Dicarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime - Vol. II Hardcover – July 31, 2013

When being a Young Lawyer fresh out of Law School. A State Senator provided the privilege to become an Attorney for a Pennsylvania Crime Commission in 1982. This Commission did Hearings and Annual Report on Organized Crime in Pennsylvania with Tentacles that reached Ohio, New Jersey, and Buffalo. One Crime Boss was born in Buffalo had many DiCarlo Families as close friends. In the Hearing, which included many people shown in "The Irishman". One Boss brought 2 Attorneys to the Hearing. The new young attorney took the Initiative to say aloud the Witness is entitled to "Advice from Counsel", but not from 2 Counsels. The "Disrupter Attorney" was removed. More importantly, once Investigative Files, Reports, and Histories few knew the French and Indian, Revolutionary, and War of 1812 were financed with Lotteries. Even George Washington bought Lottery Tickets that supported his armies.Additionally, a DiCarlo Uncle actually left Buffalo after numerous arrests and founded Bookmaking in Youngstown, Ohio. It was the Workers in Steel Mills that actually bet on High School, College, and Pro Sports. Investors in the region became Founders of the Shopping Centers, Malls, and Sports Team Ownership. Youngstown became a Safe Haven for Criminals on the run and protected by Local Authorities. Even the Premium Hotel in Pittsburgh has a Speakeasy on the 9th Floor with an Escape Exit if raided during Prohibition. Hot Springs, Arkansas is noted as a place where many Mob Bosses would retire if they survived old age. The Garland County Sheriff's Deputies once had a shootout with Hot Spring Town Police for control. So much for a growing Republic.Many Italian and other Immigrants were denied Educational Opportunities due to Discrimination Admission at Leading American Universities. They had few choices except to turn to Bookmaking, Loan Sharking, and other Forbidden Vices for employment. Many of these Mathematical Genii had no choice but to make a living for their families that require such skills. The very Best Bookmakers were the ones who could keep all Bets and Bettors in their Heads without Betting Slips that were often used for Evidence. Furthermore, many County Politicians Campaigns were funded with Bookmaking Cash and became Governors, Senators, Judges, and District Attorneys.Once Italian Children, Relatives, and Families earn admission to Universities they became leading Scientists, Engineers, Professors, Researchers, Investigators, Bankers, and Technologists. Contributing their Italian Prolific Intelligence working at the FDA, FAA, NSA, DARPA, and NASA.Finally, another myth needs a correction. Law Firms in Philadelphia, Boston, and New York became known as "Boutique Mob Firms"! Yet, it was nothing as portrayed in Movies. When hired you are told you will never represent or meet anywhere with any Criminal Clients except in the Law Offices. If you have lunch, date a daughter or son, go to their homes, places of work, you will be fired on the spot. They would explain, "Our Offices are swept for Electronic Bugs every day and a Night Guard is here every night, We are former Prosecutors, Public Defenders, and Attorneys, not Gangsters!" Unlike in the Movie "The Firm", the Smartest Graduates from Penn, Temple, or Harvard already did research on Law Firms before the Interview and not after the Hiring?One day, there will be a follow-up Book for all the so-called Organized Crime Families that really were a small group that did not represent the entire Great Italian Culture Contribution to America. There were far more Law-Abiding Individual Italians that did not participate in Organize Crime, even though related to others that did. Including, many with outside roots from the DiCarlo Family, but provided so many more Fruits for America to share as well.

What hooked me into reading the whole thing was to read, in the preview offered by Kindle, that Joe DiCarlo often held court in Santasiero’s, an unassuming restaruant on Buffalo’s West Side whose great home-style cooking has earned it status as one of the culinary shrines I try to visit every time I return home for a visit.Having grown up in Buffalo, and sharing the surname (but little else) of a father-son tandem that rose to prominence in the “Arm” during the ‘70s and into the ‘80s, this was going to be an interesting read for me. (All these years later, I’m still a little miffed from the time in high school when a pretty Irish girl had me home to meet her mom, and when this mom heard my last name, she booted me out of the house and warned me to leave her daughter alone!)I saw “The Godfather” when it came out in 1972 because most people in Buffalo saw it. But as an adult, I intentionally stayed away from “The Sopranos” because I neither idolize nor need to be reminded of those among my paesani who made their living taking advantage of other people’s weaknesses (for gambling, or narcotics, or whatever) by terrorizing them. But it’s an important piece of history, and I’m into the history of my hometown. So I read with interest.If you want to learn (or learn more) about the history of La Cosa Nostra in the U.S., and if you don’t mind reading a lot of dry accounts of courtrooms and legal proceedings (which are key to understanding the way power shifted between some of these men over the years) this is probably an essential read. I knew that Stefano Maggadino, who ran a geographically vast organized crime network for decades from his home in suburban Lewiston, was a long-time member of the 7-man Commission that served as the national ruling body of what most people call “the Mafia.” Once in high school, I had to debate against his grand-daughter in a competition! (she was nice, but she did want people to know who she was…) Well, this read filled in a lot of information about Maggadino’s rise and fall, about the DiCarlo family that gave him his start and that, in later years, played a role in the rebellion that along with increasing pressure from Federal law enforcement, split the “Buffalo crime family” into weaker factions and allowed interests from other cities to encroach on their action.Though the book in general is not the most electrifying read, there is one memorably-told scene about a mano-a-mano between Stefano Maggadino and Buffalo police sergeant Samuel Giambrone, on the occasion of Maggadino ordering his men to threaten the safety of Federal agents in the late 1960s. Reading about it had me imagining I was there, on the Don’s front doorstep. Gave me goosebumps.I’m due back in Buffalo soon. I think I’ll visit Santasiero’s again. And listen to the walls.

Well written. Keep my interest. As a former Buffalonian it brought back memories had me missing my old home town.

I have read countless books about the mafia. Growing up in Buffalo, i very much enjoyed this book. I am a police detective in Buffalo and have personally known many of the characters in the book. It is very well written and I finished the entire book in less than a week.

great

Great book!!!

a great job of chronicling the buffalo/niagara falls family from its origins, to present day. a terrific read, that was well worth waiting for.

great reading was in law enforcement in buffalo for 43 year a book you must read