Genovese Family Induction Ceremony (1957)

In early February 1969 FBI CI Carmine 'Fats' Tagliatela, self-professed Lucchese Member, was questioned extensively on various LCN topics. In addition to giving agents a detailed rundown on his own initiation into the Lucchese Family, Taglialatela provided information on a ceremony held by the Genovese Family the previous year where at least three new members were inducted.

c. 1957

Location: Unspecified Luncheonette (Brooklyn)

Attendees:

- Generoso 'Toto' Del Duca (71y) (Capodecina) (Died 1960)

- Pietro Dolce (66y) (Capodecina?) (Died 1961)

- Salvatore 'Toto' DeMarco (57y) (Soldier) (Died)

- Ralph Dolce (39y) (Soldier) (Died 2006)

Members inducted:

- Frank 'Cheech' Cacciatore (48y) (Died 1993)

- Joseph DeMarco (28y) (Murdered 1958)

- Joseph 'Pepi' Santaniello (39y) (Died 1992)

- Possibly others

===

Notes

- According to CI Taglialatela, all three named inductees were sponsored by Salvatore DeMarco.

- One possible location for the ceremony is the Concord Restaurant located at 203 Bridge St in Downtown Brooklyn. Described by one informant as a regular meeting place for the Del Duca crew, it was the site of a May 1959 NYPD raid that netted Del Duca, Salvatore DeMarco, Ralph Dolce and Santaniello, along with several other Genovese members and associates.

Background on those inducted:

1. Frank Cacciatore

Born June 18, 1909 in Manhattan to Salvatore 'Sam' Cacciatore (35y) and Carmela Barone (30y). Like the Genovese Family Dolces, Cacciatore's father was from Lercara Friddi in Palermo.

Living in Woodside, Queens by the 1930s, when a grand larceny conviction resulted in a two-and-one-half to five year sentence at Sing Sing Prison.

In November 1958 participated in fellow inductee Joseph DeMarco's murder, about one year after they were made together.

Cacciatore was a close associate of the third inductee, Joseph Santaniello, and the pair reportedly cooperated in a shakedown of professional basketball player Jacob Molinas prior to the latter's legal troubles in the early 1960s.

In March 1973 arrested by ATF on bribing Federal Officer charge. Convicted and sentenced to seven months imprisonment.

Later that year named in an FBI chart as a member of Capodecina Philip 'Benny Squint' Lombardo's crew.

By 1975 involved in gambling operation headquartered out of Windsor Garage and adjacent Victory Star Social Club on East 76th St in Manhattan's Upper East Side. Participants included Cacciatore, Bonanno Soldier Antonio 'Nino' Adamo, Bonanno Soldier Alfonse 'Little Al' DeMarinis and brothers Larry and Louis Schiro. One informant described Larry Schiro, who later headed the DeCavalcante Family's Manhattan faction, as the 'right-hand man' in Cacciatore's gambling activities.

In June 1979 again listed as a member of Philip Lombardo's crew.

Died June 5, 1993.

2. Joseph DeMarco

Source: New York Daily News

Born May 25, 1929 in New York.

Identified by CW Joseph Valachi as a Soldier under Michele Miranda.

On October 15, 1958 arrested on Federal narcotics charges.

On November 22, 1958 found beaten and shot to death inside a stolen car left at 20-65 Crescent St in Astoria, Queens. DeMarco had been bludgeoned, shot and then stabbed several dozen times after death.

Within days a group of eight were picked up on vagrancy charges in an attempt to gain information on the murder. The group, all soon released, included Genovese Members Cosmo DiPietro and Joseph Pagano, Bonanno Member Frank Mari, Colombo Member Joseph Vitacco, Future Gambino Member Anthony Porcelli and Carmine Taglialatela himself.

Ten years later Taglialatela informed the FBI that DeMarco, described as his 'close friend', was killed as a result of his drug arrest the prior month. Furthermore, Tagliatela stated, the hit team was comprised of Frank Cacciatore and two unnamed 'recruits' whose involvement in the murder would 'qualify' them for membership into the Genovese Family.

3. Joseph Santaniello

Wethersfield - 1941

Born December 17, 1917 in New York to Angelo Santaniello (26y) and Louis Ivoli Santaniello (27y). Father from Quindici comune of Avellino, Campania. Mother from Marcianise comune of Caserta, Campania.

First arrested in October 1936 on assault 3rd degree charge. Given probation.

On June 2, 1939 arrested under alias Joseph Ivoli on attempted robbery (gun - store) charge. Convicted and given an unspecified term at Elmira Reformatory.

On April 9, 1941 paroled from Elmira and resided with his parents at 331 East 108th St in East Harlem while working a job at the Fulton Fish Market.

On September 20, 1941 Santaniello, Genovese Associate Paul Zerbo and two others robbed a crap game held at the Savoy Athletic Club on Pembroke St in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The group was quickly apprehended and later pleaded guilty to armed robbery. Santaniello and Zerbo were given State Prison terms of seven-to-twelve and five-to-ten years respectively.

Santaniello arrived at Wethersfield State Prison on December 26, 1941. FBI later noted: "(Santaniello) had a poor conduct record, including numerous misconduct reports and he served two terms in solitary confinement, and was in the segregation unit on one occasion."

Upon parole from Wethersfield in May 1948, immediately transferred into custody of New York authorities and remanded to Elmira Reformatory for violating parole.

Released from Elmira by 1951, in September of that year he was indicted on a Federal heroin charge that was dismissed the next month.

Following his induction Santaniello was reportedly with Generoso Del Duca's crew, then under Pietro Dolce following Del Duca's death in March 1960.

In May 1959 Del Duca and Santaniello were among twenty-three charged with consorting following an NYPD raid on the Concord Restaurant in Downtown Brooklyn. At least ten other Genovese members were among those arrested.

At the time Santaniello listed an address on East 10th St in Kensington, Brooklyn.

By 1964 he had moved back to East Harlem, residing on Second Ave where he opened a candy store. The store served as a legitimate front for criminal activities that included loansharking and a numbers operation conducted in partnership with Edward Quirolo, Gambino Soldier and Funeral Director for the Victor Quirolo & Sons Funeral Home located around the corner on East 109th St.

As of 1970 Santaniello was living at 18 Belmont Ave in Bethpage, Long Island. Described by an informant as 'one of the most vicious shylocks in New York City', he continued to operate from Second Ave in East Harlem.

In November 1990 the FBI identified Santaniello as part of the crew reporting to Capodecina Dominick 'Quiet Dom' Cirillo.

Died October 1992.

Peter Balistrieri (Milwaukee)

 

L: First (Only?) Arrest for Gambling
R: c. 1963

Peter Frank Balistrieri (1919-1997) was a member of the Milwaukee Family who rose to the position of Capodecina and later served as Acting Boss for his brother Frank.

In February/March 1963 he was inducted into the Family alongside Steve DiSalvo. The ceremony was held at the residence of the Balistrieris' father Giuseppe, a longtime Family member.

By 1968 Balistrieri and DiSalvo were both Captains.

Made members of Balistrieri's crew included Harry D'Angelo, Benedetto 'Benny' DiSalvo and August 'Augie' Maniaci.

By Fall 1971 he was identified as Acting Underboss for Joseph Caminiti.

By June 1974 members of Balistrieri's crew included Harry D'Angelo, Jerry DiMaggio, Salvatore 'Sam' DiMaggio, Benedetto DiSalvo and Dominic Gullo.

FBI files on Peter Balistrieri have been uploaded by the Milwaukee Mafia site and can be found here.

Harry D'Angelo (Milwaukee)

 

1951

Ignatius 'Harry' D'Angelo was a member of the Milwaukee Family.

Born August 4, 1908 in Milwaukee to Filippo and Maria Lazzaro from Termini Imerese comune of Palermo, Sicily.

He was involved in criminal activity from a young age, with multiple arrests for disorderly conduct through the 1920s and into 1930. Later that year he and three others were charged with plotting to rob a saloon owner of his $2,000 payroll.

Co-defendants included Rosario Joseph 'Joe Gags' Gagliano (1904-1964) and Gagliano's cousin Dominick Picciurro (1906-1987).

D'Angelo was convicted and sentenced to one-to-two years at the House of Corrections.

In November 1933 D'Angelo and four others were stopped by the Milwaukee PD in a car containing four shotguns. Claiming they had just returned from a hunting trip, the group was briefly held for vagrancy.

Co-defendants were Tony Cicerello, believed identical with Carmello Tony Cicerello (1909-1995) of Sant'Agata di Militello in Messina; Angelo James LaBarbera (1912-1967) of Palermo; as well as the Scaffidi brothers, Joseph aka 'Scarface' (1907-1935) and Anthony (1914-1944), possibly from Santo Stefano di Camastra, also in Messina.

In November 1935 Joe Scaffidi was sitting in a parked car in Chicago when two assailants exited another automobile nearby and opened fire, killing him and passenger Angelo Kleronomos (24y). He was being sought at the time for a bank robbery committed two months prior. Ten years later his brother Anthony suffered a fatal gunshot wound during an attempted hold-up.

Harry D'Angelo was a close associate of Milwaukee Family Member Mike Albano. They were arrested together on at least two occasions, once in 1935 for disorderly conduct (along with a brother to Augie Maniaci) and again in 1940 for extortion. The first case ended in suspended sentences for both, while the extortion case was not pursued.

In between the above cases D'Angelo was convicted of a rape in Ozaukee County and given a one-to-two year sentence to be served at the State Prison in Waupun.

Paroled in October 1938, D'Angelo took up employment as a garbage collector with the city and kept further brushes with the law to a minimum. Two arrests for disorderly conduct in 1949 resulted in fines, and a third in 1951 was dismissed.

The Milwaukee Family was headed at the time by Salvatore 'Sam' Ferrara who, an FBI member source later claimed, held a dislike for D'Angelo that kept the latter from being brought into the Family.

According to this same source, it wasn't until Frank Balistrieri took over as Boss that D'Angelo became a made member.

He and three others were inducted around April 1963 at a ceremony held in the basement of Former Boss John Alioto's restaurant on Highway 100. Those inducted were D'Angelo; Benedetto 'Benny' DiSalvo; and Albert Albana and Dominic 'Pops' Principe, both of Kenosha.

D'Angelo and DiSalvo both later reported to Capodecina Peter Balistrieri.

Two years after induction

By this time D'Angelo was employed with a plumbing and heating company and lived in Saukville, a suburb located north of the city proper. He later worked construction and was given occasional jobs with various Balistrieri-owned nightspots in downtown Milwaukee. As of 1969 he supervised a weekend poker game with Milwaukee Soldier Walter 'Blackie' Brocca and one of the younger Balistrieris held at an aparment on North 24th St.

In May 1973 an informant was shown D'Angelo's photograph and noted he could typically be located playing cards with 'a bunch of old timers' in the basement of Lake Park Recreation Hall at North Lake Drive and Newberry Blvd.

By June 1974 members of Peter Balistrieri's crew included Harry D'Angelo, Jerry DiMaggio, Salvatore 'Sam' DiMaggio, Benedetto DiSalvo and Dominic Gullo.

Informants otherwise reported little involvement on D'Angelo's part either in illegal activities or with general Family matters, although he continued to attend most of the related social functions.

Harry D'Angelo died February 11, 1991 in Mequon, Wisconsin and was buried in Saukville's Union Cemetery.

Those interested in learning more about the Midwest Crime Families should check the Milwaukee Mafia site.

Bio: Michael Aquilante (DeCavalcante)

 

1969

Michael 'Jersey Mike' Aquilante was a member of the DeCavalcante Family.

Born January 31, 1916 in Bridgeport, Connecticut to Giovanni and Clara Aquilante. Parents from Baselice comune of Benevento, Campania.

By 1930 the family had moved to Newark, residing at 512 4th St in the Upper Roseville neighborhood.

By Fall 1940 Aquilante was married and living with his wife at 51 Davenport Drive in Newark.

Two years later they moved to Fairfield, Connecticut.

By 1960 Aquilante had returned to Bridgeport. In September of that year he was among fifty-three arrested by the local PD for frequenting a gaming house. Those charged in addition to Aquilante included Genovese members Ralph Belvedere, Vincent Pollina and Gaetano 'Tommy the Blond' Vastano.

On March 30, 1963 Aquilante was again arrested for gambling by the Bridgeport PD, resulting in a $50 fine.

1963

On February 23, 1969 he was picked up for frequenting another gaming house in Bridgeport.

Aquilante was then an associate in the DeCavalcante Family's Connecticut regime, headed at the time by Michael 'Mickey Poole' Puglia (1915-1973).

In early April 1972 both men were among those attending the wake for Gambino Soldier Isadore 'Jerry' Castiglione held at Spinelli's Funeral Home in Ansonia, Connecticut. In addition to Aquilante and Puglia, the DeCavalcantes were represented by Family Underboss Joseph LaSelva from Waterbury. Additional attendees included Genovese Soldier Salvatore Annunziata, Gambino Members Frank Piccolo, Paolo Agresta and Thomas DeBrizzi as well as Gambino-affiliated 'ndranghetista Cosmo Sandalo.

By 1974 Aquilante listed an address at 2625 Park Ave in Bridgeport but traveled back and forth between Connecticut, New Orleans and San Diego, California, where he resided with his brother, suspected Los Angeles Member John 'Jersey John' Aquilante (1920-1992).

John Aquilante (1963)

An August 2, 1974 report by the FBI's New Haven Field Office noted: "(Michael Aquilante) is a well known hustler who bets through 'beards' and then does not pay off on horse orders. Aquilante has used this gimmick in New Orleans and Bridgeport (and) is unable to get bets down in these areas."

He was back in New Orleans by mid-March 1975 when he was approached for, and refused, an interview by FBI Agents at the New Orleans Athletic Club on North Rampart St.

Available files first mention his name in relation to the DeCavalcante Family beginning and ending in 1978.

Around Summer 1978 one or more informants reported that 'Michael Aguilante' had been recently made.

On July 28, 1978 an FBI CI noted that DeCavalcante Acting Boss John Riggi was scheduling a meeting for 'out of town' people to take place during mid-August. Among this group, the CI noted, would be 'Mike Aquilante from New Orleans'.

A follow-up report on the above meeting stated that Riggi and Capodecina Louis LaRasso met with Aquilante and another individual whose name is redacted. The report notes: "Mike is up from New Orleans and was told not to go back, instead to go to Connecticut and 'take over'."

On September 11, 1978 an informant reported on another meeting between Riggi and Aquilante, who was accompanied by four unnamed individuals also from New Orleans.

The final mention of Aquilante is from September 15, 1978, when a CI placed Aquilante with Riggi and DeCavalcante Members Joseph Colletti and Robert 'Bobby Basile' Occhipinti at the Coffee House located in Elizabeth, New Jersey's Peterstown neighborhood.

Further information on the extent of Aquilante's involvement in Family activities isn't yet available. He died November 26, 1985 in Bridgeport.

Genovese Family Lapis

Joseph (1967) and Angelo (1965)

Joseph 'Joe Beck' Lapi (1910-1980) and his son Angelo 'Vic' Lapi (1932-2011) were members of the Genovese Family.

Joseph was born September 13, 1910 at 239 Mulberry St in Little Italy, Manhattan to Angelo (24y) and Maria LaVecchia (21y). Father and mother from the Palermo comunes of Scillato and Gratteri respectively.

In October 1931 Joseph's father was found beaten and stabbed to death at his in-law Salvatore Latona's undertaking business, where he had been working as night watchman.

On November 4, 1935 armed robbery committed on Ansonia Bootery at Broadway and 51st in Manhattan's Theater District.

Four days later robbers stole $12,000 from Pickslay & Co. jewelry store at 338 Park Ave in Midtown.

The following morning, at approximately 1:30 AM, Lapi and two others were charged with the Pickslay robbery. Co-defendants were Joseph Agone (22y), a future Genovese Member, and East Village resident Harry Landino (22y). The trio, also suspected of having carried out the Ansonia Bootery job, pleaded not guilty before West Side Court Judge Louis Brodsky and were held without bail pending a hearing on November 12.

On that date they were cleared of suspicion in the Ansonia case when the shop's manager Murray Kolman failed to make positive ID.

J. Lapi at Sing Sing (Jan. 1936)

The defendants subsequently pleaded guilty to armed robbery 3rd degree in the Pickslay case. On January 8, 1936 each was given a sentence of nine-to-eighteen years by Manhattan General Sessions Judge Koenig. The following day they arrived at Sing Sing Prison.

By the late 1950s Lapi and Agone were both formally inducted Genovese members and may have been reporting to Capodecina Vincenzo 'Jimmy Alto' Altomari in Lower Manhattan.

Following Altomari's death in 1964, Lapi reported to Rosario 'Saro' Mogavero.

R. Mogavero (FBN Mafia Book)

By Fall 1962 made members of Rosario Mogavero's crew included Joseph Agone, Philip 'Philly Katz' Albanese, Joseph 'Little Carlo' Calabro, Frank 'Frankie the Bug' Caruso, Michael 'Mike the Loader' Clemente, Carmelo 'Charlie Bananas' Coppolino, Albert DiStefano, George 'Flip' Filippone, Louis 'Louie Healthy' Gaccione, Salvatore 'Salvie' Gencarelli, Louis 'Louie the Hood' Georgiano, Joseph Lapi and Saro's brother Joseph Mogavero.

A 1966 heroin conviction resulted in a seven-and-one-half year Federal prison sentence for Joseph Lapi. During the period of his legal troubles and subsequent incarceration, his son Angelo became actively involved in the Bonanno Family conflict.

Rosario Mogavero died January 1973. By the end of that year Lapi was identified as his successor.

From a social club at 20 Monroe St, he supervised a crew that included Joseph Agone, Philip Albanese, Joseph Calabro, Albert DiStefano, George Filippone, Louis Gaccione, Salvatore Gencarelli, Vincent Mauro and Saro's brother Joseph Mogavero.

In October 1973 included in the FBI's list of 190 identified Genovese Family members.

That same month the FBI provided an outline of the Genovese Family hierarchy, naming Frank Tieri as the Boss and listing Joseph Lapi and thirteen other Captains. Identified Lapi crew members were Joseph Agone, Albert DiStefano, Salvatore Gencarelli, Matthew 'Matty the Horse' Ianniello, Salvatore Lauro and Joseph Mogavero. (The following year Lauro is named as a Generoso crew member.)

On March 13, 1975 Lapi, Calabro and several other crew members were arrested on gambling charges following the joint FBI - NYPD raid of a game held at 133 Mott St in Little Italy. The location was a couple of doors down from the Calabro barbershop.

J. Lapi (L) and J. Calabro (R) following March 1975 raid

 Seven were charged with Federal gambling violations:

1. Joseph Lapi (Genovese Captain)
2. Salvatore Aparo (Genovese Soldier) (Lapi Crew?)
3. John 'Beans' Campanella (Genovese Soldier) (DeFeo Crew) (Father of Bonanno Soldier Joseph 'Joe Beans' Campanella [1938-2007] and possible Genovese Member John 'Beansy' Campanella Jr. [1942-2010])
   
4. Rosario 'Sally Young' Palmieri (Genovese Soldier) (Possible Captain)
5. Vincent Aparo (Genovese Associate) (Son to Salvatore, inducted in the late 1990s)
6. Vincent Battista (39y)
7. William DiCenzo (44y)

Others present were charged locally for participating in the game:

1. Joseph Calabro (Genovese Soldier) (Lapi Crew)
2. Albert DiStefano (Genovese Soldier) (Lapi Crew)
3. Joseph 'Crumb' Tedesche (Genovese Soldier)
4. James Borgese (54y)
5. Dominick Dicenzo (58y)
6. Joseph DeSimone (45y) (Brother to Ralph DeSimone, a proposed Genovese Associate murdered in 1991)
7. James Fusco (52y)
8. Albert Palmieri (54y)
9. Columbo 'Edward' Saggese (Genovese Associate) (Inducted into the Genovese Family circa Fall 1977 under Rosario Palmieri's sponsorship)
10. James Soldano (53y)
11. John Tangorra (49y)
12. Anthony Vestuto (62y)
13. Marshall Schreder (40y)

The Federal gambling case against Lapi, Palmieri and the others was subsequently dismissed.

Lapi sponsored at least two individuals for membership during the initial phase of inductions in early 1976. The candidates' names are redacted in the FBI report containing the information, however, some identifying details remain. One operated a laundromat at Mulberry and Kenmare Sts, while the other was connected to Zito's Butcher Shop at 162 Mott St, both Little Italy locations.

In November 1977 an FBI member source identified Joseph Zito (1936-2020), owner of Ruggerio's Restaurant on Grand St, as having been 'recently made' under Lapi's sponsorship. An FBI membership list from 1977 notes that Zito was inducted the previous year; he may have been one of the two candidates from early 1976 and the information was late in reaching this particular source.

Angelo Lapi was made around mid-1978, likely under his father's sponsorship as well.

Joseph Lapi died October 29, 1980 and was succeeded as Captain by Louis Gaccione.

In the early 1980s Angelo was identified by an informant as partners with an unnamed Lapi / Gaccione crew member in Cappuccino on the Bay, a restaurant located on Emmons Ave in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Little else is available on his LCN involvement. He died September 2011.

Nicholas Frustaci (Genovese)

 

1965

August 1965 arrest photo of Genovese Soldier Nicholas 'Nicky the Blond' Frustaci (1931-2017).

At this time Frustaci operated Nick's Poolroom at 185 Ave A in Manhattan's East Village, and was a frequent presence at the Shoreview Social Club on East 12th St. Both locations were utilized as a meeting place for high ranking members of the Bonanno and Gambino Families.

Frustaci was inducted into the Genovese Family after the books opened in the 1970s, possibly around the time of Associate Thomas Palermo's murder in Spring 1977.

By Fall 1980 he was reporting to Capodecina Dominick 'Buddy' Cappolla (1923-2020) headquartered on Mulberry St in Little Italy. Active in gambling through the 1980s and 1990s.

In June 1996 he was indicted on Federal racketeering charges, along with the Family's acting hierarchy and other members, and received a fifty-one month sentence on a guilty plea.

Around 2003 he represented the Genovese Family in a sitdown with the Bonannos concerning attempts by one of their newly inducted members, Paul 'Fat Paulie' Spina, to extort a Genovese-connected restaurant and bar owner in Queens.

He died March 2017 and was waked from the Provenzano Lanza Funeral Home in East Village.

Photo: Nicodemo Scarfo (1964)

 

Bruno Member (and future Boss) Nicodemo Scarfo in a photo taken following his release from the Philadelphia Detention Center.

Scarfo, having pleaded guilty to involvement in the May 1963 fatal stabbing of William Dugan, was paroled after serving the minimum of a six to twenty-three month sentence.

As part of his parole conditions he was required to register with the local PD prior to returning to his family residence at 29 North Georgia Ave in Atlantic City.