Based in Springfield, Massachusetts, what became known as the “Springfield Crew” of New York’s Genovese Crime Family was first organized by a Calabrian-born mafioso named Salvatore (Big Nose Sam) Cufari. Together with his top aide Francesco (Frankie Skyball) Scibelli, these two mafiosi would control Springfield’s underworld for upwards of sixty-five years.
Dating as far back as the 1920s, the Genovese Family is believed to have first gained a foothold in Massachusetts through a hoodlum named Antonio (Tony) Miranda, who was the kid brother of one of that Family’s top leaders, Michele (Mike) Miranda.
Tony Miranda expanded liquor bootlegging and other rackets on behalf of the Genovese borgata until he died in 1933. His void was filled by Sam Cufari whom the Luciano/Genovese Family had since inducted into their ranks and named official “capo di decina” over the City of Springfield and its neighboring towns and territories.
Cufari also held sway over several underworld operations in parts of Eastern Connecticut and worked hand-in-glove with fellow Calabrian racketeer Francesco (Frank) Iaconi, who was the reigning Genovese “capo di decina” in the nearby City of Worcester, Massachusetts.
By the late 1930s and early 1940s, the “Springfield Crew” had developed into one of the largest Cosa Nostra regimes in the American underworld.
