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April 28, 1997 ASK ANDY
THIS week, we go straight to the mailbag to break out a regular new feature of This Week In Gang Land - Ask Andy. That's Andy on the right, er, those are his hands anyway, holding a copy of one of his favorite books, one that I co-authored with Gene Mustain several years ago about John Gotti, the one-time Dapper Don now serving life at Marion Federal Penitentiary. Ever since Joe Valachi became the first American mobster to publicly break his vow of silence - omerta - and tell of the inner workings of La Cosa Nostra, (LCN) Andy's been a mob buff. He's done extensive research on the Sicilian Mafia, the Calabrian-based n'drangheta, Chinese triads and emerging Russian organized crime groups, but for 35 years, "the La Cosa Nostra has been my primary focus," says Andy. Enough about Andy, for now. Let's get to the first series of questions from Frank Munoz, who notes there is much confusion about the origin of The Commission, the Mafia's ruling body, and wants to know how it came about. "And also," adds Munoz, "who were the original members of the Commission and what were the names of the original five families." Replies Andy: "Prior to 1931, Mafia families in the U.S. looked to the most powerful boss to arbitrate disputes between families. In April, 1931, Sal Maranzano was that man. However, he was feared and distrusted by the other bosses and murdered in September, 1931. It was at this time that Lucky Luciano proposed having a group of bosses act as arbitrators rather than one man. This Commission was agreed to by the other family heads in late 1931. The initial members were the leaders of the five New York City families (Joe Bonanno, Joe Profaci, Tom Gagliano, Luciano and Vince Mangano), the boss of Buffalo, (Stefano Magaddino) and the boss of Chicago (Frank Nitti). "They were to serve a five year term. The membership was to be renewed at a national meeting of all the bosses in 1936, and every five years after that. "Contrary to popular belief, New York's five families formed before the turn of the century. It is not known who the first bosses were. Thus, their names are not used to identify the groups. Today, the five families have names familiar to the public, courtesy of Joe Valachi, who named the families according to who was boss when he started talking in 1962.
Andy is usually pretty shy ("I usually work behind the scenes," he says) but he has agreed to step up and serve as Gang Land's outhouse, er, inhouse, expert. He is also very modest and asked Gang Land to omit his stint as a Green Beret, his Medal of Honor, his four selections as college football All American, and his years with the FBI - as well as his 10 year battle with delusions of grandeur.
Ida, who oversaw the Genovese family's extensive gambling operations, was convicted of racketeering and murder and now faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison rather than the 15 years he was offered to plead guilty before trial. Ida, 57, was also convicted of numerous counts of bookmaking, extortion, and fraud for overseeing the crime family's control over the popular annual street festival on Mulberry Street in Little Italy - the San Gennaro Festival. Former Luchese acting boss Alfonse (Little Al) D'Arco and one time Colombo consigliere Carmine Sessa were the key mob turncoats to testify for the feds; former Luchese capo Peter (Fat Pete) Chiodo called in sick. Convicted of lesser charges - mainly bookmaking and loansharking - was Ida underling Nicholas (Nicky the Blond) Frustaci, 65, who now faces a few years more than the 37 months he was offered in February. At the same trial, however, reputed Genovese associate Louis Ruggiero was a big winner. Ruggiero, 66, had been jailed for nearly a year on federal murder and racketeering charges while awaiting trial. He was offered an even better deal than Ida -10 years - but Ruggiero rolled the dice and won. He was acquitted of all charges stemming from the 1991 gangland style slaying of drug dealer Ralph DeSimone and walked out of court a free man. In February, acting boss Liborio (Barney) Bellomo, 39, took a plea bargain that calls for 10 years and acting underboss Michele (Mickey Dimino) Generoso, 78, agreed to a deal that calls for 15 to 21 months.
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By
Jerry Capeci
"At that
time, the bosses were Joe Bonanno, Tom Lucchese, Carlo Gambino, Vito Genovese and Joe
Profaci. Except for Profaci, these names are still used. In 1970, the Profaci boss was Joe
Colombo. Colombo became well known, and from then on this family was referred to as the
Colombo family."
