JFK Assassination System Date: $/28/201 Identification Form Agency Information Peleased under the John F. AGENCY: FBI ennedy issassination RECORD NUMBER: — 124-10213-10443 Records Collection Act of n992 (44 USC 2107 Note). RECORD SERIES: HQ ase#: NW 45654 Date: wi-i6-2017 AGENCY FILE NUMBER: CR 62-9-39-219 Document Information ORIGINATOR: FBI FROM: SAC, PG TO: DIRECTOR, FBI TITLE: _DATE: = 12/29/1960 PAGES: 22 SUBJECTS : SMO, THP, INCOME TAX, ASSOC, B/F INT, TESUR DOCUMENT TYPE: PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT CLASSIFICATION: — Unclassified RESTRICTIONS: 4; 11(a) CURRENT STATUS: = Redact DATE OF LAST REVIEW: 01/29/1999 OPENING CRITERIA: INDEFINITE, APPROVAL OF IRS COMMENTS : INC LHM v9.1 HW 45354 DoclId: 32294667 Page 1
“py Pos iy Rio ; 1 martin oom. ie Pp ReBulett: i as follows “| Office who-Is LA’ ROCCA- through ; racket careers in [ \detter bf SA JOHN c, f Revenue Service ,. PGP-3 is: PG 612-c¢ “ NROUCE on 2071460. a ieee } 2 2j=Bureal (En _ 3 > Pittsburg - 1 ~ 92-226)) bo, (Pox 92-23 8%y 3 tye, \OFEBLOIN8IX Ae e%y a ‘Director, -FBI~(62=9 _ verector, fer et Po cde Lo f : ‘CRIMINAL INTELLIGENCE. PROGRAM any, 12/13/60. i e"), Attached are bale original andy » | memorandim cSncerning Ene nak The aources iu8ilized in the: (4) 5 iW ie. : fig ; ntimately acquainted with both GENOVESE«aind association swith Jthem when they began their _PGf=2 Ts information received from the Internal Revenue _: Service, through Bureau liaison on Bureau letter dated 12/20/57; : who was contacted by SA RICHARD. GORDON p CG T-1.4s 6G 6343-C who was contacted by -SAS of the , Office of the wearer 9/8/59. and whose hished to the ee eet PET ce. 4.0 %e ‘ L ch ‘\ a os ah i mn t Co & i ' { yw - an . BT Be ony a \ rn ne ae . eo, ~ we oN a aah . . a paaerona a A ae 4 , $ < REVIEWED BY SSVUFE TASK "FORGE | Lo PPD fof 49 fave. ry 7 4 q soon i yee ~ I (I - eht of thefLaRocea— the Depairtinent ,/ together S na boa da, memorandum are: ee “BCL of the pitt + Chic ago ! information was | Pittsburgh Office on 9/9/59. | ‘ i wy Seok fey an is f re eganern a? es ar a tree * ue 4 Be (BP Be OWLS Sc et ca, 4 a bo g “Pe eae ages . ry! Meg ee : - - cae arin cs iyi CUb.ce bu roe ets) ; a yee t YY ULL 30 5959 ~ | HW 45854 Docld:32294667 Page 2 FR RI TS ESET oe
‘ who was contacted by SA ROB A, VOEGE on 9/12/60, and who es F9e=NOT: sn 2/19/58 and. has been uti che Top Hoodlum Program 0 Intelligence Divisi 128/95° The speci his 2 ile Piste ben ea! pees E26 : ' Office WELZ on ae = a The specie SAenes Whe vea-phruvh zl HSON on 9/1/59 in connectalo i gabthe Phoenixsiietel ar éville, Pa. is S8* ROBERT gees of the Pittsburgh40! PG T-7 is ROBERT GANLEY of the Intéladgence’ Division, Internal Revenue Service, Pittsburgh, Pa., whoflyasy’contacted by SA ROBERT A. ul VOEGE on 10/29/59. ve The Special Agent. to whom Mrs, ELIZABETH LOUTSENHIZER talked about the operation of the Toll Gate Motel at Monroeville, Pa. on 4/25/60 is SA ROBERT A. VOEGE of the Pittsburgh Office. PG T~8 is JEK Act 6 (4) a PCI of the Pittsburgh Office, is being. utilized for continuing information in the Pittsburgh Top Hoodlum Program. | ; ss ae oe = or on el . HW 45954 Docld:327294667 Page 3
ja ~\ oh ' UNECED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JSWSTICE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION o In Reply, Please Refer t Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Ne December 29, 1960 7 THE LA ROCCA-GENOVESE ORGANIZA I. CHARACTERIZATION AND ORIGIN OF THE ORGANTZATTON. The most. complete “understanding of the origin ‘and background -of the LaRocca-Genovese Organization can probably’ be obtained from infgyaet ion relating fo- the early activities of SEBASTIAN JOHNALA ROCCA and MIKE, (GENOVESE | furnished to the Pittsburgh orf as follows: Sonn Wee Recce a A es — “ lL § @ Be active. in-this regard. He said that most of Pittsburgh's : present day “big racket men" once depended on him solely for. aa protection purposes since he knew local and state police a - figures and recalled that JOHN LA ROCCA was one of these e racketeers.: [_____] stated that LA ROCCA, became acquainted Lo with ‘him in about 1941 or 1942 when. LA ROCCA was handling all. : the numbers activity in the East Liberty “section of Pittsburgh and had set. himself up as a "little God." ‘When LA ROCCA — [ ‘ on a trip to Chicago to see friends about, paste_reel machines - with which he felt he could make more money. said a iN paste reel was similar toa "one-armed bandit" with the excep- g7 tion that a small paper-wrapped mint was dispensed after the | coin was placed in the slot and the play was registered. The © for gambling purposes" phraseology | in. ‘the law in this manner. while LA ROCCA was in Chicago, [-____]saia he moved into the He turned in his numbers returns to one GEORGE CHRISTY (now said when he was discharged from the hospital he found out that _ ENCLOSURE’ 5 “6229-379 AG ~—- = ona - pee at eee we ee | WW 45854 DoclId:32294667 Page 4 became dissatisfied with his financial gains, he left Pittsburgh Chicago manufacturer of this machine circumvented the "strictly East Liberty section and took over the entire numbers operation, deceased) in. Pittsbupzh.—iihen LA ROCCA returned to Pittsburgh he became angry with nd his move and had aneeied ma a car Svan night as he was crossing a street On eee 27, 1958, ~via Sate ne ‘had been PPPS nae in the fumbers writing activity since about_1928 and is still | PEI y wiki
raat oe ~ + na a at = = 2X, , his:‘automobile had numerous bullet holes in it. Jk Act 6 “)said that because he thought he would make money in the East Liberty section, he stayed in the business of writing numbers and actually forced LA ROCCA out of the numbers business. Jek Act ¢ (“Yadvised that in about 1943, he and LA ROCCA became friendly and LA ROCCA invited him to share equally in the ownership of the Coin Machine Distributing Company which later set up offices at 5746 Baum Boulevard in Pittsburgh. Fk Acts |) recalled that LA ROCCA was completely bankrupt at that time because of numbers setbacks but managed to raise enough money to put up his share, Jk acts “said he personally travelled to Chicago to arrange for the purchase of machines to be distributed by this company and. had a verbal agreement with ART XROONEY who ' allowed him to place these machines throughout the st Liberty, phe Homewood and Garfield sections of Pittsburgh where ROONEY was) ~-7) not operating. According tok Act « 4) ROONEY, who is the present phe . owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, professional football club, a was the only man who could get paste reels before LA ROCCA tried, and controlled the entire Pittsburgh vicinity in this regard, Jk acto (“said that the government placed a $100 tax stamp on each machine and the City of Pittsburgh put a $50 tax F _ stamp on each machine. He said that other owners of the P Larne : company, in addition to himself and LA ROCCA, were FRANK}AMATO, BARNEYKMC GINLEY, SAM Fl MANNARING ape F, W.4ZOGG, the latter 5 a IVT cin My ATO LIG Se. ; Boer , from C 1eaBesy, A NI A | VOLE. JFK Act 6 (4adviSed that the company was doing well financially berore Allegheny County authorities raided establishments ‘A where the machines had been placed and forced it out of business. \\ He recalled that although each of the six aforementioned individuals owned an equal share in the company, SAM MANNARIN® ; and LA ROCCA seemed to run everything and held meetings at | ‘which important subjects were discussed in Italian, which he did not understand. He advised that he realized that LA ROCCA ty was only using him for his proven protection methods and Ek Act 6 (4) A did not mind as long as he got his cut of the profits. He 4 | recalled that during 1946 or 1947, MIKE GENOVESE came on the Vy scene, He stated that this individual had been a pickup man for LA ROCCA in the East Liberty-Homewood section of Pittsburgh and was a tough kid who, according tov acts (4) "was almost begging ’ to go to jail." He said LA ROCCA turned GENOVESE over to him [ and askedurk act 6 (to "keep him clean" because he had him in mind | eal a a ere mO on ‘ 4, at Ai } oe ee EE wes as on eee HW 45354 DoclId: 32294667 Page 5 #)
| HW 45854 | GER TT ETE Sn me “_—- = - . s for future plans. He recalled that eran acai, who / Ae was present, at the Apalachin conference o hoodlums, jee and. ANTONEO\RIPEPT, a Pittsburgh hoodlum, visited the offices of the Coin Machine Distributing Company regularly and always took orders from MANNARINO and LA ROCCA. He said RIPEPI was a moreimportant racket. man than VALENTI. but that LA ROCCA seemed to be the key man in the Pittsburgh -area. He.said-he would place LA ROCCA and MANNARINO as the two men controlling the rackets in Western Pennsylvania and he sees MIKE.GENOVESE.as the logical successor to the top position. . PG T=1, who has expresséd an unwillingness to appear before any future Federal or State proceedings, advised that in about 1947 Pittsburgh labor leader NICHOLAS|STIRONE visited P/E the offices of the Coin Machine Distributing Company and asked SAMUEL MANNARINO to get some “gorillas" to handle some ‘men who were giving STIRONE labor trouble on a highwagy . being built in the Monroeville, Pa., vicinity and more ‘specificallyto give the dissenters a "going over" at the same time.they were upsetting their equipment. According to ‘the informant, this’ job was carried out by SAMUEL MANNARINO for STIRONE buttMANNARINO became incensed when he learned his "gorillas" had hurt some older Italian.men. The informant said. that’MANNARINO had been under the impression that the men who had defied STIRONE were young punks. The aforementioned informant advised that the term "Mafia" was never used when he was closely associated with LA ROCCA, AMATO and the MANNARINO brothers. He said that everyone knew these individuals during the late 1930s and early 1940s as “blackhanders" and that this term was bandied about without fear at the offices of the Coin Machine Distributing Company when LA.ROCCA held sway. He said that the aforementioned individuals hired groups of “"toughs"™ to do their work for them and that these hoodlums of low intelligence and poor Italian background carried:no knives or guns. He said.that he recalls that they were armed with cue sticks which they had ostensibly stolen from poolrooms throughout the Pittsburgh area and which had been sawed off to 12-15-inch lengths. He explained that the heavy..end of the cue stock was used as the business end and that a hole was bored into the bottom and lead used as a further weight. He said that after -3- DoclId: 322794667 Page 6 —eV7"™
III. ~ POSSIBLE ACTIVITY OF OPERATIONS » PG T-5, another government agency conducting intelli PG T-6, who has. expressed an unwillingness to appear before any. future Federal or State proceedings, stated that he was with PAT TIANI, described by the informant as a used car ; salesman on the afternoon of ‘November 25, 1957, when TIANI I met MIKE GENOVESE and they entered the Genovese Cocktail ~ Lounge together. He said he met TIANI two hours later and was told that GENOVESE had been discussing the meeting at ae Apalachin, N. Y. According to TIANI, GENOVESE remarked that "They'll never find out what went on-'in New York and - when they do no one will ever believe it." The informant explained that according to TIANI, GENOVESE said the meeting in New York took’place in order to plan legitimate enterprises in which the group might make an investment md it was agreed that motels should be builé throughout the country and be operated legitimately. The informant said that according to TIANI, GENOVESE said the local representatives were to begin the construction of a motel in their territory and if they encountered any financial trouble the group meeting at | 7 Apalachin would be called upon for assistance. PG T=2 on January 13, 1958, advised that , bg 94 BF wn | DIAG Ne | | t iN A Ee HW 45354 DBocld:32294667 Page 7
a, - Lh \ = a  U\WITED STATES DEPARTMEN1- OF JUSTICE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION In Reply, Please Refer to File No. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania dL CHARAGTERTZATION AND ORIGIN OF THE ORGANIZATION _ December 29, 1960 THE LA ROCGA-GENOVESE ORGANIZATION The most. complete urderstanding ef the origin and background of the LaRocca-Cenvvese Organizatien can probably be obtained » from information ng to the early activities of SEBASTIAN. JOHN LA ROCCA and MIKE GENOVESE. furnished to the Pittsburgh Office sf the Federal Bureatu of Envestieaiion as follews: On Pebruary 27, 1958, = Jatvises that he had been paste réel was. similar to @ “one=armed bandit’ in che numbers uriting activity since about 1928 and is still active in this regard. He said, that most. of Pittsburgh's present day hig racket men’ onée depended on him solely for protection purposes since he ‘knew lecal and state police figures.and recalled that JOH LA ROCCA was one of these racketeers, “At 6 Ostated that LA ROCCA. became acquainted with him in about 1941 or 1942 when ‘LA ROCCA was handling ail the numbers activity in the East Liberty . section of Pittsburgh and hed set.nimself up as a “little God.” When LA ROCCA . became dissatisfied with his finaneial geins, he left Pittsburgh on @ trip te Ghicage to see. friends about paste reel machines with which he felt he could make more money. Jf acto (sadd a with the excep- tion that a small paper-wrapped mint was dispensed after the eoin was placed. in the slot..and the play was registered. The Chicagze: manufacturer of thig machine clreumvented the "strictly fou gambling purposes” phraseology in the law in. this manner. While LA. ROCCA. was in Chicago, Janes dade he moved into the: East Liberty section and took over She entire numbers operation. He turned in his nwabers: returns to one GBORGR CHRISTY (now . deceased), in Pittsburgh. When LA ROCCA returned to Pittsburgh he became angry with and his move and. had semeone drive & Car overEX Acts Wone niente @s he was crossing a atreet.J& Acts said when he was Qischarged from the hospital he found out that | WW 45654 DoclId: 322794667 Page &