John Sebastian LaRocca (December 19, 1901 – December 3, 1984) was the Sicilian-born American boss of the

Pittsburgh crime family The Pittsburgh crime family,CapeciChapter 5 "Mafia Families Poison the Northeast"/ref> also known as the LaRocca crime family''Organized Crime in Pennsylvania: Traditional and Non-Traditional''. Pennsylvania Crime Concession. April 15, 1988 or P ...

from the 1950s until his death in 1984. Born in

Villarosa Villarosa is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Enna, in the region of Sicily in southern Italy. People * James E. Casale, architect *John LaRocca (1901–84), Sicilian-American mobster *Mike Fadale, actor, chef Sister cities * Morlanwel ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, LaRocca and his family immigrated to the United States in 1910, settling in

Indiana County Indiana County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the west central part of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 83,246. Its county seat is Indiana. Indiana County comprises the Indiana, PA Mi ...

, Pennsylvania. As a young man, LaRocca went to work in the

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

s. In 1922, at age 20, he was arrested for assaulting a young woman and sentenced to three years in state prison. In 1956, LaRocca succeeded longtime crime boss Frank Amato as head of criminal operations in Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania. LaRocca and two of his

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, Gabriel "Kelly" Mannarino and Michael James Genovese, were among the 100+ Mafiosi who attended the legendary Apalachin Meeting in 1957. LaRocca was considered by many to be the most successful of all Pittsburgh godfathers. He worked closely with several bosses including

Carlo Gambino Carlo Gambino (; August 24, 1902 – October 15, 1976) was an Italian-American crime boss of the Gambino crime family. After the Apalachin Meeting in 1957, and the imprisonment of Vito Genovese in 1959, Gambino took over the Commission o ...

of New York City,

Angelo Bruno Angelo Bruno (born Angelo Annaloro; ; (May 21, 1910 – March 21, 1980) was a Sicilian Americans, Sicilian-American mobster, notable for being boss of the Philadelphia crime family for two decades until his assassination. Bruno was known as "the ...

of Philadelphia,

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 Bu ...

of Pittston,

Nick Civella Nicholas Civella (born Giuseppe Nicoli Civella; March 19, 1912 – March 12, 1983) was an American mobster who became a prominent leader of the Kansas City crime family. Early life Civella was born to Italian immigrants in Kansas City. He was the ...

of Kansas City and

Santo Trafficante Jr. Santo Trafficante Jr. (November 15, 1914 – March 17, 1987) was among the most powerful Mafia bosses in the United States. He headed the Trafficante crime family and controlled organized criminal operations in Florida and Cuba, which had prev ...

of Tampa. LaRocca, Mannarino and Trafficante were partners in the Sans Souci hotel and gambling casino in

Havana, Cuba Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. LaRocca remained boss until his death from natural causes on December 3, 1984, at age 82.

References

*Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005.

External links

The American "Mafia" - Pittsburgh BossesMafia has long history here, growing from bootlegging days
by Torsten Ove

* ttps://www.amazon.com/Mafia-Made-Easy-Anatomy-Culture/dp/1602472548 The Mafia Made EasyPeter J. Devico (June 5, 2007) {{DEFAULTSORT:LaRocca, John Sebastian 1901 births 1984 deaths Italian emigrants to the United States American gangsters of Sicilian descent American crime bosses People from Indiana County, Pennsylvania

Further reading

References

External links