There's a cool pic from the 80tys of scarfo and the buffalo boss and I think Pittsburgh. I wonder if buffalo todaro was inducted guys as heavily as scarfo did. Scarfo made about 30 in a few years.

I dont know much about Buffalo, I do however know another place in upstate Ny that has a samll Family, family is a generous term its more like a crew that is structured like a family, Utica still has wise guys, they turn into the Gambinos, but they do operate indepdiantly and make some serious money under the radar

Did he inducted guys In the 90tys. What's the point of being boss if you don't want to keep the thing going. Boston guy Anthony was inducting guys just a few years back.

I haven't the slightest idea if Buffalo has the remanants of an active family or not, nor is that my contention. What I am saying is what you listed in your very first sentence above...the FBI prioritizes...and they are giving CN no priority in the "secondary cities" due to the lack of impact that they currently have or don't have...you do see busts here and there, but they are mainly for gambling (ie sports book, video machines, etc.) and therefore, do not warrant much attention...all that I am saying is that does not equate with the absence of CN...I have no dog in this fight, other than to say, that I very much appreciate what you are saying, but that I am not totally "on board" with the whole "no bust, no LCN" theory.

yeah, you cant take the FBI reports or any writers as Gospel because they are often proven wrong or only knowing half truths

And the FBI does leave most these small families/crews off their radars bc without political or union corruption, teh book makers and loan sharks arent making an incredible amounts of noise so mot much in the way of headline grabbing anymore

Once again, the absence of the LCN - and by that I mean a formally structured, active and viable family - is why the FBI makes it a low priority in the first place.

There are still living LCN members and associates, some active, in cities here and there but they're not the point of this discussion. It's where they FBI, other law enforcement agencies (state and federal), and mob experts still recognize a family as even existing. And those have already been named.

To argue there could still be a formally structured, viable and active family in a given area despite the FBI, other law enforcement agencies, and mob experts saying otherwise is just pigheaded. Even if the FBI never made another case against that phantom family, local law enforcement still could.

How much times has to go by before people will admit that a family is gone? 20 years? 30 years? 50 years?

Especially in the long term, cases - or lack thereof - is the surest and clearest sign of the family still existing (and it's level of activity) or it being defunct.



Actually, the FBI has proven to be very reliable. Far more so than the BS claims and guesswork of so many on these internet forums. If it wasn't for the feds, we wouldn't have the vast majority of info we do on the mob. And that goes for even the most "hooked in" posters on these forums. The same can be said for the more reputable writers like Capeci, Raab, Robbins, etc.



Even if the feds "leave them alone," that doesn't mean state and local law enforcement will. We've still seen cases made against local mob-connected bookies here and there. But those don't necessarily equate to a formally structured, viable and active crime family.

Geez did someone say there hasn't been any major NYC or NJ busts lately

My lord , you got massive gambino drug discussions , decavs , Luchesse in NJ , garbage NJ, that Bonnono skipper and several big gambling busts in the last several years no to mention the NJ waterfronts stuff .

I mean I can take the time to list em all but it's just not worth it

They don't get as much press anymore because there is far less violence

@ivy league


you screamed and yelled that the chicago mob was down to two crews

now we learn that grand avenue is functioning plus a new lake county crew

all i'm saying is that you never know what a secret mafia clan is doing

Ivy is a great researcher/poster and I, personally, appreciate what he has to offer, but I will never agree with the "no bust no LCN" theory...it just doesn't make sense on its face...the FBI has much bigger fish to fry outside of NYC, and the state/local police don't care either...at least not on a large enough scale to matter (ie. in PA, the PA Crime Commission was dissolved years ago, because the LCN threat was deemed to be over)...but, we will amicably agree to disagree on this isssue.

IMO what remains of the family was only old bookies and shilocks that try to enjoy the money they have accumulated knows that there will be no wiseguys to made or a boss to give the $.

http://www.fivefamiliesnyc.com/2013/01/who-is-new-boss-of-buffalo-mob.html

Bobby Panaro, who denies he has any involvement with the Mafia, has been widely rumored to be the new boss of the Buffalo mob.

With the ground covering Joe Todaro and Sonny Nicoletti still fresh, both law enforcement and the legion of mafia buffs who make their home in Western New York have busied themselves trying to figure out who might next head up the tattered remains of the once formidable Magaddino crime family.

I’ve been covering organized crime in Buffalo for the better part of 15 years. There are some great stories, lots of colorful characters and some genuinely decent people who have been negatively affected by this kind of speculation.

Personally, I don’t get it. Because what nobody has been asking is “why anyone would want to be the head of the Buffalo mob?”

Even the most optimistic observers say the old Magaddino outfit has but 20 made guys left at most, and the majority of them have long since qualified for Social Security.

The formerly subservient Utica and Hamilton, Ont., crews have their own problems, with alleged Utica crime lord Russ Carcone still reeling from a 2000 shoplifting bust and the Canadian crew as dead as charity since the assassination of John “Johnny Pops” Papaglia in 1997.

Given all the agita that goes along with being a mob boss in a third-rate American city, is it really worth becoming a target both for law enforcement and any two-bit wannabe punk looking to make a name for himself?

Just ask the highly respected Papaglia, whose storied career ended when he got shot in the back of the head by a bumbling Irish alcoholic named Ken Murdoch who took the contract for just $2,000 and 40 grams of cocaine.

Even Todaro, who the FBI claims was the last official don of the Buffalo family, reportedly gave up his position in 2006 in order to spend more time with his family and enjoy the fruits of the lucrative La Nova pizza business he founded decades earlier.

The leading contender for the top spot, Frank “Butchie Bifocals” BiFulco, was alleged to have been a feared enforcer and a capo in the Magaddino organization going back to the 1960s. But he’s currently indisposed, serving a 10-year, 10-month stretch in Club Fed for the 2001 torching of a leased Nissan in the parking lot of Walden Galleria.

According to the FBI, Leonard “The Calzone” Falzone took over as acting boss of the family when Todaro stepped down in 2006, after years of serving as an enforcer, hit man and finally a capo in the organization. Falzone has of course denied this.
Still, the feds say Falzone was ultimately named consigliere to the Buffalo family in 1987.

Aside from a misdemeanor conviction for possession of stolen property in 1971, Falzone had never been in trouble with the law until the mid-1990s, when a federal investigation of Laborers Local 210 in Buffalo put him in the spotlight. Falzone was then an administrator of the local’s $80 million pension fund, and he became a huge target for the investigators.

At the time, Buffalo crime circles were lousy with paid informants, stool pigeons and squealers of every stripe. And it didn’t take the feds long to put together a case based on the allegations of these disreputable individuals.

The RICO and RICO conspiracy charges set forth in Falzone’s indictment covered a period of time from approximately September, 1985 through August, 1989, during which Falzone was alleged to have engaged in the business of loansharking - charging extremely high interest rates on loaned money.

In 1995, Salvatore "Sammy" Spano told a federal jury he needed Falzone's protection and approval to establish a loansharking operation in Las Vegas. His testimony was the latest piece in the case federal prosecutors were trying to build against Falzone, who stood accused of being a renowned mob enforcer who escaped numerous investigations without a conviction.

"I asked him (Falzone) if I could move to Vegas and if I could use his name while out in Vegas," Spano said on the witness stand. Also testifying against Falzone were the contemptible Ron Fino and Ronald "Ronnie" Raccuia, a degenerate gambler and onetime Buffalo Common Council Chief of Staff.

Falzone was tried in the local media as well. Following his conviction, the Buffalo News editorialists felt vindicated. "Over the years, Falzone had developed a reputation among some as untouchable,” an unsigned editorial read. “No more. This felony conviction cracks his slick reputation for invincibility."

The other name currently being batted about as a possible successor to Todaro is that of successful businessman Bobby Panaro, a Las Vegas area resident for the past four decades who spends some time in Buffalo.

Like Falzone, Panaro was also ousted from Laborers Local 210 for allegedly associating with organized crime figures. At age 57, he was sentenced in 1999 by U.S. District Judge Philip Pro to 7-1/2 years in prison for conspiring to extort longtime mob associate Herbert "Fat Herbie" Blitzstein, who was slain in January 1997.

At the time, Panaro was running an auto dealership known as Good Fellows. "They're giving me 7 1/2 years," he told reporters following his conviction. "For what? What did I do?"

A jury acquitted Panaro of all charges related to the Blitzstein slaying, but the four-week trial left him branded a "mafia soldier." "I'm no mob soldier," he said. "I never have been. I never would be."

Federal prosecutors had accused Panaro and Steve “The Whale” Cino of authorizing the Blitzstein killing as part of a plot to take over the victim's business activities in Las Vegas.

At the trial, prosecutors described Panaro as a member of the Buffalo family and Cino as a member of the Los Angeles mob. "Because I'm Italian?" Panaro asked. "Get out of here."

There are people in law enforcement, perhaps, whose jobs depend on whether or not there is a mafia, a “Cosa Nostra,” organized crime, or whatever you want to call it, in the city of Buffalo, New York.

And there are other people, lots of them, who study mob politics and machinations in the same way that Civil War buffs examine Sherman’s March to the Sea.

But if you ask me, I think Leonard Falzone and Bobby Panaro need to be head of the Buffalo crew like they need another hole in the head.

http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Stories/2013/Jan8/TodaroNicoletti.html

Screamed and yelled? When did I ever "scream and yell?" All I've ever done is report what the FBI has said.

In 2007, during the Family Secrets trial, they said the Outfit was down to 4 crews - Elmwood Park, Grand Avenue, Melrose Park, and 26th Street. A few years later, in 2011, one FBI source said the Outfit was down to "two or three crews" but never specified which ones they were.

Furthermore, there's been nothing concrete (unless you want to count a few blog articles) about a "new Lake County crew" in terms of the overall Outfit hierarchy. Simply the Carparelli bust, who were reported to be working under Salvatore DeLaurentis who has operated there going back decades.

Wiseguy/Ivy:

Don't even argue with Cookcounty...it's senseless and you bring yourself to his level and you have always been a classy guy.

I will admit though he has been better lately, but I don't check every thread.

Ivy..spare yourself from responding....you're an honest, fair poster that adds significant value to this site which, I think, the great majority of us benefit from on a consistent basis.

Not going to argue however its my opinion the FBI reports arent always correct, I have read things that were either wrong or only partially true, I also think outside of NYC you wont gain any promotions of off LCN busts and Mexican cartels and counter terror and also organized street gangs like the bloods are more pressing matters so the FBI deals with those. And its not often that the local law enforment cares or has the tools at their disposal to stop book makers and loansharks if they are organized and smart abnout the way they conduct their buisness

u were wrongly ballistic about the outfit being down to two or three crews

there's probably a strong possibility that they might operate in lake county

it is only a hop skip and a jump away from the western edge of cook county

Well and cicero crew i think