Even after having been convicted in a massive heroin conspiracy in 1959 with the likes of Vito Genovese and other top mafiosi and having been sent to the penitentiary for 20 years, serving 12 before making parole, he was still able to immerse himself almost immediately into the thick of things, re-establishing various connections, drug pipelines, and routes into the United States.
Camillo (Lilo) Galante – aka “Carmine Galante” and “The Cigar” – was born 1910 in New York’s East Harlem in the “Little Italy” district. His family hailed from the borgata’s ancestral homeland of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily. He lived his early life in Downtown Manhattan later relocating to various addresses in the neighborhood.
After marrying, he and his wife moved 274 Marcy Avenue in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, a Sicilian stronghold where many fellow Bonanno members resided.
