In regards to the LaRocca Crime Family, their power was far reaching (especially from the 1950's to the late 1990's). They controlled not only the greater Pittsburgh area, but they had all of Western Pennsylvania going to Altoona/Johnstown, parts of Harrisburg, Erie, PA, Jamestown, NY, the entire panhandle of West Virginia and Northeast Ohio in greater Youngstown and the Canton, OH area. After a long war with the Cleveland Crime Family from 1977-1983, Pittsburgh moved into Cleveland territory when the upper echelon in Cleveland went to prison for the Danny Greene murder. Also, remember that it was John LaRocca who made the Valenti brothers and gave them his support to start their own small family in Rochester (in conjunction with Buffalo) as well as Salvatore & Angelo Marino who were made in Pittsburgh and sent out to San Jose to seize control of the west coast operation. LaRocca got a piece of everything in San Jose, Rochester, West Virginia, Northeast Ohio, all of Western Pennsylvania...That's five states of illegal rackets. Obviously, my expertise is in the Youngstown/Pittsburgh/Cleveland area and I'm not saying that Pittsburgh was the strongest, I'm just stating the facts of how far their tentacles reached while under Big John LaRocca and to a degree, his successor, Michael Genovese. Also keep in mind that Gabriel "Kelly" Mannarino, one of the nation's top underworld figures for decades and the LaRocca Family's most active member was partners with Traficante, Marcello and Bufalino in the Sans Souci Hotel & Casino, the Capri Casino and the Nacional Casino in Havana. Mannarino was also tied to the theory of the Kennedy Assassination.
http://triblive.com/mobile/4488473-96/castro-mannarino-cubaGranted, Marcello, Trafficante, Civella and Bufalino were more well known because of their relationships with prominent New York bosses and Chicago, but Big John LaRocca had long standing ties to Paul Castellano, Tony Accardo, Angelo Bruno, Russell Bufalino and Carlo Gambino. In fact, Castellano was Big John's next door neighbor in Pompano Beach, FL and they spent a lot of time together in the winters.
