The Pittsburgh crime family,Capeci, Chapter 5 "Mafia Families Poison the Northeast" also known as the LaRocca crime familyOrganized Crime in Pennsylvania: Traditional and Non-Traditional. Pennsylvania Crime Concession. April 15, 1988. (The Nevada Observer. August 16, 2006) or the Pittsburgh Mafia, was an Italian American Mafia crime family based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and throughout the Greater Pittsburgh area.Jason Cato. Reputed mob boss linked to "old-time Mafia" (November 2, 2006) Pittsburgh Tribune-ReviewDevico, (pp. 185–187) The organization formed during the late 1880s under Salvatore "Banana King" Catanzaro and was named after Sebastian "Big John" LaRocca, the family's longest-serving boss, from 1956 until his death in 1984.
The Pittsburgh family rose to prominence during the Prohibition era under the leadership of Stefano Monastero, who became boss in 1925, by controlling a large distribution operation of bootlegging supplies from warehouses on Pittsburgh's North Side. Monastero's leadership was cut short on August 6, 1929, he and his brother Sam were murdered. The family was taken over by Giuseppe "Joseph" Siragusa, a successful local bootlegger, who paid tribute to New York Mafia boss Salvatore Maranzano in order to operate in Allegheny County. Siragusa was murdered on September 13, 1931, as Maranzano's rival Lucky Luciano gained power in New York. John Bazzano succeeded as boss of the Pittsburgh Mafia after Siragusa's murder, and his reign was defined by his rivalry with the Volpe brothers. After Bazzano killed three of the Volpe brothers on July 29, 1932, the two surviving brothers complained to the Commission in New York. As Bazzano's killings had not been sanctioned by the Commission, he was lured to New York, where he was stabbed and strangled to death in August 1932. Bazzano was succeeded by Vincenzi Capizzi followed by Frank Amato Sr., who expanded the influence of the crime family beyond Allegheny County.
After Amato stepped down to become underboss in 1956, John LaRocca took over the Pittsburgh family. Under LaRocca's leadership, the crime family became powerful in Pittsburgh's labor unions and established rackets in Northeast Ohio, in which it partnered with the Cleveland crime family. LaRocca also brought the Pittsburgh Mafia into an agreement with the Trafficante crime family of Tampa to manage the Sans Souci casino in Havana. As LaRocca battled ill-health in the late 1970s and early 1980s, leadership of the Pittsburgh family was overseen by a series of acting leaders. LaRocca died from natural causes on December 3, 1984.Figure in Pennsylvania Crime Dies at 82 in His Bed at Home The New York Times (December 5, 1984)
Michael James Genovese became the boss following LaRocca's death, and aggressively pursued the drug trade. Although Genovese avoided prosecution, his decision to lead the Pittsburgh Mafia into narcotics trafficking led to the convictions of senior members as well as younger associates, eliminating the organization's line of ascension. The Commission also forbade the Pittsburgh family from inducting new members. The convictions, along with general attrition, resulted in the crime family becoming defunct. The boss and last known "made" member of the family, Thomas "Sonny" Ciancutti, died in 2021.
History Prohibition era bosses
At the turn of the 20th century, Italian criminals in the city of Pittsburgh were divided into two ethnic factions: the "Sicilians" and the "Neapolitans". Territory within the city was also divided, as the Sicilian clans controlled the North and South Sides while the Neapolitan clans controlled the East End.
The earliest known Sicilian boss in Pittsburgh was Salvatore "Banana King" Catanzaro, who started his fruit and produce company in Downtown Pittsburgh in 1888. Catanzaro served as the treasurer for the Italian Red Cross Society and also worked alongside a network of Sicilian Mafia bosses in Western Pennsylvania. In 1914, after being injured in a stabbing attack, Catanzaro stepped down as boss; he later died on February 17, 1916. This allowed Catanzaro's protege, Gregorio Conti, to assume control of his crime family, based in the Hill District. As the new boss, Conti waged a war against the Neapolitan factions and by 1917, which ultimately resulted in the Neapolitans either joining the Sicilians or disbanding.
In 1919, the United States government passed the Eighteenth Amendment declaring the production, transportation and sale of intoxicating liquors illegal. Months later, Congress passed the Volstead Act declaring that liquor, wine and beer all qualified as intoxicating liquors and were therefore prohibited, effective January 17, 1920. On September 24, 1919, Conti was shot and killed. Following his death, his nephew Peppino Cusumano led the family, but worked in the shadow of Salvatore Calderone, the most powerful boss in Western Pennsylvania. Calderone controlled the Mafia Network from Apollo, located 30 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. On January 17, 1920, Prohibition began in the United States, banning all production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages.
Prohibition presented a very lucrative opportunity for Cusumano and Calderone, as they began bootleggingthe illegal manufacture, sale and transportationof alcohol. As bootlegging operations expanded throughout the U.S., violence erupted as criminals fought for dominance. Within the city of Pittsburgh, the Italian neighborhoods of Larimer, Homewood, the Hill District and the downtown area became battlegrounds as the Mafia factions fought for territorial control of bootlegging rackets. In the suburbs of Pittsburgh, the factions fought for control of New Kensington, Arnold, Wilkinsburg, McKees Rocks, Wilmerding and Braddock. It was recorded that between 1926 and 1933, there were over 200 murders in Allegheny County.
By 1925, Calderone retired and Stefano Monastero became the new boss of the Pittsburgh family. Monastero controlled a large organization of bootlegging supplies throughout several warehouses on Pittsburgh's North Side. During his reign he was suspected of ordering the bombings of rival bootleggers facilities and for ordering the murder of his competitor, Luigi "Big Gorilla" Lamendola, in May 1927. Monastero and his brother Sam were themselves murdered on August 6, 1929, in front of St. John's hospital. Pittsburgh police suspected that Joe "the Ghost" Pangallo was responsible for ordering Monastero's murder, but were unable to prove it.
After Monastero's murder, Giuseppe Siragusa became the new boss of the Pittsburgh family. Siragusa had emigrated from Sicily in 1910, landing in Brooklyn, New York and later settling in Pittsburgh, where he manufactured and traded in illegal alcohol. He was nicknamed the "Yeast Baron" after becoming one of the largest suppliers of yeast to illegal beermakers in the area. Siragusa maintained a close alliance with the Castellammarese clan in New York City and paid tribute to the clan's boss, Salvatore Maranzano. On September 13, 1931, Siragusa was murdered in his Squirrel Hill home, just days after Maranzano had been murdered.
Bazzano against the Volpe brothers After the murder of Siragusa, the family came under the control of John Bazzano. Bazzano had immigrated to the United States from Calabria in the 1890s and built a bootlegging empire selling yeast and sugar to home breweries, which allowed them to manufacture illegal beer. He was a protégé of early Pittsburgh mobster Nicola Gentile and learned to keep a low profile. He owned a coffee shop in the Middle Hill and a mansion in Mt. Lebanon, a neighborhood outside of Pittsburgh. Bazzano formed an alliance with the eight Volpe brothers, the leaders of the "Neapolitan faction" who controlled illegal rackets throughout the Turtle Creek Valley and Wilmerding.
Bazzano became aggravated when the Volpe brothers began expanding into East Liberty and the North Side. On July 29, 1932, he sent a hit team to murder the brothers; the team murdered three of them. Two of the surviving brothers went to the "Commission" in New York, and it was decided Bazzano would be held responsible for his unsanctioned hit. On August 8, 1932, Bazzano's body was found in Red Hook, Brooklyn. He had been stabbed and strangled to death.
Vincenzo Capizzi became the new Pittsburgh boss, but he eventually resigned in 1937 and was replaced by Frank Amato. Amato began expanding his influence over the gambling rackets in and around Allegheny County, and formed a strong alliance with the Genovese crime family in New York City, who represented Pittsburgh at meetings of the Commission. Amato ruled until 1956, when he fell ill from a kidney ailment and stepped down to become underboss.
Reign of Big John LaRocca
Following the end of Amato's reign, Sebastian "Big John" LaRocca became the boss of the Pittsburgh family and remained in the role for nearly thirty years.La Cosa Nostra: John Sebastian La Rocca. (2007–2011) lacndb.com Sebastian La Rocca LaRocca had emigrated from Sicily in 1910, he moved to Pittsburgh with his wife in 1933. He started a business selling beer equipment and concrete blocks in Oakland. LaRocca later gained control of multiple illegal rackets and was convicted on several occasions for larceny, receiving stolen property and operating an illegal lottery. In 1953, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) tried to use LaRocca's criminal record to deport him, but several prominent figures testified on his behalf and he was able to remain in the country until his death in 1984.
As boss of Pittsburgh, LaRocca attended the 1957 Apalachin meeting with his caporegimes Gabriel "Kelly" Mannarino and Michael James Genovese.Porrello pg.184 When police raided the meeting, LaRocca was able to escape while Mannarino and Genovese were arrested. LaRocca and Mannarino later became partners with Tampa crime family boss Santo Trafficante Jr. in the Sans Souci casino resort in Havana, Cuba.La Cosa Nostra: Gariel Mannarino. (2007–2010) lacndb.com Mannarino However, all mobsters were expelled from the country following the Cuban Revolution in 1959.
Through bribery, LaRocca was able to control politicians, police officers and other officials in the Pittsburgh area. His family also maintained control of labor unions through Local 1058. LaRocca's influence also grew through close ties to Gambino family boss Carlo Gambino, Bufalino family boss Russell Bufalino, Philadelphia family boss Angelo Bruno and Kansas City family boss Nick Civella. In the 1960s, LaRocca's family engaged in conflict with the Cleveland crime family when they expanded into Youngstown, Ohio. LaRocca supported Frank Valenti's takeover of the Rochester crime family from Jake Russo in 1964.Devico pg.190
In the early 1980s, the family consisted of LaRocca, underboss Joseph Pecora, consigliere Michael Genovese and caporegimes John Bazzano Jr., Antonio Ripepi and Joseph Regino. LaRocca died on December 3, 1984.
Genovese and Porter