Name them...Your answer is ridiculous. Bobby I has been an independent operator his whole life, just like Tony Grosso. Iannelli is in his 80's and the ONLY made guys still alive are Sonny Ciancutti, Chucky Porter (informant) and Lenny Strollo (informant).

I never said I was the self anointed authority, but I guarantee I know more about Pittsburgh/Youngstown than any other member on this forum, as I am in constant contact with the FBI, former members as well as many former associates. I say former because the family does not exist any longer.

I think the recent porky indictment hammers it home.

just a quick pitt question did any former pitt guys have any pieces of the firehouse gambling?

Books? I have conducted interviews with the Feds, former mafia members, about 200 FBI files, the Pennsylvania Crime Commission reports from 1980-1992, the Allegheny County District Attorney, the U.S. Attorney's office for Pittsburgh the sons of Pittsburgh mob figures etc.

Alleged Boss????? Sonny is not the boss, because there is no family. He's the last made guy who was active under Mike Genovese, does that mean he is the boss?

The only book I have used for insight was a book called: Lonely Fighter: One Man's Battle Against the Government of the United States. The Story of Andrew J. Susce, former IRS agent who was chasing John LaRocca for decades. It is the only book regarding Pittsburgh mob figures, and it was specific to LaRocca in the 1940's-1960's.

What are his credentials? Have you seen them? If he is an expert on Philly, then he should stick to sharing knowledge about Philly, not misinformation about Scranton/Pittsburgh.

John Hankish? I think you meant Paul "No Legs" Hankish, who was Lebanese and the head of all organized crime operations in Wheeling, WV for the LaRocca Family. Paul died in prison in the 1990's, and he was one of the largest bookmakers int he country with close ties to Joey Naples in Youngstown as well as Joseph "Demus" Covello of the Gambino Family.

Here is a report I compiled through several sources for the Pittsburgh Family starting in 1989:

A New Hierarchy Begins to Emerge

During the past few years there has been a
noticeable shift in the power structure of the
LaRocca/Genovese Family. Rosa's and Droznek's
• testimonies confirmed that Porter and his closest
associates, Louis Raucci, 58, and Henry "Zebo"
Zottola, 53, are major income producers, and that
Porter has "the ear" of the Family boss, Michael
Genovese, 69. According to Robert "Bobby I"
Iannelli, 58, 315 Thompson Run Road; August
• "Augie" Ferrone, 62, 1079 North Avenue; Adolph
"Junior" Williams, 55, 274 Foxcroft Drive, all of
Pittsburgh; and Paul "No Legs" Hankish, 57, 92
Brentwood Avenue, Wheeling, WV; turn in betting
action to Porter. Rosa and Droznek claimed that
Raucci and Zottola are both active in narcotics
• trafficking and loansharking.
On the surface, Porter's involvement with narcotics
appears inconsistent with Genovese's philosophical
opposition to drugs, but Porter is credited with saying
that he views narcotics as a means to quick capital,
• and not a major source of revenue. He prefers to let
associates rather than members absorb the risk, as can
be seen by the Rosa trial. Although 27 individuals
were eventually convicted of narcotics trafficking or
associated offenses, none were considered LCN
members. •
•
•
•
•
•
The following are members of the LaRocca/
Genovese LCN Family:
• Michael Genovese, 69, 4348 Clendenning Road,
Gibsonia, PA;
• Frank "Sonny" Amato, Jr., 61, 704 Broadway
Street, East McKeesport, PA;
II John Bazzano, Jr., 61, 107 LynnbrookDrive,
McMurray, PA;
• Anthony A. "Wango" Capizzi, 63, 4451 Middle
Road, Allison Park, PA;
• Thomas A. "Sonny" Ciancutti, 59, 1906 Kenneth
Avenue, New Kensington, PA;
• Pasquale Macri "Pat" Ferruccio, 71, owner of
Liberty Vending, 401 High Street, NW, Canton,
OH;
• Charles J. "Chucky" Porter, 55, 3999 Old
William Penn Highway, Penn Hills, PA;
• Louis Raucci, 58, 133 Hulton Road, Verona, PA;
• Antonio "Anthony" Ripepi, 86, 4720 Brownsville
Road, Pittsburgh;
• Joseph Sica, Sr., 80, 1148 Jefferson Heights, Penn
Hills;
• Henry Zottola, 53, 9242 Wedgewood Drive,
Pittsburgh.
The control exercised by this LCN Family can be
seen in the Erie, PA, gambling market. Iannelli, a
close associate of LCN Family member Anthony
"Wango" Capizzi, 63, collected Erie layoff gambiing
23
money from Alfred DelSandro until DelSandro's
death in July 1988. At DelSandro's funeral, however,
Iannelli purposely avoided contact with DelSandro's
successor, John "Jack" Miller, 59, 5449 Pepperwood
Circle, Erie. Miller had in excess of 35 numbers
writers grossing $125,000 weekly in sports and
numbers "action" at that time and, until late 1988,
was considered the largest bookmaker in Erie. Since
then, Miller's organization has declined and is now
ranked third. In March 1989, Miller was indicted by
the IRS on charges stemming from gambling-related
activities.
During the past three months, a new hierarchy has
emerged within the Erie gambling community led by
William J. Anderson, 60, 1809 Treetop Drive, and his
partner, Leonard Alecci, 55, 9 West 4th Street, Apt. 1.
The second largest operation is the province of Phillip
S. Torrelli, 56, 2908 Broadlawn Drive, and Raymond
Ferritto, 59, 724 Brown Avenue, both of Erie. Torrelli
and Ferritto inherited Frank "Bolo" Dovishaw's sports
and numbers action in 1983 after Dovishaw was
murdered.
Anderson and Alecci layoff their betting action to
LaRocca/Genovese LCN Family associates, while
Torrelli and Ferritto layoff to another LCN associate,
Manuel "Mike the Greek" Xenakis, 41,100
Hayeswold Drive, Coraopolis, PA. Xenakis and
Ferritto were arrested together in June 1987 on
gambling charges; that case is still pending. Xenakis,
in turn, lays off to Ciancutti associate John Sabatini,
48, 1693 Seaton Avenue, Coraopolis.
The LaRocca/Genovese LCN Family has invested
in video poker vending, while remaining firmly
entrenched in traditional criminal activities including
gambling, loansharking, extortion, and narcotics. On
January 19,1989, LCN Family member Pasquale
Ferruccio, 71, owner of the Liberty Vending
Company in Canton, OH, was indicted by the
Cleveland Federal Organized Crime Strike Force on
racketeering charges resulting from the illegal use of
video poker machines as a gambling device in Ohio
and Pennsylvania.
Over the past few years, law enforcement agencies
have reported that the LaRocca/Genovese Family is
experiencing a decline in influence. These
observations are based upon an apparent lack of new
"blood," coupled with an aging leadership. Sica and
Ripepi are both in their 80s, and Ferruccio is 71; only
Ripepi remains an active member and Ferruccio's
future is clouded by his recent indictment. Still, the
average age of the LaHocca/Genovese LCN Family
members, currently figured at 65 years, drops to only
60 years when those three individuals are excluded
from the equation.
Age alone will not precipitate the decline of the
LaRocca/Genovese LCN Family; rather, the limited membership will be hard-pressed to withstand a series
of prosecutorial efforts aimed at the Family's
hierarchy. Several convictions would have enormous
impact, perhaps comparable to that encountered by
Cleveland's Licavoli LCN Family, which was
devastated by prosecutions brought by an FBI
Organized Crime Task Force. Notwithstanding
similar circumstances, the LaRocca/Genovese Family
appears capable of enduring.

No, I met JOHN Hankinsh, a Pittsburgh bookie and shylock and long time associate. You claim to be an expert on Pittsburgh and you didnt know that? That along with claiming Bobby is NOT the defacto boss, and even that he is NOT MADE?
Are you freaking kidding me? That's actually funny
Dude, you need to get better info...You are sadly misinformed

Tony Grosso: Numbers Kingpin
Pennsylvania's undisputed illegal
lottery kingpin, Anthony "Tony"
Grosso, 76, dominated Pittsburgh's
numbers-betting community for more
than 40 years and built a large illicit
gambling organization which grossed
more than $30 million annually. In
October 1986, he pled guilty to 68
counts of a federal grand jury presentment.
The charges alleged that
Grosso, of Mt. Lebanon, operated a
numbers organization with several
thousand writers scattered throughout
the Western Pennsylvania region.
Grosso was sentenced by a federal
judge in January 1987 to 14 years in
prison and later to 10 to 20 years in
prison by an Allegheny County Court
judge. During one hearing, Grosso
testified that he had not filed a tax
return since 1973. Grosso agreed to
testify against a State Police corporal
who had been charged by a state
grand jury with receiving more than
$100,000 over several years in bribes
and other illegal gratuities from
Grosso. The corporal, who committed
suicide shortly before he was
scheduled to stand trial, was in
charge of a State Police vice detail
operating in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Grosso has been arrested over 20
times between 1938 and the present.
Relatively few of those arrests have
resulted in incarceration. Prior to the
70
1980s, he served short jail terms for
gambling-related convictions in 1943,
1950, 1964, and in the mid-1970s.
Grosso, who never used a bank
account, testified that he did not
know how many individuals were in
his gambling operation because he
had established it in a pyramid fashion
with himself at the top. He said he
did not know the identity of "runners
and writers" near the bottom of the
pyramid, nor did they necessarily
know his identity. He said that his
operation had many telephone girls
who each made about $ 500 per week
and that each phone girl would have
10 to 20 writers "working the street."
Grosso paid his writers on a percentage
basis. Should a writer offer
500-to-one odds to a customer, the
writer would get 40 percent. A 600-
to-one odds bet would provide the
writer with 30 percent. On the average,
a writer who turned in about
$1,000 per week in business would
earn about $300 per week, tax free.
Grosso said his organization would
gross at least $400,000 weekly. His
annual income, estimated by the IRS,
was $1.5 million to $2.1 million.
Grosso apparently operated without
paying "direct" tribute to the Pittsburgh
LCN, primarily because of his
political contacts. Because of his
favorable affiliation with local political
and police officials, however, Grosso
was expected to do "favors" for the
LaRocca/Genovese Family-such as
providing information on an ongoing
investigation or an upcoming raid.
Grosso's incarceration, in turn, has
contributed to the F-~mily' s dominance
of illegal gambling in the Greater
Pittsburgh area. Today, the bulk of
Grosso's numbers business has been
taken over by Robert "Bobby I"
Iannelli; and two brothers, Adolph
"Junior" Williams and Salvatore "Sal"
Williams, all of Pittsburgh. Iannelli
and the Williams brothers are associates
of the LaRocca/Genovese LCN
Family.

Your getting even colder....where the HELL did you get that mish mash of rumor and media BS?
Like I said, if you want to anoint yourself an expert, get some reliable sources

I'm not going to argue with you, because you are obviously saying that I don't know shit. My uncle ran the rackets in Youngstown for decades for the Pittsburgh Family and then his nephew, my cousin, took them over. I have been around the block and know quite a few of these guys on a personal level. Bobby I was never made...PERIOD. He wanted to be independent, like Tony Grosso. John Hankish was "not" a significant player in LCN operations. The largest bookmaker in Western PA was Tony Grosso, once he died, Iannelli and Sal & Adolfo Williams took over and Primo Mollica from Glassport was as big a bookmaker as anybody.

You are saying that you know more than I do about Pittsburgh, is that your contention?

What the fuck are you talking about?

Since you are the "expert" why don't you name the administration in Pittsburgh, the Capos and the soldiers? I'm sorry to tell you that SA Roger Greenbank is hands down the expert on Pittsburgh and I am in regular contact with him.

You come on to my thread and start shit? What's your fucking problem? You are sadly MISINFORMED

Here's your opportunity to name the family. Educate us please because you are so smart. You're a wise guy as well, right? You're a made man?

Roger Greenbank, Bob Garrity, John Stoll, Bob Hawk...all SA for the FBI, the U.S. Attorney, the Pennsylvania Crime Commission, several former members of the family, Allegheny County DA...None of them are reliable, eh?

I mean no disrespect, clearly this is something you are interested in, but when you made the statement Bobby I was not even made....you lost all credibility as far as any inside knowledge.
As for me naming names, I have a policy on the internet, media and even conversation, if someone hasn't been outed to public scrutiny via the media or law enforcement, I don't mention their names. I have given you plenty of info here, if you doubt me, refute it, or just believe what you like, to me the issue is small potatoes

Arm,

I'm done discussing your ludicrous claims, you have derailed the thread. Congratulations!!

Still waiting for your educated answer on the family. Are you going to name the boss, underboss, consigliere and 18 made members? LMAO.

...and no..I was never made

I figured I'd get an answer like that. Bobby never wanted to be made, he didn't need to be as he was politically tied to a lot of powerful people. Just like Grosso, he didn't want a target on his back with the connotation of made member.

No disrespect, you completely disrespected me. Personally, I don't give a fuck. And when you can't answer my question or you give some bullshit code of honor crap about outing somebody or naming names, that clearly demonstrated that you are talking out of your ass. If your expertise is Philly, stick to Philly.

And by the way, D'Elia was the boss of nothing. D'Elia worked closely with Joey Naples and Lenny Strollo in Youngstown on some waste hauling schemes and was an errand boy after Bufalino died for some of the NY families as well as Philly. Scranton has been finished since Bufalino died in 1994. D'Elia was respected, I'll give you that, due to his allegiance and close relationship with Russell. Other than that, he was a made guys in a small town who got respect from local bookies and criminals, nothing more.

Here is the 1990 PA Crime Commission Report on OC. It clearly stated back then that Bobby I was an associate and an independent operator. If the government successfully dismantled the Pittsburgh Family, they would have easily nailed Bobby I to a cross. Hell, if Chucky Porter didn't perjur himself over 100 times at his trial, Mike Genovese would have spent the rest of his life behind bars, but the government couldn't use Porter's info because he perjured himself so many times during his trial that the U.S. attorney rendered him useless as a witness.

https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=133208

Click on PDF and the report will open.

IT seems Porter and Genovse were close .Anyway he did it on purpose to save genovese?

No, I think that Porter took the stand in his own defense. He didn't start cooperating until 2 years into his sentence. He never testified against anybody, but he certainly gave the Feds the key to the entire Youngstown operation as well as the infiltration of the Rincon Indian Casino by Strollo, Zebo etc. He also gave the Feds info about pending mob hits that he learned about from other mob inmates and was credited with saving several lives. NOBODY would have thought that Porter would have cooperated, he was a stand up guy for so long and he ate, breathed and slept LCN.

Anyway...

To answer this thread:

1. Bufalino
2. Trafficante
3. New Orleans
4. Milwaukee
5. Pittsburgh
6. K.C.
7. L.A.
8. The rest

Cleveland? They were one of the most powerful families in the country for decades under John Scalish. They were a major part of the Vegas Skim, they had their own people running Vegas (Moe Dalitz) and they owned Bill Presser, one of the most powerful members of the Teamsters Union for decades. It's interesting to see how you ranked your top 3. Obviously, you ranked them based on popularity of the bosses, with Bufalino, Traficante and Marcello the most recognizable...but that doesn't mean their families were more powerful because the bosses were more high profile.

Why do you say Bufalino, Tampa and New Orleans. What do you base this on?

Basically it was just a slapdash list that I threw together kind of sarcastically to get the thread back on course lol.

Seriously though, I think the Bufalinos should be at the top. I said earlier that Trafficante and Marcello were powerful individuals but their families were not as strong as those of say, KC, Cleveland, or Milwaukee, who all had Chicago backing them, so your guess is as good as mine in ordering them. You would know better than me where Pittsburgh goes.

Its usually the case, I can only imagine the reaction with BIg Ange flipped since he was one of the first bosses to flip if not they first

Big Ange was another guy who nobody would have ever guessed flipped. He definitely destroyed his legacy

I don't want to get into a pis*ing match with any other members,but for my money JCB1977 is the gold standard when it comes to Pittsburgh Mob Stuff.

I am in my late fifties,born and raised in Allegheny County,and
related to several people who were involved in criminal activity from the early seventies up to the late eighties.
My uncle was a mid level numbers operator and my dad worked for him.

Several of my cousins as well as myself worked at after hours clubs which featured casino style gambling.

We were not "Mob guys",just everyday hustlers,who worked straight jobs,and did what we could on the side for a few bucks,and frankly,for the fun of "getting over".If you're from Pittsburgh,you would recognize my Family name,but that's because we also have a lot of successful legitimate business people,not for any criminal activity.

The two names I heard the most in connection with the numbers were Grosso and Ianelli. It was common knowledge on the street that neither one was "made",but were not to be screwed with nonetheless. Of course,having that reputation didn't exactly hurt them when negotiating,so it cut both ways.

Around here,any Italian with a hustle was "in the Mafia" according to the average citizen.

So to JCB1977,keep up the good work. You are an impeccable source and I always look forward to your "Burgh stuff".If some of the other posters actually lived here,they would realize how spot on you have been.

Thanks for your great work!

The Arm: what do kids call it these days?

Oh yeah, OWNED.

Arm knows he's full of crap. He's just enjoying the attention while it lasts.

That makes sense...Bufalino's were very strong post Appalachian.