Steve Magaddino recording

[Antiliar]

There's some names in here that the FBI translators couldn't figure out, but maybe with what we know we can decipher them. What makes it more difficult is that Magaddino's conversation jumps from the 1910s to the 1960s without notice, so even figuring out the context can be challenging. He mentions some early bosses that have been forgotten, so if we can figure out who those guys are it could be rewarding. Here's some of the names in the conversation:

Peppino Lonardo - Joseph Lonardo, Cleveland boss killed in 1927
Mike Lo Bosco - Cleveland member under Lonardo and "secret agent" of Toto D'Aquila
Salvatore Maranzano - Capo di Capi and boss of the Bonanno borgata
Joe Di Carlo - Could have been the first boss of Buffalo who died in 1922 or his son
Sam Pieri - Buffalo member
Toto Di Bella - Father of Thomas Di Bella and prior boss of the Profaci Family
Joseph Profaci - Successor of Di Bella before Joe Magliocco and Joe Colombo
Steve Telafaro - unknown made person who went to California (probably Steve Trifiro, San Francisco Family member who was the son of Giuseppe "Joe" Trifiro, who was the underboss to Dr. Joseph Romano in Cleveland, then moved to California after Romano was killed by Angelo Lonardo in 1936)
Johnny Pops - Johnny "Pops" Papalia, leader of Canadian crew in Hamilton, Ontario
Fred Randaccio - Magaddino underboss
Mike Merlo - Chicago boss from 1921 to 1924
Joe Civello - Dallas boss from 1956 to 1970
Rosolino Fanara - early Rochester mobster originally from Valledomo and part of Buffalo, went to prison in 1922, escaped and turned himself in in 1936
Toto Reginello - unknown, perhaps related to Marco Reginelli
Cicio Mero (or Lo Mero) - an unknown boss/rappresentante (possibly Frank Milano of Cleveland, known as Ciccio Milano)
Philip Maranzano (or Marzano or something similar) - Philip Mazzara, Buffalo mobster slain in 1927
Joe Albemi - Magaddino says he was a Capo di Capi that he didn't want in his borgata, recalling a conversation he had with Mike Merlo (who died in 1924) -- Maybe he meant Joe Morello??

http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 2&tab=page

[Antiliar]

Related to the above, Cleveland is a bit confusing. Joe Trifiro was the underboss to Dr. Romano and then Frank Milano. Yet Milano was reportedly the boss from around 1930. Milano fled to Mexico in 1934, but returned in 1935. Romano was killed in 1936, so Romano, I guess, was boss when Milano left for Mexico and REMAINED boss even after Milano returned. When Romano was killed, Milano took his old spot back:
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... ch=trifiro
(or maybe the informant remembered wrong, and Trifiro was the underboss to Milano THEN Romano, and then maybe Polizzi became boss)

Romano was important under Milano in 1930 (this info is from Nick Gentile):
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... D%20milano

Gentile also believed that Polizzi had Romano killed:
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 4&tab=page

Frank Milano also reportedly gave permission to Bazzano to have the Volpe brothers of Pittsburgh killed, and for that he was given the death penalty, but he talked his way out of it:
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... _milano%22

Frank Milano, according to another source, was also on the early Commission. When he finally stepped down in Cleveland he moved to Akron then Los Angeles and was replaced by Angelo Polizzi:
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... _milano%22
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... _milano%22

Yet, Angelo Lonardo said he and his cousin killed Romano in 1936, who he called "the former boss," and afterward met with the then-boss, Angelo Polizzi:
http://www.americanmafia.com/lonardo_testimony.html

[HairyKnuckles]

That´s a piece of document that is extremely difficult to decipher. A lot of "you", "we", "they", "them" etc makes it nearly impossible to understand what Magaddino is talking about. The Julius Santana mentioned could be Julius Celentano (1909-1985), a Bronx based Genovese made guy.

I figure the Joe Albemi mentioned must be Joe Morello. And if it is, that clearly shows what a difficult task the translators/transcriptors had on their hands.

Overall, the document is intreresting and I think that more guys than just me appreciates your effort but one need to be an expert on Magaddino/Buffalo in order to be able to straight the info out.

[toto]

Gentile also believed that Polizzi had Romano killed:
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 4&tab=page

Yet, Angelo Lonardo said he and his cousin killed Romano in 1936, who he called "the former boss," and afterward met with the then-boss, Angelo Polizzi:
http://www.americanmafia.com/lonardo_testimony.html

The first one confirms Angelo Lonardo murdered Dr. Romano after Angelo's mother pointed out Dr. Romano.

[B.]

Just what I needed, another one of these transcripts with phonetic names. Haha, thanks for posting this. You've also got me doing some more reading about Cleveland which I know almost nothing about.

Cool to see DiBella mentioned, however brief. Seems to put him at a large meeting where the leaders were trying to sort out the new capo dei capi, and he had something to say after Magaddino was nominated for the position. Would had to have been around the time Masseria stepped down or was killed, and before Maranzano got the position. Maybe around the time that Messina got it. This would also fit the timeline of DiBella being boss post-Mineo and pre-Profaci.

[B.]

He talks about someone who went to New Jersey to try and become capo dei capi, but whose home was in Buffalo. Whether it means his literal home was in Buffalo or he was affiliated with the Buffalo family isn't clear. At some point he ended up having a heart attack. Magaddino is clearly not a fan of this "old man" (he's probably older than Stefano M) and says he never saw him.

The only person I can think of who went from Buffalo to Jersey was Willie Moretti, but doesn't seem to be him based on the rest of it. John Simone grew up in Niagara Falls and associated with some future Buffalo members before moving to Trenton also, but it's def not him.

[Antiliar]

It's a real mystery, but maybe if we put our heads together we can come up with a solution. Another possibility is Vincenzo Troia, except of course the name doesn't fit and he wasn't from Buffalo. Seems to relate to this page:
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 6&tab=page
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 0maranzano

[Antiliar]

I'm wondering if the guy who went to Newark was Mike Russo. He was originally from Cerda and joined up with the Buffalo Family, where he was known as Michael Valenzano. He was one of the guys at the 1928 Cleveland meeting and this would explain his presence there. His age at the meeting, 35, was right around the middle because there were so many young guys. I think the guy who died of a heart attack was someone else because there's a small disruption in the transcript at that point. (I went through Tom Hunt and Mike Tona's book "DiCarlo" for this info.) Correction: Russo in 1928 lived in Iselin, New Jersey, which is closer to Elizabeth than to Newark. So was he trying to take over Newark or Elizabeth? Since he was with Salvatore Lombardino of Newark, my guess is that Russo was trying to go for Newark as well.

In the transcripts Mike Merlo is talking to Magaddino about breaking up the borgata. I think he was talking about the Buffalo Family. Since Merlo was boss from 1921 to 1924, he could have been talking about Giuseppe DiCarlo or maybe Phil Mazzara was briefly boss. In either case, Merlo wanted to break up Buffalo and put Magaddino in the top spot.

SO, once again, we are left with the ex-capo dei capi, Joe Albmemi. I think it has to be Morello. If this is the case, considering the timeline, Merlo had to be talking about breaking up the DiCarlo regime, which apparently was having a lot of problems. It was the same period as the Second Mafia War.

[B.]

I'm wondering if the guy who went to Newark was Mike Russo. He was originally from Cerda and joined up with the Buffalo Family, where he was known as Michael Valenzano. He was one of the guys at the 1928 Cleveland meeting and this would explain his presence there. His age at the meeting, 35, was right around the middle because there were so many young guys. I think the guy who died of a heart attack was someone else because there's a small disruption in the transcript at that point. (I went through Tom Hunt and Mike Tona's book "DiCarlo" for this info.) Correction: Russo in 1928 lived in Iselin, New Jersey, which is closer to Elizabeth than to Newark. So was he trying to take over Newark or Elizabeth? Since he was with Salvatore Lombardino of Newark, my guess is that Russo was trying to go for Newark as well.

In the transcripts Mike Merlo is talking to Magaddino about breaking up the borgata. I think he was talking about the Buffalo Family. Since Merlo was boss from 1921 to 1924, he could have been talking about Giuseppe DiCarlo or maybe Phil Mazzara was briefly boss. In either case, Merlo wanted to break up Buffalo and put Magaddino in the top spot.

SO, once again, we are left with the ex-capo dei capi, Joe Albmemi. I think it has to be Morello. If this is the case, considering the timeline, Merlo had to be talking about breaking up the DiCarlo regime, which apparently was having a lot of problems. It was the same period as the Second Mafia War.

You could def be onto something with Russo. I forget about him when thinking about New Jersey, but he shows up in the FBN book as well when he's older. I'd say he was more likely affiliated with Newark. Any other known mafiosi from Cerda operating in the US at that time? Both of the Jersey families seem to have been based on their place of origin in Sicily more than other families and I don't know of any Cerda connections to either of them (or to any other families for that matter), not that it necessarily means anything. What could make it confusing though is that two Illinois men with strong ties to Elizabeth (LoLordo and Bacino) were also at the Cleveland meeting.

Also, I don't think he is saying that anyone died of a heart attack, only that the person in question had a heart attack. Could still be anyone, though.

We have seen a few examples of guys who are seemingly little more than blips on the radar get tagged as candidates for top positions. Your explanation is as good as any.

[OlBlueEyesClub]

Gentile also believed that Polizzi had Romano killed:
http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html ... 4&tab=page

Yet, Angelo Lonardo said he and his cousin killed Romano in 1936, who he called "the former boss," and afterward met with the then-boss, Angelo Polizzi:
http://www.americanmafia.com/lonardo_testimony.html

The first one confirms Angelo Lonardo murdered Dr. Romano after Angelo's mother pointed out Dr. Romano.

That may not be entirely accurate. Lonardo himself testified and said in The Sugar Wars film that his mother was with him and pointed out a Black Sam Todaro, who was apparently with the Porellos. After his mother points him out, Lonardo calls him to the car and shoots him as he's about 10 feet away.


Lonardo also says that it was indeed, he and his cousin who killed Dr. Romano, because Romano had purposely infected one of Lonardos cousins or something, causing him to die. He makes no mention of his mother being present at that one..He also says that his cousin was killed for participating in the Romano murder because he was made at the time, while Lonardo was not, and that he should've known not to kill a boss.

[JCB1977]

Great stuff Antillar!

[B.]

I'm wondering if the guy who went to Newark was Mike Russo. He was originally from Cerda and joined up with the Buffalo Family, where he was known as Michael Valenzano. He was one of the guys at the 1928 Cleveland meeting and this would explain his presence there. His age at the meeting, 35, was right around the middle because there were so many young guys. I think the guy who died of a heart attack was someone else because there's a small disruption in the transcript at that point. (I went through Tom Hunt and Mike Tona's book "DiCarlo" for this info.) Correction: Russo in 1928 lived in Iselin, New Jersey, which is closer to Elizabeth than to Newark. So was he trying to take over Newark or Elizabeth? Since he was with Salvatore Lombardino of Newark, my guess is that Russo was trying to go for Newark as well.

Was going through some info and thought of this topic. The guy who fled Buffalo for New Jersey may be Paul Palmieri. He was an older Castellammarese Buffalo member who moved to Passaic, NJ in the 1940s, supposedly after a dispute with Magaddino, where he associated with Willie Moretti. The "capo dei capi" comment may have been an exaggeration (i.e. Magaddino was saying that Palmieri moved to NJ thinking he'd be a big shot). It's a possibility anyway.