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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To Kill the Irishman

Vol. 3, Issue 1, January 2010 Contents
Feature article

The subject of a soon-to-be-released motion picture,
Irish racketeer Danny Green single-handedly
took on the Mafia of Cleveland

To Kill the Irishman
By Rick Porrello

"On May 12, 1975, Lieutenant Ed Kovacic, a supervisor with the Cleveland Police Scientific Investigation Unit, was enjoying breakfast when he heard an explosion in the distance."

Seven pages
Six images

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Convention was to be Masseria coronation

Vol. 3, Issue 1, January 2010 Contents
Feature article

Police acted to hastily when they broke up
a 1928 assembly of Mafiosi at the Hotel Statler

Cleveland convention was
to be Masseria coronation

By Thomas Hunt
and Michael A. Tona

"Cleveland Patrolman Joseph Frank Osowski was walking his downtown beat at four-thirty Wednesday morning, December 5, 1928, when he spotted several newcomers to the city chatting with a known member of the local underworld."

Twenty pages including sidebar
Four pages of endnotes
Thirty-five images

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The Masserias of Cleveland

Vol. 3, Issue 1, January 2010 Contents
Feature article

While "Joe the Boss" made his reputation
on Manhattan's Lower East Side,
Cleveland was very much his hometown

The Masserias of Cleveland

By Richard N. Warner

"Joseph Masseria, known to the underworld and the press as "Joe the Boss," was not only an important figure in New York's early Mob history, but by virtue of having so many relatives there, was also a significant influence in the early years of Cleveland outfit."

Three pages
including notes
Three images

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Ask the Informer: Dr. Romano of Cleveland

Vol. 3, Issue 1, January 2010 Contents
Ask the Informer

Question: I see the name of "Dr. Romano" coming up in accounts of the early Cleveland Mafia. Who was Romano? Was he really a doctor?

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A Look Back

Vol. 3, Issue 1, January 2010 Contents
A Look Back

100 years ago:

• A federal jury convicts New York Mafiosi of counterfeiting.
• Leadership of American Mafia changes.

75 years ago:

• Lindbergh baby kidnapping case concludes.

50 years ago:

• Six are tried for robbing a National Guard armory.

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In the News

Vol. 3, Issue 1, January 2010 Contents

In the News:

• Fourth Gotti trial ends with hung jury.
• New England Mafia under new management.
• Massachusetts man charged with being Colombo boss.
• Genovese capodecina sentenced to 16 years.
• Police round up 22 Gambino, Lucchese suspects.
• Grand jury indicts alleged member of Bonanno leadership.
• Gambino capodecina Gregory DePalma dies at 78

Two pages

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Cleveland Mafia Membership, 1930s-50s

Vol. 3, Issue 1, January 2010 Contents
Membership Chart

Researcher Bill Feather provides a chart including more than 100 known and suspected members of the Cleveland Crime Family from the 1930s-1950s era. Names, aliases, birth-death-immigration years, birthplaces and underworld ranks are shown.

Five pages

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Informer readership figures

Readership of existing Informer issues climbed by another 12.8 percent during the month of December (Dec. 12 through Jan. 6). In that period, special interest was shown in the April 2009 issue - vol. 2, no. 2. That issue focused on the early history of the Chicago Mafia. Its readership jumped 17.2 percent, as it became the second most read Informer issue to date.

Sep 2008 issue - v1n1 - 2641 readers, up 06.1%
Jan 2009 issue - v2n1 - 1923 readers, up 09.0%
Apr 2009 issue - v2n2 - 2019 readers, up 17.2%
-Index v1n1 thru v2n2 - 4119 readers, up 09.6%
Jul 2009 issue - v2n3 - 1668 readers, up 12.8%
Oct 2009 issue - v2n4 - 0889 readers, up 37.2%
-Index v1n1 thru v2n4 - 1557 readers, up 56.0%

Average readership for a (non-index) journal issue:

1,828 readers, up 12.8% from January average.

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Events of 2009

January

Jan 15 - Former FBI Agent John J. Connolly, 68, is sentenced in a Miami Florida courtroom to serve 40 years in prison. He was convicted of second-degree murder, a charge resulting from his information-sharing with Massachusetts underworld informants James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "Rifleman" Flemmi.

Jan 26 - Paul "the Indian" Schiro, 71, is sentenced to 20 years in prison for racketeering offenses. He was convicted in the 2007 Family Secrets case in Chicago.

Jan 28 - Chicago Outfit leader Frank Calabrese Sr., 72, is sentenced to life in prison for racketeering and participation in seven racketeering murders. He was convicted in the 2007 Family Secrets case.

February

Feb 02 - Chicago Outfit leader Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, 79, is sentenced to life in prison for racketeering and a racketeering murder. He was convicted in the 2007 Family Secrets case.

Feb 04 - A 38-count federal indictment is unsealed against a dozen alleged members of the Genovese Crime Family. One of those charged with racketeering and related crimes is former Genovese acting boss Daniel Leo, who is already held in federal custody on other charges.

Feb 05 - Chicago Outfit boss James Marcello, 65, is sentenced to life in prison for racketeering and racketeering-related murders. He was convicted in the 2007 Family Secrets case.

Feb 11 - Federal prosecutors unseal racketeering and murder indictments against Gambino Crime Family acting boss John "Jackie Nose" D'Amico and crime family associate Joseph Watts.

Feb 12 - Six alleged members of the Garrison NY-based "Delmonico crew" of the Genovese Crime Family are charged with racketeering.

Feb 19 - The Scranton Times newspaper chain files court documents charging that two judges involved in a $3.5 million defamation verdict against the company had links to Northeast Pennsylvania crime boss William D'Elia.

Feb 23 - Recent underworld turncoat John Alite, an old friend of John A. "Junior" Gotti, takes the witness stand in Brooklyn Federal Court to testify against accused Gambino Crime Family racketeer Charles Carneglia.

Feb 27 - Colombo Crime Family acting boss Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico, 55, is sentenced to life in prison for ordering the 1999 murder of underworld rival William "Wild Bill" Cutolo. With both Persico and his father in prison, authorities believe there will be a leadership change in the Colombo organization.

March

Mar 06 - "Mafia Cops" Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa are sentenced to life in prison for their cooperation with the leadership of the Lucchese Crime Family in New York. After a 2006 federal conviction, the trial judge ruled that the statute of limitations had run out. An appeals court reinstated the conviction.

Mar 12 - Former police officer Anthony "Twan" Doyle, 64, is sentenced to 12 years in prison for racketeering-related offenses. He was convicted in the 2007 Family Secrets case in Chicago.

Mar 17 - Gambino Crime Family soldier Charles Carneglia is convicted in Brooklyn Federal Court of racketeering and murders. Prosecutors say he disposed of some of his murder victims by dissolving their bodies in barrels of acid.

Mar 26 - Nicholas Calabrese, 66, is sentenced to 12 years in prison for racketeering and racketeering-related murders. Calabrese admitted to committing 14 gangland murders. He won the lenient sentence by cooperating in the Family Secrets investigation in Chicago and by testifying against his brother Frank Calabrese Sr. and other Chicago Outfit leaders.

April

Apr 06 - Salvatore "the Ironworker" Montagna, 39-year-old reputed acting boss of the Bonanno Crime Family, is arrested by FBI and immigration agents as he leaves his steel business in Brooklyn. U.S. authorities plan to deport him to his native Canada. (He is also a citizen of Italy, as his family moved him there during childhood.) Authorities say he led the Bonanno organization since 2006 when former bosses Joey Massino and Vincent Basciano were successfully prosecuted.

Apr 06 - A federal judge orders four convicted Chicago racketeers - Frank Calabrese Sr., Joseph Lombardo, James Marcello and Paul Schiro - to pay about $20 million in fines and $4.3 million in restitution to the families of 14 men killed by the Chicago Outfit.

Apr 08 - Anthony "the Saint" St. Laurent, a leading figure in the New England Crime Family, is indicted in Providence for planning to murder New England capodecina Robert DeLuca Sr.

Apr 17 - Nicholas "Little Nicky" Corozzo, 69, is sentenced to 13 and a half years in prison for the 1996 racketeering-related murder of Lucchese Crime Family associate Robert Arena. Authorities believe Corozzo may have been poised to take over leadership of the crime family.

Apr 27 - Angelo Prisco, New Jersey-based capodecina in the Genovese Crime Family, is convicted in Manhattan Federal Court of murder, racketeering, robbery, extortion and other offenses.

Apr 28 - Former Deputy U.S. Marshal John T. Ambrose is convicted of stealing and leaking witness information related to Family Secrets Case witness Nicholas Calabrese.

May

May 03 - Donato "Danny" Angiulo, 86-year-old brother of former New England Mafia underboss Jerry Angiulo, dies in the Boston area of natural causes. Authorities say Danny Angiulo once served as capodecina in the crime family.

May 17 - Alfonso "Pizza Man" Tornabene, 86, dies of natural causes. Federal authorities say Tornabene served as a senior member of the Chicago Outfit and helped run the organization during the imprisonment of James Marcello between 1992 and 2003.

May 21 - A federal indictment names 11 Floridians as members of a crew affiliated with the Bonanno Crime Family.

May 23 - U.S. officials deport Rosario Gambino, 67, to Italy. Gambino, a cousin of former crime family boss Carlo Gambino, was linked to Pizza Connection heroin and cocaine smuggling rackets in the 1970s and 1980s.

July

Jul 01 - Carmen "Cheese Man" DiNunzio, reputed leader of the New England Mafia's Boston branch, pleads guilty to bribery charges related to the Boston area's "Big Dig" highway construction project.

Jul ?? - Burton Kaplan, former New York racketeer and key witness in the Mafia Cops trial, dies of natural causes at age 75.

August

Aug 18 - The Genovese Crime Family's New Jersey crew leader Angelo Prisco, 69, is sentenced to life in prison for cooperating in the murder of Angelo Sangiuolo and for conducting a series of home invasion robberies.

Aug 29 - Gennaro "Jerry" Angiulo, 90-year-old former underboss of the New England Crime Family, dies of kidney failure at Massachusetts General Hospital.

September

Sep 17 - Gambino Crime Family soldier Charles Carneglia is sentenced to life in prison for a racketeering and murder conviction.

Sep 21 - John A. "Junior" Gotti's fourth racketeering trial in the past five years opens in New York.

Sep 24 - The New England Crime Family's Boston-based underboss, Carmen "Cheese Man" DiNunzio, is sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty of bribery charges.

October

Oct 01 - Two sets of raids on the Lucchese Crime Family of New York resulted in 29 arrests. Among those arrested on state enterprise corruption, bribery and other charges were two reputed members of the organization's leadership panel, Joseph DiNapoli, 74, of the Bronx, and Matthew Madonna, 73, of Selden.

Oct 07 - Fifteen alleged leaders, members and associates of the Bonanno Crime Family are rounded up by the FBI. Federal prosecutors say one of those arrested, Joseph "Sammy" Sammartino, 55, of North Arlington NJ, has been a member of the Bonanno ruling panel.

Oct 27 - Anthony "Todo" Anastasio, 80, is convicted in Brooklyn Federal Court of racketeering and extortion charges. Anastasio is the nephew of legendary Gambino Crime Family boss Albert Anastasia.

November

Nov 05 - New England media report a shift in leadership of the regional Mafia. The Boston area faction increases in importance as Bostonian Peter Limone reportedly replaces Providence-based Luigi Manocchio.

Nov 20 - Gambino Crime Family capodecina Gregory DePalma of Scarsdale NY dies at age 78 at the Butner Federal Medical Prison in North Carolina.

December

Dec 01 - For the fourth time in five years, a federal racketeering case against John A. "Junior" Gotti ends with a hung jury in New York.

Dec 17 - A 66-year-old Somerville Massachusetts man, Ralph F. DeLeo, is indicted as the "street boss" of the New York-based Colombo Crime Family. He is charged with commanding an interstate crew engaged in narcotics trafficking, extortion and loan sharking.

Dec 21 - Two Gambino Crime Family associates, Letterio DeCarlo, 47, and Thomas Dono, 34, plead guilty to conspiring in the April 28, 1998, murder of suspected Gambino turncoat Frank Hydell. The men also admitted participating in an illegal gambling business in the late 1990s.

Dec 28 - Nick Rizzuto Jr., son of reputed Montreal Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto (currently serving time in a U.S. prison), is shot to death outside a Montreal-area construction company.

Informer readership figures

Readership of Informer: The Journal of American Mafia History grew dramatically during the month of November. Average readership of a non-index journal issue grew by more than 66 percent from 972.4 on Nov. 6 to 1620.8 on Dec. 12.

Circulation figures for Informer are shown below. These figures represent readers of the journal's electronic edition and purchasers of its print edition as of Dec. 12, 2009. (Note: Web search engines provide greater exposure for issues as time passes, accounting for the generally greater reader stats of older electronic issues.) No effort is made to approximate the sharing of Informer's downloadable electronic edition.

Sep 2008 issue - v1n1
2490 readers (2060 Scribd, 416 other online, 14 print)
Increase of 11.8% over November's 2226 readers

Jan 2009 issue - v2n1
1765 readers (1469 Scribd, 282 other online, 14 print)
Increase of 82.9% over November's 965 readers

Apr 2009 issue - v2n2
1722 readers (1536 Scribd, 173 other online, 13 print)
Increase of 117.1% over November's 793 readers

Index v1n1 thru v2n2
3757 readers (3757 Scribd, print edition not offered)
Increase of 14.4% over November's 3282 readers

Jul 2009 issue - v2n3
1479 readers (1294 Scribd, 160 other online, 25 print)
Increase of 130.3% over November's 642 readers

Oct 2009 issue - v2n4
648 readers (635 Scribd, 4 other online, 9 print)
Increase of 174.5% over November's 236 readers

Index v1n1 thru v2n4
998 readers (996 Scribd, 2 print)
Increase of 698.4% over November's 125 readers

Average readership for a (non-index) journal issue:
1620.8 readers (1398 Scribd, 207 other online, 15 print)
Increase of 66.6% over November's 972.4 average