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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Bootleg Poison

July 2013 Contents
Feature Article

A raid by Prohibition agents set in motion

events that led to deaths, blindings

Poison

By Thomas Hunt and 

Michael A. Tona

"One of Prohibition’s more severe unintended con-sequences was a wave of deaths and blindings among residents in western New York and nearby Canada that lasted through the early summer of 1926. Reports of the casualties followed closely behind a successful law enforcement raid of an alcohol redistilling operation in mid-spring..."

Fourteen pages, including two pages of notes and ten images.

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January 2011 issue of Informer

January 2011 Contents

Recently reorganized under the Commission system favored by Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, in 1932 the American Mafia reacted quickly to a bloody revival of old underworld rivalries. Luciano's underboss Vito Genovese called together an underworld convention in Brooklyn and ordered Pittsburgh Mafia boss John Bazzano to appear and answer for the recent murders of the Neapolitan Volpe Brothers.
(preview)

The notorious Brady Gang traveled to Bangor Maine in autumn of 1937. The FBI was waiting. Richard Shaw tells the tale of the Brady Gang's last days. (preview)

Much of what we believe we know about the Mafia's "Joe the Boss" Masseria turns out to be untrue. In his first column for Informer, underworld researcher Richard Warner sets the record straight. (preview)

Interviewed by Ellen Poulsen, true crime author William Helmer reflects on Dillinger, Nelson, Capone and a career at Playboy. (preview)

Bill Feather provides a membership chart for the Genovese Crime Family based in New York. (preview)

On October 27, 2010, the Mattix family of Iowa lost a beloved patriarch, the community of true crime writers lost a treasured friend and the Informer journal lost its editorial director. Rick Mattix's death was keenly felt by both of his families - the one related to him by blood and marriage and the other tied to him by professional appreciation and admiration. While we gave some consideration to closing Informer following the tragic news, it seemed a far better choice to use the journal as a means for his second family to assist his first family. (preview)

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1932 Murder of John Bazzano

January 2011 Contents
Feature Article
By Thomas Hunt and Michael A. Tona

Recently reorganized under the Commission system,

in 1932 the American Mafia reacted quickly to a

bloody revival of old underworld rivalries

A Test of Resolve

By Thomas Hunt

and Michael A. Tona

   "As a member of the Mafia criminal network in the United States and a veteran of Prohibition Era gang wars, Pittsburgh underworld boss John Bazzano surely knew he was in jeopardy when he received a summons from higher-ups in mid-summer of 1932.
   "Vito Genovese wanted to see him in New York City. Second in command of Charlie 'Lucky' Luciano’s massive underworld empire, Genovese was one of the elite criminal leaders in the country, certainly the most powerful Neapolitan gangster.
   "An order to appear before a more senior gang boss did not come with an explanation. It did not need one. Mafiosi understood that attendance was mandatory. Though the call to such a meeting often preceded the harshest form of underworld discipline, refusal of the summons surely meant death."

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Thirty-nine and a half pages including eight pages of notes, thirty-eight images and three maps.

Vol. 3, No. 1: January 2010

Vol. 3, Issue 1, January 2010 Contents

Before anything else, we want to wish you — our readers, contributors and advertisers — a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. As this sixth quarterly issue of Informer rolls off the presses, we are well aware that the journal would not be possible without your enthusiastic participation.

In this issue, we look at the underworld of Cleveland, Ohio. We lead off with an excerpt from Rick Porrello’s book, To Kill the Irishman. It is the story of Irish racketeer Danny Greene’s explosive war against the Cleveland Mafia (preview).

The puzzling 1928 Mafia convention in Cleveland, interrupted by arrests of more than twenty suspicious persons at the landmark Hotel Statler, is the subject of an article by Thomas Hunt and Michael A. Tona. Hunt and Tona argue that a coronation for new United States Mafia boss of bosses Joseph Masseria was the most probable reason for the gathering (preview).

Mafia historian Richard N. Warner adds weight to that 1928 convention hypothesis by noting in his article that much of Joseph Masseria’s family considered Cleveland its hometown (preview).

Bill Feather provides a membership chart of the Cleveland Mafia from the 1930s-50s era (preview). Author Rick Porrello sits for an interview. He discusses his many “hats,” his several true crime books and an upcoming movie based on To Kill the Irishman. The Informer checks into what is known of an enigmatic Cleveland Mafioso known as Dr. Romano (preview).

As usual, we finish up with a look at underworld current events (preview).

Fifty-six pages including cover and advertisements
Published January 7, 2010.

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