Joseph 'the Wolf' DiCarlo at Youngstown

November 2022 issue contents - Feature

Former Buffalo mafioso sought to control Mahoning Valley gambling

By Thomas Hunt and Michael A. Tona

"Events must have convinced Joseph DiCarlo that there was limited opportunity for advancement in the western New York Mafia once commanded by his father. Following the death of Buffalo-based boss Giuseppe DiCarlo in 1922, a Mafia faction originating in coastal Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, became dominant in western New York, and its leader, Stefano Magaddino, was selected as the new boss. Giuseppe DiCarlo’s sons, Joseph 'J.D.' and Salvatore 'Sam,' and other mafiosi with roots in the Vallelunga-Valledolmo region of Sicily were reduced to supporting players. Joseph DiCarlo’s efforts to carve out a lucrative rackets territory for himself in the Buffalo area were repeatedly thwarted..."

Book page count: Twenty-seven pages, including five pages of notes and six images.

Magazine page count: Fourteen and a half pages, including two and a half pages of notes and eight images.

Learn more about Informer's November 2022 issue. 

Mafia Genealogy: 'Capitano' Di Carlo

August 2017 contents
Features

Mafia Genealogy:

'Capitano' DiCarlo: 

Architect of Leggio's Mafia

By Justin Cascio

"Regarded as an architect of the Sicilian Mafia after World War II, Angelo Di Carlo was born in Corleone, Province of Palermo, Sicily. In his youth, he served in an artillery unit during Italy's colonial war in Libya. There he earned the military rank that became his nickname, 'Capitano.'"

Thirteen pages, two images, endnotes.

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October 2015 Issue of Informer

October 2015 Issue Contents
Editorial

Smothered by law enforcement surveillance and infiltration in their home territory and wary of reprisals by deposed boss Stefano Magaddino, a rebel group of Buffalo, New York, Mafiosi in 1969 explored racket opportunities in what they thought were greener pastures in Florida. 
The move quickly caught the attention of the FBI. Rather than provide security for the breakaway organized crime faction, the lost time and resources in Florida led to the collapse of the Pieri-DiCarlo regime in the Buffalo underworld. In this issue, Thomas Hunt and Michael A. Tona tell the story of Buffalo’s attempts to establish a rackets colony in Florida (Preview).

Plenty has been written over the years about Lucky Luciano. Some accounts have been factual, some fictional, at least one fictional pretending to be factual. In C. Joseph Greaves’ latest novel, we find a fictional account built on a foundation of historical research. Greaves tells readers about his book, his approach and the cache of previously overlooked documents that provided him a fresh window into the subject (Preview).

What is the oldest U.S. federal law enforcement agency? The little known postal inspection service, formed under Benjamin Franklin in the Colonial Era, has a claim to that designation. Author and retired postal inspector H.K. Petschel provides a brief history of “the Silent Service” (Preview).

Also in this issue:

• The U.S. Postal Service delivery of the Hope Diamond.
• Patrick Downey runs through the underworld’s greatest “hits” of the month of October (Preview).
• Richard N. Warner reviews two recently released books, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and The Two Mafias (Preview).

Fifty-four pages, including covers and eight pages of advertisements.

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Buffalo mob moves into Florida

October 2015 issue contents
Feature article 

Following the disintegration of the Magaddino Crime Family, 

Western New York’s Pieri-DiCarlo faction needed cash 

Rebel Buffalo mobsters eyed 

rackets colony in Florida 

By Thomas Hunt and Michael A. Tona 

"After breaking away from the Magaddino Crime Family in 1969, mobsters from Buffalo, New York, explored racketeering options in Volusia County, Florida, and entered into negotiations with the Tampa-based Santo Trafficante organization and other Mafia groups before law enforcement pressure triggered their retreat. The failed effort to establish an organized crime colony in Florida left the once powerful Buffalo Mafia struggling for revenue and relevance in the post-Valachi Era. A decade and a half of decline followed. By 1984, the organization effectively ceased to exist..."

Twelve pages with twenty-two photographs and one map.

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October 2015 issue preview

Here's a look at the cover of the next issue of Informer (release date is Oct. 23).

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Ad: DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime

DiCarlo
Buffalo's First Family of Crime
by Thomas Hunt and Michael A. Tona
Son of Buffalo's first-known Sicilian crime boss, Joseph DiCarlo was rejected as heir to his father's underworld empire. After troubled years as a vassal of the influential Stefano Magaddino, DiCarlo ventured off to Youngstown, Ohio, and Miami Beach, Florida, before finally heading back home to trigger the violent disintegration of Magaddino's Mafia.
Two volumes.
http://www.buffalomob.com

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October 2013 Issue of Informer

October 2013 Contents
Editorial

The name “Giuseppe Ruffino” occurs often in the history of the Mafia criminal society. Giuseppe Ruffinos have been associated with Mafia operations on both sides of the Atlantic. A number have received a good deal of press ink and interest from historians. In this issue, organized crime historian Joshua Henze takes a close look at one Giuseppe Ruffino who has been largely neglected.

Though involved in a high-profile federal case in the early years of the Twentieth Century, this Ruffino has been virtually forgotten. The reason is unclear. Perhaps he was merely overshadowed by the other underworld figures in the United States and Italy who shared his name. Perhaps he was brushed aside because his primary illicit enterprise was offensive, awkward to write about or at odds with the legendary “rules” of Mafioso conduct. This Giuseppe Ruffino procured young Italian women for American houses of prostitution. (Preview)

Also in this issue of Informer:

- Author Christian Cipollini provides an excerpt from his recently published book Diary of a Motor City Hit Man. (Preview).

- Bill Feather dedicates his latest Mafia Membership Chart to the early Sicilian-Italian underworld of southern California (Preview).

- Columnist Richard N. Warner discusses various organized crime figures who have “found” religion (Preview).

- A recently released biography of Joseph DiCarlo revises the history of the Magaddino Crime Family of western New York (Preview).

- Thomas Hunt reviews Diary of a Motor City Hit Man by Christian Cipollini and discusses its relationship to organized crime history (Preview).

Sixty-eight pages including cover.

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Books: 'DiCarlo' revises Buffalo mob history

October 2013 contents
Books

DiCarlo biography revises

Buffalo underworld history

"The crime family of western New York was not at all a Magaddino-monolith as it is often portrayed. The Buffalo branch of that organization predated notorious Mafia boss Stefano Magaddino’s arrival in the region by decades, frequently resisted his control and eventually threw off his leader-ship to briefly restore the older DiCarlo-Pieri underworld dynasty, according to a coauthor of DiCarlo: Buffalo’s First Family of Crime..."

Four pages.

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