-as has become a topic of ongoing disagreements about the state of the mafia in america i thought i would share my thoughts starting with the bonannos.
-i don't know if i will present all the current families though. with the entire admin + capos of the colombos either under indictment or still in jail awaiting trial to try to speculate who now runs things for them is just that.
-i would like this and possibly more threads to follow to show accurate info as best as possible. any info outside of 2012 is irrelevant in todays OC world.
-i have done my best to find proof in indictments or from a variety of sources where position of members is no longer in dispute...examples being liborio bellomo as genovese boss, michael mancuso as bonanno boss. to my knowledge there is no dispute about those 2.
-my thinking for starting this thread was to finally try to get a more accurate gauge on which families really hold power/significance in the U.S. presently and how they may or may not be interconnected.
-if we can all try our best to not let this thread and maybe others to follow not dissolve into trolling and arguing too that would be great.

and here we go.....

THE BONANNO CRIME FAMILY
jan.1 2022-
NY FAMILY ALLIES:GAMBINO
-over at least the last decade members/associates of the gambinos have regularly shown up in indictments working together.
-that is not to say that the bonannos do not work with other families they appear to be most closely aligned with the gambinos.
OTHER ALLIED OC GROUPS:???

BOSS
MICHAEL MANCUSO

ALLIES:JOHN J SPIRITO-bronx faction member,unsure of his current position in family?
VINCENT BADALAMENTI-unsure of his current position in family...consigliere?
THOMAS DE FIORE-former AB,UB,possible that he currently operates as a capo?

STREET BOSS/CAPO-bronx faction
JOHN PALAZZOLO

capos???
joseph desimone-queens crew
anthony frascone-bronx
anthony pipitone-???
jerome asaro-???
alphonse di pilato-???

possible rival faction
leader
joseph cammarano jr.-former AB,UB,capo shelved by mancuso 2019.
son-in-law to
vito grimaldi-former capo also shelved 2019,alleged to be leader of SICILIAN FACTION?of which i will get to later.
joseph grimaldi-son of vito also shelved 2019,alleged capo?
john zancocchio-former consigliere shelved 2019.
joseph sabella-capo,currently imprisoned.arthur tarzia had been mentioned as acting capo?

SICILIAN FACTION?
if vito grimaldi was leader/is leader?
-where in sicily is he from?
-what family is he connected to in sicily?
-who are other members of this faction?there has long been references to a SICILIAN FACTION and lots of proof from the 70's and 80's but come the 90's the only real sicilians in the family were in montreal...and i don't intend to open that debate here (see past threads on this forum).
-and if vito grimaldi is the link with sicily i find it odd that his name never came up in the 2020 arrests out of castellammare del golfo.

CASTELLAMMARE DEL GOLFO
BOSS
FRANCESCO DOMINGO-godson of antonio salvatore montagna,father of salvatore(m:2011 in montreal).

possible ny members
michele domingo-brother
giovanni carollo
antonino mistretta???

-the 2020 arrests reveal domingo and others from c.d.g. as being links to the bonannos. however it looks more like the c.d.g. family and the sciacca family are operating cells/crews in the NY area possibly in territory under control of the bonanno family.
-because none of the articles reveal who the sicilians were working under in ny can we assume that much like the rizzutos of the past that the bonannos had yet again underestimated the working partnership amongst sicilians.

SCIACCA
BOSS
ACCURSIO DIMINO-currently imprisoned.

possible ny members
sergio gucciardi
stefano turriciano

-i find it strange that the domingo/sciacca families would fall under the authority of the bonannos.
-on recordings by accursio dimino he mentions setting up business in ny or maybe canada with people from cattolica eraclea?sicilians from mtl/rizzutos i can only speculate.
-why would domingo being the godson of a montagna want to deal with an admin/family under any of the above who did absolutely nothing to avenge the murder of a relative...salvatore montagna???

-finally i understand this is a lot to unpack and i do not expect answers to all these questions but i have found that the topics recently on this forum have dealt with families who r defunct, long gone or in-active. with this and hopefully further posts i hope to gain more knowledge of what is currently going on with this and other secret societies.

since the death of vito grimaldi in 2022 who is new leader of the bonannos alleged "sicilian faction". if he was indeed leader?
i am aware that the bonannos had a sizeable group of so called zips in the 70's and 80's. but through murder,prison and natural death the original group of zips was long gone by the 2000's. and yet the rumor of this "faction" persists. i dont think calling it a faction anymore is at all accurate. despite rumors and speculation about bonannos going to war up to this point i would call them unified and not split into factions. montreal was split into factions during its many wars. the bonannos were in early 80's. if anything it would be sicilian crew. maybe semantics but oh well.

then along comes the 2020 arrests in sicily of domingo et al. and there indeed exists a presence of sicilians operating in ny. but the line blurs as to whether they were working under a bonanno capo...or...operating independent of bonannos and running own crews in ny. many on here have discussed the lack of new blood rejuvenating the east coast families. is it possible that this new blood has already started to move into the ranks of all families. 2020 arrests showing a possible link between bonannos and sicily. december 2022 arrest of 'ndrangheta families operating in concert with the colombo and gambino famlies. there has been multiple arrests in past 10 years in ny with connections to 'ndrangheta and sicilian families with the gambinos being involved with both.

one more theory...is this continuing presence of mafia families from italy in ny an act with purpose? a blurring of who is who and what family he belongs to. similar to what goes on in canada. as an example domenico violi, underboss of the buffalo family...but prior to that intell coming out violi would have been recognized as a 'ndrangheta member in luppino-violi 'ndrine.

SICILIAN FACTION?
if vito grimaldi was leader/is leader?
-where in sicily is he from?
-what family is he connected to in sicily?
-who are other members of this faction?there has long been references to a SICILIAN FACTION and lots of proof from the 70's and 80's but come the 90's the only real sicilians in the family were in montreal...and i don't intend to open that debate here (see past threads on this forum).
-and if vito grimaldi is the link with sicily i find it odd that his name never came up in the 2020 arrests out of castellammare del golfo.

1. Santa Ninfa
2. Frank Fiordilino says his family is still connected to family back in Santa Ninfa
3. Sal Montana, Nino Mistretta, Damiano Zummo, Anthony Fasitta, Vinny Masi, Natale Mule, Giovanni Carollo, Vito Pipitone, Anthony Pipitone, Filippo Navarra, Antonio Navarra, Nino and Jack Bonventre.


I think Grimaldi was just look at as a senior member of this group and not so much a leader but an elder wiseguy. I think you're right on being unsure if it's really a faction or what and it really doesn't matter. There is a group in the Bonannos that have strong ties back to Sicily and are involved with them. That's not to say it's just one singular cohesive group working together but for us who are looking in it's easier to just lump them together and say the Sicilian faction.



1. I wouldn't say the Castellammare Del Golfo and Sciacca Families are operating under the authority of the Bonannos in New York. They're working in tandem and the Bonannos act as their representation to other Mafia Families. Just as the Gambinos have for others in the past like Rosario Gambino and that guy in Miami that I'm blanking on.
2. Most likely was talking about the Rizzutos. Around this time Leonardo and his brother in law and a few others were in Sciacca. Domino dismissed Canada because the Ribera mafia was already there and said he didn't care where they went with their gambling machines he threw out California and Texas.
3. We see people work with those who kill relatives all the time. Look at Bruno Indelicato after his dad was killed he got to choose what crew to be in and he picked Massino's. I don't think Domingo and the Montagnas were actually related it came out Antonino Montagna sponsored Domingo into the Del Golfo Family.

I dont really get your last theory or Violi example. But I think there's just been a big lack of information from Canada and from people who observe the mafia. The Luppinos were a a Ndrangheta Family but we know Giacomo and his son later joined the Buffalo Family and that Hamilton has always been Buffalo. Anyone calling Dom Violi a Ndrangheta member was doing so because he's Calabrian instead of looking at the information we had at the time which was he worked under his grandfather and uncles who were Buffalo members. He had a Ndrangheta pedigree on both sides of his family through his grandfathers but his father wasn't a Ndrangheta member and by the time he moved to live under the Luppinos they were already Buffalo members.

to my last point i meant to tie it into an influx of italian crime members into ny and proven working relationships with them. whether sicilian or 'ndrangheta there does seem to be a ongoing partnership amongst some of the families. as to violi more to what u said about lack of info and bad intelligence could be the case.

the members listed above come from 3-4 different crews which is why i asked. fasitta is an alleged capo, pipitone was just indicted as one, jack bonventre is part of asaro crew and giovanni corallo is a member of domingos family. best info i have. thanks for reply.

Giovanni Carollo was identified as a Bonanno member in the investigation. He travelled with Mistretta in 2016 and met with Domingo to ask for help getting the permits for a pool on his property.

There are several unknown members who haven't made the news yet and may actually always remain sleepers, but it's funny how you actually have people here who think that they have them all mapped out.

Several exponents of the Castellammare del Golfo mafia transplanted in America were arrested in August 2016 as part of an operation conducted by the FBI in New York and in 4 other states. In all 46 arrests and among them the members of the Bonanno family which is considered one of the oldest mafia consortia in the United States.

Some of those arrested have significant nicknames such as Nicholas «Nicky the Wig» Vuolo, Anthony «Noy the Cripple» Cassetta, John «Tugboat» Togino and Eugene «Gallo» O'Nofrio.

https://www.alpauno.com/castellammare-del-golfo-mafia-retata-in-america-colpita-la-famiglia-bonanno/

No one thinks they have anything all mapped out. Neither I nor VitoCahill said this is exactly how it is. Obviously there's unknown members but they're irrelevant to discuss because they're unknown and therefore there's no information on it. Hence why it called current information on the Bonannos.

Do you have any other links for this? Your link have very little info on it. What investigation was this?

not to budge in but i think it was same as joseph merlino and pasquale parrello bust. the EAST COAST MAFIA ENTERPRISE or whatever the feds called it. i could be wrong.

Looks like that's right. Don't remember any links to cdg from that

The guy in Miami you’re thinking about is probably Roberto Settineri.

Talking zips in recent indictments: Calogero Zito out of Philly is connected to the DiMaggio/Gambinos.

Yes that's the name thank you. He's a member of Santa Maria di Gesu and had an issue with the Colombos in Florida and the Gambinos represented him in the sitdowns.

I hope Anthony "Ace" Aiello still has some potential left when he gets back...good guy...dependable as all hell.

The Zips controlled the family for over 20 years, to think that the faction would just cease to exist makes no sense to me.

I know Vincent T.V. was said to have had their support when he took over as acting a few years back.
Not sure if he was in that faction or not

Zitos are interesting.
His father Simone Zito, is currently a fugitive and was caught on tape bragging about how he helped get Salvatore Gambino elected as mayor back in Sicily. Zito’s son Calogero was also charged and arrested in Sicily. He was photographed on a boat with influential figures in the Gambino, Spatola and Inzerillo Mafia clans.

seems like calogero is no longer in custody and has been back in Philly running his parlor for a while

https://6abc.com/amp/business/pizzeria-matches-donations-to-help-health-care-workers/6143344/