West Coast Crew Of The Bonanno Crime Family

This is a chart of the West Coast faction of the Bonanno crime family, just after the famous Bonanno War, and when the Bonanno crime family split into two groups, one side going with the LCN Commission in New York and the other staying loyal to their Don in Tucson. Newspapers referred to this as "The Banana Split." The chart was first posted here in 2010. New names were not added. All were loyal members of Joe Bonanno's crew on the West Coast. Please keep chart the way it is, not like what has been done with other charts of the smaller families.



Members



Joseph Bonanno (1905-2002)
Boss of the Bonanno crime family
Based in Tucson, Arizona
Retired in 1989
Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno (1932-2008)
Consigliere of the Bonanno crime family
Based in San Jose, California
Peter "Pete" Notaro (1915-1997)
Capo in Tucson, Arizona
Charles Joseph "Batts" Battaglia (1917-1983)
Capo in Tucson, Arizona
Originally a member of the L.A. crime family
Moved to Tucson in 1968
Nicolo "Nick" Guestella (1895-1977)
Capo in San Jose, California
Antonio "Tony" Cacciopo (1909-?)
Soldier in Tucson, Arizona
Peter Cinquemani (1920-2012)
Soldier in Tucson, Arizona
Salvatore Bruno (1915-2006)
Soldier in Tucson, Arizona
Antonio "Tony B." Badalamenti (1933-1990)
Soldier in Tucson, Arizona
Michael "Mike" Cosenza (1913-1997)
Soldier in Tucson, Arizona
Carl Simari (1918-1992)
Soldier in Tucson, Arizona
Russell Andaloro (1909-1997)
Soldier in Tucson, Arizona
Giuseppe Titone (1920-1993)
Soldier in Tucson, Arizona
Vito Mule (1897-1971)
Soldier in Tucson, Arizona
Salvatore Spinelli (1939-Present)
Soldier in Tucson, Arizona
Peter Sciortino (1903-1978)
Soldier in Tucson, Arizona
Joseph Genovese (1906-1982)
Soldier in Tucson, Arizona
Peter Magaddino (1906-1998)
Soldier in Tucson, Arizona
James "Jimmy Styles" DiGirolamo (?-1986)
Soldier in San Jose, California
Prospect Salvatore Mule (1923-1996)
Soldier in San Jose, California



Associates



Peter Vaccaro (1918-1997)
Associate in Tucson, Arizona
Jerome Max "Jerry" Pasley (1939-Pr)
Associate in Tucson, Arizona
Serving a 25 years to life sentence since 1996
Eugene Bulgarino (1933-Present)
Associate in Tucson, Arizona
Moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1975
T.K. Estes (1932-Present)
Associate in Tucson, Arizona
Joseph Bonanno Jr. (1946-2005)
Associate in San Jose, California
Louis Dalis (1924-1990)
Associate in San Jose, California
Nick Dalis Jr. (1948-Present)
Associate in San Jose, California
Anthony Insana
Associate in San Jose, California
Became an informant for the FBI in 1985
Michael Dorn
Associate in San Jose, California







That's All

Michael Dorn...Worf, Star Trek...? ha

Yeah, that is interesting. True that man!

LOL!

Jesus how could Bill Bonanno "get out". I've never understood that.

Prob the same way Michael franzese did , bought his way out . I don't think the bonnanos would have been bothered bill wanted to get out . He was a moronic idiot

A dozen or so men, still loyal to JB during the Bananas war, got out. That was part of the agreement JB made with the Commission. No one bought their way out. And there was no Bonanno crew operating in Arizona after the war. Many of the guys listed above, if not retired, ended up with different LCN Families. Battaglia, for example, ended up with the LA Family. And guys who originally operated out of San Francisco and San Jose, who had previously been Bonanno members, transfered to the Families located in those areas. JB was out of Cosa Nostra the same day he left New York.

Micheal franzese did , and I bet some money crossed hands with the bonnano members aswel , u can't just walk away

Please read my post again.

Why would the bonnanos let 12 guys who were earners for the family just walk away without any compensation , doesn't make sense ? 1 they lose manpower 2 they lose money , not really the mob way of doing business , they will have been compensated somehow

I understand it if they were transfered to other families , if they were made guys that wouldn't have happened either , I remember Albert Gallo and punchy illiano transfered from the colombos to the genovese but they weren't made in the colombos

That was part of the peace agreement. If Bonanno was to be thrown out of NY, there would be no one there to secure their safety. The Commission agreed upon letting those guys leave, retire or transfer to other Families, in exchange for JB retiring.

They should have whacked bonnano in the 60s the amount of problems he caused for the mob was unbelievable , they should have just whacked him

while i dont think theres ever been a case of made guys switching families from one new york city family to another, but i believe there has been some examples of made guys switching families in other parts of the country. so its not impossible.

Saying that dellacroce the rules have gone out the window , nobody abides by them so I suppose anything is possible , non Italians will be getting made next and woman ha

Those guys transfered to the Genoveses who offered them safety. The same thing had happened to the Bonanno guys, who had been loyal to Bonanno during the war. Being a boss means responsibilities. Being able to provide security and safety is a huge part of the boss´ job. At least it used to be.

Yeah I agree with that pal , scarfo jnr was made into the lucchese family for his own saftey

Actually Charlie Battaglia was with the L.A. family first and then became a member of the Bonanno's in Tucson. They still had some illegal stuff going on and were still a crew on the West Coast, just not involved with La Cosa Nostra anymore.

I agree with some of what you said, but Joe Bonanno's mob crew out West were still involved in organized crime after 1968. Joseph Jr. was in trouble twice in the 1970s for shaking people down. Bill was busted in the late 1970s with the San Jose Bonanno Crew, one was for trying to shakedown a guy named Mickey Ferrara, who was a gambler. Bill was also sent to prison in the 1980s for home repair scams. When Bill got out of prison in the early 90's after doing 10 years (but did 5 for good behavior) he moved back to Arizona to live close to his old man.

Perhaps I should have explained it better. Battaglia was transfered back to the LA Family after the Bananas war. So from being with the LA Family, he switched to the Bonannos in the 1950s, before being transfered to the LA Family. There were some others in the Bonanno Arizona crew who also transfered to the LA Family. I think Tony Sciuto was one of them. The Bonanno members who had operated in San Francisco, were allowed to transfer to the San Francisco Family. And the same with the San Jose guys. There are no indications of Bill Bonanno transfering to another Family. I have never come across anything that suggest Bill being a member of the San Jose Family. He was no longer part of Cosa Nostra, once the dust settled in NY.

Bonanno did not run a crime Family or a crime crew of any kind after retiring to Arizona. That was part of the peace agreement. And there were lifes back in NY (Vito DeFilippo, his son Patty, Tony Cristi, Angelo Caruso...) depending on Bonanno keeping his word. The Commission would never allowed Bonanno back in. Stern, if you take a look at the chart, it says that Bonanno retired in 1989 (!) What a vivid imagination the chart maker (whoever he is) must have! In the 1970s, Bonanno gave several newspaper interviews, was on 60 minutes TV show and wrote a book about his life. Do you really think that he would have done all this while he was a crime boss?

Bonanno had contacts all over the US and the world. The commission kicked him out of NY, he was still involved in things until the early 80's. He was caught on wiretaps talking to crews in Canada in the 70's and was seen meeting with folks including Carmine Galante into he 70's as well.

There was no way that the NY families could tell him what to do in AZ.

They were small time but still working...

Could you provide a link/links to reliable sources on this please.

Hairy, you know I'm your best friend here bro but come on now. Part of the peace agreement was that Joe Bonanno, Sr. would get out of New York and never have anything to do with LCN again, that didn't mean he couldn't still be involved in organized crime or run a crew. I'm going to have to agree with Dooley.

Stern, I have read FBI documents saying Battaglia was transfered back to the LA Family. Trust me. However, I can not find it at the moment. What I have found is this

https://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=112979&relPageId=41

In this document (dated Sep 1968), it says that Battaglia wanted to transfer his membership back to the LA Family. According to the document I have read, but can not find right now, his transfer was granted. Now, you have to ask yourself why Battaglia wanted to transfer back, if Bonanno was still in the game? Battaglia was very close to both Joe and Bill Bonanno.

alot of what i've read, was either from books or older websites, that I do not have links to, sorry. I've been reading about the Mob sicne Joe's book came out in the 80's. I am no way an expert.
Natle Evola was an usher at Joe Sr's wedding, and a loyal capo, so to think that he had no contact of delaing with Joe sr when Joe was in AZ...
accoring to Joe Pistone, int ebook THE LAST OF THE SICILIANS after Galante was hit, Rusty was going to "oust ex boss Bonanno from the last vestiges of his power"

Why would the FBI go though his garbage in the 70's if he was retired?

http://books.google.com/books?id=tY_aAAAAMAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=bonanno


http://books.google.com/books?id=ZO8jKSn...nno&f=false


http://books.google.com/books?id=q7qlDG1...nno&f=false

The West Coast Crew were pretty powerful, but not as powerful as the side of the Bonanno's that were backed up by The Commission. Bill Bonanno also mentioned in his book Bound By Honor that he had a lot of soldiers on the West Coast that were ready, just in case one of the California mafia families like the Cerrito's tried to mess with them. JB was involved in organized crime with members listed above until the late 80's. There was even a murder in Arizona in the 1970s, one by a Boyles that people suspect Bonanno ordered or was involved in. Bill was involved in all kinds of scams, while he was living out West. Same with his brother.

Some evidence show that Joe Bonanno and his son Bill retired from Cosa Nostra after the Bananas War ended in 1968. They were pushed out basically. But there's also evidence that shows they ran a Mob Family (just not LCN anymore) on the West Coast in the 1970s or way into the 1980s as this chart suggests. Bonanno's book came out in 1983 I know that. But if you notice in his book, he never said he did anything wrong at all.

The FBI desperately wanted to nail him for anything they could find. They probably thought Bonanno was still in.



I appreciate your effort Dooley, but in my opinion those links do not lead to any reliable sources. The book passages only reflects the author´s opinions. I was looking for LE documents, showing Bonanno´s alleged involvement with crime in the 1970s and 1980s told by an insider. Stuff like that.

Unless you r there and involved , people can go bak and forth with bullshit theories , everyone has an opinion and tgey either get it from books or the internet , in between all this is the truth , nobody on these forums knows more than anyone else . Some of the comments r laughable

While not made at the time, the Gemini Twins went from the Gamginos to the Luccheses.

Hairy, got it...I do not have any of those although Roemer did believe Joe was still in the rackets....I know I know....it's Roemer

So none of us might know certain people that know certain people? We are all like you huh? Hairy is a very good researcher. We both are and we're having an intelligent debate.

gemini twins were never made with the gambinos. Only Demeo was made

Feds also tried to nail tony accardo and meyer lansky but couldnt. Does that mean they eerent involved in criminal activities?

Also, Anthony Senter couldn't be made, not 100% Italian and not Gotti's son.

And that´s what this is all about. Having a debate. Having a discussion. It is at least to me. Hopefully, we can feed off eachother. In comparison to many other posters, not only on this forum but other mob forums as well, I´m not an expert and I´m not a great researcher. Far from it. But I have an interest to learn more, an urge to dig deeper. I´m not satisfied with the usual stuff found on the internet written about the Mafia, especially the bullshit that´s being regurgitated over time and time again. I find it refreshing questioning bullshit stuff that doesn´t hold water or is based on no merit. In my opinion, nobody should be satisfied with that kind of stuff.

I couldn't agree more pal

I don't know why people always say this but it's wrong. Anthony Senter is Italian and he is a made member of the lucchese family

Not at all HK, you are a great researcher. All the best say that they aren't. Kind of like Elvis saying he was not a great singer. LOL!

It was stated by Montiglio in Murder Machine, what's your source that says otherwise? Not trying to be a smart-ass, i've never heard anything disputing this.

Its pretty much common knowledge that anthony senter and joey testa were made into the luchese family after demeo was killed.

Great list Stern. Joe Bonanno and those that remained with him were not involved with LCN after 1968, but were still involved with rackets and other crimes till the mid 1990's. If Bonanno had gotten back into to LCN, then he would have been killed. He was allowed to retire as long as he did not interfere with the other mob families. He still remained friendly with some of the bosses, such as Joe Cerrito of San Jose, Joe Zerilli of Detroit, The Smaldones of Colorado and a few others.

My source is Al D'Arco in his book he attended the ceremony where the Gemini twins were made into the lucchese family as was his son Joseph

No matter how you cut and slice it, no matter what you name it, (in this case you call it rackets), Bonanno being involved with crime after that peace agreement in 1968 would have gotten him killed. LCN or not LCN. GV, I like your posts. I haven´t had the opportunity to officially welcome you to this forum earlier but I´ll do it now. Welcome aboard! But let´s stop this bullshit of Bonanno being involved with rackets way after 1968, before yet another poster steps in, escalating the bullshit by claiming Bonanno was involved way into the 00s.

Yes. And let´s keep in mind that Montiglio was not involved with organized crime after he gave testimony in the Gaggi trial. So he would not have any knowledge of Senter and Testa being made (later in 1988).

I never heard of testa or senter being made guys in the lucchese family , I thought they were associates of the gambino's . I know that patty Testa was a lucchese soldier

I know they got the demeo contract from casso and gravitated towards the lucchese family after demeo's death but I'm not sure they were made into the family

Read SonnyL´s post above.

In the interest of debate, what sources are there that say Joe B had nothing to do with any type of activity after 68? Almost every author, and Joe Pistone said otherwise so what sources say different.

Even in The Weasel's bio he mentions Funzi Teirri telling him to stay away from Bonanno, and Bonanno was caught with a note descbribing the hit on Frank Bompensiero with the type of gun used etc, and why was Bonanno trying to buy Car Dealerships in CA that led to the obstruction of justice charge? See Lou Peters...thanks

I can´t provide you with any sources. What do you expect...LE officials denying Bonanno being involved with crime?

To me it´s common sense. If you know what the Mafia is all about (and I´m not talking about making money) then you´ll also know that the agreement worked out in 1968 was binding. Bonanno and his loyalists who remained with the Bonanno Family in NY had very much to lose if he´d decided to get back in. He was out. He gave interviews and appeared on 60 minutes. He wrote a book. No crime boss of Bonanno´s stature would have done that, while still in the game. It´s unheard of.

ok but you are talking about the 80's, he left NY in 68

No. I´m talking about the 1970s too. Bonanno gave interviews in the 1970s. Wrote a book in 1982. Was on 60 Minutes in 1983.

If you take a look at the chart posted above, it says Bonanno retired in 1989. And then a poster said he retired in the 1990s.

Yes, I also read this in D'Arco's book. Part of my confusion came from Philip Carlo's book, Gaspipe. In that book, it was mentioned that Testa would be made, but Senter could not due to not being 100% Italian. This was proven wrong as both were made within the Lucchese family.

In addition, I'm sure Gotti Jr was made, wasn't he?

Yeah Junior Gotti was made on Christmas Eve and Gravano conducted the ceremony, that's what Michael "Mikey Scars" Dileonardo testified