Guys who coulda/shoulda been Boss ?

[Frank]

Nino Gaggi

Tommy Gambino instead of Gotti (likely if Paul doesnt get clipped)

Yes I believe he was suppose to take over as acting boss if Paul went to prison.

[chin_gigante]

Here's a few of the several Philly guys who had plans to become boss as well as some of the things they wanted to do:

Antonio Caponigro:
- Had a hit list that included Nicodemo Scarfo and Frank Narducci
- Planned on promoting either Pasquale Martirano or Frank Sindone to underboss
- Wanted to induct George Fresolone and Nicholas Caramandi
- Would have promoted Fresolone to captain over the North Jersey crew

Peter Casella:
- Was planning on killing at least Nicodemo Scarfo and Salvatore Merlino
- Would have inducted Rocco Marinucci
- Would have promoted Frank Narducci to underboss
- Would have retired to then allow Narducci to become boss

Peter Caprio:
- Had a plan in place to kill Joseph Ligambi, George Borgesi and Steven Mazzone
- Would have inducted Daniel D'Ambrosia and Raymond LePore
- Would have promoted D'Ambrosia to underboss
- Would have promoted Martin Angelina to consigliere

Some others:

- Dominick Pollina wanted to become official representante following Joseph Ida
- Pasquale Massi was offered the role of boss following Ida but turned it down
- Harry Riccobene claimed he could have become boss had he wanted it
- Ricconene unsuccessfully campaigned to succeed Philip Testa and then engaged in a war with Scarfo
- John Simone attempted to gain the support of the Cleveland and Gambino families to take over following Angelo Bruno's murder
- Frank Friel says Simone wanted Frank Sindone to become boss
- Sindone was also a popular choice to take over
- Albert Pontani and Joseph Ligambi were considered for the role of acting boss following Scarfo's incarceration
- Joseph Ciancaglini Jr was pushed by his father to become acting boss once it became clear Anthony Piccolo did not want the position anymore
- Salvatore Sparacio wanted Piccolo to become official boss succeeding Scarfo
- Sparacio wanted to be Piccolo's underboss and wanted John Stanfa to be consigliere
- In 1993, Joseph Merlino started saying that he was the underboss and that Michael Ciancaglini was the boss
- The Merlino crew had plans to kill Stanfa, Luigi Tripodi, Ronald Previte, Philip Colletti, John Veasey and others
- Vincent Pagano said he and Frank Martines were in line to run the family should Stanfa be indicted
- Ronald Previte, Joseph Stanfa, Salvatore Sparacio and William D'Elia were identified as contenders to lead the family if Stanfa were to be arrested
- Ronald Turchi tried to get Leonard DiMaria's support to become boss following Stanfa
- When he was arrested in 2011, Ligambi wanted John Ciancaglini to become acting boss

[CabriniGreen]

Sonny Red? Armand Rava? Joe Adonis? Frank Coppola ( he could been boss of Partinico) , this a weird one.. Eddie Lino ,( I think he woulda got a shot at acting)

Gerry Lang?

[Ryan98366]

Little Nicky Corozzo

[PolackTony]

Tommy Eboli?

[HoagieNose]

Wasn’t there talk of Phil Narducci becoming boss back in 2015ish.

[Grouchy Sinatra]

Either Neil Dellocroce or maybe someone from the Gambino faction who could better relate to the Dellocroce faction than Castellano could, considering Castellano hardly did at all based on what we know. This could have prevented Gotti and all of the disasters that went along with that.

I forget the names, but the guys Tony Ducks was considering before he selected Amuso. Or did he select him? Anyhow, it should have been one of them. It should have been the man on the moon before Amuso.

[Frank]

Either Neil Dellocroce or maybe someone from the Gambino faction who could better relate to the Dellocroce faction than Castellano could, considering Castellano hardly did at all based on what we know. This could have prevented Gotti and all of the disasters that went along with that.

I forget the names, but the guys Tony Ducks was considering before he selected Amuso. Or did he select him? Anyhow, it should have been one of them. It should have been the man on the moon before Amuso.

Buddy Luongo is who your thinking of.

[TommyGambino]

Tommy Gambino LA. Or is he???

LA family is dead, I'm sure the knowledgeable posters with info on the Gambino brothers, maybe felice said he reports to the Gambinos if I remember right.

[Grouchy Sinatra]

Buddy Luongo is who your thinking of.

That's it. Thank you.

Would it have made a difference if he was made boss, or would Amuso and Gaspipe have gone on their rampage anyway starting a war in the family?

[Dwalin2014]

The Colombos would be in much better shape today if Vic Orena had taken over as boss. The third war could have been averted if Carmine Persico had handed the family over to him and worked out an arrangement where he would still receive some type of tribute payment on a regular basis. Orena was a racketeer with a good business sense, and he had the support of the majority of the family. He is exactly the type of boss that a modern-day Mafia family needs—low-key, non-violent, and focused on making money through white collar crime and legitimate businesses.

Orena wasn't a nonviolent guy lol. He had a few guys killed during his reign as AB.

I'm going off of the information in Deal with the Devil, which disputes Orena's involvement in most of the murders that have been attributed to him.

I know that book questions the involvement of Orena and Amato in the Ocera murder, but if that was the case, why did Bonfiglio (when he was caught on tape) complain about not being rewarded by Amato for his involvement in the murder? That means Amato was involved, but could he have acted without Orena's permission?

Also, there were deaths on both sides in the Colombo war, including the pro-Persico side. Imo it's reasonable to assume Orena was responsible, Scarpa couldn't have possibly done ALL the hits on BOTH opposing sides.

[Manhattan_]

Either Neil Dellocroce or maybe someone from the Gambino faction who could better relate to the Dellocroce faction than Castellano could, considering Castellano hardly did at all based on what we know. This could have prevented Gotti and all of the disasters that went along with that.
Always felt that the guy to bridge between Paul and John Gotti should have been Joe Butch Corrao .
I forget the names, but the guys Tony Ducks was considering before he selected Amuso. Or did he select him? Anyhow, it should have been one of them. It should have been the man on the moon before Amuso.

[JakeTheSnake630]

Buddy Luongo

[JCB1977]

Angelo Lonardo, Cleveland.

Joseph “Jo Jo” Pecora, Pittsburgh (Passed over due a 5 year stretch in Lexington)

[Grouchy Sinatra]

Buddy Luongo

This.

I dont know why I care maybe its because I grew up on Goodfellas but it really sucks how dark the Lukes went under Amuso and Gaspipe.