Outside of New York City’s infamous “Five Families” and another Family based upstate in Buffalo, NY, the Angelo Bruno Family of Philadelphia has arguably been one of the more vibrant and active Cosa Nostra borgatas in U.S. history.
With a traditional 1940s-1980s membership thought to have hovered at around 75-100 inducted soldiers, a hundred or more “proposed” associates of Italian ethnicity waiting in the wings to be brought into the fold, and hundreds more second-tier associates of varying ethnicities, Philadelphia’s Cosa Nostra was always a formidable bunch.
And although this Mafia Family has most often been identified with their 1960s-1970s leader Angelo Bruno Annaloro, both before and after Bruno’s reign, this particular borgata produced a long line of important leaders and had a rich history.
Origins of the Philly Mob
The original founding father of this Cosa Nostra network was thought to have been Salvatore Sabella, a Sicilian-born mafioso from the historic Mafia-laden town of Castellammare del Golfo on the Mediterranean island’s northwestern coastline. Sabella’s appointment was allegedly orchestrated by the infamous Mafia leader Salvatore (Don Turiddo) Maranzano.
But sources say Sabella was a weak leader and was soon replaced with Giovanni (Big Nose John) Avena, who led the troops for the next five years until he was murdered. Over the next decade or so, Philadelphia’s Cosa Nostra was then led by Giuseppe (Joe) Dovi.
Around 1946, another low-key mafioso by the name of Giuseppe Ida was named “Capo Famiglia.” He quietly led the membership until the late fifties.
Then, shortly after sixty fellow mafiosi were nabbed during the infamous Upstate New York “Apalachin Meeting” on November 14, 1957, Ida allegedly called it quits and retired back to his native Italy after witnessing all the law enforcement heat the Apalachin debacle had brought his “Brotherhood.” This watershed event started an unprecedented assault by the federal government to seriously investigate the Cosa Nostra.
Ida’s departure created a vacuum in the Philadelphia Mafia that was filled by a veteran member of the Family by the name of Antonio Pollina who became the next acting boss. But over the next year or so, turmoil started to develop within the borgata.
Tensions developed between Pollina and a fellow member by the name of Angelo Bruno, a respected young mafioso who was quickly rising within the Family. He was a man whom Pollina grew to dislike and become jealous of.
Word eventually reached Bruno through the underworld grapevine that Pollina planned to have him murdered to eliminate any potential competition. Instead of taking matters into his own hands, mob lore has it that Bruno drove directly to New York City and brought a formal complaint against Pollina before the Mafia’s high “Commission.”
The Rise of Angelo Bruno
Pollina was subsequently called “on the carpet” to explain his actions. When his answers were not to the satisfaction of the bosses, he was then quickly deposed from leadership and his position was given to Angelo Bruno who was then ratified as Philadelphia’s new “Capo Famiglia.”
Bruno was also given the privilege of having Pollina murdered for his indiscretion. But Bruno’s next move showed the savvy operating style and type of leader he was to become. He declined to have his adversary killed, choosing instead to allow Pollina to remain a soldier in good standing within Bruno’s new administration.
This show of benevolence did not go unnoticed within the ranks of Cosa Nostra. Bruno gained the respect and admiration of his fellow mafiosi with such a showing of strength, confidence, and a business-like management style. It served Bruno well for the next two decades.
During his tenure as boss, Bruno first consolidated and then later expanded the family’s membership as well as their racket holdings.
The Philadelphia Family membership was mostly comprised of Italians from the regions of Calabria and Sicily. From the first days of its formation and throughout the later decades, there developed two distinct factions within the same borgata.
This necessitated the leadership being split in a sense, with Bruno (a Sicilian) sharing the hierarchy with Calabrians such as Giuseppe (Joe the Boss) Rugnetta who filled the consigliere position.
Philly Rackets
The Philadelphia Family controlled a very lucrative territory. It ran a series of massive gambling rackets throughout the city which included a multimillion-dollar-a-year numbers lottery, high-stakes floating dice and card games that generated millions more, and huge horse and sports bookmaking businesses.
The Bruno Family was also reported to be extremely engaged in loansharking. In fact, a city-wide usurious money lending operation was said to be one of their most important rackets. It was such a moneymaker that it was handled and supervised by Angelo and his top hierarchy right on down to the soldiers and associate members who actually conducted and managed the day-to-day loans handed out, and the weekly vigorish collections collected thereafter.
Philadelphia’s mafiosi had been major bootleggers during the 1920s Prohibition era. Liquor bootlegging was such a profitable racket that even after Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the local mob continued to operate alcohol stills that produced hard liquors and wine on a regular basis that Philly’s wiseguys then supplied tax-free to local restaurants, bars and taverns, and nightclubs.
It was a very lucrative arrangement for all involved…except good ole’ Uncle Sam, of course, who didn’t collect liquor taxes on those sales.
Other important activities and businesses they controlled included several labor-union locals such as Roofers Union Local #30B, an Operating Engineers Union Local, Teamsters Union Local #158, Hotel & Restaurant Workers Union Local #170, Restaurant and Bartenders Union Local #54, a city-wide jukebox and cigarette machine monopoly racket, legitimate and semi-legit businesses such as nightclubs and bars, eateries, exterminating company, real estate investments, and trucking companies among the many other types of enterprises.
Despite all the rackets they had, by the late-1970s, internal dissension started brewing within the ranks of the borgata. The perception was that although Angelo Bruno had successfully steered their ship in the right direction for nearly two decades with lucrative gambling and shylocking rackets, several key members of the family felt he had also held them down by banning the membership from engaging in other lucrative activities like handling hard narcotics as a source of income.
When New York boss Carlo (Don Carlo) Gambino died in 1974, things started to change. Gambino had always been Bruno’s “compare,’ benefactor, and protector within Cosa Nostra. Everybody knew that, and no one was ever foolish enough to challenge Bruno’s authority while Gambino was around. But, now, there was no one left to scare away the wolves. Unfortunately, Angelo Bruno did not realize the Cosa Nostra winds had changed.
After the State of New Jersey brought legalized gambling to nearby Atlantic City in 1977 (an area traditionally under Philadelphia’s jurisdiction,) several high-ranking members became even more disgruntled by the way Bruno allowed New York City’s Mafia families to join in and eat off what the Philadelphia membership perceived as their exclusive turf.
Over the next several years, a Machiavellian plot to overthrow Bruno developed between several ambitious hoodlums who had been impatiently waiting in the wings.
The Fall of Bruno
Family consigliere Antonio (Tony Bananas) Caponigro and several other key members formed a plot to topple Bruno and seize his power. And in 1980, the proverbial chickens finally came home to roost.
Angelo Bruno was assassinated one evening after returning home from dinner at a local Italian restaurant. “The king was dead…long live the king!” Or so the plotters thought. But that’s not exactly how it worked out.
Caponigro and an aide named Alfred Salerno were summoned to New York to explain their actions and were summarily slaughtered afterward. Several others involved in the plot were also executed in the ensuing months.
Bruno’s former trusty underboss Philip Testa was then elevated to the top post. But he, too, was soon executed after a bomb was placed on the front porch of his home. That’s when the bloodthirsty Nicky Scarfo rose to power as boss of the Family. He was a paranoid tyrant. And over the next several decades, under Scarfo’s psychopathic rule, blood and turmoil would completely consume Philadelphia’s Mafia.
Bodies were dropping like flies. And soon, federal and local law enforcement agencies pulled out all stops in their efforts to bring him to justice. He and several dozen of his young soldiers were eventually indicted, convicted, and jailed for decades. Scarfo died behind bars.
But by then irreparable damage had already been done to their borgata. It would take the Philadelphia Family decades to recover some semblance of stability and functionality. And even today, they are a shadow of their former selves.
The Bruno Family Leadership Chart
The Button Guys hierarchy chart depicted below names most of their early top leadership figures and rank-and-file membership. It also lists literally hundreds and hundreds of Family “associates,” many of whom later became inducted members in future years. Some of these men would later become notorious as they rose up into leadership positions.
Those “associates” that law enforcement authorities claim were later inducted as soldiers are marked with a (+) symbol. The original and veteran members of the Family who rose to the hierarchy are also marked with a (+) symbol.
Keep in mind that this hierarchy chart covers a fifty-year time period. So, many of those listed may not have been active during the same era or have even known one another during their time on the streets.
