   joseph charles bonanno, sr. (january 18, 1905 &ndash; may 11, 2002) was a sicilian-born american mafioso who became the boss of the bonanno crime family. ==early life== giuseppe carlo bonanno was born on january 18, 1905 in castellammare del golfo, a town on the northwestern coast of sicily. when he was three years old (1908), his family moved to the united states and settled in the williamsburg neighborhood in brooklyn for about 10 years before returning to italy (1918). bonanno slipped back into the united states in 1924 by stowing away on a cuban fishing boat bound for tampa, florida. by all accounts, he'd become active in the mafia during his youth in italy, and he fled to the united states after benito mussolini initiated a crackdown. bonanno himself claimed years later that he fled because he was ardently anti-fascist. however, the former account is more likely, since several other castellammarese mafiosi fled to the united states around the same time. eventually, bonanno became involved in bootlegging activities, and soon joined a mafia family led by another castellammarese, salvatore maranzano. ==the castellammarese war== almost from the beginning, bonanno was recognized by his accomplices in brooklyn as a man with superior organizational skills and quick instincts. he also became known to the leader of mafia activities in new york, joe "the boss" masseria. masseria became increasingly suspicious of the growing number of castellammarese in brooklyn. he sensed they were gradually dissociating themselves from his overa
1905_births 2002_deaths American_mob_bosses American_mobsters_of_Italian_descent American_mobsters_of_Sicilian_descent Bonanno_crime_family Bosses_of_the_Bonanno_crime_family Capi_di_tutti_capi Cardiovascular_disease_deaths_in_Arizona Italian_emigrants_to_the_United_States Italian_mob_bosses Italian_mobsters Organized_crime_memoirists People_from_Brooklyn People_from_Castellammare_del_Golfo People_from_Hempstead_(village),_New_York People_from_Tucson,_Arizona Prohibition-era_gangsters