History
Prohibition era bosses
At the turn of the 20th century, Italian criminals in the city of Pittsburgh were divided into two ethnic factions: the "Sicilians" and the "Neapolitans". [9] Territory within the city was also divided, as the Sicilian clans controlled the North and South Sides while the Neapolitan clans controlled the East End. [9]
The earliest known Sicilian boss in Pittsburgh was Salvatore "Banana King" Catanzaro, who started his fruit and produce company in Downtown Pittsburgh in 1888. [10] [11] Catanzaro served as the treasurer for the Italian Red Cross Society and also worked alongside a network of Sicilian Mafia bosses in Western Pennsylvania. [10] [11] In 1914, after being injured in a stabbing attack, Catanzaro stepped down as boss; he later died on February 17, 1916. [11] This allowed Catanzaro's protege, Gregorio Conti, to assume control of his crime family, based in the Hill District. [12] As the new boss, Conti waged a war against the Neapolitan factions and by 1917, ultimately resulted in the Neapolitans either joining the Sicilians or disbanding. [12]
In 1919, the United States government passed the Eighteenth Amendment declaring the production, transportation and sale of intoxicating liquors illegal. Months later, Congress passed the Volstead Act declaring that liquor, wine and beer all qualified as intoxicating liquors and were therefore prohibited, effective January 17, 1920. On September 24, 1919, Conti was shot and killed. [12] Following his death, his nephew Peppino Cusumano led the family, but worked in the shadow of Salvatore Calderone, the most powerful boss in Western Pennsylvania. [13] Calderone controlled the Mafia Network from Apollo, located 30 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. [13] On January 17, 1920, Prohibition began in the United States, banning all production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages.
Prohibition presented a very lucrative opportunity for Cusumano and Calderone, as they began bootlegging —the illegal manufacture, sale and transportation—of alcohol. As bootlegging operations expanded throughout the U.S., violence erupted as criminals fought for dominance. Within the city of Pittsburgh, the Italian neighborhoods of Larimer, Homewood, the Hill District and the downtown area became battlegrounds as the Mafia factions fought for territorial control of bootlegging rackets. In the suburbs of Pittsburgh, the factions fought for control of New Kensington, Arnold, Wilkinsburg, McKees Rocks, Wilmerding and Braddock. [14] It was recorded that between 1926 and 1933, there were over 200 murders in Allegheny County. [14]
By 1925, Calderone retired and Stefano Monastero became the new boss of the Pittsburgh family. [15] Monastero controlled a large organization of bootlegging supplies throughout several warehouses on Pittsburgh's North Side. [15] During his reign he was suspected of ordering the bombings of rival bootleggers facilities and for ordering the murder of his competitor, Luigi "Big Gorilla" Lamendola, in May 1927. [15] Monastero and his brother Sam were themselves murdered on August 6, 1929, in front of St. John's hospital. [15] [16] Pittsburgh police suspected that Joe "the Ghost" Pangallo was responsible for ordering Monastero's murder, but were unable to prove it. [9]
After Monastero's murder, Giuseppe Siragusa became the new boss of the Pittsburgh family. [15] Siragusa had emigrated from Sicily in 1910, landing in Brooklyn, New York and later settling in Pittsburgh, where he manufactured and traded in illegal alcohol. [15] He was nicknamed the "Yeast Baron" after becoming one of the largest suppliers of yeast to illegal beermakers in the area. [15] Siragusa maintained a close alliance with the Castellammarese clan in New York City and paid tribute to the clan's boss, Salvatore Maranzano. [15] On September 13, 1931, Siragusa was murdered in his Squirrel Hill home, just days after Maranzano had been murdered. [9] [4] [6] [14] [16]
Bazzano against the Volpe brothers
After the murder of Siragusa, the family came under the control of John Bazzano. [15] [16] Bazzano had immigrated to the United States from Calabria in the 1890s and built a bootlegging empire selling yeast and sugar to home breweries, which allowed them to manufacture illegal beer. [9] [14] He was a protégé of early Pittsburgh mobster Nicola Gentile and learned to keep a low profile. [17] He owned a coffee shop in the Middle Hill and a mansion in Mt. Lebanon, a neighborhood outside of Pittsburgh. [17] Bazzano formed an alliance with the eight Volpe brothers, the leaders of the "Neapolitan faction" who controlled illegal rackets throughout the Turtle Creek Valley and Wilmerding. [14]
Bazzano became aggravated when the Volpe brothers began expanding into East Liberty and the North Side. [14] On July 29, 1932, he sent a hit team to murder the brothers; the team murdered three of them. [14] Two of the surviving brothers went to the "Commission" in New York, and it was decided Bazzano would be held responsible for his unsanctioned hit. On August 8, 1932, Bazzano's body was found in Red Hook, Brooklyn. He had been stabbed and strangled to death. [9] [4] [6] [14]
Vincenzo Capizzi became the new Pittsburgh boss, but he eventually resigned in 1937 [4] and was replaced by Frank Amato. [15] [16] Amato began expanding his influence over the gambling rackets in and around Allegheny County, and formed a strong alliance with the Genovese crime family in New York City, who represented Pittsburgh at meetings of the Commission. [9] Amato ruled until 1956, when he fell ill from a kidney ailment and stepped down to become underboss. [9] [4] [14]
The reign of Big John LaRocca
Following the end of Amato's reign, Sebastian "Big John" LaRocca became the boss of the Pittsburgh family and remained in the role for nearly thirty years. [16] [4] [18] LaRocca had emigrated from Sicily in 1910, he moved to Pittsburgh with his wife in 1933. [15] He started a business selling beer equipment and concrete blocks in Oakland. [15] LaRocca later gained control of multiple illegal rackets and was convicted on several occasions for larceny, receiving stolen property and operating an illegal lottery. [15] In 1953, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) tried to use LaRocca's criminal record to deport him, but several prominent figures testified on his behalf and he was able to remain in the country until his death in 1984. [15]
As boss of Pittsburgh, LaRocca attended the 1957 Apalachin meeting with his caporegimes Gabriel "Kelly" Mannarino and Michael James Genovese. [19] When police raided the meeting, LaRocca was able to escape while Mannarino and Genovese were arrested. [4] [6] [18] LaRocca and Mannarino later became partners with Tampa crime family boss Santo Trafficante Jr. in the Sans Souci casino resort in Havana, Cuba. [6] [14] [20] However, all mobsters were expelled from the country following the Cuban Revolution in 1959. [20]
Through bribery, LaRocca was able to control politicians, police officers and other officials in the Pittsburgh area. [4] His family also maintained control of labor unions through Local 1058. [4] LaRocca's influence also grew through close ties to Gambino family boss Carlo Gambino, Bufalino family boss Russell Bufalino, Philadelphia family boss Angelo Bruno and Kansas City family boss Nick Civella. [4] In the 1960s, LaRocca's family engaged in conflict with the Cleveland crime family when they expanded into Youngstown, Ohio. [19] LaRocca supported Frank Valenti's takeover of the Rochester crime family from Jake Russo in 1964. [21]
In the early 1980s, the family consisted of LaRocca, underboss Joseph Pecora, consigliere Michael Genovese and caporegimes John Bazzano Jr., Antonio Ripepi and Joseph Regino. [22] LaRocca died on December 3, 1984. [9] [4]
Genovese and Porter
Michael Genovese succeeded LaRocca as boss of the Pittsburgh family in 1984. [9] [4] Genovese had started his criminal career by controlling the numbers racket in East Liberty and eventually became a capo operating from Gibsonia. [23] Genovese had spent years closely working with LaRocca, Mannarino and Pecora. [23] His reputation and power had increased over the years, allowing him to be successfully accepted as the new boss. Genovese pursued members of the Pittsburgh family to create a large illegal drug trafficking network. [15] The drug trafficking activities led to increased law enforcement surveillance and investigations. [15] In 1986, longtime family associate Charles "Chucky" Porter was inducted into the Pittsburgh family, becoming a made man even though Porter was only half Italian, from his mother's side, while his father was Irish-Italian. [24] On March 3, 1987, longtime underboss and West Virginia gambling leader Joseph N. "Jo Jo" Pecora died. [25] After Pecora's death, Genovese promoted Porter as underboss. According to a 1989 report by the Pennsylvania Crime Commission, the family had fallen into decline because the family was not accepting new members while the leadership was continuing to grow older. [15]
In the late 1980s, the FBI increased its investigation into Pittsburgh's top cocaine traffickers, Porter and Louis Raucci, Sr. [26] In March 1990, an indictment charged Porter and Raucci, along with seven associates, on charges of drug distribution, extortion, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, illegal gambling and racketeering. [23] [27] The Crime Commission considered Porter to be Genovese's "right-hand man," while Raucci was said to "sit on the left side" of the boss. [23] Both Porter and Raucci were convicted.
Porter decided to turn state's witness, leading the conviction of many top members and associates of the Pittsburgh family. [27] By 1992, there was only a few members and associates operating in Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio. [15] Raucci died in prison in 1996. [23] Porter was released from prison in 2000 after his 28-year sentence was halved for helping the FBI investigate mob operations from New York, New Jersey, Florida and California, including narcotics operations in Pittsburgh. [23] On October 31, 2006, Genovese died after of years of fighting with bladder cancer and heart disease. [15] [23] John Bazzano Jr. took over as boss until his death on July 28, 2008. [28]
The Commission barred the Pittsburgh family from inducting new made members because many associates had been cooperating and working with the government. [29]
Ciancutti and the current status
In 2008, Thomas "Sonny" Ciancutti became boss of the Pittsburgh family. [8] [30] Ciancutti himself was one of the few remaining made members operating in Pittsburgh after the late 1990s, when many members were imprisoned and older members started to pass away. [4] According to the FBI, Ciancutti controlled a large illegal gambling ring with top bookmakers Robert Iannelli, John "Duffy" Conley, Jeff Risha and Ronnie "Porky" Melocchi, whom all paid him protection. [8]
On September 5, 2013, "Operation Pork Chop" culminated with the charging of Melocchi and others with bookmaking and illegal gambling. [31] In 2013, retired FBI special agent Roger Greenbank spoke about the Pittsburgh family and said, "There's no real structure anymore. There's no real family." [32] In 2016, Ciancutti's most trusted associate, Jeff Risha, died of cancer. [8] Ciancutti maintained a low profile, using associates to run Pittsburgh's local bookmaking and illegal gambling operations. In 2019, Iannelli, a longtime Pittsburgh bookmaker, was arrested along with his son and others. [8]
On July 26, 2016, a gambling investigation at the Spartaco Sporting Club resulted in five of the club's officers and four employees being arrested during a raid by the Pennsylvania State Police's Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement. A total of nineteen illegal video gambling devices, along with computer motherboards for the devices, money and various documents were seized. Ciancutti was a member of the club during this time. [33]
On December 28, 2019, former Pittsburgh family associate Samuel Rende, aged 90, was shot in the head and killed while in a pickup truck near Calvary Cemetery in Greenfield. [34] [35] The police arrested and charged Anthony Miller with the homicide and robbery of Rende. [34]
On July 8, 2021, Pittsburgh family boss Thomas "Sonny" Ciancutti died. [8] [36] [37] Ciancutti was the last known made member in the Pittsburgh family. [8]
