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Nicolo Schiro

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This article is about the gangster. For the racing driver, seeNiccolò Schirò.
Nicolo Schiro
Schiro, 1923
Born
Nicolò Schirò

(1872-09-02)September 2, 1872
Roccamena,Sicily,Kingdom of Italy
DiedApril 29, 1957(1957-04-29)(aged 84)
Camporeale, Sicily,Italy
NationalityItalian, American (revoked)
Other names"Cola", Nicola Schiro
Occupation(s)Crime Boss,mobster,yeast dealer
PredecessorSebastiano DiGaetano
SuccessorSalvatore Maranzano
AllegianceSchiro crime family
Signature

Nicolo "Cola" Schiro(bornNicolò Schirò;[a]Italian pronunciation:[nikoˈlɔskiˈrɔ];September 2, 1872 – April 29, 1957) was an early Sicilian-bornNew York Citymobsterwho, in 1912, became theBossof what later become known as theBonanno crime family.

Schiro's leadership of the mafia clan would see it orchestrate the "Good Killers" murders, control gambling and protectionracketsinBrooklyn,engage inbootleggingduringProhibition,and printcounterfeit money.

A conflict with rivalmafiaBossJoe Masseriawould force Schiro out as Boss, after which he returned to Sicily.

Early life

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Nicolò Schirò was born on September 2, 1872, in the town ofRoccamena,in theProvince of Palermo,Sicilyto Matteo Schirò and his wife, Maria Antonia Rizzuto. His father's family came from theArbëreshëcommunity ofContessa Entellina.A few years later, Schiro's family moved to his mother's hometown in nearbyCamporeale.[2]

Schiro immigrated to theUnited Statesin 1897.[2]By May 1902, he was living in theWilliamsburgsection of Brooklyn, following a return trip to Sicily.[3]

In April 1905, Schiro was arrested for operating a butcher shop on a Sunday contrary to New York'sBlue laws.[4]He would later become ayeastsalesman andbroker.[5][6]

Mafia Boss

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Schiro became the new head of thelocal mafiacentered in Williamsburg in March 1912, replacingSebastiano DiGaetano.[7]

Secret Serviceinformant Salvatore Clemente reported in November 1913 that Schiro was aligned with theMorello crime familyin a war against fellow New Yorkmafia Boss,andcapo dei capi,Salvatore D'Aquila.[8]Schiro later developed a more neutral stance, siding with neither D'Aquila's nor the Morello mafia clans.[9]

Schiro's gang ran the Williamsburg areanumbersgambling racket while extorting local Italian immigrants throughBlack Handandprotection rackets.If their extortion money was not paid, the victims' homes or businesses could be vandalized or destroyed.[10]

Schiro ran his mafia clan conservatively, conducting its criminal activity primarily among the Sicilian immigrant community. He was never arrested during his time as Boss, avoiding attention from authorities and the media.[11]

Schiro developed close relationships with local business and political leaders[12]and was on the board of directors of the localUnited Italian-AmericanDemocraticClub.[13]

Schiro's first application for United States citizenship was rejected in 1913 due to his "lack of knowledge of the US Constitution". He later successfully naturalized as an American citizen in 1914.[14][15]

In 1919, theBureau of Investigationreviewed a list of Black Hand suspects in southernColoradocompiled by the sheriff ofHuerfano County.On the list of names was Schiro gangster Frank Lanza, with the sheriff writing that Lanza had arrived in Colorado from New York "every May pretending to buy cheese but comes to organize Black-handers".[16]

"The Good Killers"

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"Good Killers" suspects in police custody, 1921.
Left to right, front row:Stefano Magaddino,Francisco Puma,Vito Bonventreand Bartolo Fontana.

On November 11, 1917, two Schiro gangsters, Antonio Mazzara and Antonino DiBenedetto were shot to death near the intersection of North 5th and Roebling streets in Brooklyn. One gunman, Antonio Massino, was arrested near the scene but another,Detroitmobster Giuseppe Buccellato, escaped.[17][18]

Buccellato killed Mazzara and DiBenedetto after they refused to divulge the whereabouts of fellow Schiro gangster,Stefano Magaddino.Magaddino had orchestrated the murder earlier that March of Giuseppe's brother and fellow Detroit gangster, Felice Buccellato, due to the mafia clan of Magaddino andVito Bonventrefeuding with the mafia clan of the Buccellatos back in their hometown ofCastellammare del Golfo.[18]

1917 Detroit autoworker shootings

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Determined to kill but unable to locate Giuseppe Buccellato, Schiro and Magaddino decided to target his family. Giuseppe's cousin, Pietro Buccellato, worked at theFord Motor Companyfactory inHighland Park, Michiganand Schiro arranged withDetroit mafia BossTony Giannola to have him murdered.[19]

On December 8, 1917, aRomanianautoworker named Joseph Constantin, who was mistaken for Pietro Buccellato, was shot and wounded.[20]

On December 19, Paul Mutruc, another Romanian autoworker in Detroit, was mistaken for Pietro Buccellato. He was shot several times in the back and then shot twice in the head, killing him.[21][22]

On December 22, as Pietro Buccellato waited with other passengers to board an approaching trolley, two gunmen fired multiple shots into him. An errant shot through one of the trolley windows nearly hit a passenger. Buccellato survived long enough to be taken to a hospital where he told police, before dying, he was attacked "on account of his cousin".[23][24]

Fontana testimony

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In August 1921, a barber named Bartolo Fontana turned himself into the New York police, confessing to a murder a couple of weeks prior inNew Jersey.[25]

Fontana claimed he murdered Camillo Caiozzo at the behest of the "Good Killers", a group of leading mafiosi in the Schiro gang who hailed from Castellammare del Golfo, in retaliation for Caiozzo's involvement in the 1916 murder of Stefano Magaddino's brother, Pietro Magaddino, back in Sicily. Fontana, fearing he might be murdered by them, agreed to help police set up asting operation.Stefano Magaddino met Fontana atGrand Central Stationto give Fontana $30[b]to help him flee the city. After the exchange, Magaddino was arrested by a group of undercover police. Vito Bonventre, Francesco Puma and three other gangsters were subsequently arrested for their involvement in the murder.[25][27]

Fontana revealed that the "Good Killers" were also responsible for a string of other murders.[25]Some of the victims were connected to the Buccellato mafia clan in Castellammere del Golfo,[28]while others had complained after being cheated in gambling rackets run by the Schiro gang.[27]

Also targeted were supporters of Salvatore Loiacano, who had taken over the Morello gang with Salvatore D'Aquila's backing. Following Loiacano's 1920 murder, several of his followers were also murdered. Fontana claimed they were also victims of the "Good Killers". Morello had made a deal with Schiro, his earlier ally against D'Aquila, to kill Loiacano's supporters with people unfamiliar to them.[29]

Charges against Magaddino and Bonventre were dropped despite the New York police officers' testimony about the sting linking Magaddino to the murder. Francesco Puma was murdered on a New York street while out on bail awaiting trial, with a stray bullet from the shooting also hitting a seven-year-old girl.[30]Fontana went to prison for Caiozzo's murder with no other convictions in the case.[25]Magaddino fled New York City after his release, ending up in theBuffalo, New Yorkarea.[31]

1920s and Prohibition

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Several Schiro gangsters became mafia Boss es in other cities – Frank Lanza inSan Francisco,Stefano Magaddino inBuffalo,andGaspare MessinainNew England.[32]Schiro was also close to futureLos Angeles Boss,Nick Licata.[33]

In April 1921, Schiro admittedNicola Gentileinto his gang in order to protect Gentile fromcapo dei capiSalvatore D'Aquila as a show of Schiro's independence from D'Aquila.[34][35]

Schiro gangster, Giovanni Battista Dibella[c]was arrested (under the alias Piazza) on July 14, 1921, when over $100,000[d]worth of whiskey and numerous forgedmedicinal liquor permitswere seized during a raid byProhibition agentsIzzy Einstein and Moe Smithat Dibella's olive oil warehouse in Brooklyn.[38][39]Schiro had been a witness at Dibella's wedding in 1912.[40]

Counterfeit money

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On August 2, 1922, Secret Service agents arrested Schiro gangster Benjamin Gallo, along with four others, for operating a sophisticated counterfeiting plant at a bakery on Rockaway Avenue in Brooklyn. There agents found dyes, presses, paper, and hundreds of dollars worth of counterfeit $5, $10, and $20 bills, along with an illicit alcohol still.[41][42]

Bootlegging and immigration fraud

[edit]

Future BossJoseph Bonannoillegally immigrated to the U.S. during the mid-1920s,[43]soon joining the Schiro gang as a protege ofSalvatore Maranzano.[44]In his autobiography, Bonanno writes he thought Schiro was "a compliant fellow with little backbone" and "extremely reluctant to ruffle anyone".[45]Bonanno's second cousin, Vito Bonventre, remained a leader within Schiro's gang following his arrest and release during the "Good Killers" affair. During Prohibition, Bonventre developed a widespread bootlegging operation with Bonanno recalling "Next to Schiro, Bonventre was probably the most wealthy" of the crime family.[46]

Maranzano, a Castellammare del Golfo-born son-in-law of aSicilian mafiaBoss inTrapani,had joined the Schiro mafia clan in the mid-1920s and helped it create an extensive bootlegging network inDutchess County, New York,along with aringproviding fraudulent immigration and naturalization documents to Italians smuggled into the United States.[47][48]

Ouster and return to Sicily

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Between 1923 and 1928, Schiro felt secure enough in his position as Boss to make three trips toEurope.[49]

Salvatore D'Aquila was murdered on October 10, 1928.[50]FellowNew York BossJoe Masseria was selected to replace D'Aquila as the newcapo dei capi.[51]Following his elevation, Masseria began demanding monetary tributes from other mafia clans.[52]

Schiro attended the January 1929 wedding of the son of San Francisco Boss Frank Lanza inLos Angeles.[53]He provoked Masseria's ire after warning Lanza of a mafia plot to kidnap him.[33]

In 1930, Masseria demanded Schiro pay $10,000[e]and step down as Boss of his mafia crime family in order to spare his life.[54][55]After being forced out, Schiro returned to his hometown of Camporeale, Sicily.

Judicialsummonsfor Schiro and other officers of the Masterbilt Housing Corporation were published in Brooklyn newspapers in the fall of 1931.[56]

In 1934, a memorial was dedicated in Camporeale to its soldierskilled during World War I.It was built from donations collected by Schiro from Camporealese immigrants in America.[57][58]

Schiro wasstripped of his U.S. citizenshipfollowing a request by the American consulate inPalermoon October 14, 1949.[59]He died in Camporeale on April 29, 1957.[33]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^His first name is also sometimes written as Nicola.[1]
  2. ^Approximately $470 in 2021 U.S. dollars.[26]
  3. ^Giovanni Battista Dibella was a brother of John Dibella (Giovanni Vincenzo Dibella), a business partner and crony of Schiro successor Joseph Bonanno.[36][37]
  4. ^Approximately $1.6 million in 2021 U.S. dollars.[26]
  5. ^Approximately $163,000 in 2021 U.S. dollars.[26]

References

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Citations

  1. ^Dash 2010,p. 320.
  2. ^abWarner, Santino & Van't Reit 2014,p. 55.
  3. ^Critchley 2009,p. 214.
  4. ^"FALVEY AFTER BUTCHERS. Selling on Sunday Not Permitted in the Lee Avenue Precinct".Brooklyn Daily Eagle.1 May 1905. p. 20.Retrieved11 March2021– viaNewspapers.
  5. ^Hunt 2020,pp. 123–4.
  6. ^Petepiece 2021,pp. 2–4, 7.
  7. ^Warner, Santino & Van't Reit 2014,pp. 54–55.
  8. ^Dash 2010,p. 324.
  9. ^Warner, Santino & Van't Reit 2014,pp. 59–61.
  10. ^Petepiece 2021,p. 10.
  11. ^Critchley 2009,p. 137.
  12. ^Waugh 2019,p. 400 n198.
  13. ^"Italian-American Democrats' Election".The Brooklyn Standard Union.14 December 1916. p. 8.
  14. ^Critchley 2009,p. 311 n127.
  15. ^Petepiece 2021,pp. 2–3.
  16. ^O'Haire 2021,p. 66.
  17. ^"TWO DIE IN STREET AFTER SEVEN SHOTS; Detective Pursues Two Men With Pistols and Makes One a Prisoner".New York Herald.12 November 1917.
  18. ^abWaugh 2019,pp. 194–195.
  19. ^Waugh 2019,p. 196.
  20. ^Waugh 2019,p. 198.
  21. ^Waugh 2019,pp. 198–199.
  22. ^"RUMANIAN SHOT TO DEATH".Detroit Times.19 December 1917. p. 1.
  23. ^Waugh 2019,pp. 199–201.
  24. ^"MAN SHOT OFF STREET CAR STEPS: Third Victim in "Homicide Belt" Dies From Wound".Detroit Times.22 December 1917. p. 1.
  25. ^abcdHunt, Thomas; Tona, Michael A. (Spring 2007)."The Good Killers 1921's Glimpse of the Mafia".On the Spot Journal of Crime and Law Enforcement History.Archived fromthe originalon 31 December 2023.Retrieved7 April2024– via The American Mafia.
  26. ^abc"CPI Inflation Calculator".bls.gov.Retrieved2021-12-06.
  27. ^ab"SIXTEEN MURDERS BY DEATH BAND HERE REVEALED; Member of Gang, Himself Slated to Die, Discloses Operations - 7 Under Arrest".Brooklyn Daily Times.17 August 1921. pp. 1–2.
  28. ^Critchley 2009,pp. 216–229.
  29. ^Warner, Santino & Van't Reit 2014,p. 64.
  30. ^"CONVICT KILLED, GIRL SHOT, FROM ASSASSIN AUTO".New York Daily News.5 November 1922.
  31. ^Critchley 2009,pp. 216–222.
  32. ^Warner, Santino & Van't Reit 2014,pp. 55–56.
  33. ^abcHunt 2020,p. 124.
  34. ^Petepiece 2021,pp. 4–5.
  35. ^Hunt et al. 2020,pp. 12–13.
  36. ^Schmitt 2012,p. 58.
  37. ^Gores, Stan (12 March 1966)."Dibella Lived At Hotel, Headed Grande Cheese Firm; Meetings With Bonanno Kept Him In Spotlight".Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter.p. 8. Archived fromthe originalon 2020-07-28.Retrieved2021-12-08.
  38. ^Schmitt 2012,pp. 58–59.
  39. ^"FEDERAL DRY SQUAD MAKES BIG HAUL; Whiskey Valued at $100,000 and Fake Permits Seized in Boerum Street Raild; 500 BARRELS IN TRANSIT; Proprietor of Oil Concern Faces Conspiracy Charge".The Brooklyn Standard Union.15 July 1921. p. 3.
  40. ^Schmitt 2012,p. 59.
  41. ^Downey 2004,p. 158.
  42. ^"RAIDERS NAB 5 SUSPECTED OF COUNTERFEITING".Brooklyn Citizen.3 August 1922. p. 3.
  43. ^Bonanno & Lalli 1983,pp. 55–61.
  44. ^Bonanno & Lalli 1983,pp. 70–71, 76–80.
  45. ^Bonanno & Lalli 1983,p. 93.
  46. ^Bonanno & Lalli 1983,pp. 78, 102–103.
  47. ^Critchley 2009,pp. 144–147.
  48. ^Lupo 2015,p. 57.
  49. ^Petepiece 2021,pp. 7–8.
  50. ^Critchley 2009,p. 157.
  51. ^Hortis 2014,p. 74.
  52. ^Hortis 2014,pp. 80–81.
  53. ^Petepiece 2021,p. 9.
  54. ^Critchley 2009,pp. 165–191.
  55. ^Bonanno & Lalli 1983,p. 102.
  56. ^Petepiece 2021,p. 11.
  57. ^Accardo, Luigi (1995).Camporeale: Origini, Usi, Costumi, Mentalita, Proverbi, Canti popolari(in Italian). Alcamo, Sicily: Edizioni Campo. pp. 54–55.
  58. ^"Museo/Monumento"(in Italian). Comune di Camporeale.
  59. ^Critchley 2009,p. 311n127.

Sources

[edit]
American Mafia
Preceded by Bonanno crime family
Boss
1912–1930 		Succeeded by
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