Cleveland crime family

The Cleveland crime family, also known as the Scalish crime family or the Cleveland Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Cleveland, Ohio, and throughout the Greater Cleveland area. The organization formed during the 1900s, and early leadership turned over frequently due to a series of power grabs and assassinations. In 1930, Frank Milano became boss and was able to bring some stability to the Cleveland family. Under the control of the family's longest-serving boss, John T. Scalish, who led the organization from 1945 until his death in 1976, the Cleveland family exerted influence over the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), profiting from labor racketeering and the skimming of revenue from Las Vegas casinos. The family's membership peaked at around sixty "made men" during the 1950s.^[2]

When Scalish died unexpectedly during heart surgery without naming a successor in 1976, the Cleveland family fell into turmoil. A violent gang war erupted during the late 1970s when Irish mobster Danny Greene attempted to take over the city's criminal rackets. James T. Licavoli, who became boss of the Cleveland family after Scalish's death, hired hitman Ray Ferritto to kill Greene.^[5] After several failed attempts on Greene's life, Ferritto succeeded with a car bomb, ending the mob war. The war drew significant law enforcement attention, however, reducing membership and influence of the family. Much of the family's weakening can be attributed to Jimmy Fratianno, who turned government witness and provided the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with incriminating information on the organization.^[6]

Following a series of convictions, including those of bosses Licavoli, Angelo Lonardo and John Tronolone, the Cleveland family nearly ceased to exist during the 1980s and 1990s. Lonardo became the highest-ranking member of the Mafia to turn government witness when he began cooperating with authorities in 1983.^[7] As of the early 2000s, law enforcement agencies believe the family is a smaller group but is attempting to rebuild itself, participating in illegal gambling and loansharking.^[8]

Semi-organized Sicilian American- and Italian American-run "Black Hand" extortion rackets first emerged in Cleveland, Ohio, around the year 1900. The Cleveland Division of Police (CDP) soon established an "Italian squad" (also known as the "Black Hand squad") to deal with the problem. After a series of Black Hand-related murders in the city in 1906, the Italian squad largely suppressed this first expression of organized crime in Cleveland.^[9][a]

Loosely organized gangs emerged again in the 1910s. One Italian American gang, known as the Mayfield Road Mob, formed in Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood about 1913.^[11] Elsewhere in Little Italy,^[12][b] notary public Angelo Serra oversaw a gang primarily specializing in auto theft that at one point yielded $500,000 ($14,000,000 in 2023 dollars) a year. At roughly the same time, Dominic Benigno led a gang which monopolized in payroll robberies.^[16][17][c] Meanwhile, another Italian American gang, the Collinwood Crew, operated around the intersection of St. Clair Avenue, E. 152d Street and Ivanhoe Road in Collinwood.^[18] A less organized criminal organization was the "reservoir gang", a group of criminals engaged in armed robbery, auto theft, burglary and other property crimes which established a base at the Baldwin Water Treatment Plant reservoir.^[19]

Following the institution of Prohibition in 1919,^[20] and nationally throughout the United States on January 16, 1920.^[21] many small, organized gangs emerged to illicitly import liquor from Canada, diverting alcohol from legitimate purposes (such as medicine and industry) and distilling and distributing home-brewed alcohol.^[22] Small bootlegging operations were run by formerly legitimate businessmen like Michelino Le Paglia, August L. Rini and Louis Rosen.^[23] A number of small bootlegging gangs, run by Jewish residents, began operating in the "Little Hollywood" area of Hough,^[24] an area bounded by Lexington and Hough Avenues between E. 73rd and E. 79th Streets.^[25] The brothels, speakeasies and gambling halls of Little Hollywood became the favorite hangouts of small gang leaders throughout Cleveland, many of whom established their offices in the city's tiny red-light district.^[24] Larger organizations included an Italian American gang centered on Woodland Avenue and E. 55th Street, and an Italian American gang centered on Woodland and E. 105th Street.^[d] The Mayfield Road Mob grew larger as it focused more on bootlegging.^[22]

The four Lonardo brothers (Joseph, Frank, John and Dominic) and seven Porrello brothers (Rosario, Vincenzo, Angelo, Joseph, John, Ottavio and Raymond) were immigrants to the United States from Licata, Sicily, Italy. Initially establishing themselves as legitimate businessmen, the Lonardos and the Porrellos dabbled in various criminal activities including robbery and extortion but were not considered a major organization prior to Prohibition.^[26]

At the start of Prohibition, Joseph "Big Joe" Lonardo, the second eldest of the Lonardo brothers, became the first boss of the Cleveland crime family.^[26] His top lieutenant, Joseph Porrello, supervised various criminal operations throughout the early to mid-1920s.^[27]

In 1926, the Porrellos broke away from the Lonardos and formed their own faction, establishing their headquarters on upper Woodland Avenue, around E. 110th Street. In 1927, hostilities between the Lonardos and the Porrellos escalated as the families competed in the manufacture of corn sugar, the prime ingredient in bootleg liquor.^[27]

In the summer of 1927, "Big Joe" Lonardo left Cleveland for Sicily amongst rising tension between the two factions. He left his brother John and his adviser, Salvatore "Black Sam" Todaro, as acting heads of the Cleveland family. When Lonardo returned, a sitdown was scheduled between the Lonardos and the Porrellos. On October 13, 1927, Big Joe and John were to meet with Angelo Porrello in a Porrello-owned barbershop. After the brothers were relaxed into playing a card game, they were ambushed and killed by two Porrello gunmen.^[28][29] This allowed Joseph Porrello to take over as boss of the Cleveland family and become the most influential corn sugar baron in Greater Cleveland.^[27]

Through late 1927 and much of 1928, the remaining Lonardo loyalists, which included members of the Mayfield Road Mob and various Jewish allies within the Cleveland Syndicate, continued to rival the Porrellos for the leadership within the Cleveland underworld. They vied for control of the most lucrative rackets outside of the corn sugar business, which included gambling, the most profitable hustle for crime families of the period after bootlegging.^[27]

To establish dominance, the Porrellos needed backing from the top Mafia bosses in New York City, as well as other leading Mafia families across the U.S. On December 5, 1928, one of the earliest-known Mafia summits in American history was held at Cleveland's Statler Hotel. Joseph Porrello, with the help of his top lieutenant Sam Tilocco, hoped to urge the other bosses, which included Joe Profaci and Vincent Mangano of New York, to declare him the official boss of Cleveland.^[27] However, the meeting turned into a fiasco as some of the well-known attendees were recognized by local law enforcement and arrested along with their associates. The Porrellos arranged for their associates to be bailed out of jail. In spite of the chaos, Joseph Porrello was declared the boss and recognized nationwide as head of the Cleveland family.^[30]

On June 11, 1929, "Black Sam" Todaro was murdered.^[31] By the end of Prohibition, most of the Porrello brothers and their supporters had been killed or had sided with the Mayfield Road Mob. Joseph Porrello himself was ambushed and killed along with an underling at the Venetian Restaurant, owned by Porrello rival Frank Milano.^[30] Vincenzo "Jim" Porrello succeeded his brother as Cleveland boss, but was shot and killed three weeks later in a grocery store on East 110th Street and Woodland Avenue, in an area considered a Porrello stronghold. Raymond Porrello declared revenge, and on August 15, 1930, an explosion leveled his home. He was not present at the time.

During the early 1930s, Frank Milano and the Mayfield Road Mob gradually replaced the Porrello brothers as the Cleveland area's premier Mafia group, with Milano becoming the official boss of the Cleveland family.^[30] In 1931, Milano joined the National Crime Syndicate, a network of powerful criminals which included Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Meyer Lansky. By 1932, Milano had become one of the top Mafia bosses in the country and a charter member of The Commission, the Mafia's governing body.^[30]

On February 25, 1932, Milano finished off the Porrello brothers by having Raymond and Rosario Porrello, along with their bodyguard Dominic Gueli, murdered in a smoke shop on East 110th Street and Woodland Avenue while playing cards.^[30] The remaining Porrellos subsequently backed out of the Cleveland underworld and fled the area.

In 1935, Milano fled to Mexico after being indicted for tax evasion.^[30] Alfred Polizzi, another leading member of the Mayfield Road Mob, seized power and reigned as boss until 1944, when he himself was convicted of tax evasion.^[30]

The Collinwood Crew, also known as the Young Turks, was at times integrated with the Mayfield Road Mob. Members of the Collinwood Crew included Alfred "Allie Con" Calabrese, Joe "Joey Loose" Lacobacci, Butchie Cisternino. Their territory stretched from the 152nd Street bridge, up Five Points and Ivanhoe Road, down Mandalay across London Road to Wayside and over to Saranac bordering the Collinwood Train Yards.

Following Polizzi's ouster in 1944, John Scalish began the longest reign of any Cleveland boss. Under his leadership, the Cleveland family developed ties with important crime figures such as Lansky, Shondor Birns, Moe Dalitz and Tony Accardo, as well as the Chicago Outfit and the Genovese crime family in New York. Additionally, the family expanded its influence to areas throughout the Midwest, California, Florida and Las Vegas, Nevada.^[32] The family helped finance the construction of Las Vegas' Desert Inn casino hotel in the late 1940s and received a percentage of profits from the resort in exchange for providing protection.^[33]

In the 1950s, the Cleveland family reached its peak in size, with about sixty "made" members, and several times as many associates.^[2] By the 1970s, however, the family's membership began to decrease after Scalish chose not to induct new members.^[33] The family's main sources of income during this period came from two primary sources; a partnership with other Midwestern crime families which allowed the organization to profit from the "skim" of various Las Vegas casinos, and an arrangement with the Pittsburgh family which entitled the Cleveland family to twenty-five percent of the Pittsburgh family's profits from rackets in Youngstown.^[34] The Cleveland, Kansas City and Milwaukee families also exerted influence over the multibillion-dollar Central States Pension Fund of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), and in 1974 the three groups backed a $62.75 million Pension Fund loan to buy two Las Vegas casinos.^[35] Additionally, the Cleveland family collected protection money from casinos in Western Pennsylvania and Northern Kentucky.^[36]

John Scalish died during open heart surgery in 1976, without officially naming a successor.^[32] It was decided afterward by the family's members that James "Jack White" Licavoli would take over as boss.^[36] During Licavoli's reign, an Irish gangster named Danny Greene began competing with the Cleveland family for control of the city's rackets.^[37] Greene partnered with John Nardi, a rogue Mafia associate and Teamster, who arranged the murder of Calogero "Leo Lips" Moceri, Licavoli's underboss.^[37] Moceri disappeared after attending a Feast of the Assumption festival in Little Italy on August 22, 1976; his blood-stained car was found in Akron days later, although his remains were never recovered. Moceri was allegedly killed by Keith Ritson, an enforcer for Greene.^[38]

Moceri's murder resulted in a violent mob war between the Cleveland family and Greene's gang, during which almost forty car bombings took place in the city of Cleveland.^[39] Among the casualties was Nardi, who was killed on May 17, 1977, by a car bomb in the parking lot of the local Teamster Hall.^[40]

Eventually, Licavoli and his crew began attempting to kill Greene. On one occasion, bombs were planted around Greene's home, one in the front and one in the back; the first bomb went off but the second failed, allowing Greene and his young girlfriend to escape.^[41] After several similarly failed hits, it became evident that the Cleveland family needed outside help, which came in the form of hitman Ray Ferritto.^[40]

On October 6, 1977, while Greene was performing a scheduled visit to his dentist, a car with a radiofrequency bomb placed inside its door was parked next to his. Upon return to his vehicle, the bomb was exploded remotely by Ferritto and Ronald “Ronnie the Crab” Carabbia.^[42] The two men were seen by a woman named Debbie Spoth, who was able to help police identify Ferritto.^[43] Greene's body lay under the ruins of his vehicle for at least an hour before his corpse was removed.^[44] Following the assassination, Ferritto heard that the Cleveland family wanted him dead and turned state's witness, leading to the arrest of Licavoli and other Cleveland mobsters.^[45]

In 1978, the CDP warned then-Mayor Dennis Kucinich that the Cleveland family had put out a hit on him because of some of his initiatives were hindering their criminal activities. Police informed Kucinich that a hitman was planning on shooting the mayor while he marched in the Columbus Day parade; Kucinich missed the parade as he was hospitalized with a ruptured ulcer.^[46] However, the mayor took note of the threat and began keeping a gun in his home for protection.^[47]

Emboldened by the sudden death of Cleveland consigliere Anthony "Tony Dope" Delsanter in August 1977, Vincent "Two-Gun Jimmy" Prato, the local caporegime from the Pittsburgh family, attempted to establish a monopoly over gambling and extortion rackets in Youngstown, a territory which had historically been shared between the two families. This resulted in a mob war, consisting of twelve murders, which lasted between 1978 and 1981.^[48][49][50] The Pittsburgh family emerged victorious after the disappearances of Cleveland capo Charles "Charlie the Crab" Carabbia in December 1980 and his crew's top hitman, Joseph DeRose, Jr., in April 1981.^[51] According to testimony from Pittsburgh mobster-turned-government witness Lenny Strollo, Carabbia was lured to a meeting at a Youngstown donut shop and killed on the orders of Prato and his chief underling, Joseph "Little Joey" Naples, in order to give the Pittsburgh family undisputed control over Youngstown. The killing, as per Strollo's testimony, was carried out with the permission of the Cleveland family leadership.^[52]

Eventually, Licavoli was sent to prison for RICO charges related to the murder of Greene in 1982.^[32] Angelo Lonardo, the son of Joseph Lonardo, took control of the Cleveland family until 1984, when he was convicted of running a drug ring and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Angelo Lonardo then became an informant, making him the highest-ranking Mafia turncoat up to that time. He informed on powerful mafiosi from numerous families while in prison and caused serious damage to the Mafia's infrastructure.^[53]

After Lonardo became an informant, John "Peanuts" Tronolone, a long-time Miami Beach resident and South Florida point man for the Genovese family, was named the new boss of the Cleveland family. In 1989, Tronolone became the only Mafia boss to have the distinction of being arrested in a hand-to-hand undercover transaction by local law enforcement when he accepted jewelry from Dave Green, an undercover Broward County deputy in exchange for bookmaking and loansharking debts. Tronolone died in 1991 before he could start his nine-year state prison sentence.^[54]

By 1990, the Cleveland family had been so aggressively dismantled by law enforcement agencies that the family had no made members who were not imprisoned and the organization was reported to be virtually defunct.^[53][54][55] In addition to convictions, defections and deaths, the loss of the family's influence over the IBT also significantly weakened their stature.^[56] After Tronolone's death, Anthony "Tony Lib" Liberatore took over the remnants of the Cleveland family until he was imprisoned for racketeering and money laundering in 1993.^[55][57]

Following the imprisonment of Liberatore, two mafiosi who had been inducted into the family by Angelo Lonardo in 1983 – Joseph "Joe Loose" Iacobacci and Russell "R.J." Papalardo – became the leading figures in the Cleveland Mafia.^[55] Iacobacci, along with Alfred "Allie" Calabrese, was convicted of bank fraud and sentenced to three years in federal prison in 1995, during which time Papalardo served as acting boss of the family.^[53][57]

In May 1998, Anthony P. Delmonti, an associate of the Cleveland family and the Rochester, New York, faction of the Bonanno crime family, became a confidential informant for the FBI's Cleveland office and provided the Bureau with information on a Mafia-controlled Rochester-to-Cleveland stolen car ring, a Los Angeles-to-Cleveland cocaine ring headed by Cleveland businessman Robert E. Walsh and a $10 million-per-year numbers racket operated by Virgil Ogletree, a former associate of Shondor Birns and Don King.^[55][58][59] Delmonti covertly recorded over 500 audio and videotapes which led to the seizure of $100,000 in illicit gambling money, $250,000 in stolen vehicles and 700 kilograms of cocaine, and over a hundred convictions in Cleveland and Rochester between 2000 and 2002.^{[58][60][61][62]}

Despite the imprisonment of Iacobacci in the late 1990s, he and Papalardo were reportedly able to steadily rebuild the organization in the 21st century.^[55][53] Iocobacci inducted new members into the family, forged ties with the Chicago Outfit, the Detroit Partnership and the DeCavalcante crime family of New Jersey, and reportedly oversaw rackets in Cleveland, Youngstown, Pittsburgh and Rochester.^[63][64] Iocobacci retired in the 2000s after he reportedly relinquished much of his family's territory to the Chicago Outfit.^[8] Papalardo succeeded Iacobacci as boss of the Cleveland family upon Iacobacci's retirement.^[55][65] In 2020, crime reporter Scott Burnstein described the organization as: "These days, the Cleveland crime family is a small group of mostly old-timers, bookies and loansharks".^[64] According to Burnstein, the Cleveland Mafia is an "almost-benign group ... with a limited formal structure."^[8]

• 1920–1927 – Joseph "Big Joe" Lonardo – murdered in 1927.^[65]
• 1927–1929 – Salvatore "Black Sam" Todaro – murdered in 1929.^[65]
• 1929–1930 – Joseph "Big Joe" Porrello – murdered in 1930.
• 1930–1935 – Frank Milano – fled to Mexico in 1935, moved to California in the late 1950s; died of natural causes in 1970.^[65]
• 1935–1945 – Alfred "Big Al" Polizzi – arrested in 1944, retired to Florida in 1945, died of natural causes in 1975.^[65]
  • Acting 1944–1945 – John T. "John Scalise" Scalish - died of complications during heart surgery in 1976.
• 1945–1976 – John T. "John Scalise" Scalish^[65]
• 1976–1985 – James "Jack White" Licavoli – imprisoned in 1981, died of natural causes in 1985.^[65]
  • Acting 1981–1983 – Angelo "Big Ange" Lonardo – turned informant in October 1983, died of natural causes in 2006.^[65]
  • Acting 1983–1985 – John "Peanuts" Tronolone
• 1985–1991 – John "Peanuts" Tronolone – died of natural causes in 1991^[65]
• 1991–1993 – Anthony "Tony Lib" Liberatore – imprisoned in 1993, died of natural causes in 1998.^[65][57]
• 1993–2004 – Joseph "Joe Loose" Iacobacci – retired, died 2020^[65][63]
• 2004–present – Russell "R.J." Papalardo^[65]

• 1930–1976 – Anthony Milano – retired in 1976, deceased in 1978.^[66]
• 1976 – Calogero "Leo Lips" Moceri – disappeared and murdered in 1976.
• 1976–1983 – Angelo "Big Ange" Lonardo – turned informant in October 1983, deceased in 2006.^[57]
• 1983–1985 – John "Peanuts" Tronolone – became boss in 1985.
• 1985–1991 – Anthony "Tony Lib" Liberatore – became boss.
• 1991–1995 – Alfred "Allie" Calabrese – imprisoned in 1995.
• 1995–2004 – Russell "RJ" Papalardo – became boss

• 1930–1972 – John DeMarco – died in 1972^[66]
• 1972–1973 – Frank "Frankie B" Brancato
• 1973–1977 – Anthony "Tony Dope" Delsanter - died of natural causes in August 1977^[57]
• 1977–1983 – John "Peanuts" Tronolone – became underboss in 1983.
• 1983–1993 – Louis "Bones" Battista aka "The Bulldog" (deceased)
• 1999–2010 – Raymond "Lefty" LaMarca (deceased 2010) ^[67]

• Boss – Russell J. "R.J." Papalardo – born on July 4, 1941.^[68] Papalardo was inducted into the family in 1983.^[69] In 1986, he was convicted for his role in a multimillion-dollar cocaine ring operated by the Cleveland crime family and served four years in federal prison.^[70] Papalardo was made acting boss while Joseph "Joe Loose" Iacobacci was imprisoned in the late 1990s and he succeeded Iacobacci as boss of the family in the mid-2000s.^[53][65]

• Alfred "Allie Con" Calabrese – former underboss. Calabrese survived an attempted car bombing in September 1976 when an explosive device attached to his vehicle detonated and killed his neighbor when the neighbor tried to move Calabrese's car.^[71]
• John Calandra – former capo^[56]
• Ronald "Ronnie the Crab" Carabbia – took control of the Youngstown faction for the family following the death of Anthony Delsanter in August 1977.^[71] Carrabia was an accomplice to Ray Ferritto in the October 6, 1977 car bomb murder of Danny Greene.^[72] In May 1978, he was convicted of aggravated murder for the killing.^[73] Carrabia was paroled from Chillicothe Correctional Institution on September 24, 2002. He died on December 22, 2021, aged 92.^[74]
• Eugene J. "The Animal" Ciasullo – former soldier. Ciasullo was raised in Collinwood and became a debt collector, bookmaker and loan shark in the family under John Scalish and James Licavoli.^[75] He was believed by the FBI to have been a hitman.^[76] On July 21, 1976, Ciasullo was severely wounded in a bombing at his home in Richmond Heights.^[77] He died of natural causes in August 2016, at the age of 85.^[75][78]
• Pasquale "Butchie" Cisternino – former soldier. Cisternino assembled the bomb which killed Danny Greene.^[71] He died in 1990.
• Anthony "Tony Dope" Delsanter – former consigliere and leader of the Youngstown faction
• William E. "Billy D" DiLeno – former soldier. DiLeno was a member of the Eastside faction of the Cleveland family. He was initiated into the family in the early 1990s.^[8] DiLeno died of natural causes at the age of 85, on April 6, 2022.^[79]
• Joseph Gallo – former capo^[56]
• Joseph "Joe Loose" Iacobacci – powerful member of the family, serving as boss from 1993 to 2005. Iacobacci was able to partially rebuild the family, with the help of the Chicago Outfit. He died in April 2020.^[80]
• Calogero "Leo Lips" Moceri – former underboss and leader of the family's Akron faction.^[71] In 1952, he was arrested and questioned over the murder of Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel.^[71] Moceri disappeared on August 22, 1976; his killing was arranged by John Nardi and carried out by Keith Ritson, an enforcer for Danny Greene.^[37][38]
• Milton "Maishe" Rockman^[76] – former associate, Rockman was a Jewish-American organized crime figure affiliated with the Cleveland crime family.^[81] Rockman was the brother-in-law of Cleveland crime family bosses John T. Scalish^[76] and Angelo Lonardo, and was a top Cleveland crime family associate involved in labor racketeering and the Las Vegas casino interests of the Cleveland Mafia.^[82]
• Thomas Sinito – former capo^[56]

• Anthony P. Delmonti – associate involved in narcotics trafficking. He was sentenced to six years' imprisonment in 1987 after being informed on by his cocaine supplier, Carmen Zagaria. Owing $150,000 in restitution and addicted to drugs, Delmonti became a confidential informant for the FBI in 1998.^[58] Following a series of successful prosecutions resulting from Delmonti's cooperation, he went into hiding in Marco Island, Florida and died from a heart attack on April 26, 2007, aged 61.^[55][62]
• Ray Ferritto – associate and hitman who turned government witness after being implicated in the murder of Danny Greene in 1977.^[72]
• Angelo Lonardo – acting boss of the family; turned government witness in 1983 after being sentenced to life imprisonment for drug trafficking and racketeering.
• Jackie Presser – associate. Presser was a labor union official and Teamsters president under control of the Cleveland family who became a confidential informant for the FBI in 1972.^[83][84][85]
• Carmen "Mr. C" Zagaria – soldier and leader of a drug ring who turned government witness after being indicted on several murders.^[58]

• Crime in Ohio
• List of Italian Mafia crime families

Notes

Citations

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• Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (1988). Organized Crime 25 Years After Valachi: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate. S. Hrg. 100-906. 100th Cong., 2d sess. S. HRG. ;100-906. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. hdl:2027/mdp.39015028778994.
• Porrello, Rick (1995). The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia: Corn, Sugar, and Blood. New York: Barricade Books. ISBN 9781569800584.
• Porrello, Rick (2004). To Kill the Irishman: The War that Crippled the Mafia. Novelty, Ohio: Next Hat Press. ISBN 9780966250893.