Bufalino crime family

Bufalino crime family
Bufalino crime family
Bufalino.jpg
Former boss Russell Bufalino
In Scranton, Pennsylvania
Founded by Stefano LaTorre
Years active c. 1900–2008
Territory Northeastern Pennsylvania Counties of Lackawanna and Luzerne, in Northwestern New Jersey and Southwestern New York.
Ethnicity Italian, Italian-American made men and other ethnicities as "associates"
Membership Less than 15
Criminal activities Racketeering, counterfeiting, loansharking, extortion, illegal gambling, cartage theft, fraud, and automobile theft.
Allies Buffalo, Genovese and Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Patriarca crime families.
Rivals other various gangs

The Bufalino crime family,[1] also known as the Pittston crime family,[2] or the Scranton Wilkes-Barre family,[2] was an American Mafia crime family active in Northeastern Pennsylvania cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Pittston.[3][4] Today the Bufalino crime family is no longer active.

Contents

History

Barbara and the Apalachin meeting

In 1957, Joseph Barbara held a Mafia Commission meeting at his Apalachin home. The meeting was attended by about 100 Mafia heads from the U. S., Canada and Italy. A raid by New York State Police caught many heads of families or their deputies. However, the U.S.Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit dismissed many of the cases on legal technicalities.

The Bufalino era

After Barbara's death in 1959, Russell Bufalino took over the family. Bufalino was imprisoned in the late 1970s, his consigliere, Edward Sciandra, became the acting boss. As boss Bufalino worked with the Genovese crime family. After his release from prison he soon retired and died in 1994.

D'Elia's leadership

William "Big Billy" D'Elia, became the new boss of the Bufalino crime family after the death of boss Russell Bufalino in 1994. D'Elia, started his criminal career in the Bufalino family in the late 1960s as Bufalino's driver. He took over the crime family's solid waste rackets. As boss D'Elia worked with other crime families in New York City, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. In the 1990s, D'Elia was linked to a money laundering scheme.

On May 31, 2001, agents from the Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS, US Postal Inspectors, and Pennsylvania State Police executed search warrants at the homes of D'Elia, his mistress, and three others, seizing records in an ongoing investigation. On February 26, 2003, D'Elia was banned from entering any Atlantic City, New Jersey casinos by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement,[5] based on information shared by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania Crime Commission.[6]

On May 31, 2006, D'Elia was indicted on federal charges of laundering $600,000 in illegal drug proceeds.[7][8] In March 2008, D'Elia pleaded guilty to witness tampering and money laundering.[7] He was sentenced to nine years in prison.[7] D'Elia cooperated with the government and testified against Louis DeNaples, the owner of Mount Airy Casino Resort in the Poconos. In 2010, D'Elia got two years dropped from his sentence for his assisting the government's investigation aganist DeNaples.[9]

Historical leadership

Boss (official and acting)

Other members

  • James Osticco — served as Underboss to Russell Bufalino[1]
  • Edward "Eddie the Conductor" Sciandra — served as consigliere to Russell Bufalino[1]
  • Angelo Polizzi — served as consigliere to Giacomo Sciandra [2]
  • Anthony F. Guarnieri — former caporegime [1]
  • Frank Cannone — former soldier, he ran a bookmaking operation in Binghamton, New York [1]
  • Anthony J. Musco — former soldier, he was active in Binghamton, New York[1]
  • Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran — former associate [12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Organized Crime in Pennsylvania: Traditional and Non-Traditional. Pennsylvania Crime Concession. April 15, 1988. (The Nevada Observer. August 16, 2006)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Devico, Peter J. The Mafia Made Easy: The Anatomy and Culture of La Cosa Nostra p.188-189
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i The American Mafia.com "Scranton crime Bosses"
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h 26 Family Cities "Northeast PA" by Mario Machi Rick Porrello's AmericanMafia.com
  5. ^ William D'Elia - N.J. Excluded Person "William D'Elia" New Jersey Excluded Person
  6. ^ William D'Elia pleads guilty in Scranton (March 28, 2008) Pennlive.com
  7. ^ a b c d "Reputed mobster gets 9 years in prison" (November 24, 2008) MafiaToday.com
  8. ^ "Reputed mobster gets 9 years in prison" The Daily Item November 24, 2008
  9. ^ Reputed Pa. mobster wins sentence reduction of nearly 2 years for cooperating with government (June 30, 2010) Fox News and Associated Press
  10. ^ Reputed mob boss gets prison term shortened by Matt Birkbeck. The Morning Call. June 30, 2010
  11. ^ Reputed Bufalino family boss D’Elia sentence reduced Mafia News Report.com
  12. ^ Lin Devecchio and Charles Brandt We're Going to Win This Thing: The Shocking Frame-Up of a Mafia Crime Buster see

Sources

  • George Anastasia The Goodfella Tapes (Avon, 1998) ISBN 0-380-79637-6
  • Charles Brandt I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and the Inside Story of the Mafia, the Teamsters, and the Final Ride of Jimmy Hoffa (Steerforth, 2004) ISBN 1-58642-077-1

External links


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