Sebastiano DiGaetano (; c. 1862 – disappeared March 1912) was an Italian-born

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

mafia

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...

of what would later become known as the Bonanno crime family. He briefly attained the title '' capo dei capi'' (English: "Boss of bosses") of the Sicilian-American mafia, after Giuseppe Morello had been convicted of

counterfeiting To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...

money in 1910. DiGaetano stepped down as boss of his crime family in 1912, and disappeared shortly thereafter.

Early days

Sebastiano DiGaetano was born in the town of Castellammare del Golfo in Sicily in c. 1862, to Arcangelo DiGaetano and Angela DiBenedetto. He first arrived in the United States on October 24, 1898, with his wife and daughter joining him in 1901. By 1908 the DiGaetano family had moved from

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

to the

Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...

section of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, with Sebastiano becoming a barber. DiGaetano's daughter, Angelina, married Joseph Ruffino, who was arrested for burglary in 1913 along with future mafia boss Joe Masseria.

Brooklyn crime boss

DiGaetano is believed to have become the boss of the Williamsburg-centered mafia sometime in 1909 or 1910. DiGaetano first came to the attention of authorities in December 1910, when he was arrested under suspicion of orchestrating the kidnappings of eight-year-old Giuseppe Longo and seven-year-old Michael Rizzo for ransom. The charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence. A few months later,

Salvatore Clemente Salvatore may refer to: * Salvatore (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name * "Salvatore" (song), by Lana Del Rey, 2015 * Salvatore (band), a Norwegian instrumental rock band * '' Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams' ...

, a

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

informer who was a

counterfeiter To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...

in the Morello gang was summoned to a meeting with DiGaetano. DiGaetano told Clemente to refrain from his counterfeiting activities until another mafioso, named Carmelo Codaro, who was suspected of disloyalty was "disposed of." DiGaetano was able to dictate orders to a member of a different mafia crime family because he had been made a temporary ''capo dei capi'', or "Boss of bosses", after the previous one, Giuseppe Morello, had been imprisoned in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

on counterfeiting charges. DiGaetano had assumed that role due to his relative weakness as a

crime boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss typically has absolute or nearl ...

. Morello had been hoping that would allow him to continue to dominate the New York mafia from prison. However, the arrangement had collapsed by 1912 which led to

Salvatore D'Aquila Salvatore "Toto" D'Aquila (; November 7, 1873 – October 10, 1928) was an early Italian-American Mafia boss in New York City of the D'Aquila crime family, what would later become known as the Gambino crime family. Early life and career Salv ...

being selected as a permanent replacement as ''capo dei capi''. In March 1912, DiGaetano stepped down as boss of his crime family and was soon replaced by

Nicolo Schiro Nicolo "Cola" Schiro (born Nicolò Schirò; ; September 2, 1872April 29, 1957) was an early Sicilian-born New York City mobster who, in 1912, became the boss of what later become known as the Bonanno crime family. Schiro's leadership of the gang ...

. Clemente claimed that DiGaetano was stepping down because he had "lost his nerve". Shortly after he stepped down as boss, DiGaetano disappeared; some researchers believe he and his wife may have returned to Italy.

Notes

References

Citations Sources * * * * *

External links

The American Mafia - ''Boss of Bosses''
{{DEFAULTSORT:DiGaetano, Sebastiano 1862 births Year of death missing 1910s missing person cases American gangsters of Sicilian descent Capo dei capi Bosses of the Bonanno crime family Italian emigrants to the United States People from Castellammare del Golfo Missing gangsters

Early days

Brooklyn crime boss

See also

Notes

References

External links