@MemphisMafia
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I'm glad you involved yourself in the discussions. I love the talks. Back to your point; Chin and Manna were gunna get rid of his whole circle. I believe I read a while back that Chin wanted to kill Gotti's inner circle first and then get Gotti last. Gotti's time was clicking.... Casso was on his ass too. I agree with you; I don't think NY would have allowed the Cherry Hills to take over the Gambino's. There's a rule were Sicilians cannot be head of a family if they were made over in Sicily. Idk if this is true tho... Sal Catalano in the Bonanno's had power to take the boss position once Phil Rastelli got whacked. His lack of English curtailed that; however.
@Thebigfella
I believe you are accurate to an extent. I don't think the Cherry Hills would have thought Stanfa to be a puppet though. Stanfa was very very close with Rosario and John. Stanfa hung out alot with them during the 70's. I believe he even worked for them in NJ when he was on the run after the Bruno hit. I believe the Cherry Hills hid him from NY. Your other point; I'm not sure if Bruno and the Gambino's ever had a falling out. I am surprised Castellano didn't avenge his death. They were supposily close..
Regarding the Cherry Hill group, John was made under the Gambinos and Rosario was made in Sicily. That’s why John Gambino was a powerful capo and served on the family’s ruling panel.
Even though he was never boss, the Gambino’s Sicilian faction did retake control over the family behind Dom Cefalu and Frank Cali, likely with John Gambino as a huge source of power behind them.
I also agree that Stanfa wasn’t a puppet, the Sicilian ‘Binos just wanted an ally down in Philly. But Stanfa was weak because he was a general with no army and was considered an outsider by the actual guys on the street.
