The Bonanno Family

Cola Schiro was the first boss of the Bonanno family. He was the boss until 1930. He was succeeded by Salvatore Maranzano. Maranzano was the boss of bosses until the other mobsters grew weary of his power and a few of them, including Charlie Luciano, conspired to murder him in 1931. After his death, Luciano formed the National Commission of La Cosa Nostra.

Joe Bonanno succeeded Maranzano as the family boss, and he was in power until 1964. He was the first ever boss to break the omerta. He did not testify against his friends, however he wrote a book that described his life as the boss of a crime family.

Frank LaBruzzo was the don for the next two years. Gaspare DiGregorio followed with a two year rule of his own. Paul Sciacca was in power from 1966 to 1966. A ruling council of Phillip "Rusty" Rastelli, Joseph Zicarelli, Joseph DiFillippi, and Natale Evola was in control for three years. Evola then became the sole boss for a year. Rastelli was the boss from late 1973 to 1974, until he was incarcerated on racketeering charges. Carmine Galante was the boss until his murder in 1979. Galante, known for smoking his cigars, was murdered at Joe and Mary's Italian Restaurant in Brooklyn. He still had his cigar in his mouth when he died. One of his bodyguards, a Sicilian named Caesar Bonaventre, was said to have been involved in the assassination of his boss.

After Galante's death, Bonaventre became the youngest capo in history at the age of 24. Phillip "Rusty" Rastelli got out of jail and resumed control of the Bonanno Family. Two of his top aides were Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano and Benjamin "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero. They are the two main mobsters that FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone was working with in his top secret undercover role as jewel thief "Donnie Brasco". Napolitano disappeared after it was found that Brasco was an agent. Ruggiero was put in jail and died of lung cancer about two years after his release from prison in 1992. Rastelli was imprisoned again in 1985 as a result of the Commission case, and in 1989 he gave up the leadership position in the Bonanno Family to Joey Massino. Massino has brought back some prominence to the family. He is still in control of the family.