PolackTony wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 4:29 pm
Any further info on this "combaneesh"? I think I've only seen it mentioned before once and didn't understand it to specifically be a Mainlander thing. Did this come up in a wiretap, or did an informant actually shed light on it?
Were the DelDucas and Toddo Marino part of this "Combaneesh" as well, as I'd suspect? If so, then DelDuca's longstanding connection to Chicago going back to Prohibition becomes all the more interesting.
It was some kind of Americanized Camorra-type organization that was likely created by Camorra leftovers trying to consolidate their power in the late 1910s and early 1920s. Vito was apparently 'sneaked in' the organization in 1923, so this was before Cosa Nostra started aggressively recruiting non-Sicilians in the mid to late 1920s. There's no evidence, but what I think happened is that a powerful 'combaneesh' member was inducted in LCN and began sponsoring his friends from the 'combaneesh' into the bigger organization.
B. wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 11:51 pm
In addition to his close relationship to the Calabrian Frank Ianni in Dallas, an FBI report from 1964 states that Steubenville, Ohio, mafia figure James Tripodi was in periodic contact with Rocco Pellegrino.
Unsurprisingly, Rocco Pellegrino also had interests in Connecticut. Vito Sabia of Stamford was identified as a partner in a Connecticut numbers business with Rocco Pellegrino. The FBI carried Sabia as a "suspected member" of the Genovese family but I haven't seen any confirmation of membership.
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The Pellegrino crew looks to have covered the following territory, maybe more:
White Plains / Mount Vernon / Westchester County
The Bronx
Lower East Side / Manhattan
South Brooklyn
Stamford / Connecticut
Florida
Gambling interests in Texas and close ties to Steubenville, Ohio.
Served as liaison to Dallas family, who were represented on the Commission by the Genovese family by the late 1950s. Pellegrino's sons Peter and Carmine and crew member Michele Clemente served as go-betweens for the Dallas family and NYC.
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Funny how such an influential longtime figure can fly under the radar. Obviously we all know about him on here, but he should be mentioned alongside all of the well-known "household" names from that era of the Genovese family yet isn't. Kind of the Giuseppe Traina of the Genovese family.
It seems like Rocco Pellegrino's crew expansion was a gradual one. He started in White Plains, expanded in Westchester Country, and by the early 1930s he had a firm footing in The Bronx. By the mid-1940s he was operating in Manhattan. In the 1950s Mogavero was running Pellegrino's drug smuggling network because he was his number one guy and main controller on 'the horn' - that's the term they used for the piers which extended from the lower West Side around the southern tip of Manhattan to the lower East Side piers.
It's possible that the Pellegrino crew absorbed some of the former DelDucca Crew's operations when Mogavero was still acting caporegime for Rocco, and at a later date the Lower Manhattan and South Brooklyn operations of the Pellegrino Crew were splintered off to create a new regime under Mogavero. By the late 1960s, the feds had Magovero and Pellegrino as caporegimes simultaneously.
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Regarding Ratteni: In March 1970 he was arrested on gambling charges alongside 10 other men, including four police officers. He ran eight gambling centers for the Genovese crime family in Rockland and Westchester County. He was IDd by the FBI and the Federal Joint Strike Force as a caporegime. Peter Variano out of Hartsdale, NY, was IDd as a soldier under him.
eboli wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10, 2021 12:57 am
It was some kind of Americanized Camorra-type organization that was likely created by Camorra leftovers trying to consolidate their power in the late 1910s and early 1920s. Vito was apparently 'sneaked in' the organization in 1923, so this was before Cosa Nostra started aggressively recruiting non-Sicilians in the mid to late 1920s. There's no evidence, but what I think happened is that a powerful 'combaneesh' member was inducted in LCN and began sponsoring his friends from the 'combaneesh' into the bigger organization.
Thanks for this one since it confirms many things which i previously suspected. Cheers E
Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God - Corinthians 6:9-10
Speaking of "Toddo Marino" Maiorana, has anyone seen definitive information on the membership of Gaetano "Tano Longo" Martino? I believe these two men have been confused by some sources given the similarity in their names ("Toddo Marino" vs. "Tano Martino", sometimes the latter getting called "Tommo" to add to the confusion). To make it even more confusing, the FBN book lists Maiorana and Martino as close associates.
I have a reliable source who believed Tano Longo Martino was a Gambino member with the Olympio Garofalo crew. Martino was from Palermo and operated in Gravesend and the Lower East Side, all of which fit with the Garofalo crew. The FBN book only lists him associating with Genovese figures, though.
SA Flynn showed Joe Valachi a photo of Tano Longo Martino on two different occasions and Valachi was unable to identify him or his membership both times. DId any knowledgeable sources ever identify him as a Genovese member? He shows up on a 1960s list but it's not clear the source.
The same source who has him as a Gambino member also said Martino's son Nick was made into the Garofalo crew later and that his other son is the actor who played Paulie Gatto in the Godfather, Johnny Martino. The FBN book only lists one son, Gaetano Jr., but the FBN book isn't necessarily comprehensive (nor even inaccurate in some cases) with relatives, so not sure.
B. wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10, 2021 11:14 am
Speaking of "Toddo Marino" Maiorana, has anyone seen definitive information on the membership of Gaetano "Tano Longo" Martino? I believe these two men have been confused by some sources given the similarity in their names ("Toddo Marino" vs. "Tano Martino", sometimes the latter getting called "Tommo" to add to the confusion). To make it even more confusing, the FBN book lists Maiorana and Martino as close associates.
I have a reliable source who believed Tano Longo Martino was a Gambino member with the Olympio Garofalo crew. Martino was from Palermo and operated in Gravesend and the Lower East Side, all of which fit with the Garofalo crew. The FBN book only lists him associating with Genovese figures, though.
SA Flynn showed Joe Valachi a photo of Tano Longo Martino on two different occasions and Valachi was unable to identify him or his membership both times. DId any knowledgeable sources ever identify him as a Genovese member? He shows up on a 1960s list but it's not clear the source.
The same source who has him as a Gambino member also said Martino's son Nick was made into the Garofalo crew later and that his other son is the actor who played Paulie Gatto in the Godfather, Johnny Martino. The FBN book only lists one son, Gaetano Jr., but the FBN book isn't necessarily comprehensive (nor even inaccurate in some cases) with relatives, so not sure.
For what it´s worth, Philip Carlo/Casso mentioned in Casso´s book about a Gambino captain nicknamed Tom Long who used Casso for a hit. But we all know that book is not reliable. (I´m sure you know this) the Genovese chart from the Valachi Hearings show a Gaetano Martino, nicknamed "Mimi" as a Alo crew member. I have not seen a Gaetano Martino listed by the FBI as a confirmed member though, unless of course his name is redacted on those lists.
JD found info on Nick Martino and said he was a made member under Garofalo.
Thanks HK. Didn't know JD identified Nick Martino with that crew as well.
Michael DiLeonardo believes Tano Longo Martino was captain of the Garofalo crew at some point before Olympio Garofalo took over. I'd put his info at the top of the stack given how far back his family went with that crew. Martino would fit right in with all of the other Palermitani in that crew.
Problems with Casso and Carlo aside, sounds like Casso had the same take as DiLeonardo, so that's two high-ranking sources from the neighborhood who have him as a Gambino captain.
Interesting about Martino, he probably was a Gambino.
His 1951 congress testimony is pretty entertaining, he slips up and contradicts himself serval times regarding his dealings with Phil Mangano and Lucky Luciano and other things.
