How does he fit into the modern day bonanno picture? He seems to be a better fit to be the boss than Michael mancuso

But did Catalano ever learn English? I think somebody posted earlier that he wasn't appointed acting boss in the 80s because he had these language problems: having and American family headed by somebody who doesn't even speak English, while many younger American mafiosi don't speak Italian, wouldn't be exactly the best choice. Not sure though whether it was a joke or serious information....

He actually did serve a short stint as acting boss back in the early 80's, you would think after 25 years in the can his English would be great

You are right most likely, I haven't thought of that...So my post seems kind of dumb now But he was acting underboss I think; the acting boss was Salvatore Farruggia (I think his nickname was "Sally Fruits"). But why somebody can't be boss but can be underboss if not knowing English was the problem, this isn't really clear to me though: an underboss has to interact with others as much as the boss. But is he still in the USA? I thought he returned to Sicily, Onofrio Catalano (Salvatore's brother I think) is or was boss of Ciminna there (and strangely never got whacked, although it was said he was against Riina and supported Gaetano Grado's group, which killed some Corleonesi in the late 80s or first 90s, around that time).

Dwalin I don't think ur post was dumb pal, i think it's definitely valid.. i was under the impression Sal didnt speak english either and that logically is a main barrier to him bein an effective acting boss

This may be a dumb question, but is Catalano involved with the Bonnanos at all or is hr still living in Italy? Anyone think he's reviving an old heroin pipeline to his former associates in NY?

Catalano moved back to Italy after being released from prison

[img:center]http://www.repstatic.it/content/localire...30e76b4676a.jpg
[/img]
Sal Catalano in recent times.



Sal Catalano after 25 y of prison was expelled from the USA and turned to Ciminna the city where he was born in 1941.
For the leanguage problem I think is an excuse because catalano was in the usa from the 1965 and I think that maybe spoke with an italian accent but was able to fave order to the american mafiosi.I think Rastelli don't trust the zips because how they betrayled Galante.
I think that if catalano would get the green card after get out would be a good candidate for be the boss.

Yeah, but him not having learned English for decades in prison would have been weird, that's why I thought it was funny on my part not having thought of that If he left prison after 25 years with the same level of English as during the Pizza Connection trial, that would mean he really has nerves of steel and is stubborn as a mule against learning foreign languages Unless they kept him in a prison wing full of native Italian inmates, I doubt any person can take it without trying to talk to anybody for 25 years, that would be an absolute record. Carlo Caputo from Madison didn't learn English for decades as I read, but he wasn't in jail and had Italian people around to speak to all the time.


So he is the boss in Ciminna now or is Onofrio the boss like before? Is Onofrio Catalano still alive? I read that in his first testimony Buscetta mentioned a Giuseppe Catalano as the Ciminna boss, but I don't know if it's their father or another brother....Here, but it's in Italian though:
http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1984/10/03/capi-famiglie.html
Strange though: Salvatore Catalano has a 1933 birthdate here though, is it wrong or is it another mafioso with the same both first and last names?

Mafia
84-year-old Sal Catalano is placed under house arrest: he was one of the bosses who ended up on trial in the Pizza connection investigation
The Court of Termini Imerese decided this, considering the health conditions of the elderly prisoner incompatible with his stay in prison. Last year he was again in trouble for an extortion attempt

The Court of Termini Imerese (Archive Photo)
The Court of Termini Imerese has granted house arrest to Salvatore Catalano, 84, originally from Ciminna (Palermo) and accused of mafia. The panel presided over by Gregorio Balsamo accepted the request of the lawyers Mario Bellavista, Fausta Catalano and Filippo Polizzi, considering the health conditions of the elderly prisoner incompatible with his stay in prison. The report drawn up by the doctors of the Neapolitan prison of Secondigliano was decisive, who warned of the possible involution of the clinical picture, in an 84-year-old individual affected by various pathologies.

The businessman crushed by the extortion in Ciminna, the trial for his 4 tormentors begins
Salvatore "Sal" Catalano was one of the bosses who ended up on trial in the Pizza Connection investigation, conducted in the mid-1980s by Giovanni Falcone in conjunction with the American authorities: a series of pizzerias run by Italian-Americans had been opened overseas, terminals of drug trafficking between Sicily and the USA. Last year Catalano ended up in trouble again with Filippo Cimilluca from Ciminna, Vito Pampinella from Caccamo (Palermo) and with Antonio Baucina from Palermo, from Zen (the only one who chose the abbreviated trial): the four had been reported by a courageous entrepreneur who had reported, with the assistance of the Addiopizzo association, an extortion attempt against him. After this rebellion, according to the investigations of the Carabinieri and the wiretaps, the current defendants decided to blow up his house.


--
https://www.palermotoday.it/cronaca...-boss-pizza-connection-sal-catalano.html
© PalermoToday

He had the bonanno capo ( his capo) killed. Licata apparently ran Knickerbocker Ave but was killed, it's reckoned, because he was against drug dealing. Smack .

Find it bit hard to believe that a captain under Galante with a load of Sicilians around him was against drugs.

Good article on gangster inc on catalano

Pizza Connection was huge I wonder how many guys are still alive..


Out of those arrested, 22 Sicilian-born defendants stood in the trial that began on September 30, 1985:[26][2][14]

Gaetano Badalamenti
Salvatore Catalano
Joseph Lamberti
Salvatore Mazzurco
Salvatore Lamberti
Giovanni Ligammari
Baldassare Amato
Vincenzo Randazzo
Pietro Alfano
Emmanuele Palazzolo
Samuel Evola
Vito Badalamenti
Giuseppe Trupiano
Giuseppe Vitale
Lorenzo DeVardo
Giovanni Cangialosi
Salvatore Salamone
Salvatore Greco
Frank Castronovo
Gaetano Mazzara
Francesco Polizzi
Filippo Casamento