Pitera belonged to a family faction headed by captains Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato, Dominick Trinchera and Philip Giaccone. This group opposed the current leadership under boss Philip Rastelli and his leading captains Joseph Massino and Dominick Napolitano. In 1981, Massino and Napolitano set up the murders of the three rival captains in a Brooklyn club. After their deaths, Massino made peace with the rest of the leaderless faction, including Pitera. Pitera was working for Bruno Indelicato, until Bruno became a drug addict and fled New York. During the 1980s Pitera became a made man of the Bonanno family. Pitera then worked for Anthony Spero who put him in Frank Lino's crew.