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Rochester Mob Murder Solved After 50 Years
#963492
02/08/19 12:19 AM
02/08/19 12:19 AM
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Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 103 Rochester/Pittsburgh
FrankValenti
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The Democrat & Chronicle ran this story today providing new information on a mafia murder that had been shrouded in mystery for over a half a century. Before this article, the extent of what was known was that a Buffalo capo by the name of Jacomino Russolesi a/k/a "Jake Russo" had been running gambling operations in Rochester, but had fallen out of favor with his family. He disappeared on September 12, 1964. He was thought to hve been kidnapped and killed at the orders of Frank Valenti, the boss who succeeded him. Valenti had just returned from exile in Pittsburgh and would go on to consolidate operations in Rochester, eventually becoming powerful enough to split from Buffalo and form America's youngest independent La Cosa Nostra. Well it turns out Russo was certainly killed, but it wasn't exactly like that. The family of longtime Rochester consigliere Rene Piccarreto allowed the local newspaper to view an interview he gave shortly before his death in 2014, outlining exactly how and why Jake Russo was whacked. It was all on the orders of Stefano Maggaddino. Apparently during the early 1960s Maggaddino was unhappy with the profits he was seeing from gambling operations in Rochester so he demanded a higher percentage from Russo as he was at the helm. The two verbally sparred and it did not end well for Maggaddino's underling. "He told Jake, 'I want to see $200 a week here,' " Piccarreto said. " ... Jake told him at that point ... 'Steve, I can't give you $200 a week if I haven’t got it.' The old man said, 'I want to see $200 a week — every week.'" (In current dollars, $200 would equal about $1,600.)
Piccarreto, who had traveled with Russo to the Buffalo meeting, said that Russo implied that he would go over Magaddino's head if he continued to insist on the impossible. The message to Magaddino was this: Russo planned to go to "the commission in New York (City)" where the Mafia family leaders met, and that "the hierarchy of the so-called Mafia" would hear of Magaddino's unreasonable demands.
"When Jake challenged him that way, (Magaddino) knew he had a problem with Jake Russo," Piccarreto said. "When we got in the car, I said 'Jake, you made a mistake. You should have never forewarned this guy what we were going to do.' "
When telling of Jake Russo's fate, Piccarreto sometimes pauses as if catching a breath — moments that seem more grief than reflection. There are no tears, yet one cannot help but see a blink of pain, a fissure within the hardened Marine and mobster, when the topic is Russo.
"Greedy old man that (Magaddino) was, he said: 'I don't want to hear anything about your brothers, taking care of your brothers,' " Piccarreto said. That's when Magaddino demanded the $200 weekly, insisting that it could be done even after Russo insisted that it couldn't.
After that meeting, Magaddino sent deputies to Rochester to scope out the gambling activities. "The old man told these guys that he sent from Buffalo, his henchmen, 'Check (Russo) out and see what he's doing.' "
Piccarreto said he's sure there was no evidence that Russo was shafting Magaddino — Russo "never stole a quarter," Piccarreto said — but Magaddino had made up his mind regardless: Russo had dared to challenge him, and would die for it.
On Sept. 11, 1964, Russo got a call to meet Valenti for dinner the next day. He left his house on Sept. 12, telling his wife where he was going. He never returned.
The next day Mary Russo called her husband's good friend, Rene Piccarreto, who had not been at the meeting. But, Piccarreto was sure that Magaddino had gotten just what he wanted: Russo was dead, and Valenti would again be in charge.
Piccarreto later learned more.
"They took him downstairs (at the restaurant). They had a few guys there. They choked him and then they wrapped him up and buried him."
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Magaddino was surrounded by his underlings, and Piccarreto sensed that they now knew the truth: "There was no reason to kill (Russo), outside of he was going to take him down in front of his peers from New York."
Jake Russo's body was never found. The restaurant basement was in a building owned by Valenti and would later change hands to become a popular pizza chain. Overall this is an excellent write up. I hope the full interview is one day released to the public, but at least now we know the reasons behind the order, who it came from and where it took place. If you'd like to read the full report it's at the link below: https://www.democratandchronicle.co...nk-valenti-apalachin-meeting/2191800002/
Last edited by FrankValenti; 02/08/19 12:27 AM.
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Re: Rochester Mob Murder Solved After 50 Years
[Re: FrankValenti]
#963634
02/10/19 12:01 AM
02/10/19 12:01 AM
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Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 103 Rochester/Pittsburgh
FrankValenti
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I don't mean to bump this thread again but I just went back to the newspaper's website and noticed they updated it with a video of Loren Piccarreto discussing his father.
This interview of Loren appears to have been conducted within the last two weeks. I've heard some people mention Loren's name (along with Tom Marotta) on this site and others as being an active made soldier of the Buffalo Crime Family, having merged the remnants of Rochester's organization into Buffalo's during the 90s. It is undeniable that Loren was among the family's leadership after his father and others went to prison, but I tend to believe he is no longer an active mobster in 2019.
The video is definitely worth checking out.
Last edited by FrankValenti; 02/10/19 12:02 AM.
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Re: Rochester Mob Murder Solved After 50 Years
[Re: FrankValenti]
#963671
02/10/19 05:57 PM
02/10/19 05:57 PM
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Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 94
SharpieOne
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Seems like Rene's family is looking to whitewash his name after the fact. Got him to divulge something in his old age. They're legit people and probably like to remember their father/grandfather this way, but make no mistake,Rene was no saint in his heyday. Plenty of other people were killed on his watch, and their families went through the same shit as his buddy's. But Rene was a war hero through-and-through. I have family who played on the same H.S. football team as him. Most of that class went away to war before graduation. Some came back and lived perfectly normal lives. Some heard about gambling operations in Chicago, and the few people I know who went that route wound up in Las Vegas--both connected and legit. Obviously Rene went back home to run gambling in Rochester. There were operations all over Rochester in the 60s and 70s. I have no idea the scope of their take, but know people in LE who say taking down the gambling dens was superficial; you get enough complaints, you bust a place, while fully knowing another would pop up blocks away. I might have a story or two about that, but I'd have to jog my memory first and ask the family members who told me again. I moved from the area awhile ago. Who knows what's left. But anyone in their right mind would leave that city now, with the NYS taxes, the lack of jobs.
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Re: Rochester Mob Murder Solved After 50 Years
[Re: SharpieOne]
#963965
02/14/19 09:33 AM
02/14/19 09:33 AM
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Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 1,529 Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, NYC
BensonHURST
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Bensonhurst
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Seems like Rene's family is looking to whitewash his name after the fact. Got him to divulge something in his old age. They're legit people and probably like to remember their father/grandfather this way, but make no mistake,Rene was no saint in his heyday. Plenty of other people were killed on his watch, and their families went through the same shit as his buddy's. But Rene was a war hero through-and-through. I have family who played on the same H.S. football team as him. Most of that class went away to war before graduation. Some came back and lived perfectly normal lives. Some heard about gambling operations in Chicago, and the few people I know who went that route wound up in Las Vegas--both connected and legit. Obviously Rene went back home to run gambling in Rochester. There were operations all over Rochester in the 60s and 70s. I have no idea the scope of their take, but know people in LE who say taking down the gambling dens was superficial; you get enough complaints, you bust a place, while fully knowing another would pop up blocks away. I might have a story or two about that, but I'd have to jog my memory first and ask the family members who told me again. I moved from the area awhile ago. Who knows what's left. But anyone in their right mind would leave that city now, with the NYS taxes, the lack of jobs. What about the son Loren? He wasn't legit is he now?
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Re: Rochester Mob Murder Solved After 50 Years
[Re: BensonHURST]
#964056
02/15/19 11:17 AM
02/15/19 11:17 AM
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Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 103 Rochester/Pittsburgh
FrankValenti
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What about the son Loren? He wasn't legit is he now? Loren was definitely a street guy. The government named him in an October 1987 indictment as the underboss of the Rochester crime family. He took this position after the family's ruling leadership (Russotti, Marino, Marotta, Rene, etc.) went to prison. Loren himself did a few years on RICO charges, although the was released in 1994 and hasn't had any trouble with the law that I know of since then. His Linkdin profile says he's a contractor and he happily spoke on camera for the Jake Russo story, sort of disavowing his previously life. Some reports have said Loren is still active in the streets as part of the Buffalo organization (they absorbed what was left of Rochester around '93). Ed Scarpo wrote a piece in 2017 naming Loren as a capo of a crew. I haven't seen any evidence of this though and Buffalo's numbers have been highly inflated in recent reports. I believe Loren to be legit today.
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Re: Rochester Mob Murder Solved After 50 Years
[Re: BarrettM]
#964072
02/15/19 06:01 PM
02/15/19 06:01 PM
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Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 103 Rochester/Pittsburgh
FrankValenti
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There are wiretaps of Magaddino trying to say Russo was a rat. Maybe he was trying to justify murdering him and it really was about this Commissioon beef? Seems so. Do you know if the transcripts of these wire taps are available online? I haven't found anything. What's interesting is the timeline for the Valentis. Frank was a Pittsburgh soldier in Ripepi's crew (or even capo by some accounts) but by Apalachin, experts thought his younger brother Costenze was capo of Rochester. Did it go Costenze Valenti > Apalachin legal troubles > Russo > Russo's death > Frank 's takeover? You raise an excellent question. I don't think we'll ever know the true Valenti timeline. Your understanding is essentially the same as mine and the feds, however it should be pointed out that Constenze (Stan) was only 32 years old when the Apalachin conference was busted. This means he would've been in his mid-late 20s when he purportedly took power in Rochester. That seems incredibly young to be in such a powerful position. Was the Rochester herd that thin in the '50s? I tend to think not, although there were certainly rogue gamblers in the city during that time. Frank Valenti consolidated those operations under his family by the late '60s. I've always suspected there was someone else running the show in Rochester prior to Apalachin and that Stan was simply (un)lucky enough to rise up the ranks and become trusted in the eyes of Magaddino right before the meeting. I mean we have some vague information on the activities Pasquale Amico was involved with in Rochester early on. Pasquale Amico was arrested with "Buffalo Bill" Palmieri and Joseph "The Wolf" DiDarlo Jr, two very high ranking Buffalo mobsters in 1931. This suggests a close relationship. I know the FBN kept surveillance on Amico after this, but he died in 1947, so we have a gap between the late '40s and late '50s where there are almost no records of LCN in Rochester for almost a whole decade. If anyone has better info than I, please share but this has always been a mystery to me. Interestingly, Pasquale was the grandfather of Angelo Amico, Rochester final acting boss.
Last edited by FrankValenti; 02/15/19 06:03 PM.
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Re: Rochester Mob Murder Solved After 50 Years
[Re: FrankValenti]
#964119
02/16/19 01:18 PM
02/16/19 01:18 PM
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 840
BarrettM
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I would say the Pittsburgh 'business model' was interesting. They had about 3 capos but each very very powerful, there were no lightweights. Kelly Mannarino was an international power. And Ripepi was a strong Sicilian boss. The Pittsburgh post gazette has old records of each one of the major crime events at the time. They were well aware of the name Frank Valenti even Pre Apalachin. He was a relatively high profile, smooth talking gangster. https://newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/thedigs/2014/05/14/mob-murder-suspect-takes-a-fall/This should go in old photos, but its a great article nonetheless.
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Re: Rochester Mob Murder Solved After 50 Years
[Re: FrankValenti]
#964127
02/16/19 04:51 PM
02/16/19 04:51 PM
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Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 202
JC
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Absolutely. Makes sense due to proximity but other families always exerted their influence in Rochester. The Bonannos maintain a weak presence to this day. Rene Piccarreto was actually named on an early chart as being a made member of the Bonnano crime family. It was always Magaddino who controlled the territory, however.
My understanding is Frank Valenti was made into Pittsburgh during the late 30s-early 40s and rose to be a capo in Antonio Ripepi's crew (his sponsor). Frank spend the vast majority of his early life in the Steel City, but did attend elementary school in Rochester as most of his family was in Western New York. His brother Stan was raised in Rochester. The clearest evidence of Stan's entrance into organized crime, other than through his brother, is that he married Ripepi's daughter. It's worth mentioning how powerful Ripepi was in the LaRocca family.
I agree wholeheartedly that Frank's life would make a great movie. We're lucky to have extensive coverage of his life. The Pittsburgh newspapers covered his early activities with great interest as early as 1933. From those days to Alapachin to Rochester to the Columbus Day bombings to prison, Id say Valenti is one of the most fascinating, lesser known bosses. They were always a Buffalo crew until they broke away at the end of the 60's. From what I understand even after they broke away they still paid a portion of the gambling proceeds to Buffalo because it was their territory. Other families like Pittsburgh and the Bonannos had some influence through individual members, but it was and still is Buffalo territory.
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