I appreciate that BarrettM. My expertise is Pittsburgh/Youngstown/Cleveland, as we have researched it for over a decade. If you have any questions regarding Pittsburgh/Youngstown/Cleveland, do not hesitate to ask or send me a pm.
FYI- The LaRocca Crime Family in Pittsburgh had quite a bit of control over Western PA including Altoona/Johnstown, Northeast Ohio (Youngstown/Warren/Steubenville/East Liverpool) and over the Wheeling, WV area as well as Jamestown, NY and Erie, PA. The Valenti brothers were both made in Pittsburgh and LaRocca gave them permission to start their own family in Rochester, NY which Pittsburgh and Buffalo split some of the illegal gambling rackets, Salvatore Marino was also made in Pittsburgh with his son Angelo, who then moved out to California and became the boss over San Jose, which LaRocca took a piece of those rackets as well. The history is pretty interesting, especially the John Bazzano Sr. murder, whose son, John Bazzano Jr. recently died in 2008. Also, Gabriel "Kelly" Mannarino, who was John LaRocca's underboss for many years was equal partners with Meyer Lansky, Santo Traficante and Carlos Marcello in the Sans Souci Hotel & Casino in Havana, Cuba. Most of the Pittsburgh members were related to one another, as their structure and hierarchy was very similar to Detroit.
I am interested in learning more about the Licavoli era - what were the rackets, how many guys and associates, etc? I have always been curious about the Licavoli's in general, and how the brothers interacted with one another since they were in Detroit, Cleveland and Toledo. I think they are about the only family to have 3 guys in 3 separate cities with their own rackets. Any information that you can share would be appreciated.
