The Bufalino crime family,''Organized Crime in Pennsylvania: Traditional and Non-Traditional''. Pennsylvania Crime Concession. April 15, 1988

also known as the Pittston crime family,Devico, Peter J. ''The Mafia Made Easy: The Anatomy and Culture of La Cosa Nostra'
pp. 188–189
/ref> Scranton Wilkes-Barre crime family, Northeastern Pennsylvania crime family, Northeastern Pennsylvania Mafia, or Scranton Mafia, was an

Italian-American Mafia The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its mem ...

crime family A crime family is a unit of an organized crime syndicate, particularly in Italian organized crime and especially in the Sicilian Mafia and Italian American Mafia, often operating within a specific geographic territory or a specific set of activ ...

active in

Northeastern Pennsylvania Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) is a geographic region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and the industrial cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Hazleton, Nanticoke, and Car ...

, primarily in the cities of

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the s ...

, and Pittston.26 Family Cities "Northeast PA"
by Mario Machi Rick Porrello's AmericanMafia.com

History

Barbara and the Apalachin meeting

In November 1957, Joseph Barbara held a national Cosa Nostra meeting at his

Apalachin, New York Apalachin ( ) is a census-designated place within the Town of Owego in Tioga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,131 in the 2010 census. The CDP is named after Apalachin Creek. ''Apalachin'' means "from where the messenger retur ...

estate. The meeting was preceded by the assassination of

Albert Anastasia Umberto "Albert" Anastasia (, ; ; September 26, 1902 – October 25, 1957) was an Italian-American mobster, hitman, and crime boss. One of the founders of the modern American Mafia, and a co-founder and later boss of the Murder, Inc. organizat ...

by a few weeks, as well as a smaller meeting at the New Jersey estate of Ruggiero Boiardo. The Apalachin meeting was attended by about 100 Mafia heads from the U.S., Italy and Cuba. A raid by

New York State Police The New York State Police (NYSP) is the state police of the state of New York in the United States. It is part of the New York State Executive Department, and employs over 5,000 sworn state troopers and 711 civilian members. History The Stat ...

caught many heads of families or their deputies. Many other family heads and their deputies were suspected of being present by law enforcement but evaded detection and capture. All those apprehended were fined, up to $10,000 each, and given prison sentences ranging from three to five years, however, all the convictions were overturned on appeal in 1960.

Bufalino era

With Barbara's death in June 1959, the Mafia Commission recognized

Russell Bufalino Russell Alfred Bufalino (; born Rosario Alfredo Bufalino, ; September 29, 1903 – February 25, 1994) was an Italian-American mobster who became the crime boss of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Italian-American Mafia crime family known as the ...

as the official family boss. Bufalino maintained a close alliance with the New York

Genovese family The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Italian-American Mafia, Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as ...

. After Bufalino was imprisoned in the late 1970s on extortion charges related to the collection of a debt, his

underboss Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The under ...

, Edward Sciandra, became the ''acting boss'' of the family. Sciandra was aided in running the family by captains Anthony Guarnieri, James David Osticco, and Phillip Medico,

Consigliere Consigliere ( , ; plural ) is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel '' The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a ...

Remo Allio, as well as soldiers William D'Elia, Angelo Bufalino, John Rizzo, Angelo Son, and Joseph Sperrazza. Bufalino was released from prison in 1980 briefly after serving his sentence for extortion. Towards the end of 1981 Bufalino was again imprisoned after being found guilty of conspiring to kill Jack Napoli, a witness in his 1978 extortion trial. Bufalino learned the whereabouts of Napoli, then in the

Witness Protection Program Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...

, and conspired with

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

mobster

Jimmy Fratianno Aladena James Fratianno (born Aladena Fratianno; November 14, 1913 – June 29, 1993), also known as "Jimmy the Weasel", was an Italian-born American mobster who was acting boss of the Los Angeles crime family. After his arrest in 1977, Fratianno ...

and another man he met in prison to murder Napoli. Fratianno turned government informant and testified against Bufalino at trial. He was sentenced to ten years imprisonment and released in 1989. Russell Bufalino died on February 25, 1994 of natural causes near Pittston, Pennsylvania.

D'Elia's leadership

William "Big Billy" D'Elia, became the new boss of the Bufalino crime family after the death of boss Russell Bufalino in 1994 and later, the retirement of Acting Boss Edward Sciandra. D'Elia, started his criminal career in the Bufalino family in the late 1960s as Bufalino's driver after his late sister married the only son of capo James David Osticco. According to the Pennsylvania Crime Commission D'Elia was placed in the crew of Caporegime Phillip Medico. D'Elia advanced through the ranks of the organization rather quickly due to the natural attrition of members and indictments in the 1980s and 1990s. He took over the crime family's solid waste rackets and oversaw the traditional Mafia rackets run by the members and associates of the family. D'Elia also attempted to replenish the aging ranks of the family with limited success. As boss, D'Elia worked with the other crime families in New York City, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Southern Florida, and Los Angeles. In the 1990s, D'Elia was linked to a money laundering scheme involving numerous Northeastern Pennsylvania Bookmakers, escort services, corrupt politicians, and associates of

Russian organized crime Russian organized crime or Russian mafia (, ), otherwise known as Bratva (), is a collective of various organized crime elements originating in the former Soviet Union. The initialism OPG is Organized Criminal (''prestupnaya'' in Russian) Gr ...

. D'Elia was closely aligned with the Philadelphia crime family. When Philadelphia crime family boss John Stanfa was imprisoned D'Elia was one of Stanfa's choices as interim caretaker of the family. On May 31, 2001, agents from the Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS, US Postal Inspectors, and Pennsylvania State Police executed search warrants at the homes of D'Elia, his mistress Jeanie Stanton, Thomas Joseph, investigation. Marranca has been identified as an informant working for the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

and the Pennsylvania State Police. Marranca also testified on behalf of authorities against Louis DeNaples in front of the Fourth Statewide Investigating Grand Jury in regards to Mr. DeNaple's mob ties and his ownership of the Mount Airy Casino. On February 26, 2003, D'Elia was banned from entering any Atlantic City, New Jersey casinos by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, based on information shared by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

and the ''Pennsylvania Crime Commission''. On May 31, 2006, D'Elia was indicted on federal charges of laundering $600,000 in illegal drug proceeds obtained from a Florida-based associate of the Bufalino crime family among others including

Lucchese family The Lucchese crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, in the United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as ...

associate Phillip "Fipper" Forgione. While D'Elia was free on bail, he solicited a U.S. Customs Agency informant to murder a witness in the case and was remanded to prison until his eventual guilty plea and sentencing."Reputed mobster gets 9 years in prison"
(November 24, 2008) MafiaToday.com In March 2008, D'Elia pleaded guilty to witness tampering and money laundering. He was sentenced to nine years in prison. D'Elia cooperated with the government and testified against Louis DeNaples, the owner of

Mount Airy Casino Resort The Mount Airy Casino Resort is a casino and hotel located in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, in the Pocono Mountains. The casino resort has 284 hotel rooms and a casino. Mount Airy includes more than 1,800 slot machines and more than 70 table games ...

in the Poconos. In 2010, D'Elia got two years dropped from his sentence for his assisting the government's investigation against DeNaples.

Status

In 2011, author Dave Janoski interviewed former Pennsylvania Crime Commission investigator James Kanavy who asserted that there is no longer a standalone family in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and that any remnants of the Mafia family would be aligned with the New York families.

Historical leadership

Boss (official and acting) * 1900–1905:

Tommaso Petto Tommaso "The Ox" Petto (' 1879–October 21, 1905) was a New York mobster and leading hitman in the Morello crime family during the early 1900s. Early life Born around 1879, Petto lived in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. His nickname "Th ...

— killed * 1905–1908: Stefano LaTorre — stepped down * 1908–1933: Santo Volpe — retired in 1933 * 1933–1949: Giovanni "John" Sciandra — died of natural causes in 1949. There is a common misconception he was murdered in 1940, but newspaper articles confirm he died of natural causes in 1949. * 1949–1959: Giuseppe "Joe the Barber" Barbara, Sr. — had a heart attack in 1956 and died in 1959. ** ''Acting'' 1956–1959: Rosario Alberto "Russell" Bufalino — became boss * 1959–1994: Rosario Alberto "Russell" Bufalino — imprisoned from 1978–1989; retired, he died on February 25, 1994 ** ''Acting'' 1975-1989: Edward "Eddie The Conductor" Sciandra — imprisoned 1981–1982; he received help from Anthony Guarnieri and William D'Elia ** ''Acting'' 1990–1994: William "Big Billy" D'Elia — became boss * 1994–2008: William "Big Billy" D'Elia — in 2006 he was indicted on money laundering charges, in 2008 he pleaded guilty and testified in front of a grand jury for leniency.

Former members

* James Osticco: served as underboss to Russell Bufalino. Died in 1990. * Edward "Eddie the Conductor" Sciandra: served as ''consigliere'' to Russell Bufalino. Died in 2003. * Angelo Polizzi: served as ''consigliere'' to Giovanni Sciandra. He moved to Detroit and started the Polizzi line of L.C.N. figures in the Detroit area. * Anthony F. Guarnieri: former ''

caporegime A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to capo or informally referred to as "captain" or "skipper", is a rank used in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia) for a '' made member'' of an Italian crime family who he ...

'', died in 1992 * Frank Cannone: former soldier, deceased, he ran a bookmaking operation in

Binghamton Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

, New York. * Anthony J. Mosco: former soldier, he was active in Binghamton, New York Mosco served 17 years in federal prison for racketeering along with capo Anthony "Guv" Guarnieri and other family members and associates. He currently resides in Arizona and Florida and has been seen visiting with family members and associates in the Pittston area in recent years. * Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran: former associate and right-hand man to Russell Bufalino. He was indicted in July 1980 with 6 others on labour racketeering charges, and on October 31, 1980 he was convicted and sentenced to a 32 year prison term, he served 13 years and was released in 1993. He died at age 83 on December 14, 2003. Lin Devecchio and Charles Brandt ''We're Going to Win This Thing: The Shocking Frame-Up of a Mafia Crime Buster'
see
/ref>