Pietro Licata

Is it true he was murdered because he wouldn't allow drug dealing on Knickerbocker? I imagine some higher ups had to approve his murder (such as Rusty or Galante). If the bosses were ok with drug dealing why not just tell him to allow it rather than kill him? Unless he was killed for some other reason. What's also interesting is that his son John continued to work with the Zips in drug dealing after his dad was murdered by them. Anyone know if his son is still active today?

Supposedly the zips told him they would obey him and then killed him and took over Knickerbocker ave.

I don't know about the son but he was photographed in the company of zip drug dealers in Palermo.

According to Luigi Ronsisvalle, yes Licata was killed because he didn´t allow his crew into the drug trade. One has to wonder though if the higher ups really approved it. We don´t know. Licata´s crew were itching to get into the trade. Most of them were transplanted Sicilians with strong ties to Sicilian drug lords. One of them, Giuseppe Baldinucci was actually a boss in Sicily. I wouldn´t be surprised if these were sent over by the drug lords in order to establish a market in the US for their heroin. If that´s the case, Licata was considered an obstacle to their objectives.

I don´t know if Licata´s son John is still active. But he is still alive. Pete Licata also had a nephew, Joseph who was also heavily involved with the crew. This Joseph was killed in 1982. But just like in the case of his uncle, his murder is unsolved.

I read about Licata in the sixth family book;was killed not only because HE was an obstacle, but in the book says that he was a old style and well-respected mobster fundamentally opposed to drugs, Galante gave the ok for the murder, if I well remember.

Thanks for the replies. Never heard of Baldinucci. Here's an article from 2005 about him returning to US after being deported:

Giuseppe Baldinucci, who was deported from the United States after serving four years for drug dealing in the 1985 Pizza Connection narcotics conspiracy, was arrested at his daughter's home at 1318 Crosby Ave. in Bronx Friday on charges of illegal entry into the United States, according to court records.The 61-year-old man was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court Friday. He faces up to 20 years in prison and is currently being held without bail. "He was remanded, so he is still in jail," said Robert Nardoza, spokesman for the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, which covers Queens and Brooklyn.According to special agent at the New York FBI office, Jim Margolin, the Pizza Connection was one of the largest heroin importation busts ever made in New York. "It involved the importation of heroine through New York," he said. "They would distribute it through pizza boxes."Baldinucci was sentenced to 7 1/2 years before his deportation in 1989. His extensive criminal history includes arrests for conspiracy to sell counterfeit U.S. currency, forgery and possession of stolen mail as well as stolen U.S. Treasury checks. On Feb. 25, 1996, Baldinucci was arrested by Italian law enforcement and charged with aiding and abetting then Italian Mafiosa fugitive Giovanni Brusca, who later admitted to flipping the switch of a bomb that killed an Italian anti-Mafia judge, Giovanni Falcone, on May 23, 1992. The bomb was placed under the pavement and detonated as Falcone's car passed over. The blast killed Falcone and his wife, who was also a judge, and three bodyguards.According to federal investigators, the death of Falcone roused the anger of the Italian government, resulting in an even larger crackdown and the arrests of several major Sicilian mobsters. Baldinucci was released on bail and skipped town. He then allegedly returned to the United States illegally.According to the affidavit, "a confidential source who has provided reliable information in the past has informed the FBI that Baldinucci re-entered the United States illegally and currently resides in New York state."The witness observed Baldinucci at a relative's gas station in Whitestone as well as several cafes throughout Queens, said court records. Other confidential sources in the affidavit claim to have seen the fugitive in several New York City locations.Margolin said Baldinucci was arrested Friday by the same federal agent squad that heads up investigations into the Bonanno crime family. According to the affidavit, Baldinucci did not receive permission from the U.S. attorney general to reapply for admission after his deportation.Reach reporter Scott Sieber by e-mail at news@timesledger.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.

http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2005/16/20050421-archive9.html

think that guy luigi r the rat said sal catalano personaly killed pietro and im sure galante okd it cause 1977 was his height of his power thats the year he made all the zips into the bonanno fam an dmassino and all them guys. didnt they blow him away right in front of his club. the guy baldinuuci case was dismissed couple yrs ago then he went on to sue the feds cause he was abused in the mcc or mdc it didn't state what kind of abuse.

great photo,,serious guys..

I can´t find it in the book.

hairy maybe the Galante ok to the murder there aren't in the book,but I remmber that lilo gave the ok.

I don't know why...to me this whole Pizza Connection/Zip era is the most fascinating time in modern OC. It seems like you had these guys coming over by the boatload and just taking over the family then having a hand in killing the guy that brought them over (Galante).

As soon as I saw the subject of this thread, I expected that somebody would mention that. With all due respect Baldo, I strongly disagree with you. I´ve been butting heads with posters on here about this before. And I´m still convinced that Galante did not bring over anybody. Here´s a passage from Lee Lamothe´s and Adrian Humphrey´s The Sixth Family (page 85): "The influx of the Sicilian gangsters is often seen, from the American perspective, as an initiative on the part of Galante, who is said to have "imported" the zips to do his heavy lifting. Evidence now suggests, however, that the zips in fact perpetrated a quiet invasion. They were sent from Sicily, rather than called for by America. It is a significant distinction." Like I said in the post above, it looks like the zips were sent over to the US by the Sicilians. This so that they could establish an American market for their drugs.

My bad...every book and documentary mentions Galante importing them (as if they were shoes or something!)...in any case, still fascinating that these guys came over from a foreign country and were able to install themselves within the families....especially in recent modern times....as we aren't referring to the early 20th century immigrants.

there a cool article from capeci about low key old soldier in the Colombo family nick Rizzo whose a bk guy in the late 60tys early 70tysearly had Caesar and baldo working for his masonary comp. they came to the us as teenagers cause they were probably piss poor in there country and when they did start to connect with the herion guys they got rich and got made by galante cause he thought the zip guys he could trust after he went to jail cause of Gambino,costello,ect. the frame job. galante made all those guys and they turned on there boss. was pietro a rusty loyalist? cause mike sabella and nick glasses were rusty guys then jumped ship to galante then went back I think.

By the looks of it, Bonventre and Amato came over voluntarily from Sicily (probably with their families) and were naturally drawn to the Bonannos due to their common geographical origin with many of the Bonanno soldiers. In addition, Bonventre had blood relations to Bonanno members. Sal Catalano, on the other hand and by the looks of it, seems to have first been connected with the Gambinos but for some unknown reason later ended up with the Bonannos. In mid 1960s, a group of Castellammaresi gangsters were brought over from Sicily by Giuseppe Buccellato to fight Bonanno loyalists in the Bananas war. After the war, some of these men remained in the US. And then there was the group who came over later in the 1970s illegally to handle the drug trade for the Sicilian bosses. These groups were not necessarily originally connected to eachother. Then of course we have the group of Gambino zips too (the Gambino brothers, Adamitas, Inzerillos etc). These guys were probably brought over by Carlo Gambino, or at least they had his approval to come over and join his network of Gambino soldiers and associates.

At the time of Pete Licata´s murder, I don´t think that the Bonanno Family was fragmented. I believe all the Bonannos were loyal to the boss, Rusty. The split came later when Galante took liberties running the Family as it pleased him. Anyway, I haven´t seen anything indicating that Licata was either a Rusty loyalist or a Galante loyalist.

Mike Sabella is interesting. At the end of Galante´s life, he and Marangello were clearly "with" Galante. Their demotion (a bunch of Bonanno skippers were actually demoted) to a soldier´s rank after the Galante hit points to this. Mike Sabella was in a similar situation already during the Bananas war. He may have been one of those who sat on the fence. Back then, he was promoted to skipper by DiGregorio but demoted back to soldier a year later when DiGregorio felt that Sabella wasn´t loyal enough. Also interesting is the fact that Sabella and Marangello had originally been Galante crew members.

How did the Sicilians force the Bonannos and Gambinos to make all these zips into their families? It would appear that both sides were involved in bringing the zips over in order to establish the heroin distribution network so they could split the profits and the American born members could keep their hands clean of the junk while the bosses raked in the profits.

Far from all of them were made with an American Family and many of them were already made in Sicily. So the number of "zips" made with the New York Bonannos when the books were open in the 1970s is lower than we´d like to believe. I´m counting less than 10 "zips" were actually made. The Sicilians did not force the Bonannos to make these people. It´s impossible to pinpoint the exact date when each individual came over but it appears that the ones who were made, were the ones who came over in the 1960s. (Bonventre, Amato, Catalano, Navarra etc.) Not many (if any) of those who came over in the 1970s and who appears to have been sent over by the Sicilian bosses were actually made with the Bonannos.

Are you claiming the American bosses didn't make any money off the heroin network and didn't approve or have any say in it?

What do you think guys like Bonanno and Galante were doing in Sicily? How did Sal Catalano who grew up in Sicily and barely spoke English became a capo? How did the Cherry Hill Gambinos get their own crew and drug fiefdom in NJ working under the Gambinos without Carlo's permission?

Just because some of them weren't made doesn't mean they weren't part of the Pizza Connection where part of the profits flowed to the American LCN.

Even though a lot of the players are gone, I wonder how many of the current LCN guys have connections like this to Sicily. I guess Cali and the Cherry Hill Gambinos (are they still active)?

I'm pretty sure there's a good amount of them spread throughout the entire fucking country that still have pizza joints that probably get smaller quantities of narcotics.

Maybe it´s because of my poor English skills or maybe it´s something else, I don´t know. But clearly, there is a lack of responsive communication here. How could this



have been translated into this



?