Ask Thomas Hunt and Michael A. Tona discussion

Welcome to the "Ask Thomas Hunt and Michael A. Tona" discussion group. Feel free to ask questions about our new book, DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime, or any related subject matter. We'll do our best to answer them.

I don't have a question, but I am entered in the giveaway here on Goodreads for this book. I am very interested in reading it since I live, born & raised in Buffalo NY!

Sue, we appreciate your support. Best of luck in the giveaway.

How influential do you think Steve Magaddino was among the other bosses and Mafia Families AFTER the Castellammarese War?

Richard wrote: "How influential do you think Steve Magaddino was among the other bosses and Mafia Families AFTER the Castellammarese War?"

The Castellammarese side was victorious in the war, and Stefano Magaddino was the senior Castellammarese Mafioso in the U.S. (possible rivals Gaspare Milazzo and Filippo Mazzara were murdered before then), so I would say he was extremely influential immediately following the war.

For a brief time, he may have been eclipsed by Maranzano, who was credited with out-generaling Masseria. But Maranzano's days were numbered. By the end of 1931, Magaddino certainly deserves to be counted among the small group of enormously powerful Mafia bosses in the U.S.

His territory was immense, covering much of New York State and portions of Canada (and I have always suspected that he retained the loyalty of a number of Brooklyn Castellammaresi who were nominally members of the Bonanno Crime Family). And his selection to the Mafia's governing Commission, which effectively gave him authority that extended beyond his own territory, is evidence of his clout.

He was clearly a powerful force on the Commission for an extended period of time, as he appears to have played host for the 1956 underworld convention and the special 1957 convention at Apalachin, NY. In the middle of the next decade, Magaddino was still influential enough to meddle in the affairs of the Brooklyn-based Bonannos. Even after his obvious decline during the Buffalo revolt of the late 1960s, the other Commission members refused to take any action against him.

Thanks, Tom. Do you think there's still a Mob Family in Buffalo or did it die out?

Thanks for your questions.

I'll preface my answer by saying: 1. It seems to me that whenever researchers try to put a start date or an end date to the Mafia, they quickly turn out to be wrong, and 2. My primary interest is history rather than current events.

I am aware that the government of Canada continues to wrestle with traditional organized crime in the Toronto-Hamilton-Niagara region, once dominated by the Magaddino Crime Family. Just this past summer, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police apprehended a Sicilian Mafia leader in the City of Vaughn, north of Toronto. So, it seems safe to state that the Mafia still exists and regional connections to the Mafia still exist.

Authorities had considered Joseph E. Todaro (Sr.) the official boss of the Buffalo Crime Family for some time. Prosecutors, law enforcement agents and informants made that accusation in courtrooms, but they never successfully proved it or won a felony conviction against Todaro. (Now, with this unproven accusation on the record, it would be inappropriate not to mention the vast amount of evidence that Todaro was an exceptionally generous and enormously successful businessman.)

As we mention in the Epilogue of DiCarlo - Volume II, Todaro died fairly recently, Dec. 26, 2012. There has been widespread (and frequently irresponsible) speculation about who might have succeeded him as Buffalo Mafia boss and a good deal of discussion about whether there is any Mafia organization left for a boss to rule. Law enforcement's count of surviving "made" guys in the Buffalo area reportedly has dropped to less than 20, many of them older and presumably retired.

If the Buffalo Mafia survives in some form, it is not at all like the sprawling, powerful Magaddino organization of former times. A combination of factors, including internal strife and successful prosecutions, dismantled the regional crime family decades ago.

Thanks Tom

I've been reading a Rocco Perri biography. Does the Buffalo book cover or expand on aspects of Perri's gang that haven't previously been written about?

Thanks for your question, Gavin.

Rocco Perri was an important part of early bootlegging rackets in the region, and he does make some interesting appearances in Volume I of DiCarlo. (From the index: Perri, Rocco, 36, 37, 39, 40, 44, 63, 64, 149, 152, 174, 176, 180, 181, 235, 254; "King of Bootleggers", 39.) But I would not want to give anyone the impression that Perri was the focus of our work.

In our Perri-related sections, we did make use of published accounts by other historians, such as James Dubro, Robin Rowland, Antonio Nicaso, and C.W. Hunt. But we also were able to fill in some blanks and resolve some questions by going to local newspaper accounts, police records and other government documents.

Thanks, Tom. I certainly don't expect Perri to be a focus or even a major figure... but it's good to hear you've covered the Buffalo end of his business.

What surprised you the most during your research on DiCarlo?

Alexh wrote: "What surprised you the most during your research on DiCarlo?"

Thanks for your question, Alexh. There were plenty of surprises for me. Here are just a few of the major ones:

- Bosses of two different Mafia organizations had been underlings of Joe DiCarlo. Sam Pieri, DiCarlo's brother-in-law, rose to command the Buffalo Crime Family. John "Peanuts" Tronolone, who served as a top aide to DiCarlo in his gambling rackets, eventually became boss of the Cleveland Crime Family.

- Factions within the Mafia of western New York had amazing longevity. DiCarlo loyalists seem to have remained distinct from the rest of the Magaddino Mafia for decades. This appears to have been a factor in the Buffalo Crime Family rebellion of the late 1960s.

- The connections between the various U.S. crime families were very strong even before the Prohibition Era. I can't explore all of those connections here (as they fill much of DiCarlo's two volumes). But I found the links between the New York City and Buffalo criminal organizations to be quite eye-opening. One of my longtime interests has been the Morello-Lupo Mafia of New York City in the early 1900s. Well, Isidoro Crocevera, who was jailed in an early Morello Mob counterfeiting racket, turned out to be a close friend of Joe DiCarlo's father Giuseppe (from a time when both were in Sicily!). Crocevera actually spent the last days of his life visiting his old buddy in Buffalo. Pasquale Enea, sort of a mentor of the Morello Mob, was Giuseppe's destination upon first crossing the Atlantic. Thomas J.B. Dyke, a Manhattan underworld character linked to such famous gangsters as Paul Kelly, Jack Sirocco and Chick Tricker, became very close to the DiCarlo family, relocated to Buffalo and purchased the Venice Restaurant there (later renamed the Ritz) from Giuseppe DiCarlo. Cassandro "Tony the Chief" Bonasera, long a fixture in the Brooklyn rackets within the Frankie Yale and Joe Profaci/Joe Colombo organizations, married Joe DiCarlo's sister and for a while provided DiCarlo with a temporary home.

- The DiCarlo family's involvement with famous crooner Vic Damone was absolutely stunning! I won't spoil that one - I'll let you read it for yourself.

So happy I found this group.Good luck with the book.I plan on buying them as soon as I can.

Craig wrote: "So happy I found this group.Good luck with the book.I plan on buying them as soon as I can."

Just bought both books on the nook e reader

Thanks Craig. There should be plenty to interest you in the two volumes.