Hello everyone I am reviving the Rochester thread in order to clarify some things about the Alphabet or ABC War. I thought it was time for some actual information not just stories from the land of imagination. The War began as a direct result of the Jimmy Massaro murder. The current hierarchy of the Rochester Faction was indicted and sentenced to long prison terms based partly upon fabricated evidence compiled by the Rochester Police. Before Russotti, Gingello, Piccarretto, Marotta, and the others went away to prison they chose Thomas Didio, Tommy Marotta’s cousin as acting boss. He was chosen because Didio was a good soldier, who did what he was told, and he was seen as being a mindless gorilla. However, when the administration went to prison, they found Didio was not following orders, and he told everyone in Rochester that he was the new boss. Once the administration was released, because their convictions were tossed out due to fabricated evidence, a conflict soon began which split the family. The conflict raged from the late 1970s until the late 1980s.

How do we know what happened during the war? We know about the war from police reports, FBI reports, and if their word is not good enough, you have several informants both made members and unmade associates that have given us chapter and verse about the ABC War and about traditional organized crime in Rochester, in general.. These informants include made members Joseph Lamendola, Spike LaNovarra, Anthony Oliveri, and Angelo Monachino.

I grew up and lived in Rochester for many years. I have never heard of any Colombo members operating in Rochester aside from a Wikipedia mention of an imaginary made guy operating in Rochester. Furthermore, I have never heard of any Colombo associates operating in Buffalo either. Buffalo, as far as I know, was not directly involved in the ABC War. Yes, Buffalo had joint gambling operations with the Rochester Faction. Yes, some members of the Rochester Faction were made by Buffalo members, but that was the extent of their involvement. I have spoken with some of the aforementioned made members and they all agree the ABC War was a strictly Rochester conflict. Perhaps there were some conflicts in Utica or farther East that people called the ABC War, but if that even happened, it had nothing to do with Rochester. I can provide some additional sources about the ABC War if anyone is interested. Here is a link that gives background on the war. http://americanmafia.com/Cities/Rochester.html