Giuseppe Fontana

Many believe Manfredi Mineo was the boss of the Colombo family, and Salvatore D'Aquila controlled all Palermiti. We do have Salvatore Clemente naming Mineo as boss of one of the four groups in 1912, so many tend to say Mineo was boss of the pre Colombo family. I dont believe that. It is easy to say that, but from 1912-1925 is more complicated than that. I opened this thread to discuss Giuseppe Fontana, his group operated in the Bronx which had Bagheria and Villabate natives mainly, Brooklyn which had Carini and Villabate natives mainly, Manhattan which had Bagheria and Ficarazzi natives mainly, and New Jersey which had Ficarazzi and Villabate mainly.

Fact Fontana did not support the new leaders after Morello went away, and threw his support for Salvatore D'Aquila. On November 4th 1913, he was killed in East Harlem. His righthand man Giuseppe Fanara would meet the same fate later that month. From 1913-1914, there was a war. Thoughts?

Lets keep in mind that the mafia membership wasn't based on which borough you were from, rather it was mainly based on which Sicilian hometown you were from.

Bonanno- Castellemmare Del Golfo/Camporeale
Colombo-Villabate
Gambino-Palermo
Genovese-Corleone
Luchese-Corleone

I am not talking about Boroughs. I was talking about where that group can trace its town from, and which borough had the most of which town its membership was from or where their parents were from.

oh, I misunderstood.

Longest time I thought Pietro Zarcone took over, but Pietro and Frank Zarcone were the ones who did the hits or got rid of the bodies. The old man was in control and Zarcone was in his 30s. When Giuseppe Morello was released a third of this family would go back to him. I believe it was a splinter from Morello old family.
These are the top members I believe were part of this group. Many came or had connections to the Morello family.
Carlos Baladamenti
Antonio Cecala
Salvatore DiBella
Gioacchino DiMartino
Domenico Pecoraro
Vincenzo Rano
Nicolo Testa
Luigi Vicari
Pietro Zarcone
Frank Zarcone

good info, what sources are you using? specifically for DiBella and Rano?

Salvatore DiBella- 1917 was a Brooklyn Dock Foreman. Had a lot of pull on that borough's docks. Informants say he was involved in Frank Finazzo murder, this was a feud between the Buccellato and Magaddino families among other in CDG. Not enough to arrest DiBella. Known activities are gambling, smuggling, bootlegging, extortion, corruption. Had some major political pull as he was able to not get arrested. Giovanni DiBella was made in Schiro family, while his brother Salvatore remained an associate. Same province but I can find no family relationship, doesn't mean it is not possible that they are related.

Vincenzo Rano had interests on the Docks, mainly Ice Boxes, Gambling in the Bronx, murder, extortion, larceny. Silent partner in a Dairy farm in New Jersey, and a Construction company in Connecticut. Mingled with alot of the families in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. May have connections to Boston, but knew three members from New York who moved to Massachusetts.

Numerous articles and documents. I suggest you look in the Daily Eagle Newspaper to start.

Was this Tom dibellas (acting/official Colombo boss in 70s) dad who apparently served as a boss at some point also? Or a different dibella?

Thank you, great info. Is there any way to access the newspapers without a newspapers.com subscription? I’ve tried chroniclingamerica, but it is very limited.

My post has two different Salvatore DiBella. One was made and became Boss of the future Colombo family.

The other was Giovanni brother, who went away on a murder charge. Both brothers were with the future Bonanno family, only Giovanni is confirmed to have been made. They used the aliases Caputo and Piazza as their last names. Giovanni would move to Wisconsin and continue to do business with the Bonanno family, notably Joe Bonanno. Salvatore's son Joe would move Wisconsin working for Giovanni cheese factory.