Vintage Photos of Cleveland's Most Notorious Mobsters

Calogero "Leo" , "Lips" Moceri - Calogero "Leo" Moceri was a legendary crime figure with a history in Detroit and Los Angeles. Making his bones or committing a murder, Moceri fullfilled this obligation for Los Angeles boss Jack Dragna in the 1930s. He would see the inside of a jail cell only a few times and would serve five years in prison for blackmail. He was alligned with his cousins-the prominent Licavolli faction of the Detroit LCN Family. The gang oversaw illegal operations based in Toledo, OH. He would later oversee Youngstown, OH rackets along side with Jack Licavolli. Upon his cousin's ascention to the boss's throne Moceri was installed as the underboss. His role would be brief when he was reported missing in the summer of 1976 and his blood stained car found in a suburb of Akron, OH. He hasnt been seen since and was the first victim of the Danny Greene wars.

Eugene "The Animal" Ciasullo - Eugene "The Animal" Ciasullo was born in 1931; Ciasullo has long been one of the Cleveland LCN's most feared enforcers. Today, however, he lives in retirement in McKeesport, Pa. (near Pittsburgh) recovering from cancer and is on probation for his reputed role in a drug ring that included several LCN figures (Phil Christopher, Ron Lucarelli, Ray Triscaro and Robert Walsh), plus 20 others. He was convicted of assault in 1981 and was the target in 1976 of a bombing campaign by mobster Danny Greene who sought to take over Northeast Ohio rackets. He ran Ciasullo & Sons Inc. until 1988 when his son Eugene M. Ciasullo took over until the business closed in 1989.

Frank "Frankie B." Brancato - Frankie Brancato came to Cleveland via the Brooklyn docks. A diminuitive gangster "Frankie B." may have "made his bones" in 1932 with his alleged involvement in the murders of Rosario and Raymond Porrello. He was later dispatched by the Licatese faction, led by Dominick DeMarco, to assist with gambling rackets based in Akron, OH. He later grabbed influence over Cleveland's Teamsters Local 436 and groomed Irish hoodlum Danny Greene. This relationship also included Babe Triscaro and John Nardi. In 1968 he and New York city native living in Cleveland Joseph Messina were indicted for extorting mobile home dealers in Youngston, OH. Later in that year Messina was gunned down. What wasn't known was why Messina left New York for the equally bitter winters of Cleveland. He was believed to have been sent out west and was properly introduced by Gambino LCN Family capo James "Jimmy Brown" Fialla. The Gambino capo was the overseer of the crime family's garbage rackets. Messina was replaced with Greene and a mob association of garbage haulers was created. Upon the death of Brancato of natural causes in 1973, Greene retained ownership of their rackets and refused to pay tribute. This sparked a bloody war that basically was a death blow to the Cleveland LCN Family. A once respected "made" man, Brancato was later cursed for introducing Greene into the rackets and slicing the Cleveland crime family into oblivion.

Frank Milano - A shrewd and cunning individual, he operated out of the Little Italy section of Cleveland. His brother Tony would serve as top enforcer and representative. Frank Milano grab ahold of everything-sports betting, loansharking, fraud and every other possible crime. Milano was recognized as the first La Cosa Nostra boss of Cleveland. He was given a seat on the Commission. In 1935 he slipped into Mexico, fleeing from an income tax indictment, receiving immigration in 1942 and died of natural causes on September 15, 1970 from natural causes at a Los Angeles hospital. He not only led a syndicate of his own but became an influencial element in Los Angeles.

John DeMarco (1945-1972) - Cousin to the Lonardo family and brother of Dominick, the DeMarco family would lead what was known as the "Licatese" group. They brought in such key players as Frankie Brancato and were also closely alligned with the emerging Licavolli and the Milano brothers. The DeMarcos spared no expense in extracting revenge. Bitter enemies to the previous Sam Todaro and Dr. Joseph Romano, the Licatese faction were a profitable gambling group that alligned themselves early on with the Milanos' Mayfield Road Mob. John DeMarco was identified as the consigliere to John Scalish when the duo was picked up at the police raided mob summit held at Apalachin, NY in November 1957. John DeMarco was an overseer of a massive loansharking racket and continued this racket until his death from natural causes in 1972.

John Scalish - John Scalish, was one of the most influential bosses of the Cleveland LCN Family. An unbelievable rule for just over thirty years, Scalish entered into the Vegas casinos scene more agressively and held a large amount of influence over the Teamsters Union. He expanded the crime family into Youngstown, OH and was respected from coast to coast. Not only was he well connected within the La Cosa Nostra syndicate, Scalish's personal family was well connected and inner woven as well. He had Angelo Lonardo, son of the murdered Joe, as a brother in law. Lonardo was proving himself ever since avenging the murder and had risen to the rank of caporegime. His other brother in law was Milton "Maishe" Rockman, a Jewish gangster and close confidant of Teamsters president Jackie Presser. All three benefitted well from Scalish's interest in the Las Vegas based Stardust Hotel and Casino. Monthly money, "skim", was siphoned from slot machines and divided between Cleveland, the Kansas City LCN Family, the syndicates in Milwaukee and Chicago. Scalish shared much of the profits, which were funneled back into Cleveland rackets. John Scalish died in 1976 following complications from surgery.

John "Peanuts" Tronolone - In 1981 Jack Licavolli was indicted for R.I.C.O violation and left his underboss Angelo Lonardo in charge as acting boss. Lonardo, who was sentenced to twenty five years for a narcotics conviction, became a federal government witness. With the Cleveland's lights basically out, Licavolli assigned his consigliere as acting boss and was thought to be seen as the official boss after Licavolli's 1985 death while in prison. Cleveland's best days were over from a criminal point of view and something must have reminded Tronolone of his love for sunny South Florida. He had long been living in Miami and consorting with a wide variety of La Cosa Nostra members. Tronolone, who gained his nickname from selling the roasted snack as a kid growing up in Buffalo, made important contacts with the local crime family led by the feared Stefano Magadino. He was a close pal to both Tony Salerno and Vincent Gigante of Manhattan's Genovese LCN Family. By the 1940s author Rick Porrello claims he was inducted or "made" into the Cleveland LCN Family. He maintained contact with the local powers but prefered to operate in Miami. He eventually opened The Peter Pan Travel Agency, believed to be used as a disguise for his multi million dollar bookmaking racket. He also conspired in the murder of Philadelphia LCN Family capo Johnny Simone in early 1980. As boss he stayed in Florida and allowed Salerno to represent his distant Cleveland interests on the Commission. In the spring of 1989 the Miami based Tronolone was caught up in a sting operation involving bogus members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Gang and stolen jewelry. He would be convictd in the following months for trafficking in stolen property and loansharking. He died in 1991 from natural causes while awaiting sentencing. The Cleveland LCN Family died with him that year. Key members having been sent to prison or dead, although some members still exist, the FBI maintains that a structured La Cosa Nostra syndicate no longer exists.

Joseph "Big Joe" Lonardo (1920-1927) - Joseph Lonardo, a native of Sicily, was first thought to be in the States at the turn of century. Documents support this fact of his arrival. When Prohibition really took effect in 1920, Joe Lonardo didn't move directly into bootlegging and focused on corn sugar. The commodity was a needed material in producing the illegal beverage. In the spring of 1927 Lonardo set sail for his homeland. He left much of the operations to Salvatore Todaro. What Lonardo and his faithful soldiers didn't know was the Todaro had formed an alliance with other groups. Upon his return Lonardo was gunned down on October 13, 1927 in a local Cleveland barbershop. His faithful brother John wasn't spared either and their murders sparked the Corn Sugar Wars.

Joseph "Joe Loose" Iacobacci - Joe Iacobacci had long ties to the Cleveland LCN Family, former underboss turned government witness Angelo Lonardo verified his past relations with local motorcycle gangs. A part of the Collinwood burglarly crew, "Joe Loose" would avoid much of the trials and convictions stemming from the Danny Greene mob wars of the 1970s. In 1996 he was sentenced to thrity months to prison for attempting to defraud New Jersey banks out of an estimated $3 million. His previous rap sheet consists of narcotics and gambling convictions.

Angelo Porrello was a corn sugar racketeer in Cleveland who survived a prohibition clan feud in the 1920s and 1930s that saw four of his brothers die. He was later convicted of first-degree murder in the death of a former bootlegging partner, Joseph Smeraldi, who was a paroled convict. Common Pleas Judges Frank J. Merrick, Alva R. Corlett and Samuel E. Kramer did not recommend mercy for Porrello, according to a Cleveland January 31, 1940 Cleveland Plain Dealer article.