Michael James Genovese (April 9, 1919 – October 31, 2006) was an alleged 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 ...

. References to Michael Genovese as the brother of New York mob boss

Vito Genovese Vito Genovese (; November 21, 1897 – February 14, 1969) was an Italian-born American mobster who mainly operated in the United States. Genovese rose to power during Prohibition as an enforcer in the American Mafia. A long-time associate and ch ...

are to a different Michael Genovese; Michael James Genovese was first cousin to Vito Genovese.

Early years

Genovese was born to Anthony and Ursula GenoveseStaff (1971) "Obituary: Fiore Genovese" ''North Hills News Record'' (Pennsylvania) (31 March 1971) p. 49, col.1 in East Liberty,

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania. He had two brothers. Felix and Fiore, and three sisters: Virginia, Frances and Angeline. In his early years, Genovese was arrested for robbery and carrying concealed weapons.Staff (1959) "The Cast Of Characters For Appalachian Convention" ''Tucson Daily Citizen'' (26 June 1959) p. 7, col. 6 Among his " legitimate businesses was a

car wash A car wash, carwash, or auto wash is a facility used to clean the exterior, and in some cases the interior of motor vehicles. Car washes can be self-service, full-service (with attendants who wash the vehicle), or fully automated (possi ...

. According to a report by the then Pennsylvania Crime Commission, Genovese once controlled the

Numbers Game The numbers game, also known as the numbers racket, the Italian lottery, Mafia lottery or the daily number, is a form of illegal gambling or illegal lottery played mostly in poor and working class neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a be ...

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...

.Staff (1974) "Mike Genovese jailed again for contempt" ''North Hills News Record'' (Pennsylvania) (5 November 1974) p. 12, col.5 His climb through the Pittsburgh crime family included stints as

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 head ...

and

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 underbo ...

to John Sebastian LaRocca, who became boss in 1956. In November 1957, Genovese accompanied LaRocca to the abortive Appalachian Conference of mob bosses in

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 ...

with Gabriel "Kelly" Mannarino. In 1978, facing poor health, LaRocca formed a three-man commission of Genovese, Mannarino, and Joseph "Jo Jo" Pecora to take over day-to-day operations of the family.

Family boss

Within a year, with the death of Mannarino and the imprisonment of Pecora, Genovese headed the commission. Under Genovese's reign, the Pittsburgh family dominated illegal gambling in

, the

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

Panhandle, and Eastern

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. The family was also involved in major drug trafficking,

loan sharking A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...

scams A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...

, and theft in

. However, the Mafia Commission in New York would not allow Genovese to recruit new members into the family; he could only replace those who died or retired. Three years after Genovese took control, Pecora died at age 68. In 1985, 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, ...

(FBI) described the Pittsburgh family as being one of the lower-ranked crime families. However, in a 1995 report, the FBI implied that due to large scale federal prosecutions of New York's

Five Families The Five Families refers to five major New York City organized crime families of the Italian American Mafia formed in 1931 by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War. Maranzano reorganized the Italian American gangs ...

and the

Chicago Outfit The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, tha ...

, the Pittsburgh organization was one of the stronger families in the Eastern United States.

Prosecutions

Age and federal prosecutors began catching up with organized crime in Pittsburgh by the early 1990s. In March 1990, underboss Charles "Chucky" Porter (Genovese's right-hand man), and capo Louis Raucci Sr., were indicted for distribution of

narcotics The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "to make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, gambling and

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and of ...

. Police stake-outs at L.A. Motor in

Verona, Pennsylvania Verona is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is northeast of downtown Pittsburgh, along the left bank of the Allegheny River. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 2,474. History Verona was named by c ...

where Genovese worked, revealed him meeting almost daily with Porter, and Raucci. However, surveillance equipment never recorded Genovese making any incriminating statements. Genovese was always careful to go outside when talking to his mob subordinates. Though not indicted, Genovese was named as the head of the Pittsburgh crime family during testimony. Porter and Raucci were both convicted of all charges in the trial.

Death

In 1990, Genovese was suspected of ordering the takeover of territories of

Youngstown Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, which ...

and

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, formerly held by the

Cleveland crime family The Cleveland crime family or Cleveland Mafia is the collective name given to a succession of Italian-American organized crime gangs based in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. A part of the Italian-American Mafia (or ''Cosa Nostra'') phenom ...

. On October 31, 2006, Genovese died of natural causes at his home in

West Deer Township, Pennsylvania West Deer Township is a Township (Pennsylvania), township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 11,771 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History In 1788, the Pennsylvani ...

Notes

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