Pittsburgh crime family
[8] At the turn of the 20th century, Italian criminals in the city of Pittsburgh were divided into two ethnic factions: the "Sicilians" and the "Neapolitans".
[10][11] Catanzaro served as the treasurer for the Italian Red Cross Society and also worked alongside a network of Sicilian Mafia bosses in Western Pennsylvania.
[11] This allowed Catanzaro's protege, Gregorio Conti, to assume control of his crime family, based in the Hill District.
[12] In 1919, the United States government passed the Eighteenth Amendment declaring the production, transportation and sale of intoxicating liquors illegal.
[13] On January 17, 1920, Prohibition began in the United States, banning all production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages.
Within the city of Pittsburgh, the Italian neighborhoods of Larimer, Homewood, the Hill District and the downtown area became battlegrounds as the Mafia factions fought for territorial control of bootlegging rackets.
In the suburbs of Pittsburgh, the factions fought for control of New Kensington, Arnold, Wilkinsburg, McKees Rocks, Wilmerding and Braddock.
[15][16] Bazzano had immigrated to the United States from Calabria in the 1890s and built a bootlegging empire selling yeast and sugar to home breweries, which allowed them to manufacture illegal beer.
[17] Bazzano formed an alliance with the eight Volpe brothers, the leaders of the "Neapolitan faction" who controlled illegal rackets throughout the Turtle Creek Valley and Wilmerding.
[9][4][14] Following the end of Amato's reign, Sebastian "Big John" LaRocca became the boss of the Pittsburgh family and remained in the role for nearly thirty years.
[15] As boss of Pittsburgh, LaRocca attended the 1957 Apalachin meeting with his caporegimes Gabriel "Kelly" Mannarino and Michael James Genovese.
[9][4] Genovese had started his criminal career by controlling the numbers racket in East Liberty and eventually became a capo operating from Gibsonia.
[15] In the late 1980s, the FBI increased its investigation into Pittsburgh's top cocaine traffickers, Porter and Louis Raucci, Sr.[26] In March 1990, an indictment charged Porter and Raucci, along with seven associates, on charges of drug distribution, extortion, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, illegal gambling and racketeering.
Porter decided to turn state's witness, leading the conviction of many top members and associates of the Pittsburgh family.
[4] According to the FBI, Ciancutti controlled a large illegal gambling ring with top bookmakers Robert Iannelli, John "Duffy" Conley, Jeff Risha and Ronnie "Porky" Melocchi, whom all paid him protection.
[31] In 2013, retired FBI special agent Roger Greenbank spoke about the Pittsburgh family and said, "There's no real structure anymore.
[8] Ciancutti maintained a low profile, using associates to run Pittsburgh's local bookmaking and illegal gambling operations.
[8] The Pittsburgh family used associates to control the illegal gambling and loansharking operations in Youngstown, Ohio and throughout the Mahoning Valley.
During the early 1970s the faction gained control of the gambling rackets in Youngstown and shared some of the profits with the Cleveland crime family.
[134] The Pittsburgh family used associates to control the illegal gambling and loansharking operations in Wheeling, West Virginia and the surrounding areas.
