After Michael became boss Jo Jo was his under boss.