In the late 1970s, the Cleveland and Pittsburgh mafia families went to war with each other for the second time in two decades. The war lasted three years, took place on battleground in Youngstown, Ohio and pitted Cleveland mob boss James (Jack White) Licavoli against the Pittsburgh mob’s capo in the Mahoning Valley, Vincent (Two-Gun Jimmy) Prato and his protégé Joseph (Little Joey) Naples, who lost two of his brothers to previous gangland strife in the region in the early 1960s. Hardscrabble Youngstown had traditionally been racket terrain shared by Cleveland and Pittsburgh syndicate factions. Between the years 1978 and 1981, 10 bodies dropped chalked up to the violence ignited by Prato and Naples okaying their men to go after Licavoli gambling and extortion territory. Unlike in the 1960s, when the war featured car bombs as the weapon of choice, the late-70s-early-80s version changed to good ole’ fashioned shot guns and high-performance firearms.
Cleveland-Pittsburgh Mob War II Murder Timeline
December 3, 1978 – Prato and Naples’ lieutenant Charles (Spider) Gresham is shot to death outside his apartment building getting out of his car after a late-night shift bartending at the My Place Lounge by a sniper’s rifle. Gresham and his partner-in-crime James (Peeps) Cononico were empowered by Little Joey Naples to take over mob rackets in working-class Warren, Ohio in the wake of the sudden death of Cleveland mafia consigliere Anthony (Tony Dope) Delsanter, the crime family’s rep in the Mahoning Valley, via a heart attack.
January 11, 1979 – Prato and Naples’ lieutenant James (Peeps) Cononico, Little Joey’s bodyguard and Gresham’s running buddy, is shot and killed in parking lot of his halfway house as he returned to check back in for the evening.
April 12, 1979 – Little Joey Naples’ sometimes-driver Bobby Furey is shot while changing a tire in his driveway. Furey was employed by Naples’ Youngstown United Music, a local jukebox and vending machine business
July 25, 1979 – Prato and Naples’ lieutenant, John (Black Jack) Tobin is shot-gunned to death walking to his car in the parking lot of his apartment building. Tobin was one of the area’s largest bookies and a local nightclub owner.
January 6, 1980 – Prato and Naples’ lieutenant, John (Johnny M) Magda, who acted as Tobin’s main collector, was found garroted to death in a trash dump in Struthers, Ohio.
February 13, 1980 – Licavoli lieutenant Bobby De Cerbo, a foot soldier working under the notorious Carabbia brothers (“Ronnie the Crab”, “Charlie the Crab” & “Orlie the Crab”), Youngstown mobsters connected to Licavoli in Cleveland, is shot-gunned to death through his living room window while watching television.
October 2, 1980 – Licavoli lieutenant and Carabbia cousin, Dominic (Junior) Senzarino, is shot-gunned to death as he walked to his house. Pittsburgh mob faction strong arm Bobby Dorler was eventually convicted in the hit.
December 13, 1980 – Legendary Youngstown mob figure Charles (Charlie the Crab) Carabbia disappears on his way to meeting with Pittsburgh mob faction member Lenny Strollo at the Stardust Motel.
February 25, 1981 – Labor-union leader Joseph (Big Joe D) De Rose is shot-gunned to death behind the wheel of his car as he backed out of his driveway, mistaken for his son “Little Joey D,” allegedly the Cleveland mob faction’s go-to hit man in the war.
April 18, 1981 – Licavoli enforcer Joseph (Little Joey D) De Rose, Jr. vanishes on his way to his girlfriend’s house. Pittsburgh mob faction hit man Samuel (Skinny Sam) Fosseseca was eventually convicted of the slaying despite no body ever being found. De Rose, Jr. is alleged to have been the triggerman in the Spider Gresham and Peeps Cononico murders.
The post The Flames Of Discontent In Youngstown: Cleveland-Pittsburgh Mob War II Murder Timeline appeared first on The Gangster Report.