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Buffalo crime family

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The Buffalo crime family is a long-standing criminal organization based in western New York. It is considered a part of the Mafia, otherwise known as La Cosa Nostra, the leading criminal organization within the National Crime Syndicate or "The Mob."

The Buffalo crime family, also called the Magaddino crime family or "The Arm," was a dominant underworld power within North America from the 1920s well into the 1970s and 1980s. Much of the group's history centers around the reign of its most powerful and famous boss, Stefano Magaddino, known to his friends and underworld associates as "Don Stefano" and to the media as "The Undertaker."

The Buffalo crime family's base of power has been the Queen City of Buffalo, New York for the last century, but the group has also had criminal interests and satellite groups, or "crews," in other areas of upstate New York, such as Rochester and Utica; eastern Pennsylvania; Youngstown, Ohio; and the southern Ontario cities of Niagara Falls, Hamilton and Toronto. The Buffalo crime family remains active to this day, but law enforcement and the media have estimated the crime family's current underworld presence at anywhere from "One of the most powerful crime families in La Cosa Nostra" to being on the verge of extinction.

Buffalo's Early Italian Americans

Buffalo, New York, is located at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the southern head of the Niagara River, directly across from the Canadian border town of Fort Erie, Ontario. Buffalo saw a huge influx of Italian immigrants from the 1890s through the 1920s, as the area provided abundant jobs for immigrants willing to do manual labor. The local mills and factories flourished as they made use of the hydro-electric power gained from the nearby Niagara Falls. Meanwhile, the waterfront docks had been busy even prior to the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1957, which gave residents even more opportunity for employment. Buffalo is the state's second largest city after New York and was one of the first American cities to have electricity.

Just as other large immigrant Italian communities established themselves in cities like New York, Chicago, Boston, Detroit and Pittsburgh in the early twentieth century, the west side of Buffalo had its own "Little Italy." The East Side neighborhood of Lovejoy also had a small Italian immigrant community. In the 1980s the West Side began to grow predominantly Hispanic, and now the North Side near Hertel Ave. is home to the largest Italian-American community in Buffalo.

The Origins of the Buffalo Crime Family

One of the first known Italian immigrant crime bosses in the Buffalo area was Angelo "Buffalo Bill" Palmeri, originally from the Sicilian town of Castellammare del Golfo. He emigrated to western New York in 1908 or 1909. Palmeri arrived in the United States already a wealthy and well-known Sicilian mafiosi and was particularly familiar to those in his newfound community who came from the same region of Sicily.

Upon his arrival, Palmeri quickly established himself as a crime boss in Buffalo's Little Italy, extracting extortion money from businesses such as food markets, pushcart vendors and Italian food vendors. He also consorted with and most likely lead a group of Black Hand extortionists who preyed not only on legitimate businesses, but on pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers, "taxing" their dealings.

Palmeri's affiliation was with the mafia group known as the Castellammarse Clan, which had satellite groups all across the United States in the big cities of New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago and also in smaller towns such as Scranton, Pennsylvania. Palmeri has been credited with being the first boss of the Buffalo crime family, but recent research has shown that he may not have held that title. Rather, his reputation as an established businessman, respected by his community, and his close and influential criminal associations around the country may have mistakenly earned him the label of "the Boss" of the Buffalo area rackets at the beginning of the Buffalo crime family's reign.

At the same time as Palmeri's Castellammarese, other Italian crime groups operated in the western New York area and in the Italian community of Buffalo. Another well-established Sicilian crime boss was Joseph Peter DiCarlo, Sr., a powerful mafiosi originally from Vallelunga, Sicily. DiCarlo, known as "Don Pietro," arrived in New York at approximately the same time as Palmeri and led an equally powerful crime group. The men became closely associated within the local Italian underworld by 1910 and eventually merged their crime groups together to form one strong mafia crime family that would rival and dominate all other local crime groups. The two mafia leaders went into the tavern business together when DiCarlo purchased an interest in the Palmeri Saloon, a bar that was said to be the base of operations for the group by 1914. While some historians identify either Palmeri or DiCarlo as the first true mafia boss in Buffalo, what is known for certain is that Palmeri and DiCarlo steered the Buffalo crime family as co-leaders from roughly 1910 until the death of DiCarlo on June 9, 1922.

The Magaddino Era Begins

Stefano Magaddino was born on October 10, 1891 and emigrated to the United States sometime in the early to mid 1910's being that he was in his 20's at the time and settled in the Sicilian enclave of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York. He was originally from Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, the birth place of several well known, future mafia Bosses and came from a well known and powerful mafia heritage himself. He settled in Brooklyn, New York where the largest number of his hometown people and fellow mafiosi settled and came to New York with not only a strong mafia heritage, but with the reputation of a hardened killer! Steve Magaddino quickly established himself in New York's underworld and became a group leader in his mafia clan, extorting, stealing, robbing and cheating his way to success and wealth. In 1921 he was arrested in New York along with a close associate and fellow Castellammarese named Gaspar Milazzo for their alleged involvement in a murder of man in Avon, New Jersey who was the member of the Buccellato family from Castellammare, a rival mafia clan that Magaddino, his relatives and associates had fought with in Sicily for years.

After being freed by New York law enforcement, most likely on some technicality, Milazzo picked up and moved to the Detroit area where there was another large Castellammarese community while Magaddino moved his base of operations to Western New York by 1922, settling in the town of Lewiston in Niagara Falls, New York. He quickly established himself and his crime group known of Castellammarese mafiosi known as "The Good Killers" as a powerful presence in Buffalo's underworld and a dominant force in the area's bootlegging rackets. Stefano Magaddino was a close associate of local and fellow Castellammarese mafiosi, Angelo Palmeri and being that Steve Magaddino was considered a senior leader in his mafia clan and with the recent death of Buffalo mafia Boss, Joseph Peter Dicarlo Sr. in 1922, Palmeri urged the highly respected and greatly feared Magaddino to become successor to DiCarlo. Magaddino easily accepted the position and named Palmeri his senior advisor. Under Stefano Magaddino the Buffalo crime family quickly became a influential crime group during the Prohibition era, this was most likely due to proximity of Buffalo and Niagara Falls to the Canadian border and the many underworld connections Magaddino possessed nation wide. Throughout Prohibition the Buffalo crime family had strong ties to the Canadian mafia groups in Southern Ontario that controlled the liquor that many American underworld groups purchased and smuggled into the United States, the most well known association was with that of Hamilton mafia Boss, Rocco Perri who led a large group of Calabrian mafiosi and was called, "Canada's Al Capone and "King of the Bootleggers" by the media.

Stefano Magaddino and his crime family became extremely wealthy during Prohibition and throughout the 1920s Magaddino made sure that his criminal interests and territory was protected from rivals. There were a large number of underworld deaths labeled "gang hits" in the Western New York and Southern Ontario areas during Prohibiton, some to the "Bootleg Wars" between American and Canadian bootleggers while other s were to the "Sugar Wars" the Magaddino crime family had with the Porello crime family of Cleveland, Ohio when they tried to expand their corn sugar business into Eastern Pennsylvania and Western New York at the expense of Magaddino and his group, but Magaddino's forces quickly put an end to the grand ambitions of the Cleveland mafiosi. The Buffalo crime family grew in power and influence throughout the 1920s and began to establish itself on a national level in America's underworld through the many influential criminal association Magaddino possessed with other mafia Bosses in New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Chicago, always keeping close ties to the New York underworld which has been the American mafia's national power base since the 1890s.

The Buffalo crime family is one of the American mafia's affiliate groups who's early history was not thoroughly documented and what was documented did not seem to be credible at times along with the groups organizational structure and leaders frequently misrepresented and mislabeled at times! There have been American LCN crime families that have not followed the general or most common crime family structure or hierarchy such as the Chicago Outfit, Detroit Partnership and the Tampa crime family and the Buffalo crime family under longtime Boss, Stefano Magaddino also fell into this category in its earlier years. The Buffalo crime family had two bases of operation in Western New York, Buffalo was the main base of operation and Niagara Falls was the secondary base. During Magaddino's early reign there were a number of "Section" or "Area" leaders located from both bases and within the crime family who were the overseers of the criminal operations within their designated sphere of influence. The majority of American LCN crime families labeled these mid-level Bosses as Caporegimes, but during much Stefano Magaddino's early reign there were several crime family leaders who basically held the same amount of authority as the second in command or "Underboss" of a traditional Italian crime family while directly answering to the Boss so at times it is difficult to place the "official" label of Underboss on any one Buffalo crime family member from the 1920' and 30's. For instance the Niagara Falls, New York area was the base of operations or territory for top Buffalo crime family members such as Angelo Palmeri, Simone Barrusso, known as "Don Simone and the Magaddino brothers, Antonino, "Nino", Giuseppe and Gaspar while the Buffalo area was base and territory for members such as John C. Montana Sr., Angelo Aquisto and Frederico "Freddie Lupo" Randaccio and many future leaders in the crime family.

Near the end of Prohibition the New York mafia and to a smaller extent the whole American mafia was involved in the famous "Castellammarese War" of 1930-31 which had the New York Castellammarese Clan and the mafiosi nationwide from Castellammare del Golfo and their supporters battling the New York crime family of Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria and his supporters nationwide! Magaddino's fellow Castellammarese mafiosi led by powerful mafiosi, Salvatore Maranzano had become to wealthy, influential and independent for the liking of self-proclaimed "Boss of Bosses" Joe Masseria who felt threatened by his rivals and in 1930 a war erupted between the two factions. By the late 1920s a group of young, powerful and influential American bred mafiosi led by Salvatore "Charlie" Lucky" Luciano and his closest associates had aligned themselves in New York and across the nation with the intention of re-organizing and re-structuring the American underworld on a national level without the participation of the old world Bosses, but in order to do so they would have to remove all the "Old Guard" mafia leaders or "Mustache Petes" including Joe Masseria and Sal Maranzano.

The war began in 1930 with the murder of New York Boss and Castellammarese ally, Gaetano "Tommy Riena on February 26, 1930 and erupted into a nationwide conflict with the assassinations of Castellammarese leaders, Gaspar "The Peacemaker" Milazzo in Detroit on May 31, 1930 and Giuseppe "Joe" Aiello in Chicago on October 23, 1930. Buffalo mafia Boss, Steve Magaddino sent $5,000 a week to his New York allies in support of his allies while the same was done by Castellammarese leaders and supporters across the nation to help New York Castellammarese war chief, Salvatore Maranzano and his loyal underlings including Magaddino cousin and future New York mafia Boss, Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno defeat Joe Masseria. On April 15, 1931 powerful New York Boss, Joe Masseria was assassinated by his Underboss, Lucky Luciano in a Coney Island restaurant, then on September 10, 1931 the next self-proclaimed "Boss of Bosses" Salvatore Maranzano was assassinated in his Manhattan business office by Lucky Luciano allies posing as IRS agents. This allowed Luciano to take control of the American mafia and form a "Board of Directors" to govern mafia affairs nationwide while the Luciano and his fellow leaders placed the newly organized mafia at the helm of the National Crime Syndicate. The American mafia was given the name La Cosa Nostra by its members and the mafia's ruling body was called the "Commission]] and along with the leaders of the 5 New York crime families, the Chicago Outfit, the Buffalo crime family and its leader, Stefano Magaddino were given a seat on the Commission as a charter member! Some also believe that Cleveland crime family leader, Frank Milano was also given a seat on the Commission.

La Cosa Nostra

La Cosa Nostra was formed in late 1931 and after Prohibition ended in 1933 the Buffalo crime family maintained it criminal interests within the Western New York area and with the guidance of Boss, Stefano Magaddino they expanded their control of the traditional rackets such as gambling, loansharking, extortion, hijacking, burglary rings and narcotics to include areas of upstate New York, Eastern Pennsylvania, Youngstown, Ohio and the Southern Ontario area of Niagara Falls. By the early 1930s the official Underboss or second in command of the Buffalo crime family may have been John C. Montana Sr. and in 1932, Consigliere Angelo "Buffalo Bill" Palmeri died. John C. Montana Sr. was born on June 30, 1893 somewhere on mainland Italy and emigrated to the United States sometime in the 1910s. It is not known if Montana Sr. had any criminal or mafia ties before coming to the United States and settling in the area of Olean, New York, a Western New York suburb. John C. Montana Sr. had a clean criminal record in America since the days he worked as a messenger boy in a candy shop, saving enough money to by his first taxi cab and eventually building the business into the largest taxi cab company in Western New York through the merger of Yellow Cab Company and the Van Dyke Taxi and Transfer Company. Montana Sr. was elected to the Buffalo City Council in 1928 and re-elected in 1930, he was voted "Man of the Year" in Buffalo in 1956, but the following year his membership within the Buffalo crime family and his powerful and influential underworld connections were exposed when he was detained and arrested at the ill-fated Apalachin Meeting of mafia leaders in November of 1957. Montana Sr. was a close associate and ally of Stefano Magaddino, his son John Jr. had married one of Magaddino's daughters and Montana Sr. was known to be his second in command by the 1930, but after his arrest and eventual public humiliation in 1957 he decided to step down as the Underboss in 1958 and was officially demoted to the position of crime family soldier until he died in 1967.

From the Buffalo crime family continued to grow in wealth, power and influence and in 1940 Boss, Stefano Magaddino expanded the crime families territory even more when he orchestrated a take over of sorts concerning the Southern Ontario rackets. Since the 1922 Calabrian Ndrangheta leader, Rocco Perri had been the top mafia Boss in Southern Ontario, but with the immense growth in underworld power and influence of Perri's neighbors in America, Steve Magaddino, some of the Perri groups top Sicilian and Calabrian members began to align themselves with the Buffalo crime family and in the spring of 1944, [[Canadian mafia Boss, Rocco Perri disappeared giving the new mafia leaders in Southern Ontario the opportunity to become members of the North American La Cosa Nostra by becoming official members of the Buffalo crime family. This gave Magaddino and his organization the opportunity to expand into Canada, recruit more crime family members and the added influence within the underworld that came with control over a new territory. The Buffalo crime family]] was represented in Southern Ontario by mafia Bosses, Don Calogero "Charlie" Bordonaro from 1940-63 (died), Don Santo Scibetta from 1940-85 (died) and Don Giacomo "Jack" Luppino from 1956-84 (died) and soldier, who was sometimes referred to as Capo, Paul "The Fox" Volpe from the late 1950s-1983 (whacked), but the greatest alliance with the Southern Ontario mafia for the Buffalo crime family has lasted into the present and is represented by the Papalia crew of Hamilton which has been operating in the Niagara Falls, Hamilton and Toronto area since the 1950s.

Stefano Magaddino was sometimes called "The Grand Old Man of La Cosa Nostra" being that he had been present or involved in practically every major American mafia event since the 1920s. His respect, power and influence on a national level held strong for roughly 3 decades until he began to experience what many older mafia Bosses were experiencing by the mid 1950's, another changing of the guard in the mafia's powerbase, the New York Commission. Starting in the early 1950s with the death of Mangano crime family Boss and charter Commission member, Vincent Mangano in 1951, the Commission began to fragment and the old guard or "Conservative" leaders on the Commission experienced the beginning of another rivalry and eventual conflict within the New York mafia. Continuing with the death of Gagliano crime family Boss, Gaetano "Tommy" Gagliano in 1953, the attempted assassination of Luciano crime family Boss, Frank "The Prime Minister" Costello and the assassination of Anastasia crime family Boss, Albert "The Mad Hatter" Anastasia and climaxing with the Apalachin fiasco in 1957 the "Liberal" faction of the Commission took over! Buffalo Boss, Stefano Magaddino lost a great deal of respect and influence nationally being that he was blamed for the Apalachin fiasco in that he chose the meeting site! Commission member Steve Magaddino had defected from the Conservative faction to the Liberal faction sometime before the 1957 assassination of Albert Anastasia and finally with the death of Profaci crime family Boss, Joe Profaci in 1962 the power of the Conservative faction of the Commission was completely usurped by the Liberal faction led by Genovese crime family Boss, Vito "Don Vito "Genovese, Lucchese crime family Boss, Gaetano "Tommy Brown" Lucchese and Gambino crime family Boss, Carlo "Don Carlo" Gambino.

The Magaddino Era Ends

The Buffalo crime family under longtime Boss, Stefano Magaddino continued to be a major underworld force throughout from the late 1950s well into the 1960s with the crime family dominating the Western New York rackets, especially gambling, loansharking, narcotics and labor and union rackets. The Buffalo crime family controlled the most lucrative bookmaking operations with Western New York and Southern Ontario along with floating cards and dice games and illegal casinos. the crime family had been involved in narcotics trafficking since the 1920s and it continued and became a large, nationwide operation after the American and Sicilian mafia's met in 1957 at the Grand Hotel des Palmes in Palermo, Sicily the week of October 10-16 to organize a trans-Atlantic heroin network, the Buffalo crime family was represented by Stefano's brothers, Antonino, Giuseppe and Gaspar. The Buffalo crime family along with longtime allies the Bonanno crime family used their Sicilian contacts and their Canadian satellite groups in Southern Ontario and Montreal to import large shipments of heroin into the Montreal ports and then move the heroin through the Canadian-American border crossings in Niagara Falls and Fort Erie-Buffalo and then distribute the drugs throughout the East coast! This network was maintained throughout the 1960s and 70's, well into the 1980s and culminated with the famous "Pizza Connection" case in 1987.

Longtime Buffalo crime family Boss, Stefano Magaddino had led his crime family for basically 40 years by 1960 so he began to slow down and prepare for semi-retirement. By the mid 1950's, powerful and influential Buffalo mafiosi, Frederico "Freddie Lupo" Randaccio was the official Underboss of the Buffalo crime family, it is believed he took over after the death of former Underboss, Angelo Aquisto in 1956. Randaccio was a highly respected and greatly feared gangster who was always well dressed and had a calm and relaxed demeanor, but was known as a stone cold killer! By the mid 1960's Freddie Randaccio was running the day to day operations of the Buffalo crime family and was seen as the Acting Boss by law enforcement and the most likely successor to his Boss Magaddino being that the old man was slowing down and after a long and successful criminal career the longtime Boss most likely looking forward to relaxing and eliminating the stress of running one of the country's most powerful mafia crime families! Magaddino fully trusted Freddie Randaccio since "The Wolf", as he was sometimes called was known to be a loyal Magaddino supporter, coming up from a soldier in the 1930s and 40's, promoted to Capo in the 1940s and overseer of local and Southern Ontario rackets, by the mid 1950's he was Underboss the top Buffalo area Capos reporting to him and by the early 1960s all the Capos in the Buffalo crime family were reporting directly to Randaccio. Randaccio commanded respect from all his underlings like up and coming Buffalo area Capo, Joseph "Lead Pipe" Joe" Todaro Sr. who controlled bookmaking operations for "The Arm" and with his son, Joseph "Big Joe" Todaro Jr. and brother Richard Todaro. Todaro Sr. was a highly respected and feared Buffalo crime family member and a big earner with criminal interests in bookmaking, floating card and dice games along with Las Vegas junkets and a profitable pizza business that continued to grow!

Freddie Randaccio kept in close contact with the Capos and in the 1960s the Buffalo crime family's members were known to use the "Blue Banner Social Club" located on Prospect Ave. and run by soldier, Benny Spano as a principle base of operations, meeting place and gambling club, Randaccio met with crime family members there in the late afternoons. On May 8, 1967 the Buffalo F.B.I. received a tip from an informant that another well known Buffalo crime family hangout, "Panaro's Snowball Lounge" was being used for a stag party where high stakes gambling would take place and most of the top crime family members would be in attendance as the lounge was owned by the Panaro family, relatives of the Todaro family. The F.B.I raided the lounge, maid a number of key arrests while the media called it the "Little Apalachin Raid" being that a "who's who" of top Buffalo crime family members were arrested that night. Those arrested included Acting Boss, Freddie Randaccio, Capos, Joseph Fino, a future Boss, Daniel "Boots" Sansanese Sr., a future Acting Underboss, Salvatore "Sam" Pieri, a future Boss, Joseph "The Wolf" DiCarlo Jr., son of the first Boss, former Youngstown rackets Boss and future Consigliere, Samuel "Sam the Farmmer" Frangiamore, a future Boss, Pasquale "Pat Titters" Natarelli, a top enforcer, John Cammilleri, overseer of labor and union rackets, James "Jimmy" LaDuca, Magaddino son in law and Apalachin attendee, Rosario "Roy" Carlisi, Apapalchin attendee and brother of former Chicago Outfit Boss, Sam "Wings" Carlisi and soldier Victor Randaccio, brother of Freddie and LIUNA Local 210 Boss.

Capo Joseph "Lead Pipe Joe" Todaro Sr. was present and was arrested along side his fellow Buffalo mafiosi, Todaro Sr. was so outraged over the arrest and the fact that Panaro's Lounge lost its liquor license and went out of business that it motivated him to launch a lawsuit against the local F.B.I. alleging they were "discriminating against people of Italian descent", which was very common in that era. Todaro Sr.'s brave actions were supported by the former Italian American Civil Rights League (IACRL) formed by former New York mafia Boss, Joseph "Joe C." Colombo Sr., but the lawsuit was eventually dismissed! Another huge blow was dealt to the Buffalo crime family by law enforcement in mid 1967 when Acting Boss and favored successor to the Bosses crown, Freddie Randaccio was arrested along with Capo and right hand man, Patsy Natarelli on June 29, 1967 on charges of planning an armed robbery due to the collaboration of the first known Buffalo defector, soldier Pasquale "Paddy" Calabrese. Calabrese's testimony sent Randaccio and Natarelli to prison on December 11, 1967 when they were convicted and sentenced to a 20 year jail term. it is alleged by former F.B.I. agent and author Joe Griffin in his book, "Mob Nemesis" that Peter Magaddino took over as Acting Underboss for approximately a year after Randaccio was arrested. Freddie Randaccio was one of the most powerful and influential Buffalo crime family members in the 1950s and 60's and would most certainly have taken over the crime family when Magaddino retired, but instead he spent 12 years in prison and was paroled on June 28, 1979 and never again was a prominent member of the Western New York underworld as he retied to live out his last years in the Buffalo area and then died sometime later.

After the 1957 Apalachin fiasco that caused many of the nations top mafia Bosses to receive a great deal of law enforcement and media scrutiny, some of the same Bosses were preparing for retirement and some had been forced into retirement by such things as deportation and a loss of respect from fellow Bosses and by crime family underlings. Stefano Magaddino had lost much of his nationwide underworld respect and influence after the Apalachin meeting and from the early 1964 until late 1968 Magaddino found himself deeply involved in the New York conflict which became known as the "Bananas War" which pitted the powerful mafia Boss and charter Commission member, Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno against a rebel faction within his own crime family and the current leaders of the Commission which included Bonanno's cousin, Stefano Magaddino. The "Bananas War" lasted roughly 4 years and kept Magaddino closely involved as the twp principle people involved were his cousin, Joe Bonanno and brother in law, Gaspar DiGregorio who Magaddino supported in his rebellion against Bonanno. Allegedly on the night of October 20, 1964 Magaddino sent his son, Peter and his brother, Nino to a Manhattan, New York to kidnap his cousin Joe Bonanno. Apparently the kidnapping was successful and Magaddino held Bonanno captive for 6 weeks in an upstate New York cottage while they discussed the current conflict within the New York underworld and allegedly decided that Bonanno would officially retire and relinquish a control of his crime family to DiGregorio, but this would not be as Bonanno did not keep up his end of the deal and returned to New York in early 1965 to lead his forces in the war. The events surrounding the war involved Magaddino and he lost all respect from the Commission and many other Bosses as he was looked at as the prime instigator of the rebellion within the Bonanno crime family and the war by his cousin, the Commission and some of his own crime family members.

The Arm Splits

By late 1960s many of Magaddino's top underlings and crime family members began to believe that the Boss had become a paranoid and notoriously greedy leader with old age who was losing the respect of all his underlings. This notion was reinforced in mid 1968 when Magaddino informed his top Capos that their share of the crime family's profits would be reduced and they would no longer receive the yearly Christmas bonus of $50,000. This angered the top Capos including Joe Fino, Sam Pieri and Danny Sansanese since Magaddino's personal sports betting book was one of the largest in Western New York and was known bring in anywhere from $20,000-$30,0000 weekly! The next event sealed the fate of the Boss, on November 28, 1968 Stefano Magaddino and his son, Peter Magaddino, a Capo in the crime family were arrested on charges of interstate bookmaking. During the subsequent arrest and search of the Magaddino homes located on "Mafia Row" in Niagara Falls, New York the arresting officer, former F.B.I agent and author, Joseph Griffin and his partner located approximately $473,134 in a suitcase hidden in Peter's home. After learning about the amount of cash the Magaddino's had possessed it was reported that the top crime family members wanted to kill Boss, Stefano Magaddino, but feared the retribution they would receive from the Commission for an unsanctioned hit of a mafia Boss! In place of the hit the Buffalo crime family's top members no longer loyal to Magaddino opted to revolt and replace Magaddino as Boss!

A group of Buffalo crime family Capos including Sam Pieri, Joe Fino, Danny Sansanese, Joe Todaro Sr., Joe DiCarlo Jr. and Sam Frangiamore traveled to Rochester and met at the farmhouse of Capo, Frank Valenti to discuss the present situation in Buffalo. At this meeting is was decided by vote that they would revolt against the current leadership in Buffalo and no longer recognize Magaddino as Boss. There was only one problem with that, the Commission still recognized Stefano Magaddino as the official Boss in Buffalo so the family did what they could and the crime family split into two major faction, the "Magaddino loyalist" and those who supported the "Dissident Factions", the Buffalo crime family was now made up of 4 sub-groups. The Magiddino loyalists included the former Underboss who was incarcerated at the time, Freddie Randaccio, the current Consigliere, Antonio "Nino" Magaddino and Capos, Peter Magaddino, Jimmy LaDuca, Roy Carlisi, Vincent Scrow and Charles A. Montana, all but Carlisi were related to Magaddino in some way. The two largest and most powerful factions were the Pieri-Frangiamore faction and the Fino-Sansanese faction, led by Capos Sam Pieri, Sam Frangiamore, Joe Fino and Danny Sansanese. The Pieri-Frangiamore faction included Capos, Joe DiCarlo, Joe Pieri Sr., John "Johnny Ray" Pieri, who was incarcerated at the time, Anthony "Tony" Romano and Toronto, Ontario soldier, Paul Volpe. The Fino-Sansanese faction included Joe Todaro Sr., John Cammilleri and Pat Natarelli who was incarcerated at the time. The final faction was the Rochester faction led by Capo, Frank Valenti, but by 1970 he used the opportunity and his close affiliation to his father in law, Pittsburgh Capo, Antonio Ripepi to announce that the Rochester crew would no longer be under the Buffalo crime family's influence and would be an autonomous crime family! The rest of the Capos such as Benjamin "Sonny" Nicoletti Sr. of Niagara Falls, New York, Albert "Babe" Billiteri Sr. of Buffalo and Joseph Falcone of Utica , New York lined up behind one of the 3 Buffalo area sub-groups while the Canadian Capos, John Papalia, Santo Scibetta and Jack Luppino stayed relatively neutral, but where in actuality Magaddino supporters as they stayed loyal to who ever was the official Boss at the time!

Former Buffalo F.B.I agent Joe Griffin stated in his book that that in the beginning of 1969 he learned through informers that Sam Pieri had been elected by Acting Boss in January of 1969, while in April of 1969 F.B.I surveillance captured the dissident Buffalo crime family leaders, Sam Pieri, Joe Fino, Joe DiCarlo Jr., Sam Frangiamore and Danny Sansanese meeting on the West Side of Manhattan, New York with Genovese crime family leaders. The Genovese crime family represents the Buffalo crime family on the Commission and New York needed to be alerted that the dissident factions no longer recognized Stefano Magaddino as the Boss of the crime family. The Genovese crime family leaders affirm their recognition of the dissident leaders and sanction a vote in Buffalo to elect temporary or "Acting" Bosses until an official leader is eventually chosen. According to the Senate Hearing report, "Organized Crime:25 Years After Valachi", the top Buffalo crime family members in the dissident factions met on July 9, 1969 and elected a new leadership, Sam Pieri was named Acting Boss, Joe Fino remained Underboss, a promotion he allegedly received in June of 1968, a year after the arrest of Randaccio and Joe DiCarlo Jr. was named the Acting Consigliere. The Buffalo crime family had never had an internal conflict of this scale or any revolt in its roughly 50 year history, but now the crime family was split and no longer the large, strong and unified crime family it was once and it stayed this way for roughly a decade and a half!

Over the next 4 years until the opportunity for the Commission to choose a new Boss arrived the Buffalo crime family would still officially be under the rule of Stefano Magaddino, but there were a succession of Acting Bosses starting with Sam Pieri from January of 1969 until he was soon convicted and jailed on September 25, 1970 and sentenced to five years. Then came Joe Fino who was promoted to Acting Boss while Danny Sansanese took over the position of Acting Underboss, but on September 15, 1971 Joe Fino and his brother Nick Fino were arrested on gambling charges and released on bail until the hearing, but this started to diminish the Fino-Sansanese factions power. Danny Sansanese was arrested in early 1972 and convicted of jury tampering in April of 1972 which gave the Pieri-Frangiamore faction the ability to take over once again from the weaken Fino-Sansanese faction. Joe Fino stepped down as Acting Boss in July of 1972 and stays on as official Underboss to the new Acting Boss, Sam Frangiamore while Joe DiCarlo Jr. has been the official Consigliere since the 1971 death of Nino Magaddino. It s known that Frangiamore was Acting Boss of the Buffalo crime family by 1973 as Ronald "Ron" Fino, son of Joe Fino, former crime family associate, former President of LUINA Local 210 and an F.B.I. informer and rat has stated in many instances including his testimony in Senate Hearings.

The Buffalo crime family continued with its criminal interests and legitimate business ventures and stays in solid control of the areas rackets throughout the early 1970s including the local and upstate New York area construction, labor and union rackets it has controlled for decades. Longtime Buffalo crime family Capo, John Cammilleri was the overseer of the labor and union rackets in the Buffalo areas since the late 1940s and was an influential crime family member. Cammilleri was born in Campobello di Licata Gigenti, Italy in 1905 and arrived in the Buffalo area with his family in 1910. By the mid to late 1920s he was a Buffalo crime family associate and in 1930 he was arrested for grand larceny, while over the next few years his a rap sheet included burglary, robbery, extortion and intent to kill and in 1933 he was sent to Elmira prison on a 20 years sentence. Paroled in 1939 Cammilleri soon became a "made man" in the Buffalo crime family and obtained a mid level position in Buffalo Local 210 as his cover for handling union problems as a Lieutenant for Stefano Magaddino. Cammilleri's power and influence within "The Arm" grew steadily as he had interests in gambling activities, construction companies and his union activities while gaining a reputation as a dependable man who could get the job done and do favors for organized crime associates. He stayed out of trouble until he 1971 when he was caught lying to a grand jury about his association to Buffalo gangsters, Joe and Nick Fino during their troubles concerning the gambling charges.

The Buffalo crime family like some many other LCN crime families were deeply involved in labor and union racketeering and Buffalo's LIUNA Local 210 had become a well known haven for crime family members and their relatives. It was rumored that former crime family associate, Ron Fino was elected to his post within LIUNA Local 210 through the efforts of John Cammilleri ands as a reward Cammilleri expected a high level executive position within the union, but Fino turned him down. Cammilleri was greatly angered by Fino's rejection and decided to plea his case in front of the Acting crime family hierarchy which in early 1974 was clearly in control of all crime family activities and operations as Stefano Magaddino had been fairly ill over the last year. Sam Pieri had been paroled in early 1974 and it is not clear exactly what his Acting position was as some in law enforcement and the media believe he was the Acting Boss while others believe that Sam Frangiamore was still the leader at this time, either way both men were present on May 8, 1974 when Cammilleri was allowed to plead his case in a Buffalo cigar shop. The leadership denied his request ands he stormed out of the meeting. later that night he dropped of his girlfriend at a popular West Side Italian restaurant, "Roselands" and left to attend the wake of soldier and Sam Pieri brother in law, Frank "Blaze" LoTempio. After the wake Cammilleri returned to the restaurant, parked his car and proceeded to walk across the street when someone called his name, several shots rang out and Cammilleri was hit in the face and chest and died instantly, several customers ran outside just in time to see a car speeding down Chenango St.

The killing of Cammmilleri was seen as a part of the Pieri-Frangiamore factions final bid to take over the Buffalo crime family knowing that official Boss Stefano Maggadino would soon die and that is precisely what happened on June 19, 1974, longtime and legendary mafia Boss, [[Don Stefano Magaddino die of a heart attack at the age of 82 after a 50 year reign as the Boss of the Buffalo crime family, he was given a catholic funeral and buried at St. Josephs Cemetery in Niagara Falls, New York. Ron Fino who was a paid F.B.I. informer for years and later became a government witness testified that his father was also marked for death by the Pieri-Frangiamore faction on the same night as Cammilleri, but Joe Fino was alerted and barricaded himself in his home until he could arrange a sit-down with crime family leaders a few days later, Ron Fino states that Sam Pieri stepped forward and saved his father's life as Joe Fino was allowed to retire in mid 1974, he has since died.

The Pieri or Frangiamore Era ?

After the death of Stefano Magaddino in the summer of 1974 the Commission officially sanctions longtime crime family member, Samuel "Sam the Farmer" Frangiamore as the new official Acting Boss of the Buffalo crime familyfor a one year term as is customary in most LCN crime families to see if he has the full support and loyalty of the crime family members. It has been debated for the last 3 decades as to whether or not Frangiamore was only an Acting or Front Boss for former Acting Boss and powerful crime family member, Sam Pieri as the local Buffalo law enforcement and the F.B.I have stated that sometime in 1975 after Sam Frangiamore's year term was up he stepped down for Sam Pieri, what is known is that by 1975 longtime crime family member and official Consigliere, Joseph "Joe the Wolf" DiCarlo Sr. who was also the brother in law of Sam Pieri stepped down and retired, he was replaced by Joe Pieri Sr., brother of Sam. It it hard to determine the facts and to come to a credible conclusion regarding the leadership of the Buffalo crime family in the mid to late 1970s, but what can be definitely determined is that Sam Frangiamore and Sam Pieri were the two top Bosses in the Buffalo crime family from 1974-78, some say Pieri was Boss and Frangiamore Underboss, while others are sure Frangiamore was the official Boss and Pieri was the Underboss, but no matter because on November 20, 1978 Sam Pieri was once again sentenced to prison for 5 years. So once again by late 1978 Sam Frangiamore was the top Boss in the Buffalo crime family and Sam Pieri's criminal interest and his his leadership position was taken over by Joe Pieri Sr. who was promoted to Acting Underboss while Vincent Scro was named Acting Consigliere.

The Pieri-Frangiamore faction continued to lead the Buffalo crime family while throughout the 1970s Capo, Joseph "Lead Pipe Joe" Todaro Sr. was not only growing in power and influence, but in popularity among the younger, up and coming crime family members. The Buffalo crime family was divided and weakened throughout the 1970s, but maintained a dominant presence within Western New York's underworld at all times. In early 1981 Sam Pieri is paroled from prison on humanitarian grounds due to his ill health, he returns to Buffalo, but does not return to his longtime base of operations at Santasiero's Restauarnt and dies soon later on July 24, 1981 at the age of 70. So now Sam Frangiamore is definitely the official Boss and Joe Pieri Sr. is the official Underboss while Vincent Scrow is promoted to official Consigliere. As the Buffalo crime family enters the 1980s the old guard leadership of Sam Frangaimore and Joe Pieri Sr. are being rivaled by the Todaro faction which is supported by many of the younger and ambitious crime family members and the support for Joe Todaro Sr. has grown to a level of power and influence within the Western New York underworld and the national mafia that he will most definitely be the next successor to the throne. It is most likely that Underboss to Sam Frangiamore, Joe Pieri Sr. may have been another hopeful for the Bosses crown once Frangiamore retired and what is known is that on October 8, 1984 Joe Pieri Sr. and former Buffalo area resident and Cleveland crime family Acting Boss, John "Peanuts" Tronolone traveled to New York and met with Genovese crime family Acting/Front Boss, Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno in regards to internal conflicts and the issue of leadership within the Buffalo crime family that were becoming very explosive and could possibly end up in an internal war!

This late 1984 meeting in New York shows that the leadership of the Buffalo crime family had most likely been officially chosen by then and that there seemed to be serious conflict within new regime that could keep the crime family divided and weakened if the conflict is not resolved. Two high ranking mafiosi from Buffalo and Cleveland met with powerful New York mafia Boss, Tony Salerno at his "Palma Boys Social Club", the headquarters of Salerno and his Palma Boys Crew was located at 416 East 115th St., East Harlem in Manhattan, New York. What the 3 mafia leaders didn't know was that the East Harlem social club was bugged and the F.B.I. had been recently recording Boss, Tony Salerno and his closest associates, picking up very damaging conversations and information concerning the New York mafia and other crime families nationwide. Joe Pieri Sr. was apparently the Consigliere of the Buffalo crime family at this time and he spoke with the Genovese crime family Acting or front Boss, Tony Salerno about the Buffalo crime family's current situation and addressed some growing concerns he had over the leadership succession in Buffalo. "The Commission wants it straightened out", Salerno states, Joseph Pieri Sr. who was clearly bitter towards his Boss sates, "I killed a few guys who were against him and he got to be Boss, now he starts neglecting me!" Supporting Joe Pieri Sr. was a former Buffalo native and the present Cleveland crime family Acting Boss, John "Peanuts" Tronolone, "They're walking around with machine guns, these guys, suppose we walk around with machine guns", Tronolone adds to the conversation. "No, I'll send word to Junior to straighten this thing out", Salerno is referring to Colombo crime family Boss, Carmine "Junior" Persico who along with several members of his crime family has had a long standing association with members of the Buffalo crime family and being that Persico is a Commission member it is a good idea that he makes any overtures towards the Buffalo crime family leadership concerning any Buffalo mafia affairs the Commission choses to be involved in! Salerno chimes in, "As for the Buffalo Boss, give him the word from the Commission", Pieri is quick to please the powerful mafia Boss, Salerno, "I'll send word!" Salerno is not finished and is eager too show his guests the level of authority the New York Commission carries, "Tell him", meaning the Buffalo Boss, "The Commission from New York, tell him he's dealing with the big boys now!"

This high level mafia meeting clearly demonstrates that the Buffalo crime family has a new regime leading them and that the former Pieri-Frangiamore era is at an end and one can easily access the situation of the buffalo mafia at that time in late 1984 and it is clear that Joe Pieri Sr. is neither content or willing to support the new underworld leadership in Buffalo, but it is also clear that the commission representative, Tony Salerno is stating that the decision the Commission renders in the future will be absolute and final with no course for appeal! Joe Pieri Sr. was Underboss to Sam Frangiamore at the time of Frangiamore's retirement and the fact that Pieri is addressed as the Consigliere of the Buffalo crime family during the New York meeting gives even more credibility to the fact that Joe Todaro Sr. was new leader of the Buffalo crime family in October of 1984 and being that Todaro Sr. is labeled "the Boss" in this particular high level mafia meeting in New York should alleviate the years of doubt that by late 1984 the Buffalo crime family is under new leadership and the official Boss is none other than longtime crime family member, Joseph "Lead Pipe Joe" Todaro Sr., the Todaro era in the Buffalo underworld begins!

The Todaro Era

For years local and national law enforcement and crime writers have maintained that sometime in 1984 or 1985, the leadership of the Buffalo crime family once again changed hands! It is not clear exactly when, but by late 1984 and certainly by 1985, Joseph "Lead Pipe Joe" Todaro Sr. was sanctioned by the American mafia's National Commission in New York as the new official Boss of the Buffalo crime family. Joseph Todaro Sr. known as "Poppa Joe" to his family and friends was born in 1923 and is the owner of the world famous La Nova Pizzeria and Wing Company located at 371 West Ferry Ave. on Buffalo's West Side. Todaro Sr. has been a prominent Buffalo crime family member since the 1950s and active in labor unions where he may have picked up his nickname and he rose steadily through the ranks of the crime family throughout the 1960s and 70's until he became the top Boss by 1985. Upon his elevation to Boss, Joe Todaro Sr. promoted his son Joseph "Big Joe" Jr. to be his Underboss while he quickly showed his crime family members that he knew his mafia politics and named former Underboss, Joe Pieri Sr. as the Consigliere of the crime family to keep the peace and too begin uniting the long divided crime family, but Peri Sr. who clearly was not a Todaro Sr. supporter was demoted in 1987 and retired from active crime family activities, leaving longtime Todaro Sr. ally, Leonard Falzone as the new Consigliere or #3 man in the Buffalo crime family, Falzone was obviously promoted to the position as a reward for his years of service with the Todaro faction and for his loyalty to it's leader. The Buffalo crime family under Joe Todaro Sr. kept its control over the traditional rackets of gambling, loansharking, extortion and narcotics, labor and union rackets, but added new modern rackets such as telemarketing, stock swindles and insurance fraud. The Buffalo crime family has dominated bookmaking activities in Western Yew York for basically a century as the Buffalo area is a hub for bookmaking operations due to the crime families influence in upstate New York, Northern Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio and Southern Ontario. The gambling and loansharking rackets go hand in hand and close Todaro family friend, Leonard Falzone, once known as the "Loanshark King" was chosen as the overseer of loansharking operations from the mid 1980's until he was convicted on loansharking and racketeering charges in the mid 1990's.

The Buffalo crime family still dominated the labor and union rackets well into the 1990s even after informer and fdormer LIUNA Local 210 President, Ron Fino helped with law enforcement prosecutions in the mid 1990's. After Fino left Local 210 in 1988 for an executive position within LIUNA's national structure crime family associates Sam Caci and then Todaro Sr. son in law, Peter Gerace held the position of LIUNA Local 210 President until the Justice Department filed a 200 page RICO suit against LIUNA Local 210 in November of 1994 and eventually expelled 8 alleged crime family members who held executive positions within the local in June of 1996 due to the help and testimony of informer Ron Fino. At one time the crime family controlled many New York state LIUNA Locals by placing crime family members in positions of influence. Such New York locals as LIUNA Local 214 in Oswego, New York, LIUNA Local 435 in Rochester along with LIUNA Locals in Utica, Albany and Massena, New York fell under the influence of the Buffalo crime family due to their past association with former LIUNA National President Arthur Coia Sr. and his son Arthur Coia Jr.

Even before Prohibition started the Buffalo crime family was involved in the narcotics trade running local and international narcotics operations under longtime Boss, Stefano Magaddino and some of the crime family's members with close ties to mafiosi from Sicily continued to be involved in the international narcotics trade well into the 1990s due to the close relationship the Buffalo crime family continued to have with Canadian mafia families from Quebec and Southern Ontario like the Cotroni and Rizzuto crime families of Montreal, the Papalia and Musitano crime families of Hamilton and the Caruana-Cuntrera, Commissio and Cammilleri crime families of Toronto. Since the mid to late 1990s the Buffalo crime family no longer dictates much time to national and international narcotics operations and have given up their local narcotics operations as Hispanic and Black crime organizations have moved into the West and East Side of Buffalo and dominated the areas drug trade since the mid 1990's.

By the mid 1990's Joe Todaro Sr. was the owner of the multi-million dollar La Nova Pizzeria and Wing Company which had sales in excess of 25 million dollars annually, he was semi-retired and frequently visited South Florida to spend time at his condominium, leaving the day to day operations of the crime family in the hands of his son, Underboss and newly promoted Acting Boss, Joseph Todaro Jr., Consigliere Leonard Falzone and Capos, Benjamin "Sonny" Nicoletti Jr., overseer of the Niagara Falls, New York area rackets, Gaetano "Tommy Chooch" Miceli, overseer of the North Buffalo/Hertel Ave. area rackets, Frank "Butchie Bifocals" BiFulco, overseer of the West Side area and labor and union rackets and John "Johnny Pops" Papalia, overseer of the Southern Ontario rackets while top soldiers like John "Johnny Catz" Catanzaro, Bart T. Mazzara. Donald "Turtle" Pinepinto, Vincent "Jimmy" Sicurella, Joseph P. Rosato, Daniel G. Sansanese Jr., Victor Sansanese, Joseph R. Pieri Jr., John A. Pieri, Samuel Lagattuta Jr., Micheal Muscarella, Salvatore "Sam' Cardinale and Matthew "Steamboat" Billiteri. Joseph Todaro Sr. and his son not only held business interests the food and restaurant business, but they also had investments in the construction, real estate and bar business, they often showed and still do show their humanitarian and charitable side by frequently donating large numbers of pizza and chicken wings to local area charities and even our armed forces. Close family friend, Leonard Falzone helped the family establish "The Feast of St. Joseph Table" where people from all over Buffalo and the surrounding areas are invited to celebrate the Italian feast day with a huge table of free La Nova specialties and the Todaro's can be found operating a booth at the annual Hertal Ave. Italian Festival and the younger generation of Todaro's which includes grandson Joseph Todaro III and his sister, Carla Todaro show their appreciation to the la Nova customers by handing out over 4,000 bottles of champagne during the Christmas and new years holidays!

The top Buffalo crime family members continued to control the areas rackets into the late 1990s and even made expansion moves in territories like Las Vegas where members were sent to set up gambling and loansharking operations with members of the Los Angeles crime family, Todaro Sr. sent lontime Capo and gambling specialist, Benjamin "Sonny" Nicoletti Sr. to oversee the crime family's gambling operations and the move into the state of Nevada. Buffalo crime family soldier and Todaro family cousin, Robert "Bobby Panaro Jr. was another Buffalo area resident who had an underworld presence on the West coast and reresented the Buffalo crime family's interests in in the 1990s. Bobby Panaro Jr., along with former Buffalo area resident and Los Angeles crime family soldier, Stephen "The Whale" Cino were sentenced in September of 1999 to 7 1/2 and 15 years in prison for planning the murder of Chicago Outfit associate and Las Vegas loanshark, Herbert "Fat Herbie" Blitzstein in 1997, according to past media reports the two gangsters were allegedly part of a joint effort by the Buffalo based Todaro crime family and Los Angeles based Milano crime family led by Peter Milano to set up gambling and loansharking operations in Las Vegas. Herbie Blitzstien was a former associate of the previous Chicago Outfit representato in Las Vegas, Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro and ran a large and lucrative loansharking operation that Panaro and Cino allegedly wished to take over. It should be mentioned that before Bobby Panaro Jr.'s arrest in 1997 and eventual conviction in 1999 he had no criminal record, unlike Steve Cino who had a lengthy and well documented criminal record dating back decades. Buffalo crime family members continued to make money from new rackets throughout the 1990s such as, telemarketing, pump and dump stock scams and internet pornography well into the new milleniumm and by all accounts of local and national law enforcement and the media, the Buffalo crime family continues to thrive in North America's underworld!

The Future of The Arm

The Buffalo crime family like so many of the LCN crime families have experienced a loss of power and influence within their sphere of underworld influence due to the presence of other ethnic crime groups such as the Russian Organizastiya or Mafiya, the Japanese Yakuza, the Chinese Triads and South American drug cartels along with the international M.C. clubs or "Bikers" like the Hells Angels who have become a dominant force throughout the globe within the past 15 years and have expanded their territories and rackets to include areas and criminal activities that have long been under the control of the Italaian mafia in North America for decades. The Italian crime families or La Cosa Nostra has been the leading underworld power across North America since the 1930s and the along with the long standing media attention the Italian crime Bosses and thier organizations have received for deacades due to events such as the Senate Hearings and the Apalachin fiasco of the 1950s, the onslaught by local and national law enforcement has risen to an all time high and LCn has experienced a surge of indictments, defections and convictions of some of its top members. It should also be mentioned that the recruitment pool for the Italain crime families has sufficiaently been damaged or depleted by the lack of young Italian- Americans who seek a higher education and jobs in professional fields as the next generation of Italain American men and no longer aspire to be part of the long romanticized American mafia and the underworld, but the reality is there will always be criminals from every ethnic background and as long as the news media and Hollywood continue to make popular gangster films and cable shows such as Goodfellas", "Casino" and "The Sopranos" and yound Italians do not receive the guidance and direction from their elders there will always an Italian mafia in North America!

The Buffalo crime family is not immune to the setbacks or suden checks in progress that law enforcement investigations and prosecutions along with and the loss of members and recruits due to deaths and a lack of interest in the mafia lifestyle brings. The Buffalo crime family like all other criminal organizations has experinced setbacks such as mebers dying, being incarcerated or killed during their criminal careers for one reason or another! The Buffalo crime family has had its share of deaths due to underworld conflicts or wars and there have been some historic underworld assassinations in the Western and upsate New York areas such as the 1974 and 1976 hits on Capos, John Cammilleri and Albert Marone in Buffalo and Utica, New York, but there has never been an assassination of a Buffalo crime family Boss. The closest a Buffalo crime family Boss has come to assassination was when there was an attempt made on the life of Boss, Stefano Magaddino in 1936 when a bomb intended for Magaddino exploded in the home next door to his in Lewiston, Niagara falls and his of sister was killed killed, also another attempt was made on magaddino's life when a grenade was thrown into his home through a window, but failed to explode. The only other attempt or planned assassination known on a Buffalo crime family Boss was that of fomer Underboss, Joseph Fino who was set to be killed the same night as John Cammilleri in 1974, but it was called off. The Buffalo crime family experienced the loss of its top Canadian member in the Southern Ontario underworld when Hamilton, Ontario crew leaders, John "Johnny Pops" Papalia and his Niagara Falls Lieutenant, Carmen Barillaro were murdered in the spring and summer of 1997 by a rival Calabrian Clan, but the crime family replaced the lost members and still carry an amount of underworld influence in Southern Ontario today.

The Buffalo crime family has continued to be active in the Western and upstate New York areas, along with the Southern Ontario area, affiliated and active crews operate in several Buffalo areas such as the North, East and West Sides and in some suburban locations such as Niagara Falls, Cheektowaga and Amherst along with Utica, New York and Nigara Falls, Hamilton and Toronto, Ontario. In recent years many of the former top crime family members have died like Tommy Micelli, John Catanzaro, Donald Pinepinto and Bart T. Mazzara while top Capo, Frank BiFulco was jailed on a long prison term in the late 1990s on an arson charge and will not be eligible for parole until 2012 and others such as soldier Jimmy Sicurela and Capo, Benny Nicoletti Jr. have been incarcerated, but both have been recently released. All of these events and matters concerning the Buffalo crime family's underworld status lends to the present belief that the crime family and its members are either still active and one of the most powerful and influential LCN crime families left in the North American mafia or the Buffalo crime family is on its last leg and is no longer a dominant influence within the American underworld and being that even with the amount of law enforcment inestigations and prosecutions, along with news media stories that divulge crime family activities and its members, law enforcement and the public can not be certain as to what exact level of powerthe Buffalo crime family holds within the local and national underworld or just how large and influential the crime family is, only that it is still active and does have a presence!

Who's the Next Boss?

The Buffalo crime family is still active, but only carries a fraction of the power and influence it once had in Western New York and the American underworld, no longer does it have a seat on the mafia's national Commission as the New York mafia and its 5 crime families have been in disarray for the last 10-15 years. The Buffalo crime family's membership is down with an estimated 40 made members and roughly 80-100 associates and they no longer control extremely large criminal operations such as large scale gambling, extortion or protection, burglary rings, hijacking and narcotics, but as long as there are rackets and the public has a demand for illegal products and services there will be a Buffalo crime family or Buffalo area gangsters ready, willing and capable of fulfilling everybody's illegal needs! Since the 1990s it has been predicted by local law enforcement, the media and crime writers who keep a close watch on the Western new York underworld that Joseph Todaro Jr. was the most likely successor to his father as the next Buffalo crime family Boss being that he has been Acting Boss since roughly 1995, but as recently as late 2006 there has been a rumor circulating that the Todaros, Joseph "Lead Pipe Joe" Todaro Sr. and Joseph "Big Joe" Todaro Jr. have officially retired from active participation in Buffalo crime family activities and affairs and have officially elevated Consigliere, Leonard Falzone and Capo, Benjamin "Sonny" Nicolletti Jr. to the postions of Boss and Underboss. In other words the Buffalo crime family may no longer be the Todaro crime family and the "Todaro Era" has possibly ended, but this as of yet has not been verified by local or national law enforcement, agencies such as the Buffalo P.D., the F.B.I. or the D.E.A. so it cannot be considered official as of yet that the Falzone crime family is the newest LCN crime family or that the "Falzone Era" has begun! If the change in Western New York's mafia structure is true then I would expect the new Boss, longtime Todaro family friend and loyalist, Leonard Falzone would not only want, but welcome the advice and council the Todaro's can provide regarding mafia and underworld activities, matters and affiars so I would expect that possibly Joseph Todaro Jr. would be placed as the official Consigliere of the Buffalo crime family while his father, Joseph Todaro Sr., a longtime American mafia member and a legendary Boss would stay on as a senior advisor to his son and friend! Only time will tell!

Boss Succession

Leading Crime family Members

  • Frank "Butchie Bifocals" BiFulco (capo, incarcerated)
  • Frank Billiteri
  • Matthew "Steamboat" Billiteri (possibly official or acting capo)
  • Annuncio "Red" Cannizaro
  • Ronald "Ron" Cardinale
  • Russel "Russ" Carcone (capo)
  • Leonard Falzone (consigliere or boss)
  • Micheal Muscarella
  • Benjamin "Sonny" Nicoletti Jr. (capo or underboss
  • Robert "Bobby" Panaro Jr.
  • John A. Pieri
  • Joseph "Joey Paps" Pugliese (capo)
  • Victor Sansanese
  • Vincent "Jimmy" Sicurella
  • Joseph Todaro Sr. (boss, possibly retired)
  • Joseph Todaro Jr. (underboss or consigliere, possibly retired)

Active Crews and Leaders

  • BiFulco Crew - Buffalo, New York (Frank BiFulco, incarcerated)
  • Nicoletti Crew - Niagara Falls, New York (Benny Nicoletti Jr., recently released from prison, alleged to be the new underboss)
  • Carcone Crew - Utica, New York (Russ Carcone, acting for his father Benny)
  • Papalia Crew - Hamilton, Ontario (Joseph Pugliese, nephew of John Papalia)
  • Billiteri Crew - Buffalo, New York (Matthew Bilitteri, possibly acting capo)

Former Capos

  • Angelo Aquisto - Buffalo, New York rackets (former underboss)
  • Albert "Babe" Billiteri - Buffalo, New York rackets (loansharking operations)
  • Simone "Don Simone" Barrusso - Niagara Falls, New York rackets
  • Calogero "Charlie" Bordonaro - Hamilton and Toronto, Ontario rackets
  • John Cammilleri - Buffalo, New York (labor and union rackets)
  • Steven "Flat Top" Cannarozzo - Buffalo, New York (numbers operations)
  • Benedeto "Benny" Carcone - Utica, New York rackets
  • Rosario "Roy" Carlisi - Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York rackets
  • Joseph "The Wolf" DiCarlo Jr. - Buffalo, New York and Youngstown, Ohio rackets, Miami, Florida gambling operations, former consigliere)
  • Joseph Falcone - Utica, New York rackets
  • Leonard Falzone - Buffalo New York rackets (loansharking operations, consigliere and allegedly present boss)
  • Joseph "Joe" Fino - Buffalo, New York rackets (gambling and bookmaking operations, former underboss and acting boss)
  • Samuel "Sam the Farmer" Framgiamore - Buffalo and Niagara Falls rackets (former boss and allegedly former underboss to Sam Pieri)
  • James "Jimmy" LaDuca - Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York rackets
  • Giacomo "Jack" Luppino - Hamilton and Toronto, Ontario rackets (gambling, loansharking, extortion, labor and union racketeering and narcotics operations)
  • Antonino "Nino" Magaddino - Niagara Falls, New York rackets (former consigliere)
  • Gaspar Magaddino - Niagara Falls, New York rackets
  • Peter Magaddino - Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York rackets (allegedly former acting underboss)
  • Albert "Al" Marone - Utica, New York rackets
  • Gaetano "Tommy Chooch" Miceli - Buffalo, New York rackets (gambling operations and overseer of the Italian festival)
  • Pasquale "Pat Titters" Natarelli - Buffalo and Southern Ontario rackets (former right hand man to underboss Freddie Randaccio)
  • Benjamin "Sonny" Nicoletti Sr. - Niagara Falls, New York rackets and Las Vegas, Nevada (gambling and bookmaking operations overseer in N.F and L.S.)
  • Benjamin "Sonny" Nicoletti Jr. - Niagara Falls, New York rackets (allegedly present underboss)
  • Frank "Frankie" Papalia - Hamilton and Toronto rackets (former acting capo after the murder of his brother John)
  • John "Johnny Pops" Papalia - Hamilton and Toronto rackets (gambling, loansharking, extortion, labor racketeering and narcotics operations)
  • John "Johnny Ray" Pieri - Buffalo, New York rackets (narcotics operations)
  • Joseph "Joe" Pieri Sr. - Buffalo New York rackets (former underboss and consigliere)
  • Salvatore "Sam" Pieri - Buffalo rackets (former Boss and allegedly underboss to Frangiamore)
  • Frederico "Freddie Lupo" Randaccio - Buffalo, New York and Southern Ontario rackets (former underboss and acting boss)
  • Carlo "Carl" Rizzo - Buffalo, New York rackets
  • Anthony "Tony" Romano - Buffalo, New York rackets
  • Giacomo "Jack Russo" Russolesi - Rochester, New York rackets
  • John C. Sacco - Buffalo, New York rackets (burglary rings and fencing operations)
  • Daniel "Danny Boots" Sansanese Sr. - buffalo, New York rackets (gambling operations and right hand man to Joe Fino, former acting underboss)
  • Andrew Sciandra - Buffalo, New York rackets
  • Santo "Don Santo" Scibetta - Hamilton and Toronto, Ontario rackets
  • Vincent Scro - Niagara Falls, New York rackets (former consigliere)
  • Joseph "Lead Pipe Joe" Todaro Sr. - Buffalo, New York rackets (gambling, bookmaking and Las Vegas junkets, officially the present boss)
  • Constanze "Stanley" Valenti - Rochester, New York rackets
  • Frank Valenti - Rochester, New York rackets (became the eventual top boss in his area of influence)

References

  • Dubro, James. Mob Rule:Inside the Candain Mafia. MacMillen, 1985
  • Sifakis, Carl. The mafia Encyclopedia: Second Edition. Checkmark Books, 1999
  • Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idoits Guide to the Mafia:The Buffalo Family. Alpha Bokks, 2002
  • Humphreys, Adrian. The Enforcer:Johnny Pops Papalia, A Life and Death in the Mafia. Harper Collins, 2002
  • Griffen, Joseph. Mob Nemesis: How the F.B.I. Crippled Organized Crime. Prometheus Bokks, 2002
  • Edwards, Peter. The Northern Connection:Inside Canada's Deadliest Mafia Family. Optimum International, 2006
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