Jimmy Angelina was a shadowy and little-known Cosa Nostra capo in the Genovese Family. Despite his early proclivity as an accomplished gunman, his quick rise up the underworld ladder, and getting exposed by mob songbird Joe Valachi during the 1963 U.S. Senate hearings, for many years, Jimmy Angelina successfully headed a major faction of the Genovese borgata while quietly remaining in the shadows.
Jimmy’s wild shenanigans quickly developed his street reputation, and he soon attracted the attention of a highly-respected and influential Calabrian-born criminal by the name of Rocco (The Old Man) Pellegrino, who was the acknowledged “power” in the local underworld. Pellegrino took a liking to the brash young hoodlum and took him under his wing. It is believed that this is where Angelino first got his start in the Mafia, under Pellegrino’s criminal tutelage and guidance.