Youngstown mayor plans to pen book of mafia battles

[phatmatress777]

http://www.vindy.com/news/2017/jul/01/e ... -r/?mobile

Pat Ungaro, former Youngstown mayor, insists one day he will retire for good. Just not right now.

The life of leisure does not agree with Ungaro, 76.

“I tried it for a short time and it was awful,” Ungaro said. “I know that’s not how most people would feel, but I’ve still got all this energy. I want to be going all the time.”

Ungaro, a former quarterback at East High School, The Rayen School and Youngstown State, now uses a cane after several back operations but keeps active by walking on the treadmill.

He resigned his full-time position as the Liberty Township administrator in June. Trustees have agreed to rehire him as a part-time administrator earning $1,200 monthly beginning Aug. 1. In the meantime, Ungaro is advising the township informally without pay.

When he first signed on as Liberty’s administrator in 2002, Ungaro had a $59,000 salary, according to Vindicator files. He left the full-time position with a $44,229 salary after agreeing to a series of pay cuts, in part, because of the township’s state-designated status of fiscal caution since 2013.

Ungaro is not sure how long he’ll stay on as a part-timer for Liberty – maybe six months, maybe two years. There are development projects in the township that he wants to see through.

He is adamant that he’ll stay busy no matter what.

Ungaro has been using his phone to record himself reminiscing and plans to write a book about his life. His experiences as Youngstown mayor – especially his run-ins with the mob – likely will feature prominently in that book.

Ungaro, who was Youngstown’s longest-serving mayor from 1984 to 1997, says the dominance of organized crime was the greatest challenge of his time in elected office.

“It was out of control,” Ungaro said. “You talk about a cesspool of corruption.”

Ungaro acknowledges organized crime had a presence in other cities – he cites Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Chicago as examples — but believes crime bosses were able to keep a tighter hold on Youngstown because of the small size.

Famously, Ungaro went to Washington, D.C., in 1984, along with a Youngstown delegation, to testify in a congressional hearing on organized crime.

Even as the testimony attracted the national spotlight, there were certain precautions Ungaro had to take. When he arrived in Washington, a hotel employee gave him a room number that was different from the one listed as his reservation, Ungaro remembered. It was safer if Ungaro could not be easily located.

When he returned to Youngstown, Ungaro said the reaction from locals to his testimony was “mostly positive.” He did get threats, though. Mostly the threats were “passive-aggressive,” Ungaro said. They usually would come from someone he knew.

Ungaro remembers one instance when he was dining at a Youngstown restaurant with a local judge. Ungaro said a man came up to him and told him he forgot a bag. The bag contained a videotape. When he returned home, Ungaro watched the tape and saw a car, which appeared to be parked in the desert, being blown up.

As mayor, Ungaro never let his four children near the car when he started it every morning. Car bombings – nicknamed “Youngstown tune-ups” – often went unsolved.

In another instance, Ungaro said a dirty cop came up to him and told him he might end up arrested, framed with drugs in his car. Soon after, Ungaro told the story of that conversation on the local Dan Ryan show.

“If it’s all out in the open, then they can’t try anything,” Ungaro said. “That was often the best way to respond.”

As a politician, Ungaro says he avoided private meetings and always assumed he was being recorded.

“Sometimes I would look right at someone’s chest, where I thought they had a recorder, and say, ‘[expletive] you,’” Ungaro said.

The mob, he said, gets public officials when they’re “young, dumb” and easily impressed by money.

“It’s like being a stockbroker – they all want to invest in Microsoft early when it’s still a small company,” Ungaro said. “Some people thought I might end up tied into that stuff because I’m Italian, but I never took money from them.

“Once they give you money, they own you.”

Ungaro describes his entrance into politics as happenstance. He decided to run for city council when he was living on the North Side and fed up with a motorcycle gang on his block.

Previously, he worked as a football coach, teacher, guidance counselor and school administrator. Ungaro believes he won his first mayoral election, despite lacking the Democratic Party endorsement, because of votes from the black community.

He had worked in schools – Rayen and South High – with predominately black student bodies and said he was able to establish credibility in the racially divided city.

After retiring from government, Ungaro did briefly re-enter the education profession, but he said his “bad language” was an obstacle.

Ungaro credits his wife of 49 years, Theresa, for her unwavering strength during the stressful years of his political life.

“She put up with a lot of bull,” Ungaro said.

The Ungaros had their share of family tragedy. Their son, Sean, died of an overdose in 2012 at age 39.

Ungaro has often spoken publicly about his son’s addiction, which began with pain pills for a hernia.

Ungaro contends the public’s understanding of addiction has improved in recent years.

“Back then, he was just considered a common criminal,” Ungaro said. “Now, it’s a disease.”

Sean left behind a son, whom Ungaro is helping to raise.

“He’s such a joy,” Ungaro said of his grandson.

All this – the personal and the political – could end up in the book Ungaro is planning.

He’s still not sure how far he will go to name names, especially when it comes to the Mafia stories.

“Some of it is just so vile, I have never spoken of it,” Ungaro said. “It would make hair grow on your back.”





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[Teflon john]

I'll give it a read if he writes it,being my home state i cant help but be curious.

[phatmatress777]

Youngstown has great stories and colorful characters


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[Ivan]

Youngstown has great stories and colorful characters

yeah it's a crazy place, like a smaller version of Philly kind of, but with more car bombs

[Jim505]

When the mobsters couldn't bribe him, they had a priest (Iati) do it. Didn't work.

[JCB1977]

When the mobsters couldn't bribe him, they had a priest (Iati) do it. Didn't work.

Fr. DeMarinis was Joey Naples' guy. Pat is so busy I don't see him getting around to actually doing it...hopefully I'm wrong but I can't picture him doing the research.

[FriendofHenry]

When the mobsters couldn't bribe him, they had a priest (Iati) do it. Didn't work.

Fr. DeMarinis was Joey Naples' guy. Pat is so busy I don't see him getting around to actually doing it...hopefully I'm wrong but I can't picture him doing the research.

I think he meant Fr.Joe Iati. Fr.Joe went from St. Charles then Mooney and finally to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. You know what happened there
Fr. Joe had a couple of "sponsors". Ed Sr. at St Charles then Tony C at Our Lady. Fr. Joe was one of your Uncle Nickey's best customers
I know Pat and out of respect for him I didn't have his son arrested when he caused an incident at my place that resulted in a law suit.
Needless to say: The law suit got dismissed I have no idea what Jim505 is talking about. Maybe he could elaborate?

[JCB1977]

When the mobsters couldn't bribe him, they had a priest (Iati) do it. Didn't work.

Fr. DeMarinis was Joey Naples' guy. Pat is so busy I don't see him getting around to actually doing it...hopefully I'm wrong but I can't picture him doing the research.

I think he meant Fr.Joe Iati. Fr.Joe went from St. Charles then Mooney and finally to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. You know what happened there
Fr. Joe had a couple of "sponsors". Ed Sr. at St Charles then Tony C at Our Lady. Fr. Joe was one of your Uncle Nickey's best customers
I know Pat and out of respect for him I didn't have his son arrested when he caused an incident at my place that resulted in a law suit.
Needless to say: The law suit got dismissed I have no idea what Jim505 is talking about. Maybe he could elaborate?

Hi FOH,

I knew Fr. Joe very well, in fact, Joey picked up his tab for his tailor made suits. And so did Jimmy Naples. Fr. Joe never paid for anything.

However, Joey was exceptionally close to Reverend DeMarinis of St. Anthony's in Brier Hill, I believe he did Joey 'a funeral Mass

[Jim505]

This is what I was referring to. From an article at americanmafia.com by James Ridgway de Szigethy

Not so fortunate was the Reverend Joseph Iati, Pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Youngstown. In 1986 Father Iati was found dead of a gunshot wound to his head. Youngstown authorities officially ruled Iati’s death a suicide. Iati was a beloved and respected member of the community, but in July, 2000 former Youngstown Mayor Patrick Ungaro told the Plain Dealer that Father Iati on numerous occasions tried to bribe him with money from Joey Naples, a Pittsburgh Mafia Family figure. Naples, a Mount Carmel parishioner, was among those who contributed to the $163,000 bribe given to Traficant during his successful 1980 campaign for Mahoning County Sheriff.

[JCB1977]

It could have happened...but Pat was a squeaky clean guy, he also could have misconstrued what Iati said to him. At the end of the day, Joey didn't need Pat, he had half of Mahoning County LE in his pocket along with the prosecutor, a few judges and a congressman. He had several mayors of smaller suburbs on his payroll...and the one thing I could say about Joey, too much with never enough and it became his undoing at the end.

[UTC]

I'm making an effort to read Allen May's book on Youngstown.

[JCB1977]

I'm making an effort to read Allen May's book on Youngstown.

It will certainly peak your interest regarding the history of OC in the Greater Youngstown area. LOTS OF HISTORY, mostly from news articles.

[UTC]

Not exactly a "Can't put it down" offering.

[phatmatress777]

Not exactly a "Can't put it down" offering.

You read it?


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[JCB1977]

Not exactly a "Can't put it down" offering.

It's more of a factual history of OC in the Mahoning Valley...it will give you info on the players and a who's who of OC in the Ohio River Valley