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| 1974 |
Steve Trifiro was a member of the San Francisco Family.
Born October 17, 1915 in Pioppo frazione of Monreale, Palermo to Giuseppe Trifiro (28y) and Maria Pravata (Bravato?) (14y).
Steve's father and his uncle Giacomo aka Jack (1889-1965) were both affiliated with the Mafia prior to immigrating to the United States.
On September 6, 1920 the Trifiros arrived at at Ellis Island, New York aboard S.S. Belvedere. Destined for Steve's uncle Jack residing at 187 Montrose Ave in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood. (Other passengers included Possible SF Member Salvatore Maugeri [1897-1988] of Mascali, Catania. He was headed to a cousin of the same name on Mulberry St in Manhattan's Little Italy.)
The Trifiro brothers were likely members or affiliates of the Bonannos during their time in New York. Jack's 1925 Petition for Naturalization was witnessed by Stefano LoPiccolo (1882-1942) of Monreale, believed to be an influential member of that Family. (Jack moved to Cleveland by 1930.)
Born October 17, 1915 in Pioppo frazione of Monreale, Palermo to Giuseppe Trifiro (28y) and Maria Pravata (Bravato?) (14y).
Steve's father and his uncle Giacomo aka Jack (1889-1965) were both affiliated with the Mafia prior to immigrating to the United States.
On September 6, 1920 the Trifiros arrived at at Ellis Island, New York aboard S.S. Belvedere. Destined for Steve's uncle Jack residing at 187 Montrose Ave in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood. (Other passengers included Possible SF Member Salvatore Maugeri [1897-1988] of Mascali, Catania. He was headed to a cousin of the same name on Mulberry St in Manhattan's Little Italy.)
The Trifiro brothers were likely members or affiliates of the Bonannos during their time in New York. Jack's 1925 Petition for Naturalization was witnessed by Stefano LoPiccolo (1882-1942) of Monreale, believed to be an influential member of that Family. (Jack moved to Cleveland by 1930.)
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| G. Trifiro |
Around 1926 Giuseppe Trifiro filed his Declaration of Intention in Poughkeepsie, New York. The town is located a few miles north of Wappingers Falls, where Bonanno Boss (and the last official Boss of Bosses) Salvatore Maranzano operated for a time. (Another Bonanno member in the area was Nicolo 'Nick the Knifer' Guastella who, like Trifiro, later transferred to a Family in California.)
By Fall 1939 Trifiro and family were living at 702 Lombard St near Fisherman's Wharf in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco. Giuseppe and Steve listed their occupations as watchman (at the Wharf) and laborer respectively.
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| S. Trifiro (1942) |
On June 17, 1942 Steve filed his Petition for Naturalization in US District Court San Francisco. He worked as a pipe fitter and listed residence at 415 San Bruno Ave in Potrero Hill.
Witnesses included fish butcher Joseph Balistrieri (1904-1968), son of Pietro (1859-1937) and Rosa Galioto from Sant'Elia and Santa Flavia, Palermo.
Steve was naturalized December 13, 1943.
The following April he married Anna MNU.
By Fall 1947 the couple had moved a couple of miles south at 435 Leland Ave in Visitacion Valley.
Steve's father, a respected Family member, died that November.
By the mid-1950s the Trifiros left San Francisco for Carmichael, a city in Sacramento County. Steve worked as plumber with Capital Plumbing Company.
Witnesses included fish butcher Joseph Balistrieri (1904-1968), son of Pietro (1859-1937) and Rosa Galioto from Sant'Elia and Santa Flavia, Palermo.
Steve was naturalized December 13, 1943.
The following April he married Anna MNU.
By Fall 1947 the couple had moved a couple of miles south at 435 Leland Ave in Visitacion Valley.
Steve's father, a respected Family member, died that November.
By the mid-1950s the Trifiros left San Francisco for Carmichael, a city in Sacramento County. Steve worked as plumber with Capital Plumbing Company.
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| G. Sciortino |
Sometime around 1964 Steve was formally inducted into the San Francisco Family in a ceremony presided over by Underboss Gaspare 'Bill' Sciortino. Others present were Soldiers Frank Joseph Genovese and Sal Taranto.
By that time the Family, headed by James Lanza, numbered about twenty members and was largely inactive.
The one Captain, Vincenzo Infusino (1892-1975), had no Soldiers. The members instead reported direct to Underboss Bill Sciortino.
Members in addition to those listed above included Steve's uncle Jack, who transferred from Cleveland around 1940. (He died July 1965 in Lodi.)
On December 20, 1965 an FBI Member Source reported: "[CI] advised that in a recent conversation with Sal Taranto, Taranto advised that Steve Trifiro was initiated into the La Cosa Nostra (LCN) by James Lanza, (Capo of the San Francisco Family), sometime during the past two years. Taranto was unable to furnish any information as to who may have been present at the initiation and claimed that his source of this information is Bill Sciortino." The following month Trifiro was designated the subject of an anti-racketeering investigation. (An alternate, heavily redacted, version of this report mentions one Sando Sorrentino, originally from Brooklyn, in relation to Trifiro. This may be identical to an individual of that name who resided in San Carlos and worked for a paving company. His wife, a Ciaravino from Castellammare del Golfo, claimed her husband had no Brooklyn roots and did not know any Trifiros. Another Sando Sorrentino was victim of a 1926 shooting in Brooklyn. This Sorrentino was described by the press as a resident of Williamsburg, the same neighborhood the Trifiros were living in as of 1920.)
On February 4, 1967 Trifiro and Boss James Lanza attended the funeral for Underboss Bill Sciortino's mother.
By that time the Family, headed by James Lanza, numbered about twenty members and was largely inactive.
The one Captain, Vincenzo Infusino (1892-1975), had no Soldiers. The members instead reported direct to Underboss Bill Sciortino.
Members in addition to those listed above included Steve's uncle Jack, who transferred from Cleveland around 1940. (He died July 1965 in Lodi.)
On December 20, 1965 an FBI Member Source reported: "[CI] advised that in a recent conversation with Sal Taranto, Taranto advised that Steve Trifiro was initiated into the La Cosa Nostra (LCN) by James Lanza, (Capo of the San Francisco Family), sometime during the past two years. Taranto was unable to furnish any information as to who may have been present at the initiation and claimed that his source of this information is Bill Sciortino." The following month Trifiro was designated the subject of an anti-racketeering investigation. (An alternate, heavily redacted, version of this report mentions one Sando Sorrentino, originally from Brooklyn, in relation to Trifiro. This may be identical to an individual of that name who resided in San Carlos and worked for a paving company. His wife, a Ciaravino from Castellammare del Golfo, claimed her husband had no Brooklyn roots and did not know any Trifiros. Another Sando Sorrentino was victim of a 1926 shooting in Brooklyn. This Sorrentino was described by the press as a resident of Williamsburg, the same neighborhood the Trifiros were living in as of 1920.)
On February 4, 1967 Trifiro and Boss James Lanza attended the funeral for Underboss Bill Sciortino's mother.
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| G. Gallo (L) and F. Genovese (R) |
By Summer 1967 Steve Trifiro was involved in a dispute with San Jose Soldier Gerald Joseph Gallo over a $1,000 debt. Trifiro enlisted San Francisco Soldier Frank Genovese to pressure Gallo into repaying the debt. Further reports covering the dispute are largely redacted. (Gallo's brother Ciro [1898-1975] was a Bonanno member.)
On August 25, 1967 FBI CI reported: "[CI] was questioned again on [8/25/67], concerning the membership of Steve Trifiro of Sacramento into the San Francisco Family. [CI] advised him Taranto had told him Bill Sciortino had presided over the ceremony which made Trifiro a member. However, the date of this initiation was not discussed. [CI] did state that Frank Joseph Genovese, as well as Taranto, were the only other members in attendance, to the knowledge of [CI]."
On July 10, 1968 FBI CI and Los Angeles Soldier Frank Bompensiero reported: "...[CI] was shown a photograph of [Steve Trifiro], but stated he is not acquainted with him. He advised that the Lanza Family is very small and that he has had very little contact with that Family."
On January 2, 1968 FBI CI and San Francisco Member Antonio Lima reported:
"
On August 25, 1967 FBI CI reported: "[CI] was questioned again on [8/25/67], concerning the membership of Steve Trifiro of Sacramento into the San Francisco Family. [CI] advised him Taranto had told him Bill Sciortino had presided over the ceremony which made Trifiro a member. However, the date of this initiation was not discussed. [CI] did state that Frank Joseph Genovese, as well as Taranto, were the only other members in attendance, to the knowledge of [CI]."
On July 10, 1968 FBI CI and Los Angeles Soldier Frank Bompensiero reported: "...[CI] was shown a photograph of [Steve Trifiro], but stated he is not acquainted with him. He advised that the Lanza Family is very small and that he has had very little contact with that Family."
On January 2, 1968 FBI CI and San Francisco Member Antonio Lima reported:
"
In further discussing Steve Trifiro's background, [Lima] was questioned as to whether or not Steve was born in Italy or in the US. [Lima] advised he did not know; however, he knew his father, whose first name he could not recall, had come from Sicily originally. He also stated Steve's father was originally initiated into the Mafia in Sicily and came to the US and spent some time in NY and in Cleveland, Ohio, before coming to California...[Lima] stated Steve's father, while in Cleveland, was under 'Boss', Dr. Romano, until his death and then he was under 'Boss', Frank Milano. [Lima] stated Steve's father transferred his membership from the Cleveland Family to the San Francisco Family, at which time Tony Lima was the 'Boss'. He stated Steve's father worked as a watchman at Fisherman's Wharf for several years and he died in San Francisco in the late 1940's. [Lima] stated he would try to secure additional information concerning the background of Steve Trifiro and the members of his family as well as to determine whether he was born in Sicily or the US. [Lima] remarked Steve Trifiro's father was an excellent individual and (his uncle) Jack Trifiro was a 'no good bum' [redacted]." (An alternate version of this report can be found here. The details re Cleveland appear to be a closer match with Jack rather than Giuseppe Trifiro. It's possible Lima confused the brothers' backgrounds.)
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On August 20, 1968 the FBI's Sacramento Field Office reported: "...Trifiro resides in Carmichael, California, in a middle-class neighborhood and is a plumber by trade."
Little else is available on Trifiro. CI Antonio Lima, who later claimed to have been named head of the Family in place of James Lanza, reported that he shelved Trifiro. It's not clear how official Lima's appointment and subsequent actions really were; James Lanza continued to be listed as Family Boss into the 1980s.
Trifiro's name is absent from both 1985 and 1993 membership lists.
He died April 15, 2001 in Carmichael.
Four days later a rosary was held at Sierra View Funeral Chapel on Fair Oaks Blvd. He was buried in Mount Vernon Memorial Park in Fair Oaks.
On August 20, 1968 the FBI's Sacramento Field Office reported: "...Trifiro resides in Carmichael, California, in a middle-class neighborhood and is a plumber by trade."
Little else is available on Trifiro. CI Antonio Lima, who later claimed to have been named head of the Family in place of James Lanza, reported that he shelved Trifiro. It's not clear how official Lima's appointment and subsequent actions really were; James Lanza continued to be listed as Family Boss into the 1980s.
Trifiro's name is absent from both 1985 and 1993 membership lists.
He died April 15, 2001 in Carmichael.
Four days later a rosary was held at Sierra View Funeral Chapel on Fair Oaks Blvd. He was buried in Mount Vernon Memorial Park in Fair Oaks.
