Operating Style of Pittsburgh via 1992

First, as is true of other LCN families,
the Pittsburgh Family is hierarchical,
with a boss, top lieutenants,
soldiers, and associates. Charles
Porter functions as the "underboss"
while Charlie Imburgia serves as the
consigliere. It is Genovese's "management"
style to have direct and frequent
contacts with some of his chief
lieutenants, as well as with soldiers
and associates who are good moneymakers.
During LaRocca's regime,
when Genovese and Mannarino were
LaRclcca's chief lieutenants, they
were as powerful as the designated
underboss Joseph Pecora.
Second, Genovese, as boss, and his
top lieutenants typically go through
channels and have buffers between
them and the actual criminal activity.
At the street level, are the soldiers
and the many associates who report
to the Family hierarchy. Genovese is
in control of all members. Each
member, in turn, has a number of
associates who are required to report
to him. Furthermore, many of these
associates run their own operations
and have associates who report to
them.
Third, the Pittsburgh Family has
fewer "made" members than most
other LCN families. it has a network
of ambitious associates who benefit
from the resources and reputation of
the Family and, interestingly, consider
themselves a part of, or as belonging
to, the" organization." Some associates
may even believe that they are
"made" members, a status achieved
not by way of formal rites of initiation,
but by long-standing loyalty and
money-making prowess for the Family.
This belief is encouraged by the
Family hierarchy.
Fourth, while the Family may be
hierarchical and heavy-handed, its
money-making activities are decentralized
and entrepreneurial. A member
or associate has responsibilities to
make money for the Family (often
with his captain as conduit); but he
is not an employee, nor does he have
a supervisor in the conventional sense
of that word. A member's or associate's
stature in the Family is
based largely on his ability to make
money for himself and for the Family
by whatever means possible. In turn,
members and associates of the
LaRocca/Genovese Family have their
own, often interlocking, networks of
criminal associates and supporters.
Fifth, the Family typically receives
"tribute" of one kind or another on
the varied criminal enterprises which
take place within the territories occupied
by the Family. The hierarchy
"licenses" such criminal enterprises
and receives payments for restricting
market entry or for other services.
The Family also has mechanisms for
settling disputes (including the "sitdown"
meeting), whether these
occur between Family members or
with members or associates of other
LCN Families. Finally, in some instances,
it uses simple extortion, e.g.,
the "street tax" assessed on gambling
operators.
These organizational features have
allowed a comparatively "small" crime
family to exert a great deal of influenc&
and amass considerable wealth
in Western Pennsylvania.
"The Family Gets a Piece
of Everything"
The Family typically receives "tribute"
of one kind or another on varied
criminal enterprises that exist within
their territories. A close associate of
the Pittsburgh LCN has stated:
" As soon as the family found out
about it (an independent bookmaking
operation), they'd either want your
business or a piece of your business.
That's my experience. I've never
seen even a relatively small book
exist for very long without the family
wanting either the layoff or street
tax. "
The nature of the tribute-both in
the form of payment and its amount
-may differ by area, by type of criminal
enterprise, and by criminal entrepreneur
(i.e., whether he is a member,
an associate, or an independent).
Tribute is usually paid at each level of
the family hierarchy. That is, the
associate or independent pays the
member of the family who, in turn,
passes a portion of the tribute to a
higher-ranking individual. Eventually,
the boss gets a portion, as do all the
members along the chain.
The payment of tribute entitles the
associate to certain benefits. The
associate is entitled to the" resources
and reputation" of the family-meaning
that he can operate in his territory
without competition or interference
from other family-connected
operators/bookmakers. Further, the
associate has a ready source of funds
(i. e., loanshark loans) or he can seek
the Family's assistance to expand his
criminal enterprise.
Within the Pittsburgh Family, tribute
is funneled primarily through Charles
Porter who collects tribute from both
narcotics and gambling enterprises;
through Frank Amato, who has gambling
enterprises in North Braddock
and East Pittsburgh; through Thomas
Ciancutti, who operates gambling in
the New Kensington area; and
through John Bazzano, who has
gambling activities in Washington
County. Henry Zottola and Louis
Raucci are also conduits for tribute
extracted from criminal ventures. As
one close associate, who worked for
Frank Amato, explained, "Michael
Genovese, at some point, gets a
portion of everything."
The amount of street tax is "whatever
the Family can get" and is usually
negotiable, depending on the illegal
activity. Joseph Rosa, for example,
defrauded an insurance firm of approximately
$300,000 and paid the
entire amount to the Family. Familyaffiliated
bookmakers either pay as
much as 1 0 percent of their profits
in tribute or pay a flat monthly fee to
the Family. Drug deals usually command
a higher percentage of the
profits for the Family coffer; up to 25
percent has been demanded.
Tribute is received from bookmaking
operations (numbers and sports betting)
casino games (card and dice),
video poker (especially in the Youngstown,
OH, area), narcotics trafficking,
and thievery. In gambling
operations, the Family also profits
from the "layoff" of bets to Family
bookmakers. In one burglary incident,
the burglars had to use "mob guys"
to "unload the stuff (several hundred
thousand dollars worth of pharmaceutical
drugs)" so that the LCN
would get its cut. In the words of the
burglar/informant, "They stiffed us all
the way."
To the illegal operator, tribute is
perceived as a cost of doing business.
At the same time, some realize that
if they refused to pay, they'd "be
dead." Paying the tribute lessens but
isn't an absolute guarantee against
mob-involved rip-offs. The "beard"
117
and the use of "wise guy" information
by Family associates are common
ways of ripping off gambling operatives.
A beard is an individual who
places bets for others who are unable
to place bets because of their past
gambling successes. Wise guy information
is very confidential information,-e.g.,
information regarding a
"fixed game" or an injury to a key
player. Wise guy information originates
with coaches, trainers, players
or other inside sources. One "beard"
indicated that, using "wise guy"
information, he won 85 percent of the
time on basketball and 60 percent of
the time on football.
In other cases, a victim was set up
and robbed by associates of the
Family. The main role of one associate
of the Pittsburgh LCN was '\.0
conduct rip-offs of drug dealers,
especially smaller dealers who were
not connected to the Family. The
dealer's drugs and money are stolen
at gun point or are ripped-off by
purchasing drugs on credit, but never
paying the debt. Because the perpetrators
of these scams are associated
with the Family, the victims are
unable to avenge their losses.