The First Family: Terror, Extortion, Revenge, Murder and the Birth of the American Mafia (55 page)

201.
Work was finally suspended for the summer:
Comito confession II, 102-4.

201
Read of the arrest:
Comito confession II, 105.

201.
to improve the Secret Service’s efficiency:
Dailies Flynn, vol. 27 fol. 1002, reel 116, November 1, 1909, and vol. 28 fols. 600-1, reel 116, December 19, 1909 (new informants); federal transcripts, Morello, fol. 274 (Rubano service);
New York Times
, March 11, 1939, p. 21 (Rubano career);
Washington Post
, July 7, 1912, SM1 (five informants, “here, there and everywhere”); Bowen and Neil,
The United States Secret Service
, p. 39 (Rubano infiltrates Morello organization).

202.
Giuseppe Morello had been placed:
Federal transcripts, Morello, fol. 308 (first man suspected);
New York Times
, April 3, 1910, SM6 (life surveillance, “The oftener Morello was arrested …”), and February 6, 1911, SM14 (“ideas are big …”).

203.
the first forged bills appeared:
Dailies Flynn, vol. 29, fol. 168, reel 116, February 20, 1910 (first seen May); Comito confession II, 58 (“Do I not take”); federal transcripts, Morello, fol. 302 (bankers and shopkeepers); Flynn, p. 31 (cities notes circulated in).

204.
his first real breakthrough:
Dailies Flynn, vol. 27, fol. 396, reel 116, September 11, 1909 (description of Boscarini); vol. 29, fol. 168, reel 116, February 20, 1910 (Locino and Boscarini; no testimony); federal transcripts, Morello, fols. 222-23 (233 East 97th St.);
Washington Post
, April 26, SM5 (fear premature arrests), May 3, 1914, M8 (Boscarini, marked bills, meet behind boxes), and February 22, 1922, p. 64 (Ignatz Florio); Flynn, pp. 32-42 (Pittston; Flynn’s pursuit; hired room).

207.
The network so painstakingly unraveled:
Washington Post
, May 3, 1914, M8 (pyramid, six deputies); Flynn, pp. 33, 35-36 (Corleonesi, obtain sanction).

208.
It was Lupo who:
Sun
, November 13, 1909, p. 6 (mind disturbed, Black Hand threat);
Washington Post
, May 10, 1914, M8 (trailed to Ardonia); Flynn, pp. 39-40 (“Like malignant spirits”); dailies Flynn, vol. 27 fols. 394-97, reel 116, September 11, 1909, and fol. 1002, November 1, 1909 (a second lead).

209
It was time to move in:
Dailies Flynn, vol. 28 fols. 161-72, reel 116, November 16, 1909 (apartment raid, names and addresses; Italian Squad; Black Hand letters found; Cecala’s marked bills);
New York Times
, November 16, 1909, p. 1 (Black Hand notes; $3,600 in counterfeits);
Sun
, same date, p. 1 (buckshot); federal transcripts, Morello, fols. 285, 301 (Lupo arrest);
Washington Post
, February 5, 1922, p. 64 (nine guns, Lina, diapers); Flynn, pp. 206-7 (Gallagher); Bowen and Neal,
The United States Secret Service
, pp. 44-45 (Callaghan’s encounter with Morello).

214
Lupo was picked up:
Dailies Flynn, vol. 28 fols. 811-12, reel 116, January 6, fols. 859-60, January 9, and fols. 867-88, January 10, 1910.

214.
Bail had been set:
Dailies Flynn, vol. 28 fols. 184-85, reel 116, November 17, 1909;
Sun
, November 17 1909, p. 6.

215.
It’s not certain when Flynn:
Dailies Flynn, vol. 28 fols. 600-1, December 19, 1909, and fols. 795-808, reel 116, January 5, 1910 (Mazzei, arrest date); vol. 30 fol. 990, reel 117, September 5, 1910 (full name); federal transcripts, Morello, fol. 122 (nine men);
Washington Post
, May 10, 1914, M8 (expected evidence, no counterfeits, kindness); Comito confession II (detailed evidence).

217
to pay the costs of a defense:
Sun
, January 27, 1910, p. 1.

217
Cecala, for example, made:
Federal transcripts, Morello, fols. 424, 427-28.

217
an elaborate alibi:
Federal transcripts, Morello, fols. 345-50 (“This is the way it was done …”), 428-30 (Brancatto); Flynn, pp. 181 (sixty patients), 186-87, 93 (hypochondriac), 187-93 (mother, meeting with Terranova, “pale as a ghost”).

220
including Giuseppe Boscarini:
Dailies Flynn, vol. 31 fol. 892, reel 117, December 7, 1910.

220
“a rabble of Italians”:
New York Times
, April 3, 1910, SM6.

220
crude attempts at intimidation:
New York Times
, April 3, 1910, p. 1;
Sun
, January 27, p. 1, and January 28, 1910, p. 12.

220.
548 in total:
Pitkin,
The Black Hand
, p. 135.

221.
The printing press lay:
Dailies Taylor, vol. 4 fol. 236, reel 277, January 22, 1911 (plates); dailies New York, vol. 34 fol. 113, reel 591, January 16, 1912 (Mrs. Cina), and fol. 792, March 18, 1912 (New Paltz River); dailies New York, vol. 38 fols. 347-48, January 30, 1913 (Lupo buries counterfeits).

221
The diminutive Calabrian:
Sun
, January 27, 1910, p. 1 (“thin, nervous youth,” Morello’s looks).

221.
Comito dared not meet:
Sun
, January 29, 1910, p. 12.

222.
were shaken to the core:
Sun
, January 27, 1910, p. 1. 222
a price of $2,500:
Washington Post
, May 10, 1914, M8.

222
portray Comito as a bloodthirsty:
Comito confession II, 107. 222
Lupo did testify:
Federal transcripts, Morello, fols. 462-72.

222.
charged with perjury:
Dailies Flynn, vol. 30 fol. 76, reel 117, June 11, 1910 (Brancatto trial); Flynn, pp. 172-98 (Romano grand jury testimony and trial).

223.
sentences pronounced:
Dailies Flynn, vol. 29 fol. 166, reel 116, February 20, 1910 (forty-five minutes); federal transcripts, Morello, fols. 317 (Calicchio’s age), 576-78 (verdicts); cumulation of verdicts recorded in “Description and information of criminals,” vols. 39 and 40 of 40, RG 87, NARA (typical sentences);
New York Times
, February 20, 1910, pp. 1, 2 (court cleared, tears, convulsions, outside the court, Flynn’s comment);
Sun
, same date, p. 1 (most severe sentences, Calicchio aged, slid rather than walked);
American
, same date, p. 3 (haunted looks, “words of the judge”);
Chicago Tribune
, April 24, 1913, I3 (sentences reflect earlier crimes).

CHAPTER 11.
Mob

225.
The prison that was to house:
New York Times
, April 3, 1910, SM6 (“spaghetti or garlic”);
Washington Post
, May 15, 1910, MT4 (conditions).

226.
the earliest date:
Prisoner records for Giuseppe Morello, inmate file 2882, and Ignazio Lupo, inmate file 2883, Atlanta Federal Penitentiary defense (fund, defense, Cockran), June 7, 1914, SM1 (other Mafia families).

226.
the hope that their appeal:
Dailies New York, vol. 33 fols. 563-64, reel 590, November 28, 1911, and fols. 892-93, December 30, 1911 (political clout); vol. 34 fol. 245, reel 591, January 27, 1912 (lack of funds); vol. 35 fols. 27-28, April 4, and 51-52, April 6, 1912 (politics).

227.
“it affected him so much”:
Dailies Flynn, vol. 30 fols. 1024-25, September 9, 1910.

227
There remained the prospect of escape:
Dailies Flynn, vol. 30 fols. 958, reel 117, September 1, 1910 (bribe guards); dailies New York, vol. 36 fol. 68, reel 591, July 11, 1912;
Plattsburgh Sentinel
(N.Y.), July 10, 1912, p. 2 (guard doubled); dailies New York, vol. 47 fol. 666, reel 595, July 14, 1915 (too much influence).

227
There were other ways:
Atlanta Constitution
, February 25, 1912 p. 13, and
Richmond Times Dispatch
, same date, p. 1 (letter to Ray);
World
, June 3, 1912, p. 1, and
Washington Post
, July 7, 1912, SM1 (Secret Service protection, children warned, Flynn assassination plot);
Herald
, June 2, 1912, p. 3 (hundred feet from home); Dailies New York, vol. 35 fol. 980, reel 591, July 1, 1912 (Ciro quote), and vol. 36 fols. 458-59, reel 591, August 20, 1912 (kidnap plot); dailies New York, vol. 35 fols. 692-96, June 1, 1912; fols. 710-11, June 3, both reel 591;
New York Times
, June 3, 1912, p. 9;
World
, June 2, pp. 1, 3.

227.
Nick Terranova’s prudence:
Dailies New York, vol. 36 fols. 458-59, reel 591, August 20, 1912.

228.
when it came to Antonio Comito:
New York Times
, May 23, 1910, p. 1, and May 24, p. 10,
Brooklyn Standard Union
, May 23, p. 1,
Washington Times
, May 23, p. 1 (mutilated body in Brooklyn); dailies Flynn, vol. 30 fols. 10-11, June 3, 1910, reel 117 (relative menaced); fol. 398, July 19, (Mexican border); dailies New York, vol. 32 fol. 127, June 14, 1911, reel 590, fol. 269, June 28 (revolver) and fol. 319, July 3 (leaves country); Flynn, pp. 217-20 (bounty, Rubano).

229.
Both men became morose:
Prisoner’s record, inmate file 2883, Ignazio Lupo (disapproving comments); Angela Piazza and Lina Morello to Warden, May 14, 1912 (buried alive); J. Calvin Weaver (prison physician) to Warden, February 7, 1914 (indigestion), and July 22, 1915 (heart trouble, weight gain); Morello to Lina, June 1, 1913 (“You are wrong”); Lina to Morello, May 25, 1915 (complaints), all inmate file 2882, Giuseppe Morello.

229
Lina, though, was finding life no easier:
Dailies Flynn, vol. 30 fol. 1009, reel 117, September 7, 1910 (feather business, pawn tickets); dailies New York, vol. 49 fol. 655, reel 596, February 1, 1916 (silver); Lina to Morello, February 15, 1915, inmate file 2882, Giuseppe Morello (weekly allowance).

229.
upset by his surliness:
Lina to Morello, July 1, 1915 (“Listen, Giuseppe”), July 1, 1916 (“Somewhat surprised”), and August 6, 1916 (“My always adored”), all inmate file 2882, Giuseppe Morello.

230.
It was time to talk:
Dailies Flynn, vol. 29 fols. 168-69, reel 116, February 20, 1910 (predicts men will talk);
New York Times
, January 17, 1911, p. 1, and
Atlanta Constitution
, same date, p. 2 (Morello confession); dailies Taylor, vol. 4 fol. 236, reel 277, January 22, 1911 (burial site); dailies New York, vol. 33 fols. 517-22, reel 590, November 21, 1911 (Sylvester, Lupo, Morello, Cina, burial site), and fol. 665, reel 590, December 8, 1911 (commutation, Cecala), vol. 34 fol. 113, January 12, 1912, and fol. 769, March 16, 1912, reel 591 (Terranova’s plans, burial site), vol. 43 fol. 406, reel 594, May 13, 1914 (Giglio dies).

231.
they dared not divulge:
Dailies New York, vol. 34 fol. 215, reel 591, January 25, 1912, and vol. 36 fol. 466, reel 591, July 11, 1912.

232.
Sam Locino:
Washington Post
, May 3, 1914, M8.

232
Others were less fortunate:
Dailies New York, vol. 33 fol. 664-65, December 8, 1911, reel 590 (search for informants); dailies Flynn, vol. 30 fol. 86, June 12, 1910, and fol. 148, June 18, both reel 117 (potential informant refuses to cooperate); Manhattan death certificate 34140, November 17, 1911, NYMA, and dailies New York, vol. 33 fol. 472, November 18, 1911, reel 590,
World
, November 18, 1911, p. 3, and
New York Times
, same date, p. 7 (Bono murdered);
Washington Post
, February 5, 1922, p. 64 (ritual incisions, “Morello’s enemy”).

232.
Even Nick Sylvester:
Dailies New York, vol. 33 fols. 517-18, November 21, 1911, reel 590 (engraver, plates and burial site), vol. 34 fols. 792-93, March 18, 1912, reel 591 (location of plant, Flynn intervenes), and vol. 41 fol. 787, December 6, 1913, reel 593 (Vincenzo Terranova); “Letters sent” and commutation of sentence, October 23, 1913 (correspondence with Flynn, release date), both inmate file 2885, Nicholas Sylvester, Atlanta Federal Penitentiary papers, RG 129, NARA-SE.

233.
especially Charles Mazzei:
Dailies New York, vol. 33 fol. 796, reel 590; vol. 34 fols. 111, 113, reel 591, January 16, 1912, fol. 184, January 23, 1912, and fol. 852, March 22, 1912.

233
His name was Salvatore Clemente:
“Description and information of criminals,” vol. 30 of 40 fol. 172, April 1895, RG87, NARA (description, first conviction); Dailies Flynn, vol. 3 fol. 615, reel 106, and fols. 763-68, May 22, 1902 (Secret Service knowledge of Clemente gang); vol. 31 fol. 13-14, reel 117, October 4, (recruited); fol. 57-58, October 8 (given trial); fol. 61-62, October 10, 1910 (commences work for Flynn). 233
Clemente began to prove:
Dailies New York, vol. 34 fol. 215, reel 591, January 25, 1912; vol. 36 fols. 458-59, reel 591, August 20, 1912.

233.
since he refused to cede power:
Washington Post
, February 5, 1922, p. 64 (runs gang from cell); Dailies New York, vol. 34 fols. 7-8, reel 591, January 3, 1912 (letters).

234.
the Lomonte brothers:
Dailies Flynn, vol. 30 fol. 994, reel 117, September 5, 1910 (relationship); Manhattan death certificates 16903, May 24, 1914, and 29667, October 13, 1915, NYMA (ages);
World
, October 14, 1915, p. 22 (feed store);
Washington Post
, February 5, 1922, p. 64 (runs family from cell, Lomontes succeed Morello).