Based in the City of Dallas, Texas, what would become known as the Civello Crime Family started to take form by the early 1920s. Brothers Carlo and Giuseppe Piranio are generally credited with having been the founding fathers of this clan. They were born in the infamous town of Corleone in Sicily, and by the early 1900s, the brothers had immigrated to the United States. Within a few years after establishing themselves with mafiosi elements in Upper Manhattan, Carlo Piranio was said to have received the help and backing of notorious New York Mafia boss Giuseppe (The Clutch Hand) Morello in setting up a Texas-based borgata.
As a fellow native of Corleone, Morello agreed to install his fellow “amici” down in Texas as a point man to help expand the Corleone clan’s power and influence to other parts of the United States. Carlo Piranio was elected the first “Capo Famiglia” for the State of Texas. His brother Joe was installed as his underboss.
The Dallas Family was never thought to have more than two to three dozen “official” inducted members at any given period, but the soldiers operated successfully throughout the Lone Star State with help from a small network of mob associates of various ethnicities who ran criminal activities along with them.
With Carlo Piranio’s death in late 1930, his brother Joe ascended to the throne. Joe had a twenty-five-year run at the top until he died from natural causes in 1956. This was when former caporegime Joseph Civello was elevated to be the next boss of the Dallas Family. Unfortunately for Joe Civello, he would gain much unwanted notoriety only one year later.
