John Tronolone (Dec. 12, 1910, to May 29, 1991)

John "Peanuts" Tronolone was born Dec. 12, 1910, in Buffalo. He was the oldest of nine children born to grocer Vincenzo (born in San Fele, Italy, in 1887) and Maria Gnozzo Tronolone (born in New York about 1889). Tronolone was raised in the tenements of Buffalo's Dante Place and reportedly earned his "Peanuts" nickname by giving peanuts to neighborhood children visiting his father's store.

Tronolone was first arrested on Oct. 11, 1925, at the age of 14. He was charged with juvenile delinquency. He was subsequently arrested for gambling in 1926 and 1927 and for disorderly conduct in 1930. The disorderly conduct case resulted in a $15 fine.

On April 14, 1931, he and two other men were arrested for first-degree robbery. The charges were dismissed when the victim failed to identify the trio.

A police search of Tronolone's vehicle on July 11, 1932, resulted in his arrest for possession of burglar tools. "Peanuts" was traveling with Joseph "Goose" Gatti and Joseph Pieri at the time of his arrest. He was convicted and sentenced to nine months in prison.

By 1933, Tronolone was closely associated with the DiCarlo Gang, led by Joseph DiCarlo. Tronolone served as DiCarlo's chief lieutenant during the gang's efforts to control gambling and bookmaking rackets within the City of Buffalo.

Tronolone, Sam Pieri, Joseph Pieri, Anthony "Lucky" Perna and several other DiCarlo gang members were among the first to be arrested under New York's "Brownell Law" in May 1935. The law was intended to rid cities of "public enemy" racketeers by making the consorting of known criminals illegal. Tronolone, the Pieris and Perna were convicted and sentenced to six-month prison terms. The prison sentences were later suspended due to the newness of the Brownell Law, which had been passed just one week before the arrests.

On Jan. 14, 1936, Tronolone, DiCarlo, Perna, Sam Pieri and Joseph Pieri were arrested as suspicious persons as they emerged from a hotel in downtown Cleveland. During their trial, police officers testified that they had trailed the group for several days after their arrival in Cleveland and had observed them visiting local men with long criminal records. DiCarlo, Sam Pieri and Perna were freed. Tronolone and Joseph Pieri were convicted and sentenced to a jail term of 30 days and a fine of $50.

Tronolone and DiCarlo were arrested on an assault charge in August 1936. Roman "Whitey' Kroll complained to police that the two gang leaders had beaten and kicked him after he refused to pay them protection money for his bookmaking operation. At trial in 1937, Kroll testified that he threw his arms up over his head during the assault and could not positively identify his attackers. Tronolone and DiCarlo were acquitted.

A short time later, Tronolone was arrested in a raid of his Pearl Street bookmaking establishment. He pleaded guilty to accepting bets on horse races and was sentenced to one month in the county jail.

Tronolone and DiCarlo following their acquittal on assault charges in 1937.

During the 1940s, law enforcement cracked down on DiCarlo Gang gambling operations, conducting numerous raids of a Niagara Street betting parlor. An investigation revealed that the gambling rackets actually were operating with a measure of local police protection. Anti-gambling crusader Edward Pospichal aided the investigation and provided grand jury testimony that led to indictments against DiCarlo, Tronolone and police precinct Captain Thomas O'Neill. Pospichal was subsequently murdered.

Buffalo News, Jan. 10, 1945.

In 1945, Tronolone and DiCarlo were convicted of conspiring to violate gambling laws and conspiring in Captain O'Neill's neglect of duty. They received county jail terms of 18 months and fines of $500 each.

Upon their release, DiCarlo decided to end the police harassment of his gambling operations by leaving Buffalo. In 1946, he, Tronolone and several other members of the DiCarlo Gang relocated to Youngstown, Ohio. Under the supervision of James Licavoli, then a capodecina of the Cleveland Mafia, they took control of local bookmaking and gambling operations.

Tronolone relocated to the Miami, Florida, area in 1948. He was joined there by DiCarlo's brother Sam and began bookmaking and gambling rackets in south Florida. In the region, Tronolone associated with retired Cleveland Mafia boss John "King" Angersola and Detroit Mafioso Joseph Massei.

Tronolone was arrested for operating a gambling house in 1949 and 1952. An undercover operation by an anti-gambling task force of several law enforcement agencies in south Florida resulted in the 1954 arrests of Tronolone and Sam DiCarlo on charges of operating a gambling house, gambling and bookmaking.

Buffalo Courier Express, Jan. 17, 1946.

In the 1960s, Tronolone operated the Tahiti Bar and the Peter Pan Travel Agency in Miami Beach. Both served as fronts for gambling and loan sharking rackets. He was arrested for operating gambling establishments in 1962 and 1967, but those charges were dismissed in court.

Tronolone's 1971 conviction on charges of operating a multimillion-dollar bookmaking racket in Florida's Palm Beach, Broward and Dade Counties resulted in a sentence of two years' probation and a $1,000 fine.

During the 1980s, Tronolone assumed control of the Cleveland Mafia - the second of Joseph DiCarlo's former lieutenants to become a Mafia boss. Tronolone filled a leadership vacuum after boss James Licavoli was convicted of federal RICO charges and sentenced to seventeen years in prison, and underboss Angelo Lonardo was sentenced to life in prison on a drug trafficking conviction.

Lonardo agreed to cooperate with authorities and was placed in the federal Witness Protection Program. Information he provided helped secure indictments against Tronolone and several other Mafia bosses for racketeering. Tronolone was the only defendant acquitted at trial.

In February of 1989, Tronolone was charged with racketeering, bookmaking, loan sharking and dealing in stolen property. He was alleged to have accepted a payoff of stolen diamonds from an undercover Broward County sheriff's deputy in payment of bookmaking and loan sharking debts. He was convicted, and on Dec. 6, 1990, six days before his 80th birthday, he was sentenced to nine years in prison.

"Peanuts" Tronolone died of complications from a heart condition on May 29, 1991, before the start of his prison sentence.

Salvatore Frangiamore (Aug. 7, 1905, to Nov. 28, 1999)

Salvatore "Sam" Frangiamore was born Aug. 7, 1905, to Salvatore and Francesca Garofalo Frangiamore of Mussomeli, Sicily. (Mussomeli is an inland town in the province of Caltanissetta.)

His father sailed for America in the spring of 1907, initially staying with the Mistretta family in New York City before moving westward. Sam's older brother Filippo crossed the Atlantic in 1911 and joined Salvatore Sr. briefly in Ralston, PA. The two subsequently settled at 174 Terrace in Buffalo's Italian colony. In that period, numerous immigrants from Mussomeli selected Buffalo as their adopted home.

The Frangiamore family was reunited Oct. 10, 1912, when Sam, his mother and sisters Salvatrice (Sarah) and Vincenza (Jenny) reached New York aboard the S.S. Prinzess Irene.

Sam Frangiamore grew up in the Sicilian-Italian neighborhoods along Dante Place (formerly Canal Street). He attended Buffalo Public School No. 2 through the seventh grade. After leaving school at the age of 15, he went to work as a construction laborer.

On June 2, 1920, the Frangiamore and Todaro families were joined through the marriage of Salvatrice Frangiamore with Antonio Todaro. The couple's first child, Josephine Todaro, was born Oct. 30, 1921. A son, Joseph Todaro, was born Sept. 18, 1923.

Sam Frangiamore became a U.S. citizen through the naturalization of his father on March 7, 1921.

Frangiamore was arrested Sept. 2, 1927, as one of three suspects in a western Pennsylvania payroll robbery. The payroll of $15,000 had been stolen from couriers of the Erie PA Electric Company. On Sept. 27, 1928, Frangiamore was convicted of first degree armed robbery. He was sentenced to serve 10-20 years in Western State Penitentiary in Pittsburgh. He served little more than seven years of that sentence, as he was paroled from prison on Christmas Eve of 1935.

Just a year later, Frangiamore notched his second felony conviction. He was sentenced to 10-20 years in New York's Attica State Prison after being found guilty of first degree assault. While serving time in Attica, he became close to Joseph Fino and Daniel Sansanese, Sr., also serving time on robbery convictions.

Frangiamore was paroled from Attica on Feb. 16, 1944, and relocated to New Jersey. He married Josephine Piazza in Passaic on April 22, 1951.

In 1956, he moved back to Buffalo. A laborer on various construction sites, Frangiamore was a member of the mob-linked Laborers Local 210. At this time, he also became involved in gambling rackets sponsored by the Magaddino Mafia of western New York.

Frangiamore was among the approximately 50 men arrested in New York State Police raids of gambling establishments in the Buffalo region on Oct. 23, 1959. Others arrested were Pasquale Natarelli and Steven Cannarozzo. Police seized more than $50,000 in cash during the raids. Frangiamore and Natarelli were later convicted of conspiring to contrive a lottery. They were sentenced to serve six months in the Erie County Penitentiary.

An Oct. 7, 1966, raid by Buffalo Police and FBI agents at the Blue Banner Social Club resulted in the arrest of Frangiamore and several high-ranking Mafia members on gambling charges. Frangiamore and 35 others were arrested in the May 8, 1967, raid at Panaro's Lounge. They were charged with consorting with known criminals. These charges were later dismissed in Buffalo City Court.

Stefano Magaddino's control over the Buffalo underworld was damaged by the December 1967 imprisonment of his top lieutenants in the city, Frederico Randaccio and Pasquale Natarelli. Magaddino's efforts to rein in the Buffalo mobsters contributed to dissension and eventually to open rebellion.

In July 1969, a rebel underworld faction in Buffalo selected Sam Pieri as its acting boss, Joseph Fino as its acting underboss and Joseph DiCarlo as its acting consigliere. At that time, Frangiamore was elevated to the position of capodecina in the Buffalo Crime Family.

Two years later, with Pieri in prison and Fino facing federal gambling indictments, faction leaders moved Frangiamore into the nominal position of acting boss. The FBI learned of Frangiamore's promotion but decided that he was merely serving as a stand-in for Pieri. The real power in the Buffalo Crime Family at that moment rested with underboss Roy Carlisi and capodecina Daniel Sansanese, Sr. Carlisi and Sansanese hoped that law enforcement would focus its attention on Frangiamore and leave them free to pursue their rackets.

Frangiamore accepted his figurehead position but was uncomfortable with it. With two felony convictions already on his criminal record, the 66-year-old feared that another conviction could result in a life sentence. Informants told the FBI in September 1975 that Frangiamore was acting boss in name only. The Buffalo Crime Family authority reportedly was held by Sam Pieri's brother, Joseph Angelo Pieri.

As the 1978 Nairy's Social Club gambling case closed, the FBI examined the hierarchy of the Buffalo Crime Family and determined that it was led by a triumvirate comprised of Joseph Pieri, Roy Carlisi and Sam Frangiamore. The Bureau concluded that Pieri was the most powerful of the three, with Carlisi serving as underboss and Frangiamore holding a figurehead role to screen the activities of the other two.

Following the death of Carlisi, the Buffalo Crime Family split into factions competing for control of Laborers Local 210. Frangiamore became a key figure in the struggle. He and his nephew Joseph Todaro, Sr., led a group opposed to the Pieri-DiCarlo faction.

The deaths of Joseph DiCarlo in 1980 and Sam Pieri in 1981 weakened the Pieri wing of the crime family and permitted the rise of the Frangiamore-Todaro group. The transition between the Pieri-DiCarlo underworld administration and the new Frangiamore-Todaro regime was completed in autumn of 1984. At that time, Frangiamore retired and allowed Joseph Todaro, Sr., to take over as boss.

Frangiamore died of natural causes on Nov. 28, 1999. He was 94 years old.

John Cammilleri (May 8, 1911, - May 8, 1974)

Police surveillance photo of John Cammilleri (left) and Salvatore "George Raft" Bonito

John Cammilleri was born May 8, 1911, to Angelo and Lucia Diana Cammilleri in Campobello Licata, Sicily. He crossed the Atlantic with his mother and three siblings at the age of five, arriving in the U.S. aboard the S.S. Giuseppe Verde on May 30, 1916.

Cammilleri was 19 when he was first arrested. The original charge of grand larceny was reduced to petit larceny, and Cammilleri received a suspended three-month prison sentence and a $10 fine. He was again arrested for grand larceny on June 5, 1931. That charge, stemming from the theft of an automobile, was reduced to malicious mischief and resulted in a $15 fine.

Cammilleri's good fortune in the courtroom continued two months later. He was arrested for first-degree assault after firing a gunshot at Joseph Morabello. The court discharged him.

On Dec. 23, 1931, Cammilleri married Josephine DeCarlo in Buffalo.

Cammilleri in 1933

The following summer, he was arrested after entering a Dante Place store and stealing $58 from its cash register. Convicted of third-degree burglary, he was given a suspended prison sentence and two years of probation.

At about this time, Cammilleri joined the DiCarlo Gang and began shaking down operators of craps games and bookmaking parlors for a share of their profits. He was arrested Oct. 2, 1933, with DiCarlo Gang members Anthony Tuttino, Sam "Doc" Alessi and George Rolando. The group was charged with first-degree robbery and extortion after holding up John Rogers for $22 and threatening to kill him if he did not make $5 weekly payments to the gang. Cammilleri was convicted and sentenced on Feb. 2, 1934, to a 20-year term in Emira Reformatory.

Cammilleri was labeled "Public Enemy No. 14" on a list compiled by Buffalo Police Commissioner Austin J. Roche, and his criminal record was filed with the FBI.

Released on parole in the summer of 1936, Cammilleri became a construction labor foreman with Laborers Local 210. In 1948, he established the J.C. Concrete Company and began working closely with Victor Randaccio to ensure Magaddino Crime Family control of Local 210. Cammilleri partnered with Frederico Randaccio and "Pat Titters" Natarelli to form Frontier Lathers, Inc., in 1960. The company supplied barricades and construction warning signs. Using his influence over Local 210, Cammilleri was able to extort contactors into using the services of the new company.

Cammilleri was identified as a Magaddino Crime Family lieutenant in a chart prepared for the U.S. Senate's McClellan Committee in October 1963. The FBI kept constant watch on his activities and documented his regular meetings with higher-ups at the Magaddino Memorial Chapel in Niagara Falls. In 1965, the New York Commission of Investigation questioned him under immunity about criminal activities in Rochester.

Cammilleri was among three dozen men, including Joseph DiCarlo, Frederico Randaccio and Pasquale Natarelli, arrested in the May 8, 1967, raid at Panaro's Lounge. Charges of consorting with known criminals were later dismissed in Buffalo City Court.

Cammilleri in 1969

As events of the late 1960s drove a wedge between Buffalo Mafiosi and their Niagara Falls-based leadership, Cammilleri lent his support to a rebel underworld faction headed by acting boss Sam Pieri, underboss Joseph Fino and consigliere Joseph DiCarlo.

In 1969, Cammilleri was found guilty of testifying falsely to a federal grand jury. He was sentenced to two years of probation.

Cammilleri's links to organized crime and organized labor came to light in June 1971, as a federal grand jury probed underworld involvement in the construction of Buffalo's new Federal Building. Early stages of the project had been plagued by delays and cost overruns relating to problems with workers from Laborers Local 210. After the contractor hired Cammilleri as a labor coordinator, all proceeded smoothly.

Factions developed within the Buffalo Crime Family in spring 1973, as a disagreement erupted over Victor Randaccio's continued role with Local 210. Cammilleri joined Fino and Daniel Sansanese in support of Fino's son Ronald as Local 210 business manager. DiCarlo, the Pieris, Roy Carlisi and Joseph Todaro, Sr., remained committed to Randaccio. Running on a reform platform, Ronald Fino won election overwhelmingly. However, following his victory, Ronald Fino refused to appoint Cammilleri to his desired position of Local 210 personnel director.

Cammilleri did not keep his disappointment a secret. He spoke angrily with Joseph Fino, expressed discontentment with Pieri's leadership and threatened to pull his crew out of the Buffalo Crime Family.

On the evening of May 8, 1974, Cammilleri celebrated his 63rd birthday with friends at Buffalo's Roseland Restaurant. He left briefly to attend a wake and then went back to the restaurant. As he stepped from his automobile, a light-colored sedan squealed to a stop behind him. A man armed with a .38-caliber revolver jumped out of the sedan and fired three shots, leaving Cammilleri dead on the sidewalk.

1974 police surveillance photo of Cammilleri leaving Roseland Restaurant.

Salvatore Pieri (Jan. 29, 1911, - Aug. 24, 1981)

Sam Pieri in 1931

Salvatore "Sam" Pieri was born Jan. 29, 1911, in Buffalo to Sicilian immigrants Giovanni and Ignazia (Anna) Ciresi Pieri. Giovanni and Ignazia were both born in Montemaggiore Belsito, a hilly Sicilian region north of Valledolmo and Vallelunga. Giovanni entered the U.S. on April 20, 1893. Ignazia entered July 1, 1898. They were married in Buffalo's St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Church on Nov. 16, 1900.

Sam was the seventh of nine children born to the couple. His siblings were Salvatora "Elsie" (married to Joseph DiCarlo on Nov. 29, 1924), Vincenza "Genevieve," Adelina, Giovanni "Johnny Rai," Giuseppina "Josephine," Giuseppe "Joe," Stefano "Steve," and Horace "Hobbie."

He first ran into trouble with the law when he was just 10 years old. He was arrested Aug. 7, 1921, for malicious mischief. He was later discharged. Grand larceny and juvenile delinquency charges against him were similarly dropped in 1926. He was charged with truancy on Oct. 27, 1927, and turned over to a truant officer. Sam completed seventh grade and then did not return to school.

As a result of Pieri's first criminal conviction, for second-degree larceny, he was sentenced in June 1928 to an indefinite period of probation.

Pieri in 1933

Pieri and brothers John and Joe became members of the DiCarlo Gang. Working for their brother-in-law Joseph DiCarlo, they extorted payments from operators of craps games and bookmaking parlors.

Sam Pieri and fellow DiCarlo Gang member Joe "the Goose" Gatti were arrested Jan. 6, 1931, along with two other alleged accomplices. They were charged with first-degree robbery in connection with the $3,000 armed holdup of a gambling establishment in Rochester. The charge was eventually dropped.

Pieri was less fortunate later that year. On Sept. 2, he and two other men were arrested as they unloaded 300 quarts of Canadian ale from a rowboat at the foot of Buffalo's Hudson Street. (A fourth member of the bootlegging group escaped by swimming away.) Pieri was convicted of bootlegging and tariff violations and sentenced to 60 days in Erie County Prison.

Pieri and "Goose" Gatti escaped conviction on another first-degree robbery charge in the spring of 1933. By the end of that year, 22-year-old Pieri made Buffalo Police Commissioner Austin J. Roche's list of Public Enemies (No. 12).

On Jan. 23, 1934, Pieri married Caroline LoTempio. DiCarlo Gangster and future Cleveland crime boss John "Peanuts" Tronolone was Pieri's best man.

Pieri, Tronolone, Anthony "Lucky" Perna and others were arrested in spring 1935 for violating the new Brownell Law, which made consorting of criminals unlawful. Though the men were convicted, their six-month prison sentences were suspended.

Pieri in 1969

Pieri earned the respect of western New York crime boss Stefano Magaddino the following year, as he imposed mob discipline upon a relative. The LoTempio brothers, Pieri cousins, were believed responsible for a May 1936 bombing that took the life of Magaddino's sister. The LoTempios were rebelling against a Magaddino-imposed tax on their gambling rackets. Pieri arranged for Frank LoTempio to attend the wedding of a relative in Buffalo. Following the reception, Pieri escorted LoTempio to his car. After a short conversation, Pieri shook LoTempio's hand and turned away. Two men emerged from a nearby parked vehicle and shot LoTempio to death.

The 1949 disappearance of gambler Patsy Quigliano was also linked to Pieri. Quigliano was deeply in debt to mob higher-ups, and Pieri reportedly was to transport him to meet with Joseph DiCarlo in Cleveland on the day he disappeared.

In the early 1950s, a three-year Federal Bureau of Narcotics investigation pointed to Sam Pieri and Salvatore Rizzo as the regional leaders of a heroin and cocaine smuggling ring involving Buffalo, New York City and Cleveland. Pieri and Rizzo were arrested May 22, 1954. Charges against Rizzo were dismissed. Pieri was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in Atlanta Federal Prison. He was released May 7, 1963.

The prison term enhanced Pieri's stature in the underworld. Within the institution's walls, he established strong relationships with members of the Profaci and Genovese crime families and became especially close to jailed crime boss Vito Genovese. Upon Pieri's release, law enforcement officials wondered if he might become more powerful than Magaddino underboss Frederico Randaccio or possibly Magaddino himself.

The Magaddino organization was staggered by the imprisonment of Buffalo underworld leaders Randaccio and Pasquale Natarelli in December of 1967. Pieri and DiCarlo took advantage of the situation, mobilizing elements of the old DiCarlo Gang to take control of gambling rackets in Buffalo.

Claiming there had been a dramatic dropoff in underworld revenues, Magaddino imposed additional taxes on his men, refused to assist in gambling racket financing and eliminated bonuses he had previously paid to his lieutenants. In November 1968, Magaddino was proved a liar, as federal agents discovered nearly a half-million dollars in cash hidden in a wall of his son Peter's home.

The events of the 1960s drove a wedge between Buffalo Mafiosi and the organization's Niagara Falls-based leadership. In July 1969, a rebel Mafia faction in Buffalo selected Pieri as its acting boss, Joseph Fino as its acting underboss and Joseph DiCarlo as its acting consigliere. When informants brought the news to the FBI, Pieri became the Bureau's top target in Buffalo.

Pieri, Anthony Romano and Ralph Jacobs stood trial in 1970 for transporting stolen jewelry. As the state was concluding its case, authorities heard evidence that Pieri had attempted to bribe a juror. A mistrial was declared, and Pieri was charged with obstruction of justice. He was convicted of jury tampering and sentenced to five years in federal prison.

Pieri in 1975

When paroled in December 1973, Pieri immediately returned to his top position in the Buffalo Crime Family. Capodecina John Cammilleri's brief challenge to Pieri's leadership ended with Cammilleri's murder on May 8, 1974.

The FBI's next move against the Pieri administration consisted of inserting an undercover agent into two Buffalo gambling clubs that featured high-stakes Ziganette card games. As a result of the investigation, Pieri was found in violation of his parole and returned to prison to complete his jury tampering sentence.

Upon his release, Pieri found federal authorities ready to try him for conspiracy and gambling in connection with the Ziganette parlors. Pieri eventually pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was sentenced to a year in prison.

Securing his release after four months, Pieri sought to reestablish discipline in a criminal organization that had been shaken by informants and law enforcement infiltration. The May 1980 murder of William "Billy" Sciolino, a mob informant, was intended as an example.

Less than a month later, the partly decomposed body of Carl Rizzo was found in the trunk of a car. Rizzo was initially suspected of also being an informant, but investigators learned he had been involved in a Pieri-sponsored racket related to union dental plans.

Pieri's hold on the Buffalo Crime Family was weakened with the October 1980 death of Joseph DiCarlo. DiCarlo provided continuity during Pieri's prison sentence and conferred legitimacy upon Pieri's leadership claims.

Seven months later, Pieri became seriously ill. He passed away Aug. 24, 1981, at the age of 70.

Pieri gravesite

Joseph DiCarlo (Nov. 1, 1899, - Oct. 11, 1980)

Joseph DiCarlo was once known as "the Al Capone of Buffalo" and, in 1932, Buffalo Police Commission Austin Roche labeled him "Public Enemy No. 1."

He was born in Vallelunga Sicily in 1899 to Giuseppe and Vincenza Grasso DiCarlo. He and his family entered the U.S. in 1905-06, settling first in New York City before moving on to Buffalo. There his father was the region's first known Sicilian underworld boss from 1908 to his death in 1922.

DiCarlo, still young and irresponsible at the time of his father's death, was rejected as heir to his father's criminal empire. After spending troubled years as a vassal of the influential Stefano Magaddino, DiCarlo and his underlings wandered, seeking their fortunes in Youngstown, Ohio, and Miami Beach, Florida.

DiCarlo returned home to advise and lead a Buffalo-based insurrection against Magaddino and establish an independent Buffalo Crime Family led by the DiCarlo-Pieri family.

After reigning as consigliere of that organization for more than a decade, DiCarlo died of natural causes in 1980.