Just reading back over some old mob books. What was Joe Bonnano thinking in the early 60's when he tried to kill Tommy Lucchese and Carlo Gambino??? Why didn't they kill Joe Bonnano for planning that? I know they kicked him out to Arizona but still. Also why did Lucchese and Gambino back Joe Gallo. I always thought Gallo was a nutjob and a loose cannon.

I think he wanted to kill LA Boss Frank DeSimone as well

Bonanno wasn´t planning to kill Gambino and Lucchese. The accusation against him started when a Profaci member (allegedly Joe Colombo) noticed Bonanno´s son, Bill, staying in Magliocco´s house at the time when Magliocco was prepering for war. Bill was having marital problems and his wife was Magliocco´s niece (I believe). The missunderstanding of Bonanno´s involvement in Magliocco´s plot was sorted out during a meeting between Bill and Gambino/Lucchese.

The distrust between Bonanno and his cousin, Stefano Magaddino (a Commission member), was actually the underlying problem in what was to come. The distrust went so far Magaddino accused Bonanno for "planting flags all over the world" and Bonanno suspecting Magaddino of secretly trying to plot his demise by installing DiGregorio as boss of the Bonanno Family. If you are interested in the details of this, they can be found in Bonanno´s memoirs. Nothing else but the mistrust between the two cousins was THE fundalmental reason of the "Bananas war". Magaddino initially had tried to use the Commission to dispose of Bonanno. Gambino and Lucchese on the other hand (and they had their own agenda of dismantling the conservative faction´s power on the Commission) used Magaddino for their purposes by rubbing him the right way. And all the time by staying in the background. For many reasons, they certainly weren´t keen on the idea of going to war at that time.

Joseph Bonanno´s move to Arizona was a part of a peace treaty after the "Bananas war". So he wasn´t "kicked out" in 1968.

That is great info for us oldtime mob watchers thanks for the info

I love how some of those mob "myths" are being debunked. Not that I'm saying that I necessarily believe that Bonanno didn't plan to kill his rivals, just that I love that some people dare to question certain established 'facts'. Imo, the history of the Mafia with its outdated myths can very much benefit from revisionism and second opinions.

And I love when some people have an open mind for alternative explanations of events and "facts". Especially when these events and "facts" have never been presented with evidence.

Just in case you were wondering, I wasn't being sarcastic.

I tried reading A Man of Honor, and I got pretty far, but the way Bonanno writes with complete denial of the fact that he was a career criminal drove me nuts. I can understand some of it was trying not to incriminate himself, but given it got him a contempt conviction anyway the smart thing would probably have been to just say nothing.

HK and Jenkins might have a point, but I wouldn't take Joe's word on the matter.

Sonny Black, you're right. I agree about attacking the existing accepted beliefs but at the same time I can't take Bonanno's memoirs as too solid of a source. Joe Bonanno wasn't stupid and all the motives and information can't be expected to publicized. Like we all know, nobody whacked him. That should say something.

No mob boss is gonna admit that he was put on the shelf and thrown out of nyc ...he also claimed he was against narcotics didn't he ?? So taking bonanno's word for it, doesn't really hold much weight..especially when he's been the only one i'm aware of that has claimed that it was mutual !!

I know Sonny.



I´d say all of the books that are written by former mob guys are self serving. Even Bonanno´s. But the Bonanno book offers so much more. History surrounding the Mafia (not necessarily surrounding Bonanno) is explained to us and what is important to keep in mind is that Bonanno is describing first and most, his view on what he calls his "tradition" and what it was all about. What is too bad is that for some reasons, some people can´t digest it, probably because most of the stuff they have read about the Mafia on the internet, in other books etc (and let´s face it, there is a lot of crap out there) goes against Bonanno´s words. Is the Bonanno book complete? Absolutely not! There are lots of stuff that is "missing", stuff he leaves out. Probably because these stuff was related to people who was still alive when he wrote the book, and of course, stuff that could incriminate him. On the other hand, the stuff that is in there, has to this date, not been proven to be lies. When that happens, for example (to name just one thing) when it´s proven that Bonanno knew and allowed his soldiers into the drug trade, I will reconsider my stance on the authenticity of Bonnano´s story.

With that being said, I promised PB in a very early post on here, not to show too much of my enthusiamsm for the Bonanno book on here. So I won´t talk about the book in another (let´s say) 500 posts or so. :-)

So what was he doing with Carmine Galante in Sicily in October 1957? What was that meeting in the Grand Hotel Des Palmes about according to you?

HEROIN

I respect both of you two,Harry and Sonny as older members of this forum and as few of the members here that are interested in history and know a lot of stuff,but im goin to say this.....we can only speculate what happend with the Bonanno plot....but im sure for only one thing that the biggest problem in this plot was the heroin connection...Bonanno was one(if not the biggest)of the players in the heroin ring and that is the reason why all these conflicts and stories are floating today.....by the way the Bonanno family is known as the heroin family,and wheres the drugs biz,theres a lot of conflicts....just look at the mexicans or the black gangsters?!

I have no clue what Galante was doing in Sicily at the time. He was seen meeting with Bonanno, Frank Garofalo and John Bonventre (two former Bonanno high ranking members) in Sicily. But I´m not sure Galante actually attended the meeting at the hotel.

There was infighting among the Sicilian bosses at the time. Some of the bosses took the opportunity to seek his advice on how to stop the infighting. The bosses in the US had successfully been in peace with eachother since 1931, this due to the effective Commission Bonanno chaired at the time (1957). The Sicilian bosses wanted to know how to set up an effective Sicilian version of the Commission, like the one existing in the US.

And yes, according to Bill Bonanno, the topic of narcotics was mentioned at the meeting. But JB respectfully but firmly told the Sicilian bosses "Bonanno will not deal in drugs".



Believe it or not, Toddo. But I´ m glad to see you post on here again! :-)

Thanx Harry,ya know imma very big fan of your posts As for the Bonanno thing,my view is that both JB and Bill were gangsters to the bone,maybe Bill not so much as for JB...no comment...so i dont take the word written on a book from gangster(belive me he wont write bad things for himself),but thats just my opinion but the Bonanno book helped one "crime" family,and thats the the feds,so i dont think that this was just by accident.JB was a proud member of the commision so he wouldnt have let his image get destroyed.cheers