Solly D was above Lou Marino. Louis Tomatoes was an enforcer, the most ruthless of his era. He was equal with guys like Hatch Chiaramonti. He was a strict enforcer/hard head. His kid Dino is the same way. One of the roughest crews in Outfit history.

I could have sworn Marino was above Solly - Solly wasn't even made for most of the eighties, right?

But Marino was a collector, DeLaurentis was Rocky Infelise's protoge, sort of like what Jimmy Marcello was to Sam Carlisi.

I find it interesting that the street speculation never seems to be questioned in the NYC based threads.

Case in point Michael Mancuso being the boss of the Bonannos. The FBI says he's the boss. The NY posters say that's BS. Yet nobody is questioning the inside knowledge of the NY posters supposedly knowing more than the FBI.

If anyone believes Sarno was boss over guys like DiFronzo, D'Amico, and Andriacci, I don't know what to say. DiFronzo was whacking guys for the Outfit before Sarno was even born.

Besides, the FBI had conflicting information from informants. One said he was the boss. Another said he was kicking up. Does anyone believe DiFronzo was kicking up to Sarno? LOL

^^right, and a lot of informants have biased vendettas toward certain individuals & will say whatever it takes to get them locked up.

And again, in my opinion, Cicero & Elmwood park are separate entities. Neither "kick up" to the other.

Bingo. I've kept my mouth shut because I prefer to not feed into what the trolls appear to thrive on, but fuck does it get annoying.

I asked it in the past, but what is the status of Mike Zitello? Wasn't he part of that crew as well? Interesting to see what happens when all of these guys get out of prison.

From ChiTown in an earlier thread, "Zitello lives in Florida now. I believe he operates a restaurant or two down there and associates with other Florida Outfit guys like Giorango. I'm sure the guy is still booking too".

The feds had Sarno as the acting boss of the Outfit...not just Cicero.



Not sure who you're referring to but, if the feds are carrying Mancuso as the official boss right now - and it was indeed reported that way - then he's the boss as far as I'm concerned.

As for Sarno kicking up to DiFronzo, that may suggest the latter still retains the official boss title (as some reports have said) or some other "elder statesman" type role. What is apparent is that Sarno was the acting boss in the sense of running the day-to-day affairs of the Outfit like Marcello did before him. It's not necessarily conflicting information at all.

^lol

@ivyleague


when in the history of the u.s. mafia has the boss kicked up to a higher power?

meaning that the top guy "the boss" kicked up to someone higher n the food chain

That's right...I want to say his restaurant is somehow connected to a Seminole Indian Casino. Not 100% though. A lot of Outfit guys are down in the broader Naples are now - Rayjo Tominello, Jimmy Yaras, etc.

Hey Chi, any thoughts on Burnsteins write up I posted in the other thread that some of the younger guys in Cicero that may have been made in the last 10 years are pissing off the older guys? It's pretty vague, but interesting nonetheless.

It wasn't directed at you

I don't think it was apparent at all that Sarno was acting boss of the entire Outfit. The only source is one unknown informant who could be a low level associate for all we know. Joe Pistone was in the Sonny Black crew for years and didn't even know who was at the three capos ambush. What you're doing is also speculating. DiFronzo "may" have been the elder statesman while Sarno was acting boss. The informant said Sarno was the boss, not acting boss. If he really was kicking up, then he seems more like a crew boss.

Chicago refers to their capos as "bosses" of territories so I can see where it can be confused. I'm not a Chicago guy and I tend to swing towards the FBI more often than not but I can't see Sarno being boss (even acting) of the entire Outfit in a million years.

Sarno was never the boss. Acting capo of Cicero yes but not overall boss. You really think the difronzo bros and Marco who were soldiers when Sarno was in diapers, were taking orders from him? Not a chance.

Sarno named his son after Marco D'Amico. D'Amico was a local hero when Sarno was growing up in Cicero/Berwyn.

I was going to bring that up too. He was a boss, not the boss. Sarno is a street thug, not even close to Marcello's level much less the DiFronzo brothers and D'Amico.

Marco D'Amico was never on the level of a Jimmy Marcello or John DiFronzo. Marcello was, for a considerable amount of time, the outfit's premier financier & next in line to become the consensus, defacto #1. D'Amico was never even close to any of those things.

Sarno is actually very comparable to D'Amico.

I often wonder whether Jimmy Marcello gave the green light for Sarno to hit his long-time friend Tony Zizzo. Or whether Marcello's juice on the street simply evaporated when he was sentenced in Family Secrets.

I forget, did Zizzo get popped after the FS verdict?

Good call - maybe I'm wrong about my timing. I feel like he was popped right before or after the case came down.

He was hit after the indictments but before the case went to trial.

I really think Sarno (And from behind the scenes, Solly D & Jimmy I) probably wanted to just do away with the Carlisi/Marcello faction & claim those rackets for themselves. The two factions had peacefully shared territory for so long, and by the early '00s, the Carlisi people had next to nothing going for them in terms of manpower & influence. So why not just get rid of their last two big dogs, Zizzo & Hatch, who were constantly trying to go against the grain?

That was my point. Marcello wasn't that powerful if his top guys were getting whacked. He had power when Carlisi was alive. When that crew was busted, Marcello went to prison, which limited his power on the streets enough so that his crew on the streets was decapitated.

Hmmmm, no, he most certainly was THAT powerful. His crew had just either died out or were all locked up. If Johnny DiFronzo's insulation died out/went away, he'd get disregarded as well. Respect/seniority is overrated within the Life.

The same thing could've happened to anyone. It's just the way things go in the Mafia. If the Jeep Daddino/Rainone fiasco didn't go down, Sarno & the Ferriola/Infelise people would still probably be playing second fiddle in Cicero.

Yeah I agree - there were really two factions within Cicero during the 1980s - Ferriola/Infelice, then Carlisi/Marcello.

Sarno, Solly D, Sammy C and the boys were under the Ferriola faction. Jimmy I was in prison. Now they are running the show and the 26th Street faction under Caruso kicks into them.

Pudgy Matassa was under the Carlisi/Marcello faction and is very close to the Marcello family - that's why I think he may have lost some clout to a certain extent.

How much structure there is between Cicero/26th Street and Elmwood Park/Grand Avenue - DiFronzo and Vena - is another question. My theory is that Marco D'Amico is the crucial link keeping it all together. Or perhaps they are completely separate with a working relationship and a few shared rackets.

Do you think Marco is running the day to day in Elmwood? Or is Petey?

Well Marco & Solly D are very close. They are around the same age & came up together down there. They likely have similar roles.