Licavoli family
The Licavoli family (Cleveland crime family) , also known as the Porrello family or Mayfield Road Mob , is an Italian-American mafia family of the US Cosa Nostra , headquartered in Cleveland's Little Italy .
history
The Cleveland Crime Family had its origin in the early 1900s, when the four Lonardo brothers (Joe, Frank, John & Dominic), plus seven Porrello brothers from Licata ( Sicily immigrated) to the United States. The Lonardo and Porrello brothers initially pretended to be legitimate businessmen, until the two groups engaged in various criminal activities such as robbery and extortion prior to Prohibition . At the beginning of Prohibition, Joseph Lonardo was the boss of the organization. He and his brothers started Cleveland's black market in sweet corn, which was needed for the production of alcohol.
In 1926 the Porrello brothers (Rosario, Vincenzo, Angelo, Joseph, John, Ottavio and Raymond) left the Lonardos and formed their own faction. They founded their two quarters on upper Woodland Avenue / E. 110th St. As early as 1927, the hostilities between the Lonardos and Porrellos escalated when the Porrellos and Lonardos competed for the sweetcorn business. In the wake of the violence, a "sitdown" (reassembly) of the two factions was called to resolve the differences. Nevertheless, Joseph Lonardo and his younger brother John were surprised and murdered by two gunmen in October 1927. It was assumed that one of the perpetrators was Salvatore Todaro , who became the new head of the organization and in return was shot in June 1929 by Joseph's son, Angelo Lonardo . This enabled Joseph Porrello as the new boss to take over the family and he became the most influential "sweetcorn baron" in the Cleveland area.
Much of the rest of the Lonardo faction became a very influential and emerging mafia group, known as the Mayfield Road Mob , from late 1927 to mid-1928 under the leadership of Frank Milano . They tried again to take control of Cleveland's underworld and to usurp the sweetcorn and gambling business. Porello recognized the situation for himself only with the help of the Five Families from New York City and from other areas of the United States and so on December 5, 1928, an important meeting of the American Mafia took place in Cleveland's Statler Hotel . Joseph Porrello and one of his top men, Sam Tilocco , hosted this meeting through which Porello hoped to be officially elected sole boss of Cleveland. This meeting is today the first known “summit meeting” of La Cosa Nostra. It was attended by among others, Joe Profaci and Vincent Mangano . Eventually the meeting ended in fiasco as the local police intervened and provisionally arrested some mobsters . Despite the fact that the meeting was called by Porello, he was declared the sole boss of Cleveland.
Joseph Porrello was invited to a sitdown with Frank Milano at the Milano-owned Venetian restaurant on July 5, 1930 . During this meeting, Joseph Porrello and others of his subordinates were murdered. Three weeks after the murder of Joseph Porrello, his brother Vincenzo was shot to the back of the head in a grocery store on East 110th Street / Woodland Avenue . After brother Raymond Porrello swore vengeance, a bomb exploded in Raymond's house on August 15, 1930. However, he was not there himself at the time.
From 1930 onwards, Milano and its “Mayfield Road Mob” based in Cleveland's Little Italy, finally supplanted the Porellos. In 1931, Milano was named the new head of the Cleveland crime family by the National Crime Syndicate . Until 1932, Milano was one of the top mafosi in the whole country, with a seat in the so-called American Mafia Commission . On February 25, 1932, Milano consolidated its position when Raymond and Rosario Porrello, along with their bodyguard Dominic Gueli , were gunned down during a card game in a tobacco shop on East 110th Street / Woodland Avenue . After this incident, the rest of the Porellos and their supporters fled and turned their backs on Cleveland's underworld. However, Milano fled to Mexico in 1935 when he was charged with tax evasion.
Alfred "Al the Owl" Polizzi , another leading member of the Mayfield Road Mob, took over and reigned as the new boss until 1945 when he was charged with tax evasion in 1944.
At times the Collinwood Mob , based in Cleveland's South Collinwood , was part of the Mayfield Road Mob, and they had as long a mafia history as the Mayfield Gang. The best known of the Collinwood Gang was Alfred "Allie Con" Calabrese , who later also became the organization's underboss . Allie Con was always feared and respected and he was known as an honest man, a real gangster.
John T. Scalish was by far the longest ruling mafia boss in Cleveland. He took control of the family in 1944 and remained the boss for 32 years until his death in 1976. During this time the family developed good connections with important underworld figures such as Alex "Shondor" Birns , Moe "Mr. Las Vegals “Dalitz , Meyer Lansky and Tony Accardo . They became close business associates of the Chicago Outfit and the Genovese family , expanding their influence to the entire Midwest, including California , Florida, and Las Vegas . In the 1950s the family peaked with the size of about 60 "Made" members and several times as many associated. However, in the 1970s, the family began to decrease family intake as Scalish wanted to introduce fewer members at the time.
After the death of John Scalish, it was decided that James "Jack White" Licavoli would take over the reins. Licavoli worked for the infamous Purple Gang from Detroit during Prohibition and later moved to Cleveland, where he gradually rose into the ranks of Cleveland's underworld. During his reign there was an Irish gangster named Danny Greene who began to compete with the Cleveland Mafia. This led to an extremely violent war between the Mafia and Danny Greene's gang, in which nearly 40 car bombs exploded in Cleveland. Greene was supported in these disputes by the influential and actual associate of the Licavoli family, John Nardi . Nardi was killed by a car bomb in the parking lot of Cleveland's Teamster Hall on May 17, 1977. After eight failed attempts to assassinate Greene, Licavoli sought outside help. Licavoli and underboss Angelo Lonardo hired Ray Ferritto , an associate of the Dragna Family (Los Angeles Crime Family), for the murder of Danny Greene in 1977 . They learned of a scheduled dental appointment and while Greene was inside, Ferritto and Licavoli soldier Ronald Carabbia placed a bomb in a car and parked it next to Greene's car. When Freen came out and tried to open his car door, Carabbia detonated the bomb in the car parked next to it by remote control and Greene died immediately. Ferritto also murdered Greene's right-hand man, Bill McDuffee .
Ferritto later heard that the family wanted him dead, so he made a "deal" with the authorities for protection. As a result, many of the Cleveland Mafiosi (including Licavoli) were convicted of a variety of crimes. After Licavoli went to prison in 1981 for the murder of Danny Greene, Angelo Lonardo took over as the acting boss of the family. He ran the family until he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1983 for starting a drug ring and eventually becoming an informant. Up to this point he was a top-ranking informant among the mafia circles. He also covered details of powerful mafiosi from numerous other families and caused serious damage to mafia infrastructure across the country. These events were filmed in 2011 in " Bulletproof Gangster ".
Historical tour
Head of the family
The head of a family cannot always be identified so clearly; especially if another family member comes to the fore due to a prison sentence. The external view does not always make it easy to recognize a new head as such or to determine his exact term of office. In addition, a presidential system seems to be establishing itself to a certain extent; ie the head shifts his power more to a so-called “acting boss” and / or “street boss”, who in turn continue to recognize the head as such, even if he is, for example, in custody.
| Period | Surname | Nickname | Lifetime | Cause of death | annotation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920-1927 | Joseph Lonardo | Big Joe | 1884-1927 | Murdered in 1927 | Father of Angelo Lonardo |
| 1927-1929 | Salvatore Todaro | Black Sam | ???? - 1929 | shot on June 11, 1929 | Perpetrator: Angelo Lonardo |
| 1929-1930 | Joseph Porrello | Big Joe | ???? - 1930 | murdered on Jul 5, 1930 | Client: Frank Milano |
| 1930-1935 | Frank Milano | Ciccio | 1891-1970 | natural death | fled to Mexico in 1935 |
| 1935-1945 | Alfred Polizzi | Al the Owl | 1900-1975 | natural death | Imprisoned in 1944 |
| 1945-1976 | John T. Scalish | Johnny | 1912-1976 | died during heart surgery | |
| 1976-1985 | James Licavoli | Jack White | 1904-1985 | Heart attack | Imprisoned 1981–1985 |
| 1985-1991 | John Tronolone | peanuts | 1910-1991 | natural death | |
| 1993-2005 | Joseph Iacobacci | Joe Loose | ????-today | resigned | |
| 2005-present | Russell J. Papalardo | RJ | 1941-present |
Acting boss
- 1944-1945: John T. Scalish; Nickname: "Johnny"; * 1912-1976; became boss in 1945
- 1981-1983: Angelo Lonardo; Nickname: "Big Ange"; * 1911-2006; became an informant / son of Joseph Lonardo in 1983
- 1983-1985: John Tronolone; Nickname: "Peanuts"; * 1910-1991; became boss in 1985
- 1991-1993: Anthony Dominic Liberatore; Nickname: "Tony Lib"; * 1921-1998; Imprisoned 1993–1998
Underboss of the family
The underboss is number two in the criminal family, he is the deputy director of the syndicate. He gathers information for the boss, gives orders and instructions to the subordinates. In the absence of the boss, he leads the organization.
| Period | Surname | Nickname | Lifetime | Cause of death | annotation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930-1976 | Anthony Milano | Tony | 1888-1988 | natural death | resigned / brother of Frank Milano |
| 1976-1976 | Leonard Calogero Moceri | Leo Lips | 1900-1976 | fell victim to a Lupara Bianca in 1976 | |
| 1976-1983 | Angelo Lonardo | Big Ange | 1911-2006 | natural death | became acting boss in 1981 |
| 1983-1985 | John Tronolone | peanuts | 1910-1991 | natural death | at the same time 1983–1985 acting boss |
| 1985-1993 | Anthony Dominic Liberatore | Tony Lib | 1921-1998 | natural death | became acting boss in 1991 |
| 1993-1995 | Alfred Calabrese | Allie Con | Imprisoned in 1995 | ||
| 1995-2005 | Russell J. Papalardo | RJ | 1941-present | became boss in 2005 |
Consigliere of the family
At the same level as the underboss is the consigliere, the advisor to the criminal family. It is usually an older member of the family who has not reached the position of boss in his criminal career and has now partially withdrawn from active criminal activity. He advises the boss and the underboss, giving him considerable influence and power.
| Period | Surname | Nickname | Lifetime | Cause of death | annotation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930-1972 | Giovanni DeMarco | John | 1913-1972 | natural death | |
| 1972-1973 | Frank Brancato | Frankie B. | 1897-1973 | ||
| 1973-1977 | Anthony Delsanter | Tony Dope | 1911-1977 | natural death | |
| 1977-1983 | John Tronolone | peanuts | 1910-1991 | natural death | became Underboss in 1983 |
Films and documentaries
- 2011: Bulletproof Gangster (OT: Kill the Irishman) ; Film about Danny Greene and his conflicts with u. a. the Mafia in Cleveland, or the Licavoli family and the Gambino family from New York.
literature
- Rick Porello: The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland crime family: Corn Sugar and Blood , 1995, ISBN 1-56980-058-8 .
- Rick Porello: To Kill the Irishman: The War that Crippled the Mafia , 2004, ISBN 0-9662508-9-3 .
- Peter J. DeVico: The Mafia Made Easy: The Anatomy and Culture of La Cosa Nostra , 2007, ISBN 978-1-60247-254-9 .