Joe Bonanno once planned to eliminate his enemies in the commission so that he could gain full control. The main targets were Tommy Lucchese and Carlo Gambino. Obviously this did not work out for him but what if it did? How different would the landscape of organized crime be with Bonanno at the head of the table controlling almost everything? Would he have been taken out by the Genoveses?

Bonnanno conspired with Joe Magliocco, successor to Bonanno's ally Joe Profaci, to whack Gambino because Carlo tried to keep Magliocco off the Commission and was actively lobbying people in Magliocco's family to depose him. Lucchese was Gambino's ally. It was a twofold power play: first, to keep Bonanno's ally Magliocco on the Commission so they could have an old-time Sicilian faction (they called themselves "Men of Tradition") to put up against the others. Second, to stop Gambino's ascendancy to leadership of the Commission. If Bonanno had succeeded, he would have assumed that he was the top dog. But, he would have had to worry less about the Genoveses and more about his cousin, Stefano Magaddino, the Don of Buffalo NY, who was on the Commission at the time. Magaddino was angry with Bonanno for allegedly poaching his territories in eastern Canada.

As you probably know, Revis: The plot failed because Joe Colombo, then a capo in Magliocco's family, ratted it out to Gambino. The Commission ordered Magliocco to step down in Colombo's favor and fined him $55k. They ordered Bonanno to come before them and "explain himself." When he refused, they ruled that he was no longer Don, and put Gaspar DiGregorio (who was best man at Bonanno's wedding) in his place. Magaddino led that move--DiGrigorio was his brother in law. As you also probably know, Bonanno claimed in his autobiography that Magaddino arranged his "kidnapping" in 1964. (I believe Bonanno had himself "kidnapped" to get out of the line of fire and to duck a grand jury subpoena.)

I've seen some accounts claiming that in addition to Lucchese and Gambino, the plot was going to include Maggadino and also Frank Desimone. Apparently Bananas figured that Magg would be trouble, so while he was at it, he'd get em all. Any thoughts?

If Bonanno pulled it all off at once, like the end of The Godfather, I say the other families go along with it and he becomes the actual boss of bosses, or at least the major influence on the Commission. As long as he doesn't mess with the Genoveses, I don't see them really caring enough to do anything.

However, such a high profile move would mean major law enforcement attention and he would probably be put in prison soon enough. It would also mean more law enforcement attention on Cosa Nostra as a whole, so probably a dismantling of the whole thing earlier on than what actually happened.

Great run down! I think Bonanno was planning on taking out Magaddino as well. After taking out Lucchese, Gambino, Magaddino and DeSimone, would he assume control over their rackets?

With the Genovese not being in the plans for Bonanno, were they on his side? Could they have been playing opossum so they could take Bonanno out and take over the commission themselves?

I think Bonanno and Genovese had the biggest balls in the mob....Bonanno seems to have challenged everybody and nobody ever messed with him !!

I was waiting for that Godfather reference, because an alternate history where Bonanno succeeds is essentially the plot of GF2.

That’s right. Just as we spoke about on here many times. Bonanno would have had a true empire and been almost untouchable with all of the connections he would have inherited. He would have been as rich and powerful as Michael in Godfather 3 years after he pulled off the power play.

I think Bonanno would eventually have to take the top Genovese men out.

I have heard that Magliocco had to pay anywhere from $30k to $55k. Isn’t that a light punishment? Surely that doesn’t hurt Magliocco’s pockets. It is such a minuscule amount of money for men involved in crime families that were making as much as Fortune 500 companies at that time.

Yes, it really is a bizarre thing, for the reasons you stated. Who got the money? How did they split it? The important thing was that he stepped down in favor of Joe Columbo. Then again, Magliocco was terminally ill with heart disease and died soon afterward.

Precisely. This was during the golden age of the American Mafia. It’s almost like they felt bad for him lmao.

Yeah that "fining" of Magliocco has always baffled me. Does anyone know the original source?

I don’t. It’s just something that’s been put out there. Even the payment that Gambino have Lucchese after their kids wedded was surprisingly low. If he gave him $1 million it would’ve been like nothing to him probably.

this is probably the most misunderstood subjects in mob history.... i pose this question.... if i'm a godfather for 30 years, with a history of handling business in-house, why would i trust a new godfather(who doesn't have control of his family and no allies like his predecessor) to do a high profile hit on other bosses??? it makes no logical sense.
It makes more sense that, Magliocco decided on his own to whack Luchesse and Gambino. they were meddling in Profaci family affairs by supporting the Gallos. Bonanno didn't do anything to intercede (like in the Mangano/Anastasia hits), which was as good as Co-signing the attempt. Luchesse and Gambino used this (with the help of Magaddino) as a powerplay to take control of the Drug trade, take the few unions that the Bonannos had and acquire territory/rackets in Brooklyn. This Is why Bonanno was exiled (without getting whacked). It was all bullshit haha. the proof is
a.) Bonanno doesn't get whacked for allegedly plotting whacking out 5 bosses lol
b.) rise of the Cherry hill Gambinos in the 70s
c.) union/garment businesses that that NY Bonannos were pushed out of in the late 60s/early70s

That's a good observation Dob_Peppino. I will say that Magliocco was a close family friend of Bonanno's, but it does seem like Gambino/Lucchese used his attempt as an excuse to move on Bonanno. IIRC, Tommy Eboli was caught on a bug saying Gambino said Bonanno refused to come to a Commission meeting, but later on Eboli found out Bonanno had never been told about them meeting and Gambino set him up to look bad

Dob_P and MightyDR, you guys are right on the money. Another addition I'd like to make to the tale is the easy time Lucchese and Gambino had getting Magaddino to go along with them. This was not only due to Magaddino's jealousy/feuds with his cousin, Joe Bonanno, but also because of a long-festering, deep-seated hatred Magaddino had for Joe Magliocco. This beef went all the way back to when Magaddino was still in Brooklyn and had a business dispute with Magliocco that went against him.

Far too many of the "details" about this entire drama come from the tapes the Feds made of Sam DeCavalcante. Sam was a commission neophyte and totally in awe of the other members who were manipulating him as well, due to his close connections to a few important members of the New York families.

the excuse to go against Bonanno was because Stefano was forcing the issue about his territory in Canada.

Bonanno was meddling in the affairs in the California mob, trying to stage a coup on Frank Desimone.( the Jack Dragna organization had ties to Luchesse)

and Bonanno claiming territory in Arizona, brought problems with the Chicago outfit.

so in theory, this along with wanting to control the drugs and garment/unions in New york is enough motivation to try to destabilize a Boss's power.

frankg2469, didn't know about the beef between Magaddino and Magliocco. I believe it hahaha. Magaddino seems to have been a very jealous guy through his life and didnt take kindly to being slighted. lol
I am not a Magaddino fan.
MightyDR, if you take everything in a vacuum, Luchesse and Gambino seized a moment, to install a puppet boss of the always dysfunctional Profaci-Colombo Family and remove the well organized/old school Bonanno Family and do business with what was left over. Paul Sciacca and Rusty Rastelli got no respect (from the commission) because Bonanno carried all the prestige and made that family a international powerhouse. Sciacca/Rastelli were left with almost nothing (relative to before or the other families)
and Tommy Eboli also tried to be a accomplice for Gambino and got played by the Master
some great victories, Salute Don Carlo 😄

Yes, Dob_P, you have described Don Stefano to a "T". The majority of the guys around here were no fans of his either----it's amazing his reign lasted as long as it did !!! His hatred of Magliocco as well as Magliocco's brother and son is very prominently featutred in many of the hundreds of pages of transcripts the Feds made of their recordings of his daily meetings in the office of his son's funeral parlor. Don Stefano was a little slow on the uptake there too. He blamed the Feds knowledge of his operations and who was who on "spies" rather than wondering if someone had been listening in on him. They were listening to him daily for over 3 years and probably would've continued to do so for many more had they not been ordered to stop by presidential decree !!!!

wow, Magaddino was a real old school Mustache Pete. It really left a bad taste that first Maranzano then Don Peppino Bonanno was the most power Castellamarese and he never achieved the wealth and status of the other NY bosses.
And this is all while he was "treated" with great respect and left with vast territory. Ego and jealous brought himdownl

The structure of the Bonanno family is a little hazy. Here's what I have.

Underboss

Angelo Caruso - 1931, stepped down
Frank Garafolo - was Bonanno's choice, had Carlo Tresca killed, eventually moved to Sicily
Carmine Galante - 1956 - 1962, jailed

Consigliere

Frank Italiano
Phillipe Rapa
John Tartamella (the only one who lasted)

John Morales and Frank Labruzzo were defacto administration members, and were administration members during the Banana War.

Did Bonanno have his first two Consigliere killed?

when the Castellamarese war ended, Frank Italiano tried to be elected Boss by the members of the Family but did have enough support. He was clipped in 1935, around the same time as Nicolo Gruppuso. they most likely were conspiring a coup. Fillipo Rappa was his replacement but was demoted in 1940. He was whacked around 1945 for "unknown" reasons. (probably was subversive and getting demoted was just the warning)

It's hard to find information on Johnny Morales and especially Frank Labruzzo. Any info on their crews and rackets?

I just thought of another scenario that make the generally excepted narrative bullshit. I've offered this thought in other threads that Joe Magliocco is not a good partner to try to "take over" the mafia....... Magliocco's position was weak at the time. Now in my opinion there was a silent relationship between Joe Bonanno to Vito Genovese. Not saying they were active partners but they were connected thru Carmine Galante. Genovese although in the can was still alive, why not go thru Don Vitone? We all know his street boss Tommy Eboli was in bed with Gambino/Lucchese but They were noted enemies of Genovese. Surely Vito had others specifically loyal to him (maybe Mike Miranda, Trigger Mike coppola), why not try to sway the more power Genovese Family?
I know about John Biello in Florida but some things suggest that, he was killed for other reasons, and imo he wasn't powerful enough for that task.
Bonanno went to military school, he wasn't a dummy and he certainly wasn't "Bananas" .... If he was, something would've happen 30yrs ago. and Lastly, lets just say the hit theory is true and he succeded. Do you honesty believe that he thought that the alleged 5,000 members across the country would go for that? nobody would. The whole scenario is illogical and "built up" as Bonanno said in his 60-minutes interview

I wonder how Donnie Brasco would fit in if Joe Bananas was still boss, and highly doubt that Massino, Lefty Guns, Sonny Black, Anthony Mirra, etc. would have been made.

Everything points to if Joe Bonanno was still boss after the war, by 1971 or 1972 he would have been hit with indictments and arrested. If happened he would have picked John Burns, Natale Evola, or have Carmine Galante in the top spot. The war showed his son would be a bad choice as boss, and place Bill in Montreal or back on the West Coast. Joe Bonanno would not retired until Magaddino either retired himself or was killed and that is out of spite. Joe would cut and undermined Carlo Gambinos power and connections till he felt Gambino was no longer a threat to him or his crime family. Rastelli would not have had an administration spot, and either be killed or shelved. Lefty would not be made until his debt was fully paid, and Massino would eventually be made but wait longer. Sonny Black would have been made regardless. Mirra, it depends on who was boss, Carmine Galante and Natale Evola would have made him, while Joe Bonanno and Johnny Burns would not.

@Giacomo
I'm in total agreement with your observation. Can you imagine if the Bonannos were able reform after the war? I am convinced that the war was the pivot point and never really came close to being that powerful again (even during Massino era). I'm sure Morale would've been acting boss, Lilo would be Underboss and Joe Diamond as Consiglieri with Bill in Arizona.... Rastelli definitely would have to go and Sciacca would've been shelved. If Joe lasted into the 70s, it definitely would've caused problems for Gambino and Joe Colombo imo.

I think the Donnie Brasco situation wouldn't have happened or at very least to the extent it did. The breaking down of the Family in the 60s is what created the atmosphere for that to happen. Once you get to 76/77 you have the remnants of Joe's era(albeit his opposition Rusty, Stevie beefs etc) guys with no true allegiance (Nicky Glasses, mike sabella), imported Sicilians without the traditional allegiance to the old order(i.e. non-Castellamerse) and the a thuggish underbelly suppressed by Bonanno's loyalist during the 50s/60s. The Bonnannos went from smart business oriented people with a traceable linage, to being run by the underbelly that did care where or who the money came from. This is how a guy (Donnie Brasco) nobody knows gets sponsored by a made guy with a hundred thousand in debts on the street..... They were doomed from the moment they sided with a outside Family (Gambinos) against their Don (Peppino), no matter how greedy he was, they still lost in the ling run imo. Joe should've never start to make an equal share on Non-Castellamerse, that was probably his true biggest mistake.