In The Sixth Family..., Lamothe and Humphreys write that Sciascia had been made in Sicily; the authors also discuss beforehand the issue of double affiliation. The excerpt below, from p. 268 of the 2014 edition, relates to discussion of the election of a new Bonanno boss after Phil Rastellli's death (NB: the word "boss" in square brackets below appears in the book):B. wrote: ↑Thu Dec 20, 2018 2:40 pm Since one of the excerpts gives some brief biographical info on Sciascia, it also brings up a question I've been meaning to ask...
When was Sciascia inducted into the Bonanno family? He was a member by the late 1970s but LCNBios hasn't posted any specific info mentioning his induction during the known 1970s ceremonies. Sciascia looks to have predated the Rizzutos in Montreal and it's my understanding that it would be many decades after he emigrated to the United States that he would be barred from entering Canada. Nick Rizzuto either transferred or was inducted into the Bonanno family by the 1970s. I'd be curious if Sciascia had been inducted in the 1950s or early 1960s in Montreal (the 1960s ceremonies are believed to have been without Commission approval) or if Sciascia, as a well-connected "zip", may have even been a transfer himself. Too much speculation to hang onto anything but some things to consider.
Sal Catalano, as street boss of the Zips in New York, had once been seen as a possible contender. At one point during Rastelli's incarceration, Catalano had been elevated to the position of acting boss of the family, a move that probably drew considerable heat from other bosses, if not officially from the entire Commission.
"They were looking to make him boss and I think they were pushing Phil Rastelli aside, but he couldn't be [boss] because he was already made in Italy," Vitale said. "You can't have allegiance with two—you are either all Italy or all United States." The issue of how Sicilian Men of Honor would fit into the American Mafia was still causing problems. The rule Vitale spoke of, however, seemed to apply only to holding the top post, as boss, because plenty of Zips in America and Canada had been inducted into the Bonanno Family as soldiers and elevated to captain. Any remaining claim Catalano might once have had evaporated when he was sentenced to 45 years in prison for his part in the Pizza Connection case in 1987. Another Zip who had ambition, street smarts and charisma, Cesare Bonventre, had been killed in 1984, on Massino's orders, on the eve of the Pizza Connection arrests.
As for Gerlando Sciascia, he, like Catalano, had been made in Sicily, apparently precluding him from contention.
Here's a link to my post, from a few months ago in the "Bonanno family." thread in the MUGSHOTS forum, mostly regarding Giuseppe "Joe" Renda and Sciascia: http://www.theblackhand.club/forum/view ... uiz#p85923.
Below is my post from February 2017 that appears on the Gangster BB board--the post is also mostly about Giuseppe Renda and Sciascia.
Renda's disappearance and likely murder show how there were people with ancestry from the Rizzutos' hometown, like Renda, who did not swear allegiance to the "Sixth Family" but, rather, to New York. He in particular appears to have betrayed Agostino Cun trera, to whom he had once been close.
Renda was born in New York and was a made Bonanno, likely made there. Before moving to Montreal and before Sciascia's murder in 1999, Renda would have come into contact with Sal Montagna and others in Montagna and Sciascia's circle, e.g., the aging mobster Giuseppe Arcuri, a made Bonanno and also from the Rizzutos' hometown, who died in 2001. Once in Montreal, Renda acted as its representative when he attended his uncle Gerlando's funeral in New York in 1999. Maybe Renda also acted as a go-between?
It took me close to four years to finally determine that Giuseppe Arcuri of New York is the brother of Domenico Arcuri Sr., the father of Domenico Arcuri Jr. and Antonino. Had I done some genealogical research shortly after Arcuri Sr.'s death in Florida in October 2012, I would have discovered that he and Giuseppe Arcuri had the same parents (Domenico and Filippa Arcuri); that Giuseppe and the parents had lived in the same household in New York during a certain period; that Giuseppe, his parents, and Gerlando had applied for their U.S. Social Security Number during a period of roughly three years (between 1955 and 1958); and that there is the possibility that Domenico Arcuri Sr. at one time was also living in New York with his parents and older brother Giuseppe before Domenico and his parents--as well as Domenico's other sibling(s)--moved to Montreal.
Apart from Gerlando's immigration matters, I don't know many of the reasons that the Arcuri clan and Sciascia clan had some members stay in New York, some move to Quebec, and some go back and forth. Gerlando's daughter, Donna, lives in the US with her husband and young son (Luciano); Gerlando's son, Joseph, lives in the Montreal area with his wife, and their son (Gerlando) is attending college in Poughkeepsie, New York--this grandson of Gerlando's very likely lives with his grandmother, Gerlando's wife, who lives in Yonkers.
Joseph Mark Sciascia, Gerlando'son, has at least one important business dealing with Domenico Arcuri Jr., who in turn still has an important business dealing with Raynald Desjardins (despite the friendship between the two that then turned into hatred).
It seems that for some of the guys in Montreal, whether they were made or not, being a made Bonanno meant something. Maybe that's why a non-Sicilian like Moreno Gallo aligned himself with Montagna?