The Quiet Don: The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino (24 page)

U. S. Representative Daniel Flood (D-PA) enjoyed a close relationship with Russell Bufalino from the 1950s until he was forced to resign in 1980.

Bufalino’s underboss James Osticco, who attended the 1957 Apalachin meeting with Bufalino, was convicted of obstruction of justice in 1983 for tampering with the Louis DeNaples’ jury.

Rev. Sica (left) once claimed debts of nearly $250,000, with over $100,000 owed to a bank controlled by DeNaples (right).

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE POCONO RECORD

Louis DeNaples with the Rev. Joseph Sica (right). A curious sight, Sica was at DeNaples’ side throughout the application process for a casino license. Both men were charged in 2008 with lying to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board about their past ties with Russell Bufalino.

Pennsylvania State Police commissioner Jeffrey Miller (left) and deputy commissioner Ralph Periandi (right). After the Rendell administration shut the police out of the gaming initiative, Periandi began a secret “Black Ops” investigation that ultimately led to a grand jury and charges against Louis DeNaples and Rev. Sica.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE POCONO RECORD

Former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell and members of his administration were the original targets of the state police gaming investigation, but interference by the state Supreme Court in the DeNaples case stymied the probe.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE POCONO RECORD

William D’Elia (above) testifying before the Pennsylvania Crime Commission circa 1982. D’Elia rose from Russell Bufalino’s driver to the head of the crime family following Bufalino’s death in 1994. Following his arrest in 2006 for trying to kill a witness, D’Elia (below) agreed to cooperate with federal and state prosecutors and told the grand jury investigating Louis DeNaples that he and DeNaples had a personal and business relationship that spanned more than thirty years.

By 1975 Russell Bufalino was at the height of his power. After beating back the government’s attempts to deport him, he took over leadership of Buffalo’s Magaddino family and assumed temporary control over New York’s Genovese family. Combined with his influence within the Teamsters union, Bufalino was arguably one of the most powerful mobsters in the nation. But then came the
Time
magazine article, which identified Bufalino as one of the mobsters recruited by the CIA in its plots to depose Fidel Castro. Just weeks later, Jimmy Hoffa disappeared.