Great info...thanks.

4 or 5 guys out committing crimes to make a living or 4 or 5 guys who are made but live in a nursing home?

I've always though of Buffalo has a continuing operating family, the Detroit of the the Northeast. Is there truth to this?

4 or 5 guys total. How active any of them are is certainly questionable. There really hasn't been a mob case there in 20 years.

There's been a handful of cases in Buffalo over the last decade. But involving a guy here or a couple guys there. More like individuals committing crimes than a cohesive family. I'd put them right behind Detroit, which isn't in a whole lot better shape.

So power-wise (approx.), can we list them like this?

"The Small LCN Crime Families Club of America"

- NJ - DeCavalcante: 35 made guys, 150 associates.
- MA, RI - Patriarca: 30 made guys, 100-150 associates.
- PA, NJ - Bruno: 25 made guys, 100 associates.
- MI, OH - Tocco: 15-20 made guys, 80-100 associates.
- NY - Magaddino: 15 made guys, 50 associates.
- MO, NV - Civella: 12 made guys, 30-50 associates.
- OH - Licavoli: 10 made guys, ?? associates.
- MO - Giordano: 10 made guys, 10-15 associates.
- PA - LaRocca: 5 made guys, 10 associates.
- FL - Trafficante: most likely absorbed by NYC families.
- WI - Balestrieri: possibly absorbed by Chicago.

What do you guys say?

I'd say DeCavalcante's are a little bigger, at least in made guys. Same with the New England, Patriarca-Boston-Providence family.

Bruno? You mean the Philly family? I'd say definitely bigger than that. Same with the Toccos, except not by much than your estimate.

St. Louis/Giordano's most likely ain't around anymore.
Trafficante has been basically a Gambino crew for decades, any indigenous Florida family has become a New York operation since Donnie Brasco was undercover.

Speaking of Detroit, I saw Scott Burnstein on a Gangland episode regarding a Black hitmen gang, the 'Best Friends', hilariously named, but his estimates of him over sizing the Detroit family has probably far more to do with him being from The Big D, than his fanboyism of Italian-American organized crime. Speaking of, I was surprised to see his complexion, is he half-black?

It's about 30 made guys and associates, total, in Cleveland. Some of them aren't active.

Well by membership, I mean active ones.
Thos in the can who are about to come out in the next two\five years...OK...but those that will be out in a decade I consider'em non-street-active.

Thanks for the updates tho.

Wait...so NJ, New England and Philly have more than that?
I always thought they were smaller.
So kinda like 45 made guys? ALL active? Hard to believe.

New Jersey, you're right though about actually. I've always though the DeCavalcantes to be bigger because of so many families being in New Jersey. Everything to the notorious Lucchese crew (which the idiots Casso and Amuso helped to deteriorate) to some Philly guys.

New England has the two large cities and Connecticut to support numbers. Though I'd say Philly has at least 50 made guys, quite a bit in prison

As far as I'm concerned, the only viable families left outside New York, which meet the RICO standard, are Chicago, New England, Philadelphia, and New Jersey - and probably in that order. Each of them have approximately 50 total members, give or take.

The rest don't really meet the RICO standard anymore - an ongoing pattern of activity in behalf of an organization. And New Jersey is getting to that point it seems.

What's left of the families in Buffalo and Detroit is maybe a couple dozen members each. But with the rest you're looking at maybe a dozen guys or less.

In Cleveland it's under 10 now. Nowhere near 30.



Yes, each of them have as many as 50 total made members. But that doesn't mean all are active. It includes active, inactive, and in prison. it's easier to go with total figures because the number of active guys is constantly changing.

That figure of 30 for Cleveland includes every bookmaker, loan shark, and the like affiliated with the "family". The actual number of active made guys is like 5 or so.

I'm told it's about 30 guys total if you include EVERYONE - any made members and associates, active or inactive. The "family" is tiny and doesn't do much.

I didn't mean 30 made guys; that would be ridiculous.

@Ivy
Thank you for the info man.
Still 50 made guys ain't that bad (even is some are in the can and others retired in FL).
I always pictured those families in a smaller scale.

@Ivan
Yeah, that's more like it.
30 in total is still impressive for Cleveland.

This info comes from a friend who knows those people, though he was closer to the Youngstown gangsters.

Cleveland is basically a loose network of people (gamblers, etc) who know each other. They aren't anywhere near a real family anymore. There is still a tiny made guy presence (as opposed to Youngstown, which has zero made guys left), but their status doesn't mean much, if anything. And this is a really loose definition of "associate".

Good info. Thanks.
I was always told that Youngstown was in better shape compared to Cleveland...now I know.

This is likely due to the city's reputation having a kind of momentum behind it. There are of course bookies and loansharks in Youngstown, but there are NO made guys in charge of everything left. None.

The Youngstown Mafia is gone gone, like Dallas.

Edit: I suppose it is possible that someone operating in Youngstown answers to a made guy in Cleveland, but I doubt it and haven't heard anything about that. Also, Buffalo and Detroit are said to have had interests there in the past, but I strongly doubt they still do. Also, it's important to note that was never a separate Youngstown family. (Unless there was a cell there in the early years that was absorbed/wiped out, similar to the traditional Mafia in Chicago, but I've never read or heard anything like that.)

We're rollin'...keep it coming!

Any recent news about the DeCavalcante.
I read somewhere that Francesco Guarraci had some troubles in '10 and was indicted for an allegded extortion attempt.
He got free on bail.

Any news?

What the up-to-date hieracy?

Any news from down south?
Who's Florida main guy?

Florida family is done, defunct, though the New York families operate down there.

Well, that's what I meant.
I posted before that the Tampa mob was completly absorbed by NYC families.

I mean: who is the main NYC\LCN\whatever guy down there?
And which family crew has the more influence?

I'm not sure atm but possibly the Gambino's have a stronger presence than the others down there.

Frank Guaracci, who was labeled as the acting boss, and 2 other guys were charged in February 2010 with extortion of a pizza shop. The owner had recently died and it was basically a case of them coming in and looking to take the place over.

Here's an article -

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/08/head_of_mob_crime_family_nj_ma.html



John Riggi is still the official boss and is due out of prison next year. He's 86. Joseph Miranda is the last identified underboss. He may not be very active anymore. He's 87. Steve Vitabile, the consigliere, is due out in 2013. He's 78.

It would seem the DeCavalcantes are the next family to pass that line from viable to non-viable. If you take away the big bust over a decade ago now, which stretched from 1999 to 2001, there has been very little activity by the DeCavalcantes. Which isn't surprising since having their boss, 3 acting bosses, their consigliere, 5 captains, 7 soldiers, and several associates indicted in only a few years is devastating for a small family like that.

They lost control of their main source of influence - Laborers Local 394. And what few indictments there have been have involved a few guys here or there involved in sports betting, loansharking, extortion, trafficking in contraband cigarettes and stolen goods, etc.

In the early 2000's, what remained of the family was working with some of the NY families. I think it got to the point where they were considered to be "with" (or allied) with the Gambinos.



Nicky is right about the Gambinos. They've had the most activity down there over the past decade with cases against Anthony Trentacosta and his crew, Ronnie Trucchio and his crew, Vinny Artuso and his crew, guys from John Gotti Jr.'s crew, as well as the Napoli/Settineri bust, the Moscatiello/Ferrari/Fiorillo bust, and the Basto/Fafone bust.

The Genovese had the Ruggiero crew bust, the indictments/RICO complaint involving the Miami ILA locals, plus a few other busts in New York/New Jersey but extended to guys down in Florida.

The Bonannos had the Graziano/Zancocchio bust, the Chilli crew bust, and the Fiore bust (also part of Chilli's crew).

The Colombos had the Rotunno bust (actually 2 separate ones),and the Dionisio/Locascio bust. Reynold Maragni was also involved in the big NYC bust back in January and was said to be running things for the family in Florida.

The Luccheses have had not much of anything.

Thanks for the info about the Decalvacante's. Other than philly, they are my favorite. John Riggi finally getting out. I think they had him in Fort Dix.

Wow...great stuff Ivy.
Thanks.

So weird that the oldest crime family in the US is getting closer to bye-bye.
What if a larger family from the other side of the river decides to "merge" them in?
Just like in Tampa...

Actually it WAS in better shape than Cleveland from about 1985 to the late 1990s, when the crew self-destructed and the "boss" (he was actually a soldier in the Pittsburgh family) flipped.

So you're saying that Youngstown was a crew of Pittsburgh's?
Uh...you don't say.

Wasn't Youngstown kind of shared territory between Cleveland and Detroit and hell even Pittsburgh. Though I always though Youngstown had their own family, albeit very small. Though it'd make sense all the wiseguys were actually made in other families.

Kinda like Vegas...even if not as charming!

From what I understand, the area was split between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and Buffalo and Detroit were also said to have interests there.

The Cleveland family's interests were controlled by Tony Dope Delsanter until his death in 1976. He was succeeded by the Carabbia borthers, who were never made AFAIK.

Pittsburgh's interests were under soldier Jimmy Prato.

Youngstown and most of Mahoning County and everything south of it was Pittsburgh's, and the territory to the north was Cleveland's.

Bear in mind that Youngstown is just one part of a very large network of cities and towns that make up the Mahoning Valley "metro" area. Only about 15% of the territory's residents live in Youngstown proper. The city itself is much smaller than you might assume based on its reputation. You can read about the region here.

When the Cleveland family started to fall apart in the early 80s, Pittsburgh snatched away some of the northern Cleveland territory and got its point across by murdering Charles Carabbia and his lieutenant Joe DeRose. Pittsburgh was dominant in the region thereafter.

Around 1987, Prato recommended that his right hand men Joey Naples and Lenine Strollo be made. Youngstown now had 3 made guys. (You may have heard that Dante Strollo and Ernest Biondillo were made; they never were.) Prato died of natural causes, and Naples was killed by a sniper in 1992 (I heard this was because Strollo was going to do some time and wanted to make sure Naples didn't push him out while he was in jail, but I've never been able to confirm this). Youngstown was now down to one made guy.

Around 1996, Strollo lost it and started enthusiastically whacking people he considered a threat. He used a bunch of crackheads to gun down upstart rival Ernest Biondillo, and he had an incorruptible prosecutor shot by an incompetent hitman who botched the job.

Finally the law caught up with Strollo in the late 90s. His brother and underling Dante flipped, and Strollo did thereafter. There were now no made guys left in Youngstown. After Strollo flipped dozens of corrupt officials were convicted, including congressman Jim Traficant.

After that, there wasn't much Youngstown Mafia to speak of. There are still bookmakers and loansharks there, and maybe some honest-to-god mobsters who are not made, but there are no made guys operating there.

While all this was happening, the Pittsburgh family of which Strollo was a member was effectively destroyed through a combination of prosecutions and generational attrition. In fact, the Youngstown crew was one of the few truly active branches of the Pittsburgh family left.

I know nothing about the supposed Buffalo and Detroit interests in Youngstown; I strongly doubt those two fading families still bother with a remote part of Ohio.

I've never heard of an independent Youngstown family, either.