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| 1962 |
John Battista Mione was a suspected member of the Bonanno Family.
Born June 2, 1925 in Castellammare del Golfo comune of Trapani, Sicily to Giuseppe and Maria Messina.
Mione made a living there as a farmer until his early 20s. In December 1948 he left Sicily for Buenos Aires, Argentina and found work at a dockyard.
On December 13, 1952 he and two others arrived at Ellis Island, New York as stowaways.
Mione moved to Brooklyn, joined a local shoemaker's union and obtained employment with the Andrew Gellar Shoe Company located at 735 Lorimer St in Williamsburg.
By 1958 he was believed to be a formally inducted member in one of the New York Families.
By 1962 he was living at 279 Van Sicklen St in Brooklyn's Gravesend section.
Given his CDG heritage and presence in Gravesend, he may have been a member of Bonanno Family's Tartamella (later Valvo) crew.
On March 21, 1962 arrested by the INS for violating Immigration Laws and ordered to leave the country.
On July 17, 1962 he was issued a Visa at the United States Consulate General in Montreal, Canada. He stated his intention to return to his family in Brooklyn and remain in the US permanently.
He re-entered the country through Canada on April 26, 1963.
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| 1963 |
Mione and his family were then living at 28 Lloyd Court in Gravesend.
He was brought to the attention of the FBI in early 1966.
On March 7 an informant was shown his photograph and stated that Mione was 'definitely' a member of LCN, but he was unsure of his exact Family affiliation.
Two weeks later the same informant reported: "[CI] was recontacted and again viewed the photograph of John Mione. He stated that he was positive he has met this individual sometime in the past, but cannot recall where, or under what circumstances he met him. [CI] said he is positive that this individual was a member of LCN. He did not recall this individual's name, associates, or anything else, other than the [LCN] connection."
The FBI interviewed Mione in late June. He advised that he expected to be naturalized shortly and provided Agents with background on himself, noting employment as a shoemaker with Andrew Gellar since first arriving in New York.
Referring to his illegal entry in 1952, he named one of the fellow stowaways as Anthony Buffa and claimed to have had no contact with him or the second passenger in years, believing they had since been deported.
He admitted being related to an unspecified male linked with the Bonanno's Sicilian faction, claiming this individual entered the US 'as a tourist' in 1965 and resided in the vicinity of Knickerbocker Ave in Bushwick. He also acknowledged a relationship by marriage to one John DeGregorio (DiGregorio?) who resided on Ave X in Gravesend.
In regard to La Cosa Nostra, Mione provided the standard response of only knowing what was printed in newspapers. He stated the same when asked specifically about Joseph Bonanno.
An FBI list of New York membership compiled in 1968 listed Mione as a made member whose affiliation was undetermined.
By 1974 he resided at 2773 West 5th St, still in Gravesend, and worked as a shoemaker for the T.O. Dey Company in Midtown, Manhattan.
Late that year the FBI noted: "(Mione investigation) was closed in 1972 without ascertaining to which Family the subject belonged. It should be noted that in the past members of the Bonanno Family of LCN have often been born in Castellammare del Golfo or have relatives in that city in Sicily."
Brief attempts at follow up investigation uncovered no further information linking Mione to the Bonanno Family or to LCN activity in general.
He died May 6, 2001 and was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery located in Brooklyn's Greenwood Heights section.
