#23: The Cerrito Crime Family (Part Two)

Teaser:

“Police said the victims were beaten and shot in a house trailer at the California Cheese Company at 1451 Sunny Court in San Jose, a company owned by the Marino family, members of which figured prominently in the testimony in former San Francisco Mayor Joseph L. Alioto’s libel lawsuit against Look magazine for writing that Alioto was connected to the Mafia.

The victims were identified by police as Orlando J. Catelli, 50, and his son, Peter Catelli, 24, both of 945 Bancroft Rd., Apartment 116A, in Concord.

They were discovered at about 9:30 p.m. yesterday locked in the trunk of the father’s 1975 white Cadillac DeVille which was parked at the curb at Garfield Park in the 2900 block of Harrison Street.

James McIntyre, of 2905 Harrison St., called police when he heard loud thumping from inside the car trunk.

Police and firemen pried open the trunk to find Peter Catelli dead from a gunshot wound in the back of his head. Orlando Catelli had also been shot in the head but he was alive and talking.”

Intro:

Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of The Member’s Only Podcast. I am your host Jacob Stoops, and I’m a mob enthusiast and historian.

In today’s episode, we will be going back to sunny California to finish up our series on one of the smaller and lesser-known Cosa Nostra families within the United States, the Cerrito Crime Family.

The Cerrito Crime Family of Cosa Nostra, operating in and around San Jose, California, was the primary entity controlling organized crime in San Jose, California for 40 or 50 years until the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. 

In Part One we covered a lot of the family’s origins, as well as the eras of the original boss, Onofrio Sciortino, as well as the second boss and family namesake, Joseph Cerrito. In that episode, although it was boss-centric, we covered a lot about the family as a whole throughout the 1950’s, 60’s, and into the 1970’s up to Joe Cerrito’s death in 1978.

In today’s episode, we’re going to cover what I’ll just call the Marino era of the crime family, which overlaps quite a bit with the Cerrito era, but extends several years after Joe Cerrito’s death, and we’ll finally put a button on the San Jose family as a whole.

Now I will just caveat, this episode will be Marino-centric. If you want the broader picture of the Cerrito family, please refer back to Part One. However, the good news is both eras overlap somewhat so you’re not really going to be missing a whole lot, and there was quite a lot to cover with the Marino’s as you’re about to find out. 

Now before we get into the episode, I just want to say thank you to all of my subscribers as we finally hit 8,000 subscribers on YouTube, and we’re doing quite well on the audio-only platforms as well. While I’m still a smaller podcast, and produce content far more slowly than other podcasts, I do appreciate all the kind words you’ve sent me. I’m a one-man operation, and the support you provide keeps me grinding and pushing forward with my research.

My ultimate goal over time is to cover every single family across the United States, as well as dip into biographies of both important as well as lesser-known Mafia members. Most of this genre is focused on New York or Chicago, and I’ll keep touching upon them from time to time, but my general focus until I’ve covered everything will likely me outside in towards the bigger families.

For anyone new to the channel, I’d ask you to hit that subscribe button and turn on the bell to get notifications. For those that listen to the audio-only version, go on over to Apple at leave a rating and review. Good, bad, or ugly I take it all in stride.

Alright, now that I’ve kept you waiting, let's get into the episode—the final chapter of the Cerrito Family of San Jose, California!  

The Angelo Marino Era

After family namesake Joe Cerrito’s passed away in 1978, the next man to allegedly be anointed as Boss of this small California family was a man named Angelo Marino.

Before we get into Marino, here’s a quick recap on the Cerrito Crime Family for those that didn’t watch the first episode. Based in San Jose, the Cerrito family surprisingly had connections with families all over the country, and family namesake Joe Cerrito was present at the 1957 Apalachin mob conference, which is probably the claim to fame of the entire family.

That being said, throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s, the family at large can probably be characterized as the least aggressive and least lethal LCN family in the entire country, with its members showing an extreme aversion to actually committing crimes and/or murders.

By the 1960’s, the family had roughly 20-25 ‘made’ members operating in and around San Jose, but reports would indicate that this family in particular had probably the highest percentage of informants talking with the FBI of any family in the country.

And while most members of the Cerrito family would stay out of major legal trouble, my theory is that was due in part to their focus on legitimate sources of income and activities, but probably in larger part due to the fact that this family was spilling so much information about other families around the country that the FBI kept them on the street to keep the information flowing, largely seeing them as somewhat harmless. Again, that is speculation on my part.

Over the course of his reign, while Cerrito was good at keeping his family running in the sense that they weren’t getting jammed up, several issues over time led to a general lack of confidence in his leadership, and an atmosphere where nobody in the family was probably content with the situation.

And speaking of people who showed discontent with Joe Cerrito, one of the biggest sources of discontent and general grief amongst members of the Cerrito Crime Family was the aforementioned Angelo Marino. 

Angelo Marino had been a long-time Soldier and sometimes Capo to Cerrito, and unfortunately was in hot water before ever taking the boss’ chair (if he ever took it in the first place) as we’ll cover in this episode. When I hear him mentioned today, there seems to be a healthy amount of fear and respect for who he was.

However, in my research, that was not the guy I found. But before we talk about the issues he had over time and his supposed rise to boss, let’s dig into Angelo Marino’s background as there are some very interesting connections that I didn’t expect to find.

According to reports, Angelo Anthony Marino was born on May 31, 1924 in Sharon, Pennsylvania (which is in Mercer County) to father Salvatore Marino and mother Josephine Marino (maiden name Roccapalumbo). 

However, for some unknown reason the birth registration paperwork wasn’t actually filed until February 1, 1943 (a topic that would come up in an Immigration and Naturalization Service investigation of his father). Angelo’s certificate of baptism would officially name him Angelus Antonius Marino though most reports would refer to him by the aforementioned Angelo Anthony Marino.

Angelo’s father Salvatore, was himself born in 1898 in South Flavia, a town in Palermo, Sicily, while his mother Josephine was born in 1901 in Hillsdale, Pennsylvania. According to records, Angelo had a brother, Joseph, and a sister Antoinette. According to later reports, Salvatore came to Boston in 1922 and one week later moved to Sharon, Pennsylvania, starting in the rackets about 8 years after arriving in Sharon, PA.

According to records, his son Angelo Marino would go on to attend Sharon High School in Sharon, Pennsylvania from 1938 to 1941. During 1942, Angelo would attend Greenbrier Military Academy, and then would serve in the Army as a Mess Sergeant and Gun Crewman during World War II for roughly three years before being discharged sometime in 1945.

After the war, Angelo had a choice to make about what he wanted to do with his life, and for young Angelo it really wasn’t a choice at all. For Angelo Marino, the Mafia was a family business. You see, Angelo’s father, Salvatore Marino, was a long-time member and leader within the Pittsburgh LCN family which was controlled at the time by a man named Sebastian “John” La Rocca.

Additionally, to further the connections, in the mid 1940’s in Philadelphia, Angelo was married to a woman named Precious R. Maggio, who had familial connections to the mob herself. And she would be a critical part of Angelo’s story, as her father was Michael Maggio, who was in fact a long-time leader in the Joseph Ida family in Philadelphia.

The couple would go on to have four children: Salvatore (who would also go into the family business), Josephine, Michael, and Angela.

To showcase the strong connections between the Marino’s, the Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia families, it was reported that at this wedding, besides the Maggio’s, you also had Pittsburgh boss John La Rocca, long-time Underboss and future boss himself, Mike Genovese, and soldier Gabriel “Kelly” Mannarino, Apalachin attendee who later became an informer, in attendance. 

In fact, there would also be records captured in the early 1960’s that indicated Salvatore Marino was one of the names in the address book of none other than Angelo Bruno, the subject of our several recent episodes. 

Apparently, the Marino’s and Bruno had known each other for many years going back to the Marino’s time living in Pennsylvania and due to the marriage-connections between the two families. 

The Marino’s would travel back to Pennsylvania at least yearly, and were even present at the wedding of Angelo Bruno’s daughter on August 26, 1962 and there is an interesting wiretap around this time where Angelo Bruno, Russell Bufalino, and Peter Maggio were picked up talking about the Marino’s, Salvatore and Angelo, so there was a familiarity there. 

While Precious Maggio’s father Michael had passed away by the mid 1950’s, her three brothers Peter, Mario, and Salvatore were still very close with Angelo Bruno, who took over as boss of the Philly borgata in around 1959, and were fairly influential themselves. In fact, Peter would allegedly be elevated to Capo in the 1960’s, so Precious’ brothers were not to be trifled with. But as you’ll see, Marino was one to step on toes.

Around 1950, Angelo’s father Salvatore would create the California Cheese Company, located at both 295 West San Carlos Street and 1451 Sunny Court in San Jose, California, from a man named William Biondi, who was himself connected in the Pennsylvania underworld and through marriage to the Maggio family was the brother-in-law of Angelo Marino. 

In around 1950 or 1951, Salvatore would bring his 25-year-old son Angelo in as a partner in the California Cheese Company taking over the interests of Biondi, and they would operate the company as partners for many years with Angelo managing the company. Marino had previously been employed at the Maggio Cheese Company prior to heading out west. Confirming this date is the fact that young Angelo shows up in the 1950 census records of San Jose, California listed with his wife, Precious, and their first-born son Salvatore, with the occupation listed as cheese manufacturer.

Reports in the late 1958’s would have authorities suggesting that the California Cheese Company served as a mail drop and front for the Mafia, to which the Marino’s would counter as being “ridiculous” and threaten to sue.

In the prior 20 years, Angelo’s father Salvatore, also a member of organized crime with the Pittsburgh LCN family, was allegedly an employee and partner of the Tri-State Music Company (under his wife’s name), which leased, installed and repaired juke boxes and machines, and also leased and sold records. According to several reports, Salvatore Marino was big into the numbers racket while basing his operations out of Sharon, Pennsylvania. 

A report out of the Pittsburgh FBI Office in around 1943 described Salvatore Marino as “numbers kingpin in that section” (meaning in and around Sharon, PA) and advised that he and his associates primarily operated out of an establishment called the Topsy Turvey Inn, located just across the Pennsylvania state line in Masury, Ohio.

At some point in around 1949 or 1950, the Tri-State Music Company was taken over by the Gully Bank and at that time, Salvatore and his family, including Angelo, left Sharon, Pennsylvania and headed West, settling in San Jose, California. They’d keep a piece of the Tri-State Music company into the 1950’s at least, but going forward their focus would be on operating in California.

It’s at this point that Salvatore was transferred from the La Rocca family in Pittsburgh to what was then the Sciortino family in San Jose (prior to becoming known as the Cerrito family), where he would make the rank of Capo at some point in the 1950’s.

To further show the connections between the San Jose, Pittsburgh, San Francisco families, there was an issue in March of 1956 in which Angelo’s father Salvatore would be caught traveling with Pittsburgh Boss John La Rocca all the way out in Los Angeles, California. 

The pair would be followed by police to the “Movie Town Mote” on 5920 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, which was owned by a man named Anthony Pinelli, an associate of Chicago Outfit bosses Sam Giancana and Tony Accardo. Pinelli was believed to be a leading figure in narcotics operating in Gary, Indiana.

The police would detain and according to the report “shook down” both La Rocca and Marino. In the possession of Salvatore Marino were business cards belonging to Charlie Carboni (aka Charles Carbone, Underboss of the Cerrito Crime Family with whom Marino was a close friend) and Joseph Chiana, another organized crime figure with ties to the San Jose Mafia. During the surveillance, the pair were reportedly accompanied for a time by Frank Desimone, the Boss of the Los Angeles LCN family.

So again, documented evidence of key family members meeting, and in this case meeting with someone who had a history in the narcotics trade and important connections to Chicago.

Now, I realize we’re kind of flipping back and forth between father and son, but their relative paths within the Cerrito Crime Family were somewhat intertwined.

By 1962, reports out of the San Francisco and Philadelphia FBI Field offices would describe Angelo Marino as being a “Caporegime” in Cosa Nostra. First off, this would of course indicate that at some point prior (likely in the 1950’s), Angelo had been made and had since been promoted to Capo by his family’s boss, Joe Cerrito (though many later, including San Francisco Boss James Lanza would openly suggest that Angelo was made a capo too soon). 

How does Angelo Marino become a “Capo” you might ask? Well, as with many things in this episode, it wasn’t without a bit of family-related drama. This drama in particular happened as a result of the transfer of Pittsburgh LCN soldier Dominick Anzalone from that family out West to the Cerrito family. 

An FBI report from 1967 would describe the situation (which I’m kind of picking up somewhat in the middle of a longer report), which appears to have taken place earlier in the 1960’s leading up to Angelo’s promotion in 1962:

*Quote*

“The informant indicated that Anazalone continues to lose the respect of his fellow members because he continually complains about his loss of money while making no effort to recover what is rightfully his. The fact that he is extremely wealthy and still worries about his money has brought him only disgust from fellow members who no longer have sympathy for him.

On May 5, 1967, the aforementioned informant advised that he had visited Anzalone earlier that week and that Anzalone appeared to be in poor spirits as a result of his concern relating to a deportation hearing. His attorney had instructed him to discontinue association with anyone of questionable reputation until the conclusion of his hearing and Anzalone continued to moan that ‘John La Rocca is making money by the bushel basket.’

In discussing further information concerning Anzalone, this informant advised that when Anzalone moved from Pennsylvania to California, he was placed on the payroll of the California Cheese Company in San Jose, for the purpose of making it appear to the Immigration and Naturalization Service that he was legitimately employed. This company is owned and operated by Sal Marino, former Capo de Decina of San Jose. Personal differences soon developed between the two and the relationship was severed. Marino, however, had cleverly filtered word back to La Rocca in Pittsburgh that Anzalone had made specific derogatory remarks concerning La Rocca. This caused La Rocca to become disenchanted with Anzalone, who countered through his sources and was ultimately successful in convincing La Rocca that the accusations made by Marino were untrue. As a result, Marino was replaced as Capo de Decina by his son, Angelo. This has been considered as a ‘slap in the face.’ The La Rocca-Anzalone friendship will never be the same and since this incident, Anzalone has been most circumspect in his contact with the Marinos.”

*End Quote*

So this drama, though they played a part, wasn’t entirely of their own making. However, you’ll see in the rest of this episode that the Marinos, both father and especially son, had a tendency to shoot themselves in the foot figuratively speaking.

But as I noted above, in 1962 Salvatore Marino was demoted, and Joe Cerrito (allegedly at the begging of the father) replaced the elder Marino with the younger Marino.

Speaking of the family boss, Joe Cerrito who was the focus of Part One, Angelo Marino, when interviewed by the FBI in 1962, stated that his friendship with Cerrito dated back 10 years when the Marino’s operated their cheese company at a different location in San Jose at which point Cerrito allegedly began buying cheese from the Marino’s for personal use. In return, the Marino’s would regularly buy cars from Cerrito, who owned several auto dealerships.

Also, by this time in 1962, Angelo’s father would be taking a less active role in running the California Cheese Company due to his failing health, ceding most of the daily operations to be run by Angelo and his brother, Joseph Pasquale Marino.

In addition to the California Cheese Company, Angelo Marino would also be affiliated with (and probably had a piece of) the Patti Pizza Supply Company out of San Jose owned by a close friend named P.J. Pelligrino, the cousin of a close associate of Marino’s. 

Marino also had a piece of Angie’s Pizza Parlor along with family member Frank Sorce and a man named Ray Bily. 

He’d also open Shaky’s Pizza Parlor in San Leandro, California in 1964.

Pizza parlors of course being a very natural progression of business if you own a cheese company, so it makes sense that Angelo would have a piece of a few shops.

Angelo would also begin to develop a relationship and would do some business with the Bonanno family, specifically William “Bill” Bonnano, and through association Joe Bonnano, and would make frequent trips to Arizona as a result.

In 1962, FBI reports would also indicate that while Angelo and his father were en route to Philadelphia to attend the wedding of Angelo Bruno’s daughter, they got into a heated argument. During the course of the disagreement, Salvatore was heard chastising his son for running around and not respecting his father’s wishes (which based on my research had to do with a rift that had developed between Angelo’s father and John La Rocca back in Pittsburgh over some unpaid debts), even threatening to withdraw his share of the business or sell out and move to Italy. So, the father by this time was at odds with his son.

But, you’re going to see a theme emerge as Angelo would draw the ire of those around him many times over the years.

By this time, Angelo Marino was living with his wife, Precious Marino, at 1967 East Campbell Avenue in San Jose, California while also maintaining a beach home at 611 Clubhouse Drive in Rio Del Mar, Aptos California.

However, Marino would often exercise poor judgment, and was known to have several fairly indiscreet extramarital affairs which by itself isn’t uncommon for those in “the life,” but he had a way of creating a certain kind of disrespect due to his lack of discretion that would cause issues for himself, his wife, and their extended family.

One of these indiscreet affairs, in the early part of 1962 was a tumultuous affair with a woman named “Maria Mack” would lead to a warning from his underworld compatriots, where he was threatened with a beating because he’d been “out of line,” but even with that threat Angelo would refuse to break off the extramarital affair, which in most families would get you killed. However, as we saw in Part One of the Cerrito Crime Family history, the San Jose family under the leadership of Joe Cerrito was not a very deadly family.

Now, why was Angelo Marino deemed to be out of line. Well, I found a report that indicated that Marino had pretty directly threatened his paramour Maria (also called Marino for some reason in an FBI report) by showing her his Colt .45 during an intense discussion. It was known to the FBI that Marino was a potentially dangerous man who kept a loaded revolver on the premises of the California Cheese Company. Now, to her credit, Maria was noted to have not backed down, brandishing her own .38 right back at him. So she was pretty fierce herself.

Apparently, the issue was that Maria wanted to take a trip to get away from Angelo, who in many reports came across as being very possessive. The trip was to Las Vegas to see a person named Chris. Upon hearing this request, Marino was reported by an informant to have said that if Maria went to Las Vegas to see Chris, he would kill them both. He also referred to Chris in obscene terms, saying that he had bad luck ever since 1949, when he first walked into Chris’ office.

So, this incident more than likely trickled back to the LCN bosses in San Jose and San Francisco, which put Marino in extremely hot water. Say what you will about Cosa Nostra, but hurting women was one area where the larger organization in most cases tended to take a moral stance against, though it is certainly a myth that the mob never hurt women.

This issue in particular, as well as several other issues, is likely what led to the note that I found and reported upon in Part One of the Cerrito Family history.

*Quote*

“On June 28, 1962, SF T-12 advised that on June 27, 1962, he determined that Joseph Cerrito had asked Misuraca, Camarata, and Costanza to ‘take care of’ some unidentified individual in the San Francisco area, who had gotten completely out of line. Cerrito directed that this individual be given a beating he wouldn’t forget and be given to understand why he was being worked over. According to informant, Cerrito noted that even if the individual died, it would be no great loss to the organization.”

*End Quote*

The report would go on to say:

*Quote*

“On June 29, 1962, SF T-1 advised that he felt that Marino of the California Cheese Company might possibly be the target for the beating proposed by Cerrito as described above. He said he believed this for the reason that Cerrito has displayed Marino’s ‘big-shot attitude’ and aggressive manner in entertaining visiting hoodlums in this area, thus overshadowing Cerrito. Cerrito also feels that Marino has usurped some of his status as head of the organization in this area. Informant noted that Marino had better ‘get in line’ or his head would look like a piece of mozzarella cheese.

Informant also noted that Marino was having an indiscreet love affair, which was a matter discussed with Cerrito and his associates. He pointed out further that Marino’s wife, the former Precious Maggio, is aware of Angelo’s infidelity, and she is the daughter of the late Mike Maggio, former powerful hoodlum figure in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He noted that perhaps Marino’s wife would have connections in Philadelphia, which could arrange to have Marino brought into line.”

*End Quote*

So as you can see, in the early part of the 1960’s, despite being named a Capo in the Cerrito Crime Family, Angelo’s brash behavior and infidelity was creating issues for him and the family in general. He was trying to outshine his boss and he was risking pissing off major players in the Philadelphia family, who were big-time shooters that you did not want to cross. This was on top of the rift the Marino’s were having with La Rocca in Pittsburgh. 

And all of this is a tried-and-true recipe to get yourself whacked in the Mafia, and in most families he’d have been gone. However, as I said in Part One, the Cerrito Family under Joe Cerrito, just wasn’t a lethal bunch, nor did they commit a lot of crimes, let alone execute hits, in the 1960’s or 1970’s.

In fact, FBI reports would notate that the family exhibited “little enthusiasm for illegal activities,” though they were closely monitored to ensure illegal operations were immediately known. Though they did have a lot, and I mean a lot, of informants for such a small 20-25 person family.

An informant would tell the FBI that after the family inducted him as a member – behind a cheese factory (likely the California Cheese Company) in San Jose – he was told he would have to pay $5 a month into the organization, though that requirement was later dropped. 

The family also informed him he might be called on to commit a crime, but that he could never commit a crime without the consent of the organization. However, they told him that if he were ordered to commit a crime, he was to “try to do good work.”

Now to the Cerrito family’s credit, due to their focus on legitimate activities, the Feds would have a challenging time catching them doing anything illegal. This was fairly consistent in my research. 

Bringing this back to Angelo Marino. Based on my research, no disciplinary actions ended up being taken by the family, so he was free to continue to operate.

However, Angelo’s reputation and standing in the underworld in the early 1960’s as not very good at this time, as is evidenced by another note that I came across around this time:

*Quote*

“SF T-11, on July 3, 1962, advised that an unidentified man visited Angelo Marino at the Cheese factory after hours and engaged in a long conversation with him concerning a debt Angelo owned in connection with some unidentified business. According to informant, the man gave Angelo to understand that he had taken a long time to pay and that he and others were getting concerned that Angelo wouldn’t pay the debt. This impression was gained because of Angelo’s reputation for spending and for owing money all around. It was also because many people felt he had an expensive girlfriend, who he was reportedly buying costly things, such as a car, mink stole, a house with a swimming pool, and a ring. Unknown man explained to Angelo that he was just not discreet anymore; that he will have to tend to business, and once the business is established then he can have both his business and his pleasure.

Unknown man, according to informant, had $2,000 coming and one Nick Demart and Denike (PH.), has $1,000 coming.

Angelo was told that if he gets too far in debt, he will get into trouble someplace. Angelo, according to informant, protested that he only bought his girlfriend a $200 wrist watch for Christmas and that all the rumors heard about him are false. Angelo protested that he doesn’t want to hear anymore about that unless Dominick (Ph.) is present. Unknown man told him that Dominick (possibly Dominick Anzalone) had approved his visit. He mentioned discussing Angelo and his conduct with others on their way to Jimmy Lanza’s house to play cards, when others noted Angelo’s absence. Angelo was warned that spending money and drinking would make some other unidentified individual unhappy if the Internal Revenue Service got onto it.

Unknown man, according to informant, related now he had been at the Patti Pizza Supply Company (in which Angelo has an interest) and was told by an unidentified person that he was thought to be Mr. Pellegrini (Ph.).

Informant advised that Angelo was told that he owed ‘two grand’ and ‘that’s his way of paying it off. He’s buying part of the kid’s cheese business.’ Angelo asked what ‘they’ charged and was told it would be fair.”

*End Quote*

The long report would go on to say:

*Quote*

“On July 4, 1962, Angelo Marino and his girlfriend, Maria, were at the cheese company in the early evening and Maria got some cheese to make Angelo some cheese cake. Informant advised that Angelo was at the Cheese Factory on July 16, 1962, and slept there during the night. According to informant, Angelo talked to Maria during the night on the telephone and professed his undying love for her, claiming that he had settled his debt and constantly reiterating that nobody was going to keep them apart; that he loved her and he didn’t care what anybody said, he was going to see her every chance he had. According to informant, they arranged to get together on the following day.”

*End Quote*

So if you’re keeping score, Angelo sold part of his stake in the California Cheese Company, the business handed down to him by his father and also co-run  by his brother, when he failed to pay a debt of roughly $2,000-$3,000 (the equivalent of $20,000-$30,000 today). And there were a few reports gleaned by the FBI that indicate either Angelo was flat broke, or he kept all of his personal money (which is plausible) not in a bank account to keep it away from the IRS.

And not only that, despite being chastised by many in his crime family and risking a major issue due to his wife’s connections to Philly, he was open and defiant about staying together with his girlfriend, one Maria Mack.

Again, this behavior gets you taken for a ride or dumped in the ocean in nearly every other crime family, but because he was with the Cerrito’s, Angelo was just a man in love, and he didn’t care who knew it (despite the fact that the FBI were actually trying to pin a charge of violating the White Slave Traffic Act (aka the Mann Act) on him for his trip to Arizona with Mack).

Marino around this time would be interviewed by the FBI, which would put him in more hot water and leave his family boss pretty exasperated:

*Quote*

“SF T-11 , on November 15, 1962, advised that Angelo Marino had discussed his interview with the FBI indicating that he had been questioned regarding his trip to Arizona with his girlfriend, Maria, when they stayed at the motel together. Informant advised that Marino did not know where the FBI had gotten the idea that he crossed state lines for immoral purposes. He commented, according to informant, that ‘you had to do it for money.’ According to informant, Marino concluded that this matter did not appear to be a substantial violation of the law, but would be embarrassing to him personally.

SF T-1 on November 19, 1962, advised that he had learned that Angelo Marino was interviewed by FBI Agents that date and that Joseph Cerrito had been told of this interview and the questioning regarding Subject’s travel with Maria Mack to Arizona and a possible violation of the White Slave Traffic Act. According to informant, Cerrito made the comment, ‘he got himself into it, let him get himself out of it.’ Informant advised that he had learned that Cerrito frowned upon Marino’s philandering activities.”

*End Quote*

And I promise I’ll stop reporting on this affair, but I can say it was not just taking a toll on his marriage, but was taking a toll on Angelo’s entire reputation in the underworld to the point where it seemed fairly toxic if the reports are to be believed.

Here is a report from October of 1963 indicating the affair had continued for well over a year after Angelo had risked a beating and then finally came to a head.

*Quote*

“SF T2 advised that on October 7, 1963, Precious Marino, wife of Angelo Marino, caught her husband talking on the telephone at approximately 4:30 am, October 7, 1963, with his girlfriend Maria Mack. Marino had apparently just been out with Maria Mack and was recounting their experiences. As a result, Precious Marino confronted Angelo with the information she had overheard on the telephone and threw he and his clothes out of the house.

On October 9, 1963, SF T2 advised that Salvatore Marino, Angelo’s father, was extremely upset over the situation existing between his son and his wife and was extremely disgusted with his son Angelo. Angelo Marino had requested intermediaries contact his wife on October 9, 1963, to determine if he could return home.

Information was received on October 16, 1963, indicating Precious Marino was in the Sierra Hospital, suffering from a nervous breakdown and that on October 21, 1963, Angelo Marino was confined at the hospital where he was undergoing psychiatric treatment. Angelo entered the hospital on October 18, 1963, and his wife Precious was discharged on October 19, 1963, and returned to her home. Shortly thereafter, Angelo and Precious Marino were reconciled. It is noted, however, that he continues to have clandestine dates with Maria Mack.”

*End Quote*

All I can say is good lord. Outside of the marital issues, which were bringing heat and risk in many different ways, the revelation that Angelo had sought a psychiatrist—a big no, no in that life—was stunning. And again, I’m shocked that action wasn’t taken to discipline or whack him, but with the Cerrito family the beat goes on.

And reports in 1964 would indicate that Angelo and Maria Mack were pregnant and would eventually have a child, and his wife Precious was not just threatening to leave him but threatening to “kill them both,” so a lot of very Jerry Springer-esque things were going on at this time. All of this was affecting Angelo’s standing in the underworld.

And it does appear that Precious’ brothers and members of his own LCN did eventually attempt to straighten Angelo out, and according to the reports I found, the only reason that Marino wasn’t killed was due to the intervention of a man named John Misuraca, influential member of the Colombo family of New York and brother of San Jose member Pete Misuraca.

Otherwise, Marino as I said probably would have been toast. While affairs are pretty commonplace in “the life,” and having a woman on the side is the norm, there does seem to be a double-standard when it comes to publicly embarrassing your wife and family. And I’d say that Marino was pretty clearly stepping over a line here in terms of his lack of discretion. 

Speaking of Pete, as if there wasn’t enough drama going on, around this time the Cerrito family began to have an issue with Pete Misuraca, soldier and brother of influential Colombo Capo John Misuraca (which I referenced passingly in Part One). Marino was allegedly a participant in an incident in which Misuraca made threats against fellow members of the organization, but made peace after the organization had threatened to silence him permanently.

Additionally, Angelo was given and failed to execute a contract given to him by Joe Cerrito to take out a man named Giuseppe Polimeni, who was instead arrested by the INS and determined to be wanted in Italy as well as by the INS since 1955, ultimately serving prison time instead of getting whacked by Marino.

Now, there were very few hits handed down by the San Jose LCN, but in addition to the Polimeni contract, there would be another contract handed down in November of 1962:

*Quote*

“On November 5, 1962, SF T-1 advised that information had come to him indicating Angelo Marino, ‘capo’ of San Jose, California group, had the ‘contract’ to ‘hit’ (kill) a person by the name of John Repetti or Ripepi, who managed a pizza parlor in Vacaville, California, known as Pietro’s Pizza Parlor No. 2. This man reportedly shot a ‘friend’ (member of La Causa Nostra) in Italy over six years ago and shortly thereafter came to the United States where he jumped ship. He had moved from place to place in the United States, and finally located in Vacaville, where he had been for about nine months. According to SF T-1 this individual was not himself a ‘friend’, but had been identified as the person who shot a ‘friend’ in Italy, which information allegedly came from members of ‘the organization’ in ‘the East.’

SF T1 further advised Frank Sorce, Dominick Anzalone, both of San Jose, Joseph Genovese of Stockton, California, Salvatore Constanza and Alex Camarata of the Martinez, California, area, had all been to Vacaville in an effort to determine the activities and habits of Ripepi.

SF T-1 stated that Ripepi was wanted by authorities in Italy, but that ‘the organization’ wanted to get him first. Angelo Marino reportedly made the statement that the ‘contract’ was open on Ripepi; that anyone who carried out the ‘contract’ would be well rewarded by ‘the organization’ in ‘the East.’”

*End Quote*

However, shortly after the contract was issued, John Ripepi would be sought out and arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization service, at which point Marino issued orders to make no more contacts in Vacaville, California, effectively terminating the contract. 

So it would ultimately be another case of a contract that was handed down that failed to be executed upon by Marino and other members of the family. As a Mafia family, this is not a sign of prestige and the Cerrito’s by this point were quickly losing their prestige.

Jumping ahead a little bit, I would find evidence of yet another failed “contract” handed down in February of 1967 on a man named Joe Valencia, an operator of a local catering service in Berkeley, California who was $4,000 in debt to the mob, though the contract would ultimately be canceled as well. 

Again, this was typical as the Cerrito family rarely resorted to any level of violence during the Cerrito era, and while I’m certainly not trying to glorify murdering people, this type of thing was pretty commonplace for this particular family. They didn’t have any bite, nor did they seem to inspire a great deal of fear. In fact, in this FBI memo, it appears that members of the family approached Valencia’s aunt to more or less told them to shove off.

By the spring of 1963, Marino was being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service and expected to be charged with fraud and do some jail time after it was discovered that he’d been bootlegging California Cheese Company products through his partner Ray Bily’s Alum Rock Cheese Company. As you might expect, this drew the ire of Cerrito who was reputed to have called Marino “stupid” because he knew he was being watched closely.

But it’s not all bad with Marino, as he did eventually rise to boss, which meant that he had to have at least some respect and some good qualities, right?!?

I did find an interesting note that put the Marino in a position of prominence with respect to union organizing in the San Jose area, which would be something that would bring money in for the family, and had him in contact with Eugene Bufalino, the brother of Bill Buffalino, the lawyer out of Detroit, as well as Angelo Bruno the don of Philadelphia. The goal was to get Sal Costanza into the new General Motors plant as a union organizer.

By the mid-1960’s, Marino was shown to have at least a passing relationship with a man who would become very important in the Los Angeles Crime Family and would eventually become a major government informant, Aladeno “Jimmy the Weasel” Fratianno. He’d also show up in paperwork meeting with Sal and Frank Bompensiero of the Los Angeles family on a fairly regular basis as well. 

So it’s clear that while he wasn’t particularly on the ball, he did have some relationships with key figures outside of San Jose—especially when you include the Bonanno connection and his Pittsburgh and Philadelphia roots.

It’s also around this time that the heat from the FBI really ratchets up on the family, with San Jose members openly expressing significant concerns about the level of law enforcement heat on them. They even went so far as to suspend meetings of the group.

Marino would face an IRS case in 1967 that would ultimately be dismissed. What is interesting about this report is that it suggests that Marino is a “former” Capo de Decina, indicating that he may have been demoted around this time in 1967 which would make a lot of sense given his conduct. Reports from 1969 would confirm this fact.

In 1968, Angelo Marino would actually have some personal health issues, suffering a heart attack and having to be removed from a plane flight he was taking, and thus spending a good deal of time out of commission in the hospital. There was some concern amongst his family members that he may soon suffer from a mental breakdown. The FBI had also noted that by this time he had finally divorced his wife, Precious Marino, who moved back to Philadelphia with the couple’s daughter. There were also discussions that the Marino’s may have been attempting to sell the California Cheese Company, though it ultimately would remain in the family for many more years. Marino would allegedly remarry years later to a woman named Maryann.

It’s also around this time in 1968 that the family is dealing from the fallout of the LIFE Magazine article, which would mention Marino as the “cheese man,” on the Mafia and the subsequent lawsuit filed by Cerrito.

Relating to that article and lawsuit, a conversation was picked up and recording in a 1968 FBI field report that I alluded to in the Part One featuring none other than Tampa Boss, Santo Trafficante, who had been visiting in San Diego and had a very pointed conversation about Angelo Marino with this highly-placed informant. It also sheds a little more light on the demotion of Angelo’s father from Capo, and Angelo’s subsequent promotion in the early 1960’s. And not only that, it corroborates the stories of Angelo dragging his feet on several murder contracts.

*Quote*

“The San Diego Office, by communication dated April 10, 1968, advised that SF T-5 furnished the following information concerning his visit with Santo Trafficante, Jr., LCN boss of Florida, when they met in San Diego on April 1, 1968.

Santo questioned the informant about the ‘Life’ magazine article regarding the San Jose family. The informant told him it was all true. He told Santo that at the time he was a close friend of LCN ‘Capo’ Angelo Marino of San Jose. He described how Angelo’s father, Salvatore Marino, had been a ‘Capo’ in the San Jose family and that several years ago, the San Jose LCN boss, Joe Cerrito, wanted Sal to step down. Sal contacted the informant to get his opinion and the informant advised him that since Cerrito felt that way, he should step down, but only on condition that his son, Angelo, take his place. Cerrito agreed to this and this is how Angelo became ‘Capo.’

Santo described Angelo as a very weak man who could not kill anyone if his own life depended on it and that he had no talent whatsoever for LCN racket activity; that most of his adult life was spent chasing women and gambling while his father had to run the California Cheese Co.

Informant told Santo that around 1963 or 1964 Angelo came to contact the informant and told him that he had received an execution contract and sought advice. The informant advised that Angelo wanted him to help but he told Angelo he was still on parole and could have nothing to do with it. He told Angelo to take a couple of trusted ‘soldiers’ and carry out the contract. Sometime later he heard that the intended victim was picked up by Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for deportation and he always suspected Angelo, instead of killing the intended victim, made an anonymous call to have him picked up rather than kill him. He stated that from questioning Angelo at the time, he learned Angelo had even talked to the intended victim while the contract was in force and he also learned the contract had been given Angelo by the LCN San Jose boss, Joe Cerrito.

*End Quote*

So, this entire conversation is a pretty damning indictment of Marino, and just for clarity’s sake, the contract being referred to was either the contract on Giuseppe Polimeni or the contract on  John Ripepi, both of whom would be arrested by the INS before being whacked.

And I promise you, I have no personal vendetta against Angelo Marino. I’m not trying to slant this story in any particular way. It’s just that most of the reports relating to him do not tend to indicate that he had his act together, nor do they indicate that he was well-regarded by his contemporaries, despite having a lot of good connections.

Speaking of connections, I’d be remiss to not cover one of those. That being Marino’s relationship with a man named Joseph Alioto. I touched on Alioto in Part One, but for those that don’t know, Alioto was a politician in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and was the 36th mayor of San Francisco from 1968 to 1976. Prior to his mayorship, he had a law practice focused on antitrust cases, and in 1980, he famously represented Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders in a landmark antitrust case entitled Los Angeles Coliseum Commission v. The NFL.

As it turns out, Angelo Marino was being investigated for tax evasion in the early to mid 1960’s, and he would leverage his relationship with Alioto to wiggle out of it. In the early part of 1963, Marino would make contact with Alioto as well as an attorney attached to Alioto’s office. Joseph Alioto’s son, Joe Alioto, Jr. would represent Marino in the case.

In January of 1965, Marino (who was 40 at this time), would be arrested and charged with evading $11,314 in personal income taxes and $19,095 in corporate income taxes from the years of 1961 and 1962. The indictment stated that Marino’s income in 1961 was $29,831 and not $17,264 as Marino had reported. And then in 1962, the indictment contended that Marino actually earned $33,906 but only reported an income of $15,734. 

Altogether, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Broznahan Jr. would state that Marino faced a bill of $178,220 for back taxes and penalties in addition to criminal prosecution. For those doing the math at home, the government alleged that Marino had evaded $30,409 in taxes (the equivalent of roughly $297,534 in today’s money), but expected him to pay a total of $178,220 ($1,743,775 in today’s money). That sounds out of order to me, but then again, knowing that Marino was a mob figure, I think they were trying to hit him where it hurt—his wallet. This undoubtedly made him sweat as I think it would anyone.

Ultimately and unsurprisingly, Marino’s income tax case would be dismissed on May 22, 1967 when it was discovered that the FBI had used bugging devices to obtain the key evidence against Marino. So, a bit of good luck for Angelo as he was able to skate off scott free.

Just four months later, FBI reports suggest that in 1967 Marino paid $3,000 to the mayoral campaign of Alioto. Now, that’s not a ton ($27,000 in today’s money), but it’s not nothing. It appeared to be a case of you scratch my back I scratch yours. I don’t have any evidence that the elder Alioto actually helped at all with his case, but a guy can speculate right?

By the end of the 1960’s, things appeared to be back on track for Marino, although Angelo’s father Salvatore would end up in the hospital, and Angelo would resume running the operations of the California Cheese Company.

But things were about to heat up regarding Angelo’s connection with Mayor Joseph Alioto.

Though Alioto would deny ties to organized crime over the course of his career, a damning article in Look Magazine in 1969 would connect Alioto directly to Angeo Marino dubbing him a “significant member of the Mafia on the West Coast.” 

The article would connect Alioto with other mobsters as well including James Lanza, Boss of San Francisco, and Aladena “Jimmy the Weasel” Fratianno, high-ranking member of the Los Angeles family and infamous mob rat. Reports would later come out that the FBI had been the primary source feeding Look the information for the article.

And in addition to that, FBI reports would allege that Alioto’s ties to the Mafia were even deeper than that. Like Marino, the Mafia was in his blood. Joseph Alioto’s father was a man named Guiseppe Alioto, who was in fact the cousin of a man named John Alioto. John Alioto was famous for being the LCN Boss of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, before relinquishing the family to his son-in-law, none other than Frank Balistrieri. Small world, right?

Alioto as well as Marino would eventually sue Look Magazine for libel, as the case had both men in the news quite a lot in the early 1970’s, which isn’t good if you’re a public official or a member of the Mafia. 

The Look Magazine trials would become one of the longest and most bitterly contested libel suits of all time, with Look Magazine spending over $1MM defending itself, though Alioto would go on to win, being awarded $350,000 in libel judgment in May of 1977. As for Angelo’s Marino’s portion of the suit, his case would go nowhere.

This suit was very similar to Joe Cerrito’s Life Magazine lawsuit, except Alioto actually came out a winner, despite what I believe to be his very real ties to the mob.

Now resetting on Marino. By this time in the early 1970’s, Angelo had previously been a Capo, but was in the position of Soldier after his demotion, and the family’s Capos were Emanuel “Manny” Figlia and Philip Morici, while the Underboss position was left vacant for the time being after the death of Charles Carbone. 

According to a 1969 legal deposition, the size of the family at this time was in the mid-20’s in terms of total number of ‘made’ members.

Save for the Look Magazine issue and the Life Magazine suit, Marino and the entire Cerrito family rolled into the 1970’s fairly uneventfully in terms of other family business. However, by 1973 Angelo would be recorded as openly expressing great discontent for the family’s leadership.

Then in 1974, Angelo’s personal family would take a blow as his father Salvatore, the man who’d brought him into the Mafia and set him up to run the California Cheese Company would pass away at the age of 74. Although they didn’t seem to have a great relationship, Salvatore was an important person in who Angelo ultimately became.

By 1975, members of the family who had long been tired of Joseph Cerrito’s leadership would attempt to get him to step down as boss, efforts to which he was resistant. 

There would even be reports that Joe Bonanno and a Chicago contingent were attempting to take over San Jose, concerning incumbent San Jose family members.

There were also articles a few years later while Cerrito was still alive laying out just how dissatisfied family members, specifically Angelo Marino, were with Cerrito’s leadership and comparing the group to Jimmy Breslin’s, “Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight.” 

And this happened all while Cerrito was still alive mind you. Here’s a small snippet from the article, and I think this really kind of sums things up:

*Quote*

“For at least 15 years, Angelo Marino has been dissatisfied with the way the Mafia has been run in the Santa Clara Valley.

In fact, Marino’s dissatisfaction with the stewardship of Joseph Cerrito, longtime head of the San Jose Mafia ‘family,’ has at times bordered on open contempt. As Marino saw things, Cerrito cost the family both money and Mafia respect by holding himself and his men aloof from common street rackets.

Members of Cerrito’s family have confined themselves, according to law enforcement officials, largely to such legitimate ventures as auto agencies, orchards, bakeries, dry-cleaning plants and restaurants. All of which irked Marino, who reportedly yearned for more traditional Mafia operations, including gambling, loansharking and extortion.”

*End Quote*

As I mentioned in Part One, given everything that was going on and the level of contempt likely from more than just Marino, I’m both really surprised that an assassination attempt wasn’t made, and unsurprised because by this point you can see that the family under Joe Cerrito had a significant aversion to public crimes and though they were Mafia, didn’t seem to have the same level of aggression as other families around the country.

But I think one thing is clear, Joe Cerrito and Angelo Marino were not what I’d call close friends, and had significantly different philosophies on how things should be run. Not only that, Marino was bold enough to talk about his differences with the boss publicly, which in other families wouldn’t have happened without Marino getting his head put on a pike so to speak.

But you will see that the differences in philosophy show themselves pretty quickly, and the Marino’s would show that they did in fact have a violent streak. And they were getting bolder in their actions, they being Angelo Marino and his son, Salvatore Joseph Marino (who we’ll discuss very soon).

In fact, a heavily redacted report dated from January of 1975 would suggest that a man who had visited the California Cheese Company would be threatened, reporting that the Marino family was “going to get him,” with the report going on to suggest that the man had literally been held with a knife at his throat and a gun at his head, and told to sign over his truck, house, and all belongings. According to other reports around the incident, the beating stemmed from the discovery that one of Marino's partners had been selling watered-down milk to the California Cheese Company.

An slightly-less-redacted version of the report detailed the incident:

*Quote*

“The information is as follows: 1-15-75, Wednesday, Mr. [Blank] advised that the subject [Blank] California Cheese Company in San Jose and that after [Blank] was invited to the office of Angelo Mareno, the owner of California Cheese Company. According to Mr. [Blank] when Mr. [Blank] arrived at Mr. Mareno’s office there were three subjects present. The subjects being Angelo Mareno, Salvadore Mareno [Blank] from the Luis Transportation Company. According to Mr. [Blank] he was told by [Blank] that upon the arrival at Mareno’s office the subject [Blank] was grabbed around the neck by Salvadore Mareno and a knife was held to his throat and further advised that Angelo Mareno struck the subject several times about the face with a pistol, unknown make or caliber.

According to Mr. [Blank] He was told by subject [Blank] that the meeting took approximately ten minutes, all this time the subject held a knife to his throat and the other subject beat him with the pistol. After the beating was inflicted upon him, Mr. [Blank] was forced to sign a statement made out by the California Cheese Company and this statement was to effect that He. [Blank] Cheese Plant [Blank] Mr. [Blank] further advised that he was told by [Blank] that the subject Angelo Marino told him that he would later [Blank] further according to Mr. [Blank] the subject [Blank] was present during the time that the beating was given to [Blank] and had witnessed the whole transaction. 

Mr. [Blank] advised that he had been in contact with Mr. [Blank] several times since the date of the beating and attempted to get him to report the incident, however he indicated that the subject [Blank] owners of the California Cheese Company would attempt to do him some type of bodily harm again. [Blank] however did tell Mr. [Blank] that he had gone to the doctor in San Jose for treatment of the injuries inflicted by the beating with the pistol and also had apparently some type of knife wound on his throat area.”

*End Quote*

So, one thing was clear to me, and will become even more clear by the end of this episode. Say what you will about Angelo Marino, who as I presented has a very uneven career in the mob. However, Angelo’s son Sal Marino, seemed to be quite the enforcer and not a guy to mess around with under any circumstances. At least that’s the impression I’ve gotten in my research.

There were several instances in the mid-1970’s where reports would indicate that the Marino’s, father and son, were beginning to shake down other companies specifically in the cheese and dairy business, with reports of Sal Marino shooting up apartments and maybe even being involved in a murder in 1974 prior to being sent to Italy while the heat cooled off. In fact, some sources would suggest that at one point the Marino’s controlled 85% of California’s mozzarella and ricotta business.

Now, back to Joseph Cerrito. Throughout the 1970’s, Joe Cerrito would suffer many health ailments, including a heart attack in December of 1975, which he’d survive. (It’s also worth noting that in the mid-1970’s, Angelo Marino would also have some similar heart-related issues)

Joseph Cerrito would ultimately passing away on September 7, 1978.

Again, as I covered in Part One, long-time family boss Joe Cerrito’s funeral ended up being somewhat of a spectacle, with Angelo Marino taking center stage. According to the San Francisco Examiner, the funeral was like Cerrito’s life—part respectable, part gutter:

*Quote*

“GRIEF, ANGER AS CERRITO LAID TO REST

LOS GATOS—The funeral of Joseph X Cerrito was like his life—part respectable, part gutter.

There as Los Gatos Town Councilman Tom Ferrito serving as a pallbearer for the longtime local resident and businessman.

And there was Cerrito’s fellow businessman, California Cheese Co. President Angelo Marino, said to be as deeply involved as he in Mafia activities.

Marino was angrily shouting at a photographer, introducing upon his mourning, ‘Your mother is a ******* whore.’

Cerrito, dead of natural causes at age 67, had just been carried into St. Mary’s Catholic Church in a solid bronze casket. His wife, Elizabeth, followed the casket as did his three sons and their children.

About 250 of his relatives and friends came to mourn his passing. From the four dozen roses in the casket spray to the graveside floral array at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery, there was no sign of ostentation. Cadillacs were outnumbered by Datsuns 12 to 11, and there was only one Rolls Royce.

A gray-haired man in his early 60’s sighting a photographer he mistook for a federal officer, thrust his chest in front of the lens and before a friend could intervene said: ‘You wanna eat that damned camera for dinner?’”

*End Quote*

After Cerrito’s death, the FBI would suggest that operations of the family were being directly controlled by the family’s long-time Underboss, Emanuel “Manny” Figlia. This would make sense as Figlia served as Cerrito’s right-hand man for years, kind of like the Samwise Gamgee to Cerrito’s Frodo Baggins if you will.

However, many other sources including Wikipedia and sites like the Mob Museum and AmericanMafia.com alleged that Angelo Marino took over as Boss of the family in 1978. Quite frankly, most of the public sites who haven’t done the deep research will tend to lean this way with Marino taking over. 

However, I want to be clear on this point. Angelo Marino being linked to the boss position in San Jose in 1978 after Cerrito’s death was not something I was not able to confirm with any FBI paperwork. It just wasn’t that clear, nor did I see any paperwork that labeled him as Boss. The only reference to the change in leadership indicated Figlia, not Marino, actually took things over. And quite honestly, based on what I know about this family I think I tend to believe that, even though the Marino’s (for good reason) get a lot of the press.

That being said, personal conversations with people local to the area confirm that the Marino’s were to be feared, whether Angelo was truly the boss or not.

While I’m not one to promote a Reddit thread as fact, there was a pretty good thread about this very subject a few months ago that I think worth quoting and that aligns to what I saw in research as well:

*Quote*

“By 1975 a strong desire among the San Jose membership for an election to name a new boss. Cerrito had successfully used the fear of law enforcement surveillance to forestall any large-scale meetings of the crime family’s members for several years by this point, though he was certain that if an election were to occur, he would be ousted. Capo Manny Figlia was named his most likely successor, and Cerrito confided to James Lanza, boss of San Francisco, in 1975 that he intended to resign before any election was ever held, to save himself the embarrassment of being removed. We have no evidence however, that he did in fact step down before his death in 1978, and he may have continued to successfully stall any election efforts.

Emmanuel J. Figlia 1978-????

Obviously Wikipedia isn’t a good source but it states after Cerrito’s death capo Angelo Marino became the new boss. I’d make the case however that capo Emanuel Figlia succeeded instead. A 1978 report on organized crime in California gives conflicting statements on Angelo’s position. On his own entry he is described as ‘’a high-level member of the San Jose Mafia for many years’’, but in another entry on one of his associates it states, ‘’Angelo Marino, named by the U.S. Congressional Record as the leader of the San Jose Mafia.’’. Now the report was released in May of that year, while Joe Cerrito did not die until September. This means that either Cerrito was in fact ousted before his death and that Marino was elected in his place, or the report itself was wrong to label him as the leader, and instead should have called him one of the leaders of San Jose mafia. It seems that the Congressional record report they were referring to is in fact from 1969, which they’d already referenced, and names him as a Captain in the San Jose mafia rather than outright boss.

If an election had been held before Cerrito’s death in 1978 it was instead, Figlia, that should have succeeded. He had been acknowledged by informants and the FBI as the second highest ranking member behind Cerrito since as early as 1967, and indeed just three years before the latter’s death was seen as the next in line to replace him, also having the backing of the nearby San Francisco family. If an election had been held after Cerrito’s death, it’s even more certain Angelo would not have been selected as boss. He was at the time facing enormous publicity from a failed double murder in 1977 that would last right up until his death in 1983 and beyond. The low-key San Jose membership would have been very unlikely to elect him as boss in 1978 because of this. What we do know for certain, at least according to police sources, was that Manny Figlia was boss by 1987, a special hearing of the United States government 25 years after mafia informer Joe Valachi, identifying him as such.”

*End Quote*

In addition to that great thought-provoking post, there are some really great comments in the thread which I will link to on my website.

However, I’ll quickly share the best comment, which I wouldn’t do unless it was well-sourced:

*Quote*

“There isn’t actually any proof Figlia succeeded Cerrito. When you reference the 25 Years after Valachi Report, it should be noted that there is no boss listed for San Jose in their chart. On the page directly addressing the San Jose leadership, Figlia is listed as the underboss – though the digitized version is not in great shape, the text under his name is much longer than that of James Lanza and Joe Bonanno, both known as the leaders of their families (not that Tucson was a family).

This is backed up by a 1985 FBI membership list, where Figlia is listed as the underboss and the boss position is vacant.

It’s more likely that Marino took over from Cerrito, given that he and his associates were some of the last active remnants of the family by this point. Joseph Piazza, who you reference later, was actually an inducted member of the San Jose family (see 1985 list) and given his association with Marino, it is very likely he was brought into the family by him.”

*End Quote*

So truly, nobody including the government really knows who officially took the family over except for those in the family in a position to know. Maybe they chose to let the family die out naturally, and maybe they kept it going for a few more years. 

Now, even if Angelo Marino took over as Boss, his longevity was on life support from the very beginning due to an issue of his own making. In fact, his reign was really over before it started (if it started in the first place), and this would tend to fit his modus operandi.

The Brutal Murder That Precipitated the Decline of the Cerrito Crime Family

In October of 1977, less than a year before supposedly taking over as the family’s new boss, Angelo Marino and his son Salvatore Marino would be involved in a situation with a 24-year-old man named Peter Catelli and his father, 50-year-old Orlando Catelli.

And quite honestly, with the exception of maybe Joe Cerrito’s attendance at the Apalachin mob meeting or the LIFE Magazine lawsuit in the late 1960’s, this incident was likely the biggest event in the history of the San Jose Cosa Nostra family.

The reason for that is simple. This group was not historically known as a group that committed violence. On October 12, 1977, that changed.

A report in the Oakland Tribune would describe the grisly incident:

*Quote*

“ARREST IN TRUNK SLAYING

“San Jose police have arrested Salvatore Joseph Marino Jr. on a murder charge in connection with the shooting of a Concord real estate man and his son who were found locked in an automobile trunk in San Francisco’s Mission District last night.

The son died, but the father pounded on the trunk lid and called for help until police came and then he named Marino as the man who shot them.

Police said the victims were beaten and shot in a house trailer at the California Cheese Company at 1451 Sunny Court in San Jose, a company owned by the Marino family, members of which figured prominently in the testimony in former San Francisco Mayor Joseph L. Alioto’s libel lawsuit against Look magazine for writing that Alioto was connected to the Mafia.

The victims were identified by police as Orlando J. Catelli, 50, and his son, Peter Catelli, 24, both of 945 Bancroft Rd., Apartment 116A, in Concord.

They were discovered at about 9:30 p.m. yesterday locked in the trunk of the father’s 1975 white Cadillac DeVille which was parked at the curb at Garfield Park in the 2900 block of Harrison Street.

James McIntyre, of 2905 Harrison St., called police when he heard loud thumping from inside the car trunk.

Police and firemen pried open the trunk to find Peter Catelli dead from a gunshot wound in the back of his head. Orlando Catelli had also been shot in the head but he was alive and talking.

Police Official Joe E. Tursi said the elder Catelli talked to him even before the trunk lid was opened, asking Tursi to ‘get any kids away from here because my son is dead.’

Officer Tursi said, ‘He yelled that he knew who did it. He said a Marino, from a cheese company in San Jose, had ordered the execution and that Marino’s son pulled the trigger.’

Both victims were severely beaten, their eyes blackened, their faces lacerated.

*End Quote*

The article would go on to say that Orlando Catelli was talking with police in San Francisco General Hospital in “fair condition,” while Angelo Marino was taken to the hospital the following day after suffering a heart attack, though he was in stable condition. Other reports would indicate that the elder Catelli actually had a fractured skull, so a bit more series than “fair,” but he was alive.

An autopsy on Peter Catelli would indicate that he had been shot once in the back of the head, the bullet going from left to right. Prior to being shot, he’d been struck on the head but was alive when he was shot. The autopsy surgeon recovered a jacketed lead bullet which he said was probably .38-caliber.

While the motives for the killing were initially unclear, the San Jose News would report that a tipster had said a war was brewing between Angelo Marino “and some other guys.”

A separate article in the San Francisco Examiner the day after the killing gave a description of the Marino family, beginning with the youngest Marino, Salvatore, then touching on Angelo’s father, who as we know was also named Salvatore, and then finally discussing Angelo himself before turning back to the particulars of the actual homicide. None of it was good publicity for the Marino’s or the larger Cerrito family as a whole:

*Quote*

“Young Marino was taken into custody as he drove up to the company plant on the frontage road off Highway 101 early today. Police armed with a search warrant, had begun searching the premises more than an hour earlier and were still at it shortly before noon.

Salvatore Marino, then 72, was a witness in 1970 in former Mayor Joseph Alioto’s $12.5 million libel suit against non-defunct Look Magazine, which alleged the former mayor had links to the Mafia.

He said at the time he had been in the numbers racket in Pennsylvania in the 1930s but had never been arrested or in a courtroom before in his life.

Angelo Marino was also a witness in the Alioto trial in May, 1970. He denied he met with reputed Mafia executioner James ‘The Weasel’ Fratianno in Alioto’s law office in 1964, as alleged in the Look article.

In an earlier phase of the trial, Angelo Marino took the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer questions relating to his background and whether he was ever a member of La Cosa Nostra or the Mafia.

After four trials spanning 7½ years, Alioto finally won a judgment against Look for $350,000 plus court costs. The court found he had been the subject of malicious defamatory statements.

Discovery of the attack victims here last night also launched investigations here and in Concord.

Local homicide inspectors, however, refused to give more than a bare-bones account.

They said passersby heard a pounding on the trunk lid of the blue and white car, parked in the 2900 block of Harrison Street in the Garfield Park area, about 9:30 p.m.

‘I’m hurt. Get me out of here,’ came a muffled cry.

Police were summoned and unable to get the trunk open, they called firemen who pried it up.

Inside were Catelli, 48, who had been shot once in the head but was alive and conscious, and his son, Peter, 24, shot once in the back of the ear, who apparently died instantly.

The father was taken to San Francisco General Hospital where he was placed under police protection. Doctors described his condition as serious.

Homicide inspector Jeffery Brosch refused to comment on reports that the elder Catelli told officers he knew who his assailants were.

Immediately after the discovery, Concord police went to the Catelli home and placed Catelli’s wife under police protection.

Brosch also declined to say why police apparently believe the shootings occurred in the San Jose area or to discuss a possible motive.

Several items, including a full set of golf clubs, a briefcase and a leather bag, were found in the back seat of the Cadillac.

The killing recalled the 1947 murder of mobster Nick DeJohn, who was garroted and stuffed into the trunk of a convertible. His body was found two days later in the car parked in the Marina District.

Associates, however, recoiled at the idea that Catelli could have been involved in the underworld.

Ed Zickefoose, owner of the Olympia Realty Co. of Contra Costa County, for whom Catelli worked as a salesman, described him as ‘steady… he always did good work.’

‘He was a supernice, real happy-type guy who was always laughing and warming up to people very easily at parties,’ Zickefoose said.

He and his wife often bowled with Catelli and his wife, Rose, the realtor said, and Peter joined such a party once a few months ago.

Nick Antuna, under whose supervision Catelli worked in Olympia’s Concord office, called the victim ‘a great guy, a little straight-laced and conservative even.’

Just law week, Antuna said, Catelli mentioned that he belonged to the Walnut Creek Elks Lodge and ‘had just joined some sort of an American Legion organization.’

*End Quote*

Now, many of the articles seem to disagree about the older Catelli’s age, but the fact remains that the younger Catelli had been brutally slain and both men had been viciously assaulted, presumably by the Marino’s. In any event, this murder would shatter both the Catelli family as well as the Marino’s.

But the question ultimately was, why? Why was a “straight-laced and conservative” young man dealing with the Marino’s in the first place, and what triggered such a violent end?

An article in the days after the murder would uncover the motive, and unless you’re familiar with the story already, I’m going to guarantee it’s not one you’d expect given that we’re dealing with the Mafia here, but with the San Jose Mafia it kind of makes sense. 

I’m going to read a few excerpts from the article revealing the stunning motive:

*Quote*

“Peter Catelli was killed and his innocent father seriously wounded because the younger man was trying to extort $100,000 from the president of a San Jose cheese factory, informed law enforcement sources said today.

….

Local sources said young Catelli had been demanding money from the elder Marino for more than a week on threats that if it weren’t paid he would import hit men from the East ‘to blow him away.’

The elder Marino, the sources continued, got in touch with Orlando Catelli, described as a ‘straight-arrow type,’ and told him what was happening. He suggested that Catelli bring his son to the cheese company office in San Jose for a talk.

After that, young Catelli was taken to a house trailer nearby and was shot. His father was brought into the room, shown his dead son, and then shot in the back of the head as he grieved, the sources said.

The bullet, however, went under the skin and ranged downward without inflicting brain damage. It did cause heavy bleeding that led the assailants to think the father was dead also.

Assuming both men were killed, their assailants loaded them into the trunk of the older Catelli’s Cadillac and began driving north.

The sources said the plan was to dispose of the bodies in Oakland, but the lead car of at least a two-car caravan took the wrong offramp and wound up in the Mission District here where the Cadillac was abandoned.

*End Quote*

The article would report that authorities became aware of the Catelli’s two or three weeks before the incident and had received reports that they’d made acquaintances with people in San Jose who were “mob-connected.” There were several other disturbing reports about the younger Catelli potentially making friends and enemies with the wrong sorts of people, being willing to talk with the FBI, and even mentioning that he’d be “going to look for some people and settle some debts.” 

Rumors circulated that the dispute was over a $20,000 debt that Marino owed the younger Catelli, who in turn wanted his money back with significant interest.

So, from the outside looking in, it appears this young man was playing with fire and ultimately got burned. As for the father, it appears that he was completely innocent and was simply trying to extricate his son from a very bad situation, and when it all ultimately went bad he survived by playing dead.

As additional reports came out, the story of this murder would get even more twisted. An article in the Concord Transcript just a few days after the murder said the following:

*Quote*

“POLICE REPORTS OF CATELLI MURDER ALLEGE

HIS LIFE DEPENDED ON A VOTE

“With just minutes left in his young life, 24-year-old Peter Catelli reportedly lay beaten while his executioners took a vote on whether to ‘blow him away,’ according to documents released yesterday.

Official criminal complaints released by San Jose police say Catelli’s alleged killers voted to murder the Concord man.

Catelli and his father Orlando, a real estate salesman in Concord, were found beaten and shot in the trunk of their auto parked in San Francisco Tuesday night. When police pried open the trunk, they found the 49-year-old father still alive with the body of his dead son beside him.

The elder Catelli remains in stable condition today in San Francisco General Hospital where he’s being treated for a gunshot wound to the head.

San Jose police secured warrants yesterday for the arrest of Thomas Napolintano, Charles Jose Piazza and Angelo Marino, 53, all of San Jose.

Police had arrested Marino’s 29-year-old son, Salvatore, Wednesday morning in addition to picking up Napolitano yesterday. The elder remains in a San Jose hospital where he was admitted with a heart attack soon after his son’s arrest. Piazza is still at large.

All four men were being held or sought for investigation of murder, attempted murder and conspiracy, according to San Jose Police Sgt. Bob Burroughs.

Burroughs would not confirm or deny a newspaper report that a $100,000 extortion plot was involved in the attack.

According to the complaint, Peter Catelli was ‘escorted’ by Napolintano to the San Jose offices of the Marino’s California Cheese Company.

There, the complaint states, he was confronted by the other three men, who were armed, and was taken to the trailer office on the premises.

Catelli was ‘physically assaulted’ by Salvatore and Angelo Marino, the complaint alleges. Then, the report says, Angelo ‘did request the vote of all’ to decide Catelli’s fate.

Salvatore Marino and Napolintano cast ballots ‘to blow him away,’ the complaint says. It was not clear if or how Piazza and Angelo Marino voted.

*End Quote*

All I have to say is dear God that’s both heartless and brutal if it is indeed true, and I do believe that it is, especially with the fact that in talking with people from the area, the sheer brutality is still remembered and tends to lean people towards staying silent about such things.

Not only that, but this was a serious breach of the protocol of the Cerrito Crime Family, which in the past had such a great aversion to organized crime that they either avoided it altogether or any acts of criminality had to go through the boss first. 

Now given that this is less than a year before the death of Cerrito, and his hold on the family was weak at best by this time, I could see why Angelo Marino and son might be brash enough to do something like this. 

It’s either that or Cerrito, Figlia, and the rest knew and approved of such action, which honestly I’d find hard to believe if true. My guess is that Figlia more than likely was 100% fine with Marino taking the heat and being the lightning rod from the trial, while he himself stayed in the shadows. However, that is just speculation on my part.

While I won’t get into the blow-by-blow of the trial, due to the Mafia implications, there was a lot of publicity around the murder trial with the media even referring to Marino as the “Cheese King,” and Marino claiming self defense, and as a result, the trial would be moved to Los Angeles (with Marino allegedly being very upset at the proposition of the trial taking place in San Jose). 

Orlando Catelli, the star witness, would recount how he was shot as he prayed over his dead son’s body, saying how he was asked to kill his own son to which he refused, before watching in horror as the events unfolded leading to the demise of his son.

The tale was truly harrowing and shows what sinister individuals the Marino’s appeared to be in this case:

*Quote*

“KEY WITNESS TESTIFIES IN ‘CHEESE KING’ TRIAL

“LOS ANGELES (AP) — The key witness in a reputed Mafia figure’s trial told a harrowing tale of murder in a cheese factory, recounting how he was shot as he prayed over his dead son’s body.

Orlando Catelli, who is under federal guard because his life is presumed to be in danger, was to continue his testimony today. 

Catelli, 50, recalled Wednesday the murder of his son, Peter, 24, in a dispute with ‘Cheese King’ Angelo Marino and a group of associates who took a vote on the murder. Catelli glared across the courtroom at Marino, 55, a reputed Mafia leader in the San Jose area.

The witness told how Marino confronted Peter Catelli on Oct. 11, 1977, and spoke of killing. The son had sent a letter to Marino allegedly attempting to extort $100,000 and threatening Marino’s family.

At Marino’s cheese factory, Catelli said he was asked to kill his own son but refused, and then watched Marino’s son Salvatore, 30, pistol whip and kick Peter Catelli.

When he tried to help, the father said he was threatened with guns turned on him by Marino and co-defendent Charles J. Piazza also a reputed Mafia figure.

As the attack on Peter continued, Catelli said Marino asked for a vote on his fate and Salvatore Marino was the first to say ‘blow him away.’

Catelli said he was then taken to another room where Piazza said he was going to ‘scare the kid (Peter)’ by firing a shot which Peter would think had hit his father. He watched as Piazza fired the fake shot into a mozzarella cheese box.

‘Then Angelo came out,’ Catelli recalled. ‘He says ‘Doc, I’m sorry. Your son went for the gun and Sal had to shoot him. It was an accident.’

‘I was stunned,’ said Catelli. ‘I didn’t say anything. Then he said, ‘What are we going to do?’’

‘I says, ‘Mr. Marino, give me a gun, take the bullets out of it. I’ll put my fingerprints on it, take my son’s body to the police and tell them I killed him.’’

At that point, he said a door opened, Marino pointed to Peter’s body and said, ‘There’s your son. Get him out of here.’

It was then, Catelli said, he knelt beside his son’s body as Salvatore Marino stood over him. He indicated it was the younger Marino who shot him as he knelt in prayer.

Catelli said once he realized he was shot, he decided to play dead.”

*End Quote*

Wow. That story is cold-blooded. And like I said, the sheer brutality is still remembered even today, and the people I’ve talked to when it comes to this subject prefer to stay mum, and for good reason I’d say.

In all, five men were charged with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and kidnapping including: Salvatore Marino, Angelo Marino, Thomas Napolitano, Joseph Piazza, and Andrew DiDomenico. And again as I had said earlier, the trial was eventually moved from San Jose to Los Angeles to ensure a fair trial.

The original trial itself, beginning in 1979 and running through 1980 would take five months, and then several years to fully unwind, and this is another area where Wikipedia gets it wrong. Wikipedia will say that Marino was convicted on October 12, 1980, when in fact he was actually convicted on July 12, 1980 of second-degree murder. 

Angelo Marino would also be found guilty on other counts including assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, and conspiracy. He would be found innocent of kidnapping.

The other defendant Joseph Piazza was found guilty of second-degree murder, but innocent of kidnapping.

Andrew DiDomenico was found innocent of conspiracy and kidnapping, and had a mistrial declared on his role as an accessory to murder.

Salvatore Marino, whose trial was separated when his attorney became ill, would not be tried right away.

After the July convictions, reports would come out alleging jury tampering in late 1980, leading to a hung-jury and a mistrial for Salvatore Marino in June of 1981. Additionally, the verdicts against Angelo Marino and Joseph Piazza would be ultimately overturned, though the pair would be retried. Piazza’s conviction would ultimately be affirmed in August of 1982, while Marino would continue to get delays due to alleged (and in some cases very real) health problems.

After 3½ years of kicking the can down the road and legal maneuvering, it almost seemed like the younger Marino was winning in his defense. But it only seemed that way.

On April 20, 1982, Salvatore Marino, by this time 33, was convicted of second-degree murder, attempted murder, and false imprisonment. In July of 1982, Salvatore Marino would ultimately be sentenced to just 9 years for the slaying and would go away to do his time at San Quentin. 

Salvatore would get out of prison in the 1990’s at some point, and I have it on good authority that he still lives in the area. And while Wikipedia says the following, “Salvatore "Sal" Marino was released from San Quentin Prison in 1998 and is said to have taken over the crime family,” I’ve gotten the sense from those that may or may not know him that he’s just living his life out in relative anonymity and the past is the past.

Now back to the elder Marino and supposed boss of the Cerrito Crime Family. This saga wouldn’t ultimately end well for him, and his recurring health problems would catch up to him before the law would finally bring the hammer down.

Weeks before his retrial, Angelo Marino would actually die on February 11, 1983 of a heart attack at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California. He would be described in various terms including a Mafia Boss, Chief, Chieftain, Leader, and Captain among others.

His funeral would take place just four days later, and he would be buried at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery along with his family, and in the same place as his former boss Joe Cerrito.

Now, while I won’t get too deep into what happened to the family after the death of Angelo Marino, by the 1980’s and early 1990’s, the family still appears to have been in operation according to the FBI.

However, it would never truly regain the very limited prestige it had in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and would never again have any level of influence in California or in the world of the Mafia as other organized crime groups moved in.

Additionally as we know, beginning in the late 1970’s, many massive, and well-known tech companies moved into the area, significantly increasing the relative wealth and affluence of the San Jose area. So it became a hub for big-tech innovation and no longer was a significant hub for the American Mafia.

However, a 1992 report out of the San Francisco field office would say the following about the state of the Cerrito Crime Family:

*Quote*

“The San Jose LCN Family, to include made members and associates, continue to operate in the South San Francisco Bay area. It has been confirmed that members and associates of the San Jose LCN Family have entered into business ventures outside of Santa Clara, California County area. An investigation that was recently initiated from the REI may determine that various LCN figures in the Santa Clara County and Sacramento, California areas may be associated with the Sicilian Mafia and establishing businesses.

During the past investigative period several members and associates have been in close contact with one another, both through telephonic contact and personal meetings. Specifically, LCN members and associates have been opening Italian restaurants throughout Santa Clara County and also in Folsom, California. Investigation has also determined that [blank], reputed boss of the SCARFO-BRUNO family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has been in telephonic contact with JOE PIAZZA on at least two separate occasions. JOE BONNANO, JR. continues a business relationship with [blank], who operates a construction company in the Reno, Nevada area.

As previously reported, the San Jose LCN Family continues to be loosely affiliated, with no one individual acting as the leader or head of the family. It appears that members and associates continue to commit fraud (including bank fraud), loan sharking, extortion, and possibly investment of illicit money into legitimate businesses.

*End Quote*

And quite honestly, while I have it on good authority from some people local to the area that the Cerrito Crime Family and some of its elder members would stay in criminal databases into the 2000’s, the family (if you can even call it that) by that point was less a cohesive unit and more individual former players living out their final dates in relative anonymity.

The last real major holdout from the golden era of the family, long-time Capo and Underboss Emanuel “Manny” Figlia would retire from day-to-day activities and pass away quietly and with no fanfare in September of 2009 at the age of 91. 

As the members aged, and with really no leadership presence to speak of, the family would eventually die out and would gradually go defunct. 

In terms of where things stand now, while there may still be some individual players here and there, I don’t think anyone would say that the family, nor any of its members, are still active in any criminal activity related to the American Cosa Nostra.

And with that, I think the story of the Cerrito Crime Family, once a relatively connected part of the American Mafia, despite being relatively ineffectual, is over.

Final Thoughts & Closing

Okay, that’s it for this episode! Again, another expansive episode as always, but I sincerely hope that you maybe learned something you didn’t know before. I know I found out plenty of new information (at least to me) as I was going through the research process.

Coming up next, as promised, I may focus on the next installment of the Angelo Bruno series, or I may do some biographies which are a little more quick hitter. Either way, I appreciate your support and have a long roadmap of content in store.

On another subject, I’m also considering standing up my Patreon channel so that I can share more movie reviews (which are extremely fun to make but have issues getting through YouTube’s copyright algorithms). Stay tuned for more on that.

Also, as I’ve mentioned I’m also looking to do more interviews. But not just any interview. I’m specifically looking for people who have stories of running up against the mob either as a result of being in that life, but more likely from people that have no affiliation with the life whatsoever. Like I said last episode, it won’t be your typical talking heads. So if you think you’re one of those people, email me at membersonlypodcastshow@gmail.com.

Lastly, before you go, please don’t forget to Subscribe so that you can continue to enjoy my content as it's released and if you have any thoughts please leave them in the comments on YouTube or write us a review on Apple. Lastly, feel free to check out our website, or follow me on Twitter or Facebook.

I’m still a relatively small channel and could use all the help I can get to grow.

But until next time, gratzie!

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• https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHK-SQHW-M28Z?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3A6XGH-9GNN&action=view 
• https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMNQ-RKM 
• https://digital.library.villanova.edu/Item/vudl:422486#?c=&m=&s=&cv=37&xywh=-3102%2C0%2C9610%2C4374 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_crime_family 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_DeSimone 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Bufalino 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Fratianno 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Bompensiero 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Trafficante_Jr. 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Alioto 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lanza 
• https://mob-who.blogspot.com/2019/03/balistrieri-frank-p-1918-1993.html 
• https://mob-who.blogspot.com/2019/03/alioto-john-1888-1972.html ‍
• https://www.newspapers.com/image/619740214/