Stanfa: What was his deal?

This is a Philly post. I have been doing research on the philly mob 90's to present (online, i know im not a street guy like some of you) and there are some things that just dont make sense to me.
1: Stanfa was this supposedly old school Sicilian who believed he the old ways. If that was the case, how come he made guys like Veasey (polish half italian), a guy named Martinez and a cop named Previte. If this guy was so old school how come he surrounded himself with suspect people.
2: John Veasey. This is the thing that really doesn't make sense to me, and mabye its cuz Veasey is full of shit. According to different articles and videos, this guy came out of the Joint without any Mob connection; he wasnt an associate of any kind. Then, within a period of 1 year, he wacked out two guys for Stanfa, he gets Made in a ceremony, and he becomes a rat. Is it really possible they made this guy within a period of six months? Is he just full of it?
3: Then there is the Previte thing. Previte was a cop who claims he got made, however, he also admits he didnt get a ceremony.
Alot of inconsistencies here,
Any thoughts?
What was Stanfa's deal?

I think at the time Stanfa was willing to bring anyone he saw as "capable" into his inner circle in order to further insulate himself from any violence brought by merlino and his boys, even a ex-cop turned halfass gangster like Previte, and a birdbrain like veasey

....Martines was Italian

Just bc he was scilian doesnt make him old school, him making veasy is testimony to that. I personaly think ron previte is a lying fat peice of garbage, even if stanfa actually did tell him he was made guy that doesnt mean he is made, you needto actually have the ceremony, philly isnt chicago. The way he ordered murders on the sidewalk directly to soldiers definatly isnt old school and its how he got charged with murders. To sum it up he was an arrogant zip who didnt have the respect of a lot of the rank and file guys which allowed a young soldier like merlino to gain enough power and suport to lead a revolt.

Dellacroce: He was considered old school by alot of people. He was a sicilian guy made in sicily who did a 6 year bid for refusing to answer a grand jury in which he was granted immunity. I do agree that his actions were contradictory to that supposed old school nature which is why i asked.

I think he got backed into a corner and did whatever he had to do to keep his position.

Ya he was definatly a stand up guy he took a life sentance without saying a word, and if merlino didnt start a war he probly wouldve ran the family quietly. I guess when i said that i was only thinking of questionable moves but those were wartime decisions and like cheech said his back was against the wall.

I think it had alot to do with waht you guys are saying. You gotta remember he came in a couple years after Scarfo went away. Scarfo went away in 87 and was trying to run it through first his son then some other guy who decided he didnt want it and retired; cant remember his name now. So in about 90 Stanfa comes out of the wood work and tries to literally take over a family out of the blue. He had done prison then he went to italy before he came back. So I think it had to do with that he was trying to build a family fast and then when the war occured; he was trying to bring in enforcers. Still, its suspect that a guy would get made within a year of being on the books. Its almost akin to putting an ad in the newspaper for an enforcer.

The only reason stanfa became boss is that he was backed by the gambino family not bc he had majority support of the family. And veasy was a shooter which stanfa desperatly needed, but i agree the way he went from an unkown to being made in under a year is ridicolous.

In Leonetti's book he states that Stanfa had the backing of NY but yet when the thing with Merlino went down he complained that there was nobody to help him.I think he's on tape in that lawyers office with Sparacio[who was basically a bookmaker] saying the he [Stanfa] was almost on his own trying to fight these young guys.One thing that was confusing to me that even Ralph Natale had connections in NY from his prison days while Joey Merlino was basically non-existant to these guys and they definetley didn't acknowledge him as a boss.

Natale wasn't even a made guy until he got out of the joint. Natale in my opinion, was never the boss. He got a cut of the operations but I think Merlino was making money on his own and wasn't kicking it up to Natale. I think if anyone exercised effective control in Philly it was Merlino.

According to Leonetti, Stanfa was given the job by John Gotti as a favor to the sicilian faction of the family.....namely John Gambino. Stanfa was very close to the Gambino brothers especially Joe and Rosario. Stanfa also had relatives in sicily who were pretty powerful mafioso's at the time. It was these relatives that asked Carlo Gambino to help out Stanfa when he first came to the usa. Carlo then asked Bruno to make Stanfa into the philly family.

During the war Stanfa asked for help but everyone had big problems of their own and couldn't help him out. Rosario was locked up and Joe and John Gambino were fighting their own cases. He asked Tommy Gambino (Rosario's son) to ask NY or Sicily to send him some backup but they turned him down. Tommy Gambino suggested to Stanfa that he personally should go to sicily and recruit some hardcore muscle but Stanfa said he was afraid they'd be nothing to come back to.

Even with the morons Stanfa had the Merlino faction didn't out fight him, it was the feds who took Stanfa and his crew down.....not Merlino.

Frank Martines was the guy who found Veasey at a construction site and brought him around.

Giancarlo right on all accounts,but there was also something Leonetti said about if so and so was the boss[in Philly] that's what the Genovese's wanted because on the commission their vote would favor ''The Chin'' and the Genovese family.

Interesting. Yeah he seemed desperate to come up with a crew. Seems like he wasnt able to build a solid foundation for a family or, lets be honest, even a crew. He came in out of the blue and tried to take over (permission or not, as if that shit mattered to Merlino) and was forced to make guys he just put on the books six months ago. Seems like he was doomed to fail from the start.
You have to wonde what was going on from 87-90, that three year period where scarfo was in the can and Stanfa was in Sicily. That had to contribute to a lack of stability in the organization.

Stanfa was in Philly before '87. He was the guy driving Bruno when he got shot.

We all know that nicky- stanfa left philly from when bruno died
till 1990- he was in prison for contempt, and went back to sicily. The fact is beyond the accomplishment of driving a car for bruno- his boss resume was pretty weak without substantial internal support or respect from philly's crews. He had neither.

Stanfa was protected by the Gambino brothers, they hid him out in Landover MD and he was working at a pizza joint owned by Emanuel Gambino. Also the car Bruno was shot in was registered to a construction company owned by Emanuel Gambino. Not sure if he just lent Stanfa the car or maybe Stanfa was working at Gambino's company and got use of a company car. I'm really not sure on that.

Supposedly Stanfa was going to get hit but the Gambino's arranged for him to get a pass and be allowed to return to philly.

Leonetti said the Genovese were going to kill him the same day they got Caponigro and Salerno but their guy mistook Stanfa for Scarfo and by the time they figured it out Stanfa was gone. It was in Phil's book.

Just wanted to correct what i said earlier about the Genovese wanting to kill Stanfa. After they killed Caponigro they went back to where Salerno was waiting for Tony C to return to and saw 2 other guys also waiting. One they thought was Nicky Scarfo and the other guy they didn't know. They told them to wait there and that Salerno and Caponigro would return to them there.

So after they killed Alfred Salerno, Chin or whoever told his people to go back and get the 2 guys and bring them to him. Chin knew it wasn't Scarfo because he knew where Scarfo was at the time. When Chins guys returned to get them they were already gone.

Leonetti said the 2 other guys were John Stanfa and Frank Sindone and that Stanfa was the guy that Chins people thought was Scarfo. I think Chin would had both Stanfa and Sindone killed that day if they were still at the bar when Chins guy went to get them.

So Stanfa and Sindone were in NYC with Caponigro and Salerno right before they were murdered. Sindone of course was later killed but the Gambino's covered for Stanfa and arranged for him not to be hit.

I've always wondered if Stanfa was involved in the Bruno murder, it's hard to believe he wasn't. He conveniently lowered the electric window on Bruno's side as the killer approached the car to kill him. Then was with Caponigro and Salerno in NY the day they went to meet with the Genovese. Everyone was killed except Stanfa. Just makes me wonder how involved Stanfa might of been in the plot to take out Bruno.

Also it was Blackie Napoli who gave Caponigro the shotgun he used to kill Bruno with according to Leonetti.

Yes Giancarlo your on it word for word.The reason according to Leonetti was that the Gambinos wanted Stanfa alive and in charge that way they would get his vote on commission rulings.That always seemed odd to me that a Philly bosses vote was that important tp NY issues.Besides Scarfo those other Philly bosses never seemed to in touch with NY to even have a vote in whatever was on the table.It was tough enough handling their own city.

Except it would have been pretty foolish of me doing that, considering he was in the line of fire in the driver's seat; especially with a shotgun blast.

So you think it was just coincidental timing that Stanfa lowered that window as the killer approached the car? If the window was shut he couldn't stick the gun to the back of Bruno's head and would of had to blast him through the glass window.

Seems to me the killer knew that window would be down or he would of waited for Bruno to get out of the car and shot him between the car and his house. You don't think Stanfa saw who the killer was? And then went to NY with him?

I don't know, seems pretty suspicous to me. Then going to NYC with the killer waiting for him to be crowned the new boss of philly. It seems a little too convenient to me.

Just my opinion on it though, i can't prove it.

Was the shotgun a 410. if it was a 12. gauge it probably would've hit stanfa.

I'm not sure on that Botz. But i think Stanfa did get hit with a couple pellets. I'll have to double check that though..

First, it was only by chance that Stanfa even drove Bruno home that night, as his regular driver wasn't available. Second, George Fresolone said that Bruno had the habit of lowering his window and hooking his fingers over the side of the roof, and that it the window was down before the car pulled up to the curb. Third, as we know, Stanfa was hit and wounded with some of the blast from the shotgun.

George Anastasia said Stanfa lowered the window but i don't know if he knew that as a fact or not. I think there were witnesses but i don't know what they said or what they saw.

Yes, i know Long John usually drove him. Don't even get me going with that guy.

And why was Stanfa waiting for Caponigro at the bar with Sindone? You really think Stanfa didn't know it was Caponigro that shot Bruno when he was in NY with him and Salerno? 4 philly guys are in NY and only Stanfa wasn't in on it?

As i said it's just my opinion on it. I've always been suspicious of Stanfa's role but i can't prove it and i could be wrong about it.

Long John Martorano too.He was Bruno's regular driver and had driven Bruno to Cous' Little Italy that night,but begged off driving him home.While trying to recruit Mario Riccobene to help set his brother Harry up,Long John bragged to Mario that he'd participated in 5 hits and cited "Angie" as one of them.It has long been suspected that Long John placed a call assuring the interested parties that Bruno was on his way home.Stanfa was supposedly spared through a combination of luck and friends in high places,but I've always wondered how Long John escaped punishment.

Stanfa had a lot of protection from any reprisal on the Bruno hit. Giancarlo is right on the mark as Stanfa was very close to Rosario Gambino. Not too sure who he had in Sicily, but I believe they are related to the Gambino's which would explain why John or Joe Gambino had a sit down with Castellano for a pass on Stanfa's life, as Bruno and Castellano had a great business relationship between the two families. Paul sent word to Salerno of the Genovese and Corallo of the Lucchese crime families about not touching Stanfa. How Martorano did not get killed I have no ideal.

Stanfa was extremely close to the sicilian faction of the Gambino's. He was very close to the Gambino brothers and they're the ones that hid him out in Maryland where he was working at one of their pizza parlors in Landover. In the photo of the Gambino's meeting and having dinner with Angelo Bruno you see Stanfa sitting right at the table across from John Gambino. And according to Leonetti's book it was that sicilian faction of the Gambino's that persuaded Gotti to back Stanfa as the boss in philly. Gotti backed Stanfa as a favor to them.

The car Bruno was killed in according to one article was registered to the construction company owned by Emanuel Gambino and the pizza parlor in Maryland where Stanfa was working at when he was on the run was also owned by Emanuel Gambino who is John Gambino's brother in law.

Stanfa had several relatives that were high ranking mafioso's back in sicily. They were the ones who originally asked Carlo Gambino to look after Stanfa when he first came to the USA. It was Carlo Gambino who asked Angelo Bruno to make Stanfa.

It was Paul Castellano who arranged for Stanfa to get a pass on any POSSIBLE involvement in the murder of Bruno and according to Leonetti it was John Gotti who asked Nicky Scarfo for permission to let Stanfa return to philly. Scarfo supposedly gave his ok as long as Stanfa didn't cause any problems.

In the late 1970's Stanfa constantly hung out at Rosario and Joe Gambino's restaurant/club in Cherry Hill.....called Valentino's. Everybody assumed he was part of the Gambino brothers crew. It wasn't until after Bruno got hit that people found out he was actually a made guy in philly.

You think a psycho piece of shit like Nicky Scarfo was smart enough to fear the Gambino's? I mean the Nicky Scarfo I always heard about would take a request from John Gotti, nod along, and then do whatever-the-fuck he wanted. I'm not saying he was tougher or stronger. I'm saying I always thought Nicky was stupid enough to thumb his nose at New York.

Frank....from what i've read and heard Scarfo and Sal (Rosario) Gambino did not get along very well. According to Leonetti's testimony Gambino gave Scarfo many headaches. At first Scarfo complained to NY about Rosario and his crew. Scarfo had a sitdown with Castellano i think it was and then a few years later another one with John Gotti over the zip crew in south jersey. The problems didn't end until Rosario got locked up and sentenced to 45 years.

Emanuel Gambino pulled a gun on Phil Narducci at a club in Cherry Hill. Scarfo wanted him killed. Nothing happened. NY kept telling Scarfo they'd tell Rosario to tone it down but it never happened. Like i said the problems didn't end until Rosario got locked up.

The way i understand it is that Scarfo didn't realize that Rosario Gambino did not answer to NY...he answered to the leaders of his families clan back in sicily. Rosario was not a made guy in NY he was a made mafioso in Palermo. John Gambino was the only brother that was made in the Gambino LCN Family in NY at that time. John Gambino answered to Paul Castellano but Rosario didn't....i'm pretty sure he answered to the boss of the Gambino-Inzerillo-Spatola-Di Maggio mafia clan back in sicily. According to Leonetti it was at that last sitdown with John Gotti that Scarfo was told Rosario was not made in NY but was a sicilian mafioso.

Could you imagine if those putzes in Philly tried to take on the Cherry Hill Gambinos???? LOL.

It never got close to that point as far as i know. It was philly's turf and supposedly the Gambino's were given permission to sell their "merchandise" in philly's territory by Angelo Bruno who i would think got a piece of the profit. But from what i know of it they weren't supposed to get involved in traditional local mob rackets which the boss of philly controlled. AC might of been a different story though...i think most of the NY families had business there after the hit on Bruno. It was a pretty crazy time around here back then. The philly mob, the zips and the bikers were all at the peak of their power back then but by the end of the 1980's everyone was either dead or locked up and things really calmed down.

Long John Martorano was pretty close to the local zips. He lived in the same south jersey neighborhood that they did and his vending company handled all the vending at their local restaurants and pizza spots.

Theres a photo with the gambinos and Bruno all meeting? where could I find it?

I lived in right outside Cherry hill in Gloucester Township for a few years when i was a senior in highschool until i was 23.. its actually pretty bad for the suburbs.. living in philly my whole life, I was pretty surprised.

Yes, it was posted over on the RD forum 2 or 3 years ago. A poster there filed a foia request for the operation iron tower files and i believe that photo was in the files he received. It's more like a copy of the photo but you can clearly see who was there. Looks to me like it was taken in the mid 1970's maybe 75 or 76. Rosario Gambino was sitting at the head of the table....they were all having dinner together.

Very interesting. Would love to get my hands on stuff like that. And stanfa is in the picture as well? Also, was Rosario the higher up of the brothers? I always assumed John Gambino was the big man out of the brothers.

How the heck can I get onto this RD forum? I've been trying since the summer and I even wrote them an e-mail like they requested and they never responded. Like lets be real were on a forum, nobody truely knows one another, how am i supposed to find somebody to vouch for me and risk there own membership? It all seems like a little much, And some people on here talk so highly of RD but others say its not that great anymore..

Do you know where I can see that picture of Bruno and the Gambino brothers?

John Gambino was the boss of that particular crew and the american side of the pipeline but he never lived in NJ. Sal (Rosario) was the #1 zip in town back then. By that i mean the south jersey - philly area.....John was always in NY running the biz from there.

In the picture there are only 2 of the 3 Gambino brothers ...Rosario and John. Maybe Joe was working the camera and took the photo...i'm really not sure. There are a few other guys in the photo too. One i think is Erasmo Gambino and theres this one guy sitting next to Stanfa that nobody can figure out who he is but he's also in a photo taken at that infamous Bono wedding in NYC back in 1980. The wedding i refer to as Heroin INC.

Couple other guys too...one who might be the Gambinos father Tommaso but i'm just guessing on that one....really not sure. But he did live here at the time and Bruno said he was friends with him so theres a decent chance it is him.

It's really just a group shot of all of them having dinner together. Their wives were there too. Bruno's daughter talked about one of those dinners they all had back then in i think it was Philly Magazine. The writer wrote that Bruno's fate was sealed the moment the Gambino brothers came through his door. And he's probably right about that.

Just want to add that it's really a photocopy of the original photo but it's still clear enough to make out who was there.

I still live in Gloucester Township. Oddly enough John Veasey's relatives are my neighbors, and we live directly across the street from where Salvie Testa's body was dumped. Small world.

JMack do you know Veasey's brother Dante? I think he lives somewhere in that area.

I'm pretty familiar with Gloucester Township. Used to know a few bikers that lived there among others.

A lot of people from south philly have been moving over the WW Bridge into areas a little south of there for decades now. Places like Sewell, Turnersville, and especially Washington Township. It's been non stop building down there for a long time...i remember when it was pretty much farmland and woods. Now it's bumper to bumper traffic and i try to avoid it as much as possible. Actually a nice area but they just built it up too much IMHO.

Washington Township is practically right over the bridge so all the families that moved from philly can be back in their old neighborhoods in minutes. Just close enough to south philly without all the bullshit. Much better place to raise a family and the public schools are supposed to be pretty good.

I've met him before. I'm pretty sure that he is from the Somerdale area. There are also a few Veasey's in that area

Somerdale....now that you mention it i think your right. Thanks.

Here you go guys...this was originally posted by Felice on the RD Forum. I just wanted to get the ok to post it here before i did and he said it was cool to post it. He's had alot of really good photo's and info on these guys over the years.

I tried to sharpen up the pic...but this was the best i could get it. It's a photocopy of the original.



The guy sitting next to Stanfa (closest to the camera) was at the infamous Bono Wedding back in 1980. But so far nobody can id him.

Thats John Gambino sitting next to his wife. Stanfa is directly across the table and of course thats Rosario at the head of the table.

Any of you older philly guys know if that is Ralph Puppo sitting next to Bruno? He was Bruno's son in law.

Another one of Rosario Gambino with Bruno and Stanfa. Again does anyone here know if that is Ralph Puppo sitting next to Bruno?

Regarding Stanfa's involvement in the Bruno murder, think I remember reading that when Stanfa was in the hospital from the shotgun pellets, he was visited by Keys and Barracuda(?) who spoke to him in Sicilian...there was a cop there watching over Stanfa who spoke Italian, but he couldn't fully understand the dialect. When you combine that with Stanfa being ID'd headed up to NYC soon thereafter and his lucky near miss at the hands of Chin's crew, it seems to me Stanfa was without a doubt complicit in the plot...maybe Giancarlo or others can confirm/correct me here.

Bruno seemed like a nice guy in comparison to most of these guys

I wish i knew the answer to that. I have my own suspicions about Stanfa but nothing i can prove.

Who peanut? I'm know him and his son Dante Veasey. Theyre scumbags plain.and simple especially Peanut, john veaseys brother.

Ive known Big Dante and Little Dante for plenty of years and let me tell you they really thought they were hard asses. The dad Peanut was a meth head and would take anything he could get his hands on but he was always a nobody. The son was the same way except he was a pretty damn big guy and he was a bully basically. He used to rob highschool kids for there drugs and money when he was like 30 years old. But he got locked up for like 3 years and just got out. Funny thing was is they used to brag about how his uncle was in the mafia.. then a few years later i found out the whole story and was like wow!

I didn't know there was 2 different Dante's. So i guess the one i read about was the son. Big guy...him and his friend robbed a woman and threw her out of a van. He's on the NJ DOC site...he got out back in May or June.

I always wonder what patriarca thought of Bruno murder. I think sam the plumber was in jail so other than the 5 families he was the only boss on the street in the north east. he was extremely tight with the Genovese who orcastrated the whole thing. that last word was way to hard to spell. orcastrated?

Yeah that was Little Dante.. John Veaseys nephew. His Dads Name is also Dante but everyone knows him as Peanut, also the dad goes by a different last name.. Little Dante is a big as hell but hes a scumbag, robbing women and shit.

They would of been better off keeping Bruno around. If Caponigro really became boss after Brunos death im sure somebody would of came and shot his dumb ass too.. but it seems like Bruno tried to make sure everyone in New York was happy with him. I mean he let Gambino Brothers sell heroin 5 miles from where he was based at and also obviously everyone had there hooks into Atlantic city. He might have been greedy but hes the boss he makes the rules.

I read some where he was the one who made mousie in 1992. then he went to jail for couple yrs. surprised he didn't role 16yrs dam.

Honestly...i don't think Bruno had a choice. Those guys were coming here with or without his blessing. If he objected good chance he would of been killed a few years sooner then he was.

When Carlo Gambino and Paul Castellano ask you to let Carlo's family do business in your territory it's really not a request. They were Bruno's protectors....no way he could of said no. Those guys were operating in South Jersey since the early 1970's. First they were in Delran NJ and then they moved to Cherry Hill in 76 i think it was. I'm pretty sure Carlo was still alive and calling the shots when those guys first set up shop in NJ. At one of the NJ state hearings on AC a NYC OC Squad cop testified they spotted the brothers entering and leaving Carlo's house in Brooklyn several times. This was around the time they first moved from Brooklyn to south jersey in the early 1970's. They had Carlo's blessing...IMO no way Bruno could of said no.

i've read all of the published books (anastasia's and leonetti's), and I wonder about Scarfo's involvement in the Bruno hit.

I think Scarfo, at the time, was very loyal to LCN. And, he must have had a decent relationship with Bruno, for Bruno to OK a hit on a judge (helfant) by Scarfo, among others. But, on the one hand, the Bruno/Scarfo relationship seemed highly strained (paperclip episode in jail,Scarfo "siding" with Chicken in the Phil Testa/Bruno rift, the Bartenders union issue).

I question how much Scarfo knew about the Bananas/Genovese plot to have Bruno hit.

He had a very tight relationship with Bobby Manna and seems like the type to let everyone know that he was the man in AC. The Caponigro double cross at the hands of Funzi Tieri is just, well, stupid on behalf of Tony Bananas. To think that he could embarass Tieri with a commission ruling a year or 2 prior on the Newark Bookie, and then go to him to whack a boss, he must of had someone else (scarfo, via his relationship with Bobby Manna) assuring him that the Genovese were on his side.

Just a theory.

Are you sure Bruno was even asked? I thought it was just crazy revenge by Virgilio, with Scarfo's help.

In his book Leonetti said Bobby Manna asked Scarfo what would the position be of the philly family if something was to happen to Bruno and Scarfo told him they would stand together with the Genovese. He knew something was coming but he might not of known the exact details.

Scarfo supposedly told Leonetti "I think Lefty (Bruno) has some trouble heading his way and when it does he ain't gonna know what fucking hit him".

You have to remember a few years earlier Bruno thought he might have to slug it out with Testa and Scarfo over local 54 i think it was. Leonetti talked about it in his book and in the NJ State report on OC bars in NJ. Charles Allen testified Natale wanted a bunch of guns because they thought a war might break out between the 2 factions over local 54 where Testa and Scarfo were backing Gerace and Bruno was backing Ralph Natale. At a sitdown Bruno allegedly ordered Scarfo to fall in line and Scarfo blew him off. I would bet both Testa and Scarfo were glad to see Bruno get killed...it saved them the trouble of doing it themselves.

According to Leonetti he got permission when they were both in Yardville together.

Exactly. Bruno kept scarfo around more out of necessity and favor to his uncles (the bucks) than actually liking him. Scarfo did Bruno the Caruso favor. But, the Union stuff definitely put a strain on the relationship.

Leonetti's book also stated that Bruno asked Scarfo to side with him and Chickie Narducci, against Testa. Chickie and Testa had a "love/hate" relationship; Bruno and Testa had a little falling out too but, I don't have the book in front of me and can't say why.

On a side note, Chickie Narducci seemed like a greedy dude. He wanted the power bad. I read that he wan't against Tony Bananas to kill Bruno, and then Plotted with Caseella Killed Testa. But He never got it.

From local stories, Narducci was a straight fucking gangster. Stone Killer too. I would like to know more about him and the other Chickie; Cianglini. He looks like someone who would snap your fucking neck.

Thats why I enjoy reading about the Philly family. Just straight Craziness!