Cosa Nostra Families Who Retired and Went Legit

Much has been written about the rackets, blood inductions, funny nicknames, modus operandi, and other nuances of various Mafia members and Families who operated throughout the United States over the years. What is typically never focused on is just how many of those mafiosi later chose to quietly fade into retirement.

In fact, more than just individual members, in several cases, entire Cosa Nostra Families have made the cognizant decision, by a vote of their rank-and-file membership (or the NYC Commission made the decision for them), to basically shut down their Family by allowing themselves to become extinct through attrition.

Examples of this would be the tiny Dallas, Texas-based borgata that was once led by boss Joe Civello or the 25-member San Francisco, California-based borgata headed by James (Jimmy the Hat) Lanza . Both Families were allowed to die out through attrition.

Without a doubt, one of the most glaring examples of this slow extinction was the Carlo Caputo Family of Madison, Wisconsin. Long recognized as the smallest and quietest, known Cosa Nostra Family or “borgata” to ever exist within the United States, the Madison group was headed by “Capo Famiglia” Carlo Caputo.

This Family was said to have been formed by mafia elements previously based in Chicago. They fled Illinois for the greener and relatively safer pastures of Wisconsin after being on the losing side of a late 1920s-early 1930s underworld conflict for power.

Carlo Caputo

Mob historians say that during that bloody period in Chicago, Sicilian-born members of the Mafia network that had put down roots in the city came into conflict with the fledgling Torrio-Capone Syndicate.

The Torrio-Capone Gang, first led by the iconic Johnny Torrio, and later by his second in command, the Brooklyn-born neapolitan hoodlum Alphonse (Scarface Al) Capone, were flexing their muscles in an attempt to overtake all other independent gangs and hoodlums in the Windy City.

Although Al Capone grabbed the headlines, the actual acknowledged Mafia leader in Chicago at that time was Antonio (Tony) Aiello.

He was an old-fashioned Sicilian stalwart, who opposed the “diluting” of the organization with the acceptance of non-Sicilian racketeers such as Calabrians, Neapolitans, and others from the Italian mainland such as Capone and many of his allies. Not to mention Aiello’s disdain for non-Italians such as the Irish, Jewish, and Polish gangs operating throughout the city that the Capone Gang was doing business with and had readily accepted into their ranks.

Tensions were already running high between Tony Aiello and his followers, and those of Al Capone and his organization, when a fateful event would change everything for both men. A tornado had been brewing under the surface of the Italian underworld for several years that would soon engulf all borgatas throughout America to a greater or lesser degree. It would also spell the end for Tony Aiello.

It all started when two Sicilian-born strongmen based out of New York City went head to head in deadly combat, challenging one another for supremacy to see who in fact would lead the Sicilian Mafia in the United States as its undisputed “Capo di tutti Capi,” or “Boss of all Bosses.” It would lead to the infamous “Castellammarese War” that raged from 1929 through 1931.

Many men would die as a result. It began when New York overlord Giuseppe (Joe the Boss) Masseria tried to subjugate Maranzano and his followers as he had done to the other mafia networks in other cities.

This was done in order to dominate all mafiosi throughout all the borgatas across the entire country. Masseria demanded, and generally received, a steady weekly or monthly “tribute” from various bosses throughout the brotherhood, which in that era was thought to encompass over 50 to 60 Families, both large and small. He ordered Maranzano and his men to do the same, as well as recognize and acknowledge Masseria as their superior.

But Turiddo Maranzano was nobody’s “second,” nor would he and his Castellammarese “compari” be cowed into submission by anyone. There were many Castellammarese clans sprinkled throughout the country, from New York City to California, and in-between. Buffalo and Binghamton in NYS. Detroit, Chicago, San Jose and San Francisco to name but a few.

After much consultation among the rank and file and capos, the Castellammarese clans flatly refused to capitulate to Masseria’s demands. It frustrated “Joe the Boss” to no end….How dare they!

Masseria struck first, orchestrating the planned assassinations of several important “men of honor” in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan. Next, he tried to strike at loyalists in Buffalo with limited success.

The Buffalo-Niagara Falls area had a large Castellammarese clan led by Steve Magaddino.

But shortly thereafter in May of 1930, the Castellammarese took a major loss with the daytime executions of their consigliere Gaspare Milazzo and his bodyguard Joe Parrino, both killed after they were lulled to sleep by the prospect of a “peace” meeting, only to be shot to death in a downtown Detroit marketplace by Masseria assassins. The war was now on!…This became the pivotal moment in the tensions and the event that accelerated the war.

It became the battle cry for all Castellammarese across the entire country to close ranks and defeat their enemy. Masseria had woken a sleeping giant. This deadly conflict would rage on with many gangland killings for over a year, with no end in sight.

As the war progressed, an ever frustrated Masseria reached out to the powerful Al Capone and extended to him a tempting olive branch. If he would throw in with Masseria against his arch rival Turiddo Maranzano, Masseria would accept the Alphonse Capone into the ranks of the Sicilian Mafia.

By this time, Al Capone had expanded his organization into a monolithic, but “independent” underworld network all its own. The Capone Gang literally had hundreds of members and associates.

In his desperate growing bid for supremacy, Masseria promised that he would absorb Capone, a Neapolitan, into the Sicilian Mafia as a formally “inducted” member, as well as immediately elevate him to the position of a “capo regime” over the Chicago - if Capone would help eliminate Masseria’s enemy Joe Aiello that is.

The steadfast Aiello had become a major thorn in Joe the Boss’s side by backing Masseria’s arch-rival Maranzano with both money and manpower in this protracted underworld battle….without blinking an eye, ”Scarface Al” accepted the offer.

Within a few months on October 23, 1930, Aiello was assassinated. Capone had taken the oath of Omertà, becoming a “made man” as well as the undisputed leader over all of Chicago, and for that matter the entire state of Illinois and its surrounding territories.

With the murder of Tony Aiello and several of his key soldiers, the remaining members of Chicago’s small Cosa Nostra clan were sent scrambling in fear for their lives. Some would eventually be absorbed within the larger Capone organization.

Since the Capone mob was now recognized as a legitimate Mafia “entity” and were mafiosi themselves, some former Aiello followers accepted their fate and became members under the Capone regime. Others fled to the relative safe haven of the Castellammarese clan back in New York City or nearby Detroit. But there was also a small band of remaining Aiello members who didn’t trust Capone, or care to relocate clear across the country.

This small band of mafia members included Aiello’s own brother Giuseppe (Joe) Aiello and several other loyal men. After a while, they made the decision to flee the city and relocate to Milwaukee, under the protection of the Milwaukee Family and its sitting Capo at the time, the respected Vito Guardalabene.

Some former Aiello men would remain with the Milwaukee Family. But a few others chafed under the rule of Guardalabene and were unhappy. They later chose to leave the City of Milwaukee for the small, nearby City of Madison. Once there, they established their own personal “borgata.’ They operated out of a neighborhood called Greenbush, which was an enclave of Sicilian immigrants that formed Madison’s “Little Italy” community.

It is believed that according to Cosa Nostra law, ten “inducted” men are required in order to form a “Family.” Of course, most mafia networks have many more members than that. In fact, Families in the United States generally range from a low of 30 to 50 members such as they had in Milwaukee, St. Louis, Tampa, New Orleans, New England, or even the De Cavalcante’s of New Jersey for that matter.

Some of the larger east coast Families typically had anywhere from 100 up to 250 members each, such as they have among New York City’s Five Families even today. And that’s not even counting the thousands of “associate members” they have.

But technically, ten members was all you needed to get approval from the Mafia Commission to start up a “Family” per se. And although extremely rare in the U.S., it is actually a very common occurrence back in Sicily where there are hundreds of little “borgatas” spread out among the towns and little villages throughout the Mediterranean island.

Most mafia clans or “cosca” as they are called in the Sicilian dialect, have on average 20 to 30 members, but there are smaller clans that have no more than 10 to 15 mafiosi in them.

The larger and more dominant cosca in the city of Palermo often have 50 to 100 members each, so does the borgata in the seaside village of Castellammare del Golfo, and in the nearby town of Alcamo, which have always been dominant forces in Cosa Nostra since the beginning of the Brotherhood.

It is thought that by about 1940 or so, the Madison-based Family was formally established and became recognized by the Commission, which in turn meant that it was now recognized by all the other Families throughout America.

But the Madison Family would always still remain close to the Milwaukee membership because of the mutual old “friends” who remained members there.

It is also thought that the Madison Family utilized the larger Chicago Family, which by 1940 or so was under the auspices of newly elected boss Anthony (Joe Batters) Accardo and his lifelong partner Felice (Paul the Waiter) DeLucia, to report to the New York-based Commission if, and whenever required.

Maybe so in theory. But in reality, there really wasn’t much for the Madison Family to ever report about.

This small membership elected as their boss or “Capo,” a mafioso named Carlo Caputo. He immediately installed his close friend Giuseppe Aiello, who would later become better known as “Pizza Pie Joe” as his Sotto-capo, or “Underboss.”

Together these two men would govern and lead a rank and file that comprised less than 10 soldiers, most of whom were either middle-aged or approaching that time in their lives.

By and large, they were generally small business owners, with possibly a gambling operator or two thrown into the mix for good luck. By the 1940s, Prohibition was long over. It’s possible that bookmaking may have become an activity to generate income for one or two of them…But maybe not.

Carlo Caputo himself was said to have been a very savvy businessman. He had started out in Chicago where he had allegedly been a bootlegger. He must have been an extremely successful one. Because upon arriving in Madison, he immediately started buying up buildings and various properties. He quickly refurbished them and started renting out space to other local businesses.

Besides becoming a successful landlord, he also opened up several popular taverns and restaurants in his Greenbush Little Italy neighborhood. The most popular and famous of which was Carlo’s Italian Restaurant, and the Atwood Steak House.

His partner and “second in command” Joe Aiello decided to open up one of the first, and ultimately the most popular and successful pizzerias in Madison. He named it “Joe’s Pizza Pie,” and it became the rage of the local foodies. Aiello actually operated this restaurant himself for many years. It became his base of operations, hence his nickname “Pizza Pie Joe.”

The other members of the “borgata” also operated in this low-key manner. In fact, although they were each indeed formally inducted “mafiosi,” most, if any at all, we’re not engaged in illegal activities as far as local and federal law enforcement authorities could determine.

They may have run liquor bootlegging or other rackets years before, but by the time they arrived in Madison, most were either retired or semi-retired, or operated in such a minimal and low key manner as to not draw any law enforcement attention to themselves.

They would technically operate and coexist among the larger borgatas in neighboring cities and states for several more decades to come, maintaining relationships with blood family and former members who relocated to other Families throughout the country such as the Zammuto Family of Rockford, Illinois, and the Chicago and Milwaukee Outfits.

The one slight bump in the road for Caputo himself happened in 1961 when he was finally indicted after many years of intense investigation by both the FBI and the IRS. Charged with several counts of income-tax evasion, Caputo and his lawyers dragged the case out until 1968 when he was convicted.

He worked out a deal to plead guilty to one count and was sentenced to two years of imprisonment. But under an extremely favorable deal worked out with the federal government, Caputo ended up only serving a mere 30-days in jail, with the remaining 23 months out on supervised probation. It was a good deal for Carlo…A very good deal!

But even this criminal case was really based on Caputo having “under-reported” his legitimate income from real estate and various other businesses he operated. Not from Mafia “racket activity” per se.

As an interesting footnote, as late as the 1988 “Congressional Senate Hearings on Organized Crime in America,” the elderly Carlo Caputo was still being listed as the “Boss” of the Madison, Wisconsin Family of Cosa Nostra. Or what was left of it, which was essentially nothing. Every member had already passed away years before.

As their limited membership died off, Carlo Caputo and Joe Aiello had little desire to induct new blood into their ranks or to continue the “tradition” as they say….it was to become the “Family’s” death kneel.

Aiello passed away at the age of 69 years old of natural causes on November 7, 1970. Carlo Caputo died twenty-three years later at the age of 90 years old, on November 9, 1993.

With his death, the Madison Family “officially” died with him. Nobody was left standing. Today, the Caputo Family of Cosa Nostra is but a distant memory.

They were mafiosi from a bygone era. Never to be repeated again… A good thing?…Maybe. Maybe not. I’ll let the reader decide that one for himself.

There were several other small Families, or even single “regimes” of larger Families, that operated throughout the United States who essentially died out by the late 1960s-1970s or so, by following a similar path with their rank and file membership.

Good examples of borgatas who became extinct through attrition were the two California-based Families of Joe Cerrito in San Jose, or the Frank Lanza Family of San Francisco.

Another borgata that faded from view was that of boss Frank Zito of Springfield, Illinois.

As far as single “regimes” or “decinas” of larger Families who died off in much the same manner, was the Frank Corbi regime of Baltimore, Maryland.

The “Corbi Regime” had started out under the leadership of Luigi Morici. Corbi had been groomed for a future leadership position and took over after Morici got old and sickly. They were technically but one single crew, or arm, of the larger Anastasia/Gambino Family of New York City, whose membership exceeded 250-300 men in those days.

Each of these small organizations operated in a similar fashion, with the Corbi regime arguably being the most active as far as steady criminal activity went. At least they operated various types of bookmaking and numbers, dice and card games, vending machines, and a few other types of traditional rackets. Because most of the other, above named Mafia networks, did not actively ever develop or look to create illegal racket operations for themselves.

Most of these fellas either ran small businesses they had opened up or partnered in. There were other known members who were just hired as workers by outside businesses or worked for municipalities as public employees. Many others were already getting on in years by the late 1950s and 60s and allowed themselves to just fade into retirement or semi-retirement.

The few other documented mafiosi of these crews whom federal law enforcement was able to tie into any type of illegal activity, seemed to confine their criminal endeavors to accepting a few wagers on a horse or two, or a sports contest as local bookies. But even when suspected of bookmaking, their gambling activities were regarded as small-time and minor as far as scope and breathe.

It seems that there was a concerted effort of sorts by the hierarchies in each of these borgatas to just allow the Family entity to fade out. No younger aspiring associate members were waiting in the lurch to get tapped for formal induction. Nor were any existing members seeking out new associates for the future “health” of their borgata.

In retrospect, it seems that Prohibition had been the original catalyst and springboard from which many of these men became criminals in the first place. And after Prohibition ended in 1933, many either eased into legitimate business completely or dabbled in some illegal gambling activity at best in future years.

I am sure that there may have been other small regimes or decinas that ended up the same way, if not entire networks who had operated up until the repeal of Prohibition.

Even among the New York membership of the infamous Five Families. Many individual mafiosi chose to go into legitimate business at some point in their underworld careers. These men were still recognized as Mafia members in good standing by their respective hierarchies. They were also still recognized as such by the FBI who continually placed them on government charts and LCN membership lists.

But they had long ago retired or had chosen to operate nearly completely “legit” so to speak, after making whatever money they had made in the rackets.

Until next time…”The Other Guy!”

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Cosa Nostra Families Who Retired and Went Legit

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