DeCavalcante Admin Succession

[OlBlueEyesClub]

Sorry for bumping this old thread guys, but I got a question, do we know who Sam DeCalvacante's father was, and if he too was an influential made guy in his day? As I'm on the early stages if the Sam The Plumber, book, and part of the convo he had with Gyp De Carlo & Tony Boy Boiardo, and during the time, the subject of when the men were made is brought up. Sam replies to a statement De Carlo makes "you got yours 20, 30 years ago right?" Or something similar and DeCalvacante replies that it was "Twenty years ago, same time as you Ray". He then says that he was supposed to have been made thirty years ago in Philadelphia, meaning the Philly family. What backs this up is his claim that his induction had been requested by the boss himself at the time, Joe Bruno. What stopped it is his claim in this sentence "Once my old man hears about it he says no to it, telling Joe Bruno if anyone were going to make his son, it would be him. And ten or so years later he's made into the DeCav's. His father had to be important to be able to tell off an LCN boss in the manner that he did, and get away with it. I never really looked into this because it didn't discover it until I began reading this book but it got me to thinking how early did the DeCalvacante family really come to be, and if it wasnt known as the "DeCalvacante Family" until Sam's tenure, then just what Jersey Family was he eventually made into, was it the earlier Newark Family, or what, and by connection what family would his father had been a member of during the schooling and eventual induction of his son.

[Pogo The Clown]

His father Francesco was an early Capo in what would be the DeCavalcante family (the Elizabeth family, which was a different group than the Newark family which was disbanded).


Pogo

[OlBlueEyesClub]

Ah, thanks for the response, Pogo. So he was made into the DeCavs which would've been the Elizabeth Family, and not the disbanded Newark group. I guess what I'm trying to understand now is, I'm assuming the Elizabeth Family came after the disbanded Newark Family, and probably weren't around when the Newark Family was in existence, what did the DeCalvacante Family go by before Sam DeCalvacante's tenure as boss and thus had the family named after him, were they just simply known as The Elizabeth Family, were they affiliated or a crew for an established NY Family or what? Is there anything that would help to attain this knowledge?

[Pogo The Clown]

They were two separate groups that existed at the same time. When the Newark family was disbanded their members were absorbed by the NY families. That situation had nothing to do with the Elizabeth family.


Pogo

[johnny_scootch]

what did the DeCalvacante Family go by before Sam DeCalvacante's tenure as boss and thus had the family named after him

They didn't go by anything, the families didn't have names. The names we currently use were coined by the government. Members would most likely refer to whom they were with a captain or a boss to denote their group. Say a Bonanno member was introducing a Genovese member to Gambinos he might say 'this is so and so he's a friend of ours with Tony Bender'. So the Gambinos would have to know who Tony Bender is and who he's with to really put it all together.

And if you go back even further before they made the third party rule they had a specific story about a tooth ache they would tell each other.

[B.]

Like Rick has said, we don't know that they were separate families as an absolute fact, but all of the available info I've seen strongly suggests to me that they were two separate groups.

A non-member in Elizabeth (who claimed his father was proposed for membership and turned it down) who gave info to the feds in the 1960s claimed that the family was started by Phil Amari and other Riberesi immigrants who settled in NJ from NY. I believe Rotondo also claimed it was started by men from Ribera but I'd have to check. There is no question the family was dominated by men from Ribera, but what makes this a bit confusing is after Phil Amari, the next two bosses who ran the show for 25+ years had no known connection to Ribera.

One strong reason I believe they were always separate is every source who was familiar with the Newark Family story (Angelo Bruno, Anthony Accetturo, Bill Bonanno, maybe Nick Gentile though I can't remember if he talks about them being disbanded) claims they were disbanded. Bruno goes as far as to say that the members were distributed among the 5 families. If the Elizabeth and Newark families had been one and the same , I don't think you could really consider Newark as having been disbanded. Instead, the Elizabeth family would be seen as the natural continuation of the family given their close proximity to Newark and independence.

Edit: if Elizabeth had been part of Newark, one of the above sources would have almost surely mentioned that Sam's boys came from the Newark group or connected them somehow.

[OlBlueEyesClub]

Thanks guys. Seems Sam was around for a long time. During an argument with Joe Bonanno over The Commission protecting Gaspare Di Gregorio, after Bonanno "put him on the shelf", Joe says "Your father taught you different!.." When Sam is pleading with him to meet with the commission and to understand that the Commission is responsible for all members and families. These wiretaps are some of the best I've ever read.

[Rocco]

Steve Vitabile was released from prison a few yrs ago. I am assuming he is inactive. He is about 81 now. He was the longtime Consig for the family.

[sdeitche]

Stefano Badami, Newark City Directory 1946

[cavita]

Bacino founded an orphanage in Ribera with Phil Amari, and I think Bacino's son married Amari's daughter, but would have to double-check. James De George was also close to them and came from Ribera; he was the capo of the North Side crew before Prio.

Just throwing this out- and you Chicago scholars can school me/correct me- but is it possible that when Capone and dash The Caponites took over Chicago, is there a chance there was a Ribera Family formed in Elizabeth following that? We know there was an exodus - figures uncertain- of mafiosi who left the area?

There were Riberesi with well-known surnames in Elizabeth by ~1905. Phil Amari was there by the 1930 census, with an informant saying he came to Elizabeth from NY in the 1920s and brought others from Ribera with him from NY. Seems the family was there by the 1920s.

There was definitely a Riberesi colony in Illinois, but aside from Bacino, DeGeorge, and the Lolordos I don't know of any who may have been mafiosi. Joe Lolordo is the only one who fled.

Bacino's obituary

[B.]

Bacino founded an orphanage in Ribera with Phil Amari, and I think Bacino's son married Amari's daughter, but would have to double-check. James De George was also close to them and came from Ribera; he was the capo of the North Side crew before Prio.

Just throwing this out- and you Chicago scholars can school me/correct me- but is it possible that when Capone and dash The Caponites took over Chicago, is there a chance there was a Ribera Family formed in Elizabeth following that? We know there was an exodus - figures uncertain- of mafiosi who left the area?

There were Riberesi with well-known surnames in Elizabeth by ~1905. Phil Amari was there by the 1930 census, with an informant saying he came to Elizabeth from NY in the 1920s and brought others from Ribera with him from NY. Seems the family was there by the 1920s.

There was definitely a Riberesi colony in Illinois, but aside from Bacino, DeGeorge, and the Lolordos I don't know of any who may have been mafiosi. Joe Lolordo is the only one who fled.

Bacino's obituary

Thanks for posting. Doesn't mention his brother(?) Luciano Bacino who was an alleged soldier in the Ribera family. Either he also used the name Frank or Luciano is another relation.

[cavita]

Or he died before Bacino?

[B.]

Thanks to Chaps for originally posting this here: viewtopic.php?f=29&t=435&p=31076&hilit= ... ore#p31076

1960
Newark T-7 advised that he had known Delmore for many years and while he had only in the last two years become active in the Elizabeth, New Jersey, area, there was no doubt in his mind or among the Italian element in Elizabeth, New Jersey, that Delmore was still "boss." He advised that it was taken for granted by people in Elizabeth that Delmore was boss, that Filippo Amari was next in line (informant advised Amari is presently in Sicily), m Emanuel Riggi, and then other lieutenants would be Sal Caternicchio, Joseph Sferra and a few other members of Local 394, Hod Carriers Union. Informants have advised in the past that Delmore is closely associated with Gerardo Catena and Vito Genovese, both of whom attended the meeting at Apalachin, New York, on November 14, 1957. During the past two years, Bureau Agents have observed Delmore meeting with Louis Larasso, Frank Majuri and [name redacted].

and

P. AMARI, above, is identical with PHIL AMARI, who Union County Prosecutors RUSSELL MORSS described in December, 1957 as being the leader of the rackets in Union County, New Jersey. MORSS indicated that AMARI succeeded NICK DELMORE as racket king in Union County when DELMORE retired due to old age.

This contradicts what we believed, that Delmore succeeded Amari, sounds from this informant that it was the other way around.

And seems like T-7 gave us the structure in 1960:

Delmore - Boss
Amari - Next in line (Under or Consig)
Emanuel Riggi - (Under or Consig)
Caternicchio, Sferra - lieutenants

Perhaps Amari succeeded Delmore and then Majuri became under?

We do know for certain that Nick Delmore succeeded Amari as Boss as every member source and several wiretaps state this fact. At some point Amari was forced to step down due to "rebellious factions beneath him." What exactly those particular circumstances are we don't know for sure but it is clear from the DeCavalcante tapes that he was not a popular Boss. After he stepped down he fled to Sicily. Delmore then took over and, upon his death, his nephew Sam DeCavalcante took over. This we know for sure.

What these other sources lead me to believe is that Delmore may have been Boss, retired, Amari takes over, is deposed, and the faithful old hand Delmore has to come out of retirement to take back the reigns. I have issues with this theory though. It flies in the face of established succession theory for this Family. It also would have made Delmore an early Boss of a decidedly Riberese Family. Other sources point out that the Ribera born members essentially founded the Family and Delmore was not from that part of Sicily. Although he would have to have become a member at some point and could have been Boss.

Sorry to muddy the waters but I personally believe the source I quoted was mistaken and had his shit backwards.

Adding fuel to the fire, there is this conversation between DeCarlo and Russo (who lived in Long Branch, where Delmore lived:
https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... 1&tab=page

Russo says that Nick Delmore keeps looking for him and calling him, and Russo disparages Delmore. DeCarlo says "everybody else made up with the guy" and "made him the boss again" and asks Russo why he can't make up with him, too. This adds to what was posted above about Delmore possibly being a boss before Amari, and then boss again after him. Taking only DeCarlo's vague comments, it at least sounds like Delmore lost his standing at some point and was later forgiven. Whether he was actually the boss at two different points is hard to say, but DeCarlo does seem to suggest that.

[Antiliar]

Interesting.

[OlBlueEyesClub]

Good find, B.