The Morello Crime Family was one of the earliest crime families to be established in the United States. Based in New York's East Harlem, the Morello's would establish Sicilian dominance over Italian-American organized crime defeating the rival Neapolitan Camorra. Many of the organizations members included such criminals as Joe Masseria, "Lupo the Wolf" Ignazio Saietta, and Charles Umbracio as well as others becoming future leaders of the "Five Families" such as Gaetano Lucchese and Charles Luciano. The Morello's would gain control of Manhattan following the fall of many of the cities Irish and Jewish street gangs during the early twentieth century. State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York Governor George Pataki Official languages None Area 141,205 km² (27th)  - Land 122,409 km²  - Water 18,795 km² (13. ... Spanish Harlem, also known as East Harlem or El Barrio, is a neighborhood in northeastern part of the borough of Manhattan, one of the largest predominantly Hispanic communities in New York City. ... The Camorra is a Mafia-like criminal organization, or secret society, in the region of Campania and the city of Naples in Italy. ... Joe The Boss Masseria Giuseppe Joe The Boss Masseria (1879–April 15, 1931) was an early Mafia don in the United States. ... Charles Luciano (11 November 1896_ 26 January 1962), better known as Lucky Luciano, was a legendary mobster with a long criminal history. ... Manhattan is an island bordering the lower Hudson River. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ...

History of the Morello Crime Family

Early History

The Morello crime family was established by brothers Antonio, Nicolo, and Giuseppe Morello and half bothers Vincenzo and Ciro Terranova following their arrival from Corleone, Sicily in 1892. Originally known as the 107th Street Mob, the Morello's quickly established dominance within East Harlem allying with Black Hand leader "Lupo the Wolf" Ingazio Saietta. With the murder of Francesco Meli in December 1892, allegedly by Antonio Morello, the Morello's were in control of the Brooklyn dockyards and eventually parts of upper Manhattan and Bronx waterfront. Continuing to support Saietta's Black Hand organization, the Morello's would later be suspected of the "barrel murders", supposedly murder victims of the Black Hand, which would be seen regularly throughout the decade. Nicholas Morello (1855/1866-September 7/November 6, 1916) was one of the first New York organized crime figures founding the Morello crime family and was later one of the participants in the Mafia-Camorra War of 1916. ... Peter The Clutching Hand Morello (1880-August 1930), also known as The Old Fox, was a prominent member of the Morello crime family and advisor to Joe Masseria. ... Corleone is a small town of approximately 12,000 inhabitants in the province of Palermo in Sicily, Italy. ... The Brooklyn Bridge in 1890, seven years after its opening Kings County in New York State Brooklyn is the most populous of the five boroughs of New York City. ... Manhattan is an island bordering the lower Hudson River. ... The Bronx is one of the five boroughs of United States. ...

With the death of Antonio Morello in 1898, leadership of the crime family fell to Giuseppe Morello (although Saietta was considered the overall leader of the Manhattan mafiosi). Arrested the following year for counterfeiting and sentenced to three years imprisonment Giuseppe, following his release in 1902, and Saietta began a major counterfeiting ring with Sicilian mafiosi Don Vito Cascio Ferro printing $5 dollar bills in Sicily and smuggling them into the United States. Many of the later "barrel murders" were thought to have been committed by the Morello's who employed a large number of members of the counterfeiting operation. Sicily (Sicilia in Italian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,700 sq. ...

Bosses of the Morello Crime Family

• 1892–1898 — Antonio Morello (1854–1898)
• 1898–1899 — Giuseppe Morello (1870–1930)
• 1899–1902 — Ignazio Saietta (1877–1947)
• 1902–1909 — Giuseppe Morello (1903–1930)
• 1909–1916 — Nicholas Morello (1866–1916) (acting boss)
• 1916–1922 — Peter Morello (1880–1930)

See Also

• Mafia
• Black Hand (blackmail)

The Mafia, also referred to as La Cosa Nostra (Italian, variously translated as This Thing Of Ours or Our Thing), is the collective name of various secret organizations in Italy, Sicily, Corsica and the United States. ... Black Hand was a type of extortion racket. ...

References

• Nash, Robert Jay. Encyclopedia of World Crime Vol. III (K-R), New York, Facts on File Inc., 1990