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.