LA Family San Diego Decina Info

[Antiliar]

I believe it was Federal Bureau of Narcotics (which was under Treasury) agent Col. George H. White who Bomp was talking about. Until I read that I thought he was promoted much earlier, so it turned out that neither Bomp nor Fratianno were captains for very long. Before we found that reference in Mary Ferrell I believed that Bomp had been a captain from at least the mid-1940s since in The Last Mafioso he's mentioned as being a skipper at the time of Fratianno's initiation ceremony. It was also mentioned that the L.A. mob had captains, but they weren't named. One possible pre-1951 captain was Joe Giammona, who had no crew by the early 1960s due to his ill health.

[B.]

Yes, I meant George White not Bill White.

[davidf1989]

Yes, I meant George White not Bill White.

Thanks for your clarification and was Moretti actually cooperating or just insane from syphilis?

Also was Bompensiero and Piscopo valuable CI's for the Feds?

[PolackTony]

Also was Bompensiero and Piscopo valuable CI's for the Feds?

Yes, Bompensiero in particular being one of the single most valuable CIs the FBI had in this period as he knew members in Families around the country and was basically reporting his conversations with guys directly to the FBI. Bomp is also very valuable to us as researchers, and not just for LA. For example, we’ve learned more about Chicago from Bomp’s intel, arguably, than from the Chicago CIs in this period.

[Ed]

Also was Bompensiero and Piscopo valuable CI's for the Feds?

Yes, Bompensiero in particular being one of the single most valuable CIs the FBI had in this period as he knew members in Families around the country and was basically reporting his conversations with guys directly to the FBI. Bomp is also very valuable to us as researchers, and not just for LA. For example, we’ve learned more about Chicago from Bomp’s intel, arguably, than from the Chicago CIs in this period.

Tony's right. I can't recall the precise wording, but the FBI referred to Bompensiero as their most valuable Mafia CI circa 1967. I think by then, Scarpa had temporarily stopped working with the bureau.

Although we have the FBI's word that Bompensiero was their top CI, the randomness and limitations of the FBI intelligence reports on MF (the documents are summaries) can skew our opinion of a source's productivity if we are making a judgment based solely on publicly available records. (Not that you are.)

We know from the FBI vaults that Scarpa was furnishing reams of blockbuster Intel in the first half of the 1960s, but his informant symbol code turns up relatively infrequently in declassified intelligence reports on MF during this period. NY 3461 wouldn't impress you much if you didn't know better.

[PolackTony]

Also was Bompensiero and Piscopo valuable CI's for the Feds?

Yes, Bompensiero in particular being one of the single most valuable CIs the FBI had in this period as he knew members in Families around the country and was basically reporting his conversations with guys directly to the FBI. Bomp is also very valuable to us as researchers, and not just for LA. For example, we’ve learned more about Chicago from Bomp’s intel, arguably, than from the Chicago CIs in this period.

Tony's right. I can't recall the precise wording, but the FBI referred to Bompensiero as their most valuable Mafia CI circa 1967. I think by then, Scarpa had temporarily stopped working with the bureau.

Although we have the FBI's word that Bompensiero was their top CI, the randomness and limitations of the FBI intelligence reports on MF (the documents are summaries) can skew our opinion of a source's productivity if we are making a judgment based solely on publicly available records. (Not that you are.)

We know from the FBI vaults that Scarpa was furnishing reams of blockbuster Intel in the first half of the 1960s, but his informant symbol code turns up relatively infrequently in declassified intelligence reports on MF during this period. NY 3461 wouldn't impress you much if you didn't know better.

Good point about Scarpa of course. I forget her name at the moment, but I once saw a doc on Whitey Bulger where this woman who had previously investigated Scarpa’s shenanigans with the FBI stated that she had to file an FOIA suit to force the Feds to release his full record which amounted to some 10ks of pages that she had never seen previously.

[B.]

Scarpa's info on NYC specifically might be unrivaled, but on a national and historic level I consider Bompensiero the most invaluable informant currently known to us. He'd been made for decades, cooperated for a decade, and in addition to his California knowledge he had unique insight and high-level access to the Families in Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, New York, Tampa, St. Louis, as well as other lesser-known info on New York figures. It's wild what he was able to provide and little to none of it comes across disingenuous.

[Antiliar]

Also was Bompensiero and Piscopo valuable CI's for the Feds?

Yes, Bompensiero in particular being one of the single most valuable CIs the FBI had in this period as he knew members in Families around the country and was basically reporting his conversations with guys directly to the FBI. Bomp is also very valuable to us as researchers, and not just for LA. For example, we’ve learned more about Chicago from Bomp’s intel, arguably, than from the Chicago CIs in this period.

Tony's right. I can't recall the precise wording, but the FBI referred to Bompensiero as their most valuable Mafia CI circa 1967. I think by then, Scarpa had temporarily stopped working with the bureau.

Although we have the FBI's word that Bompensiero was their top CI, the randomness and limitations of the FBI intelligence reports on MF (the documents are summaries) can skew our opinion of a source's productivity if we are making a judgment based solely on publicly available records. (Not that you are.)

We know from the FBI vaults that Scarpa was furnishing reams of blockbuster Intel in the first half of the 1960s, but his informant symbol code turns up relatively infrequently in declassified intelligence reports on MF during this period. NY 3461 wouldn't impress you much if you didn't know better.

Good point about Scarpa of course. I forget her name at the moment, but I once saw a doc on Whitey Bulger where this woman who had previously investigated Scarpa’s shenanigans with the FBI stated that she had to file an FOIA suit to force the Feds to release his full record which amounted to some 10ks of pages that she had never seen previously.

That was Angela Clemente who sued to get the Scarpa files.

[PolackTony]

Also was Bompensiero and Piscopo valuable CI's for the Feds?

Yes, Bompensiero in particular being one of the single most valuable CIs the FBI had in this period as he knew members in Families around the country and was basically reporting his conversations with guys directly to the FBI. Bomp is also very valuable to us as researchers, and not just for LA. For example, we’ve learned more about Chicago from Bomp’s intel, arguably, than from the Chicago CIs in this period.

Tony's right. I can't recall the precise wording, but the FBI referred to Bompensiero as their most valuable Mafia CI circa 1967. I think by then, Scarpa had temporarily stopped working with the bureau.

Although we have the FBI's word that Bompensiero was their top CI, the randomness and limitations of the FBI intelligence reports on MF (the documents are summaries) can skew our opinion of a source's productivity if we are making a judgment based solely on publicly available records. (Not that you are.)

We know from the FBI vaults that Scarpa was furnishing reams of blockbuster Intel in the first half of the 1960s, but his informant symbol code turns up relatively infrequently in declassified intelligence reports on MF during this period. NY 3461 wouldn't impress you much if you didn't know better.

Good point about Scarpa of course. I forget her name at the moment, but I once saw a doc on Whitey Bulger where this woman who had previously investigated Scarpa’s shenanigans with the FBI stated that she had to file an FOIA suit to force the Feds to release his full record which amounted to some 10ks of pages that she had never seen previously.

That was Angela Clemente who sued to get the Scarpa files.

Yup that was it, thanks!

[jimmyb]

- Salvatore Vitale, former Detroit member described by Bompensiero as an underboss in a Sicilian family, likely Partinico, stayed in San Diego for periods and was extensively involved in drug trafficking with Detroit leaders. He was connected to John Priziola, who along with other Detroit leaders was involved in Vitale's murder, allegedly for a drug rip-off involving the Detroit leadership.


[/quote]

Great stuff B. Yes, Vitale was sotto capo of Partinico. He and Frank Coppola were rivals. Vitale was related to one of the Matranga's through marriage. I can't remember which direction it went though. But anyhow, Matranga was asking Priziola about Vitale's disappearance and Papa John told him to mind his own business. I wrote about it in a chapter found in Scott's "The Detroit True Crime Chronicles."

[jimmyb]

Vitale was married to one of the Matranga sisters