The Civello Family of Dallas, Texas

The Lone Star State of Texas is well known for their cowboys. And of course they also boast the famous Dallas Cowboys Pro-Football team.

A while back in their history, Dallas also boasted a few Italian cowboys.

They weren’t exactly old cowpokes like “Hop-Along Cassidy”.... they were more the Sicilian version of “Hop-Along Che Succede” instead!

And they didn’t rope horses into corrals either. When they used rope, it was usually to truss up their murder victims and throw em into a car trunk!

https://thenewyorkmafia.com/2021/03/08/the-civello-family-of-dallas-texas/

The State of Texas represented so bleak a picture for the American Mafia, that Cosa Nostra's national 'Commission' literally denied Joe Civello's small borgata the privilege of 'making' any new members.

The end result?.... the went extinct!

Borgata lineup night!

Great article, NYM! Very interesting look at the Dallas borgata.

Can you elaborate exactly how the DeSimones were related to Civello, ie who are the linking ancestors/family members?

The Commission acted as a cartel focused on its members needs, like OPEC. Blocking new members from joining in Dallas and other smaller borgatas was a way to hobble potential competitors.

I know that they were blood cousins, but not the exact relationship.

Between the DeSimones in LA, and Musso in Rockford, they held more sway than the normally might have as such a small borgata. Pellegrino in NYC also helped their 'footprint'

The Italians in Texas constitute the sixth largest ethnic group in the state, according to figures from the U.S. census of 1990. In that year, when the total population of Texas was 16.9 million, the number of Texans who said they were Italian or part-Italian was 441,256.

Many of these people arrived in the last half of the 20th century when Italian-Americans, many of them professionals and business workers, were attracted or transferred to Texas in the booming job market. However, the Italian presence in the state goes back to the earliest years of Spanish exploration.

Like Christopher Columbus himself, Italians were often in the employ of the Spanish court during that early period of discovery. Some soldiers of fortune came from northern Italy, but the larger numbers were from Sicily and Naples, provinces that were under the Spanish crown at various times.

That info makes the trouble they had formulating a solid borgata all the more confusing. Why they could never gain traction with their family. Interesting dynamic

Didn't the commission view the Dallas family as basically a crew of the Marcello family?

I doubt there was much men to made,the Texas doesnt had much italians.

Yep the Marcello's controlled most things along the Gulf coast.

Yes Carlos was much more powerful and influential than Civello in that overall territory. although a boss, Civello was a bleep compared to Marcello

I agree with you, the only authentic Italian I met in Texas as far as I know is a guy from Italy at an Italian restaurant called Tuscany in Port Arthur. I had an Uber driver in Houston from Sicily but just because he was from Sicily doesn't make him Sicilian. I didn't ask for his name or anything.

David Campisi, the owners of Campisi restaurants including the Egyptian Lounge in Dallas got arrested for running a gambling operation two years ago. The underboss of Dallas Joe Campisi opened up the the restaurant. He became boss after Civello’s death until his death in 1990.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/feds-investigate-owner-of-campisis-as-large-bookmaker/2078301/%3famp

good info!

Joe Civello Funeral | Mafia In Dallas | Dallas Crime Family (1970)