The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino

Interesting to me as I grew up in the fifties in the fifties. I knew some of the people mentioned in the book and it was eye opening to me.
There was not all that much about Buffalino as a person. It seems to me to be more about facts gleaned from news or reports than a personal story of he Quiet Don.

Partially researched well, but only tells fragments of stories. The emphasis on the corruption in the handing out of the Mount Airy Lodge casino license was the best part of the book, but the biography of Mr. Buffalino was superficial. Obviously written in a hurry. The Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport is in Avoca, not Evoca, and a fuselage is the body of an aircraft, not a hail of bullets. I grew up on the street where Mr. Buffalino lived, knew many of the peripheral characters, some better than others. Taking a little more time, Mr. Bierbeck could have done a much better job.

Excellent book, especially since I am from northeast Pennsylvania. There are a lot of things that were done by government officials that sounded very questionable. If you are from NEPA, I would recommend reading this book.

Grew up in northeastern Pennsylvania. Knew about some of the stories in the book and the people who are mentioned.. Corruption still exists and needs to be exposed. The author's research is amazing and his attention to detail is evident.

I haven't finished it yet, but I grew up in northeastern Pa. and know a lot of the history first hand, so having been there, there are a few untruths in the book. Don't believe everything you read. However, I find it fascinating and would recommend it if you have any interest in the subject.

The book was riveting. I chose this book because he was a distant member of my family and I was interested in his life story. Much of what I was told as a young adult aroused my curiosity! I remember when he passed. I have recommended this book to other family members.

Being from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area, I found this book fascinating. I knew many of the names mentioned in the book and heard many stories about the Mafia from my grandfather and parents growing up.

I bought this book because I am from the Wyoming valley area, and have always heard stories of Mr. Buffalino and other accused mafia figures. I was disappointed by the fact that this book has very little pertaining to Mr. Buffalino, and more on DeNaples. All in all good book though.

Highly recommended to anyone fascinated by the Mafia's sordid history. This is more than the life story of an overlooked crime boss. Bufalino somehow never became a household name, despite arranging the ill-fated meeting of Mafia chiefs in Upstate New York that opened America's eyes to organized crime. Not to mention his involvement in the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the killing of Jimmy Hoffa. But what I found most compelling was the book's portrayal of the staggering political and judicial corruption in Pennsylvania during the period when Governor Ed Rendell introduced gambling to the state.

I live in the area and know the names and some of the people in the book.
I was surprised at what I read. Very interesting and explains a lot about what is hidden in some town and city closets.

The book is fairly interesting but lacks much information about Russell Bufalino. That's not surprising since Russ wasn't a fan of publicity, but the book doesn't even get into the relationships with the leaders in New York, Philly, or Buffalo.

Lo and behold, one of the most powerful and revered men in oganized crime is also one of the most unknown. The stories about Hoffa alone are worth the read. Bufanino got a 5% kickback on every loan issued by the Teamsters pension fund to Oganized crime. Egad, what a windfall!

I was hoping that this book would give me an opportunity to learn about Russell Bufalino, but it was more about the corruption within Pennsylvania. The book focuses more on the granting of a casino license for Louis DeNaples than focusing on a deeply hidden, yet vastly powerful long time Cosa Nostra Boss. If you want to learn something of the Bufalino organization, this would make a good primer, if you want to know more than the basics, this is no place to find it!

Interesting read, lacks real information on the titled subject, perhaps if you are local to the Scranton/Wilkes Barre area you would enjoy it more than I did. I mistakenly thought I might come away with more knowledge of Russell Bufalino, on that count the book fails!

The organization of the book was not always clear. There were many background details that eclipsed the actual event that the author was describing. The central event seemed to be the gambling permit scandal rather than the Bufalino biography.

I grew up in NEPA area and was aware of the Mafia presence, especially in the Pittston area. My mother would mention the various names and businesses that appeared in the book and told me to stay away from these people. Was always told of the "dead" people voting. Well, that not only happens in NEPA, but it is nationwide, particularly in the bigger cities. Too bad the author didn't name the Luzerne county judge that had fixed Bufalino's speeding ticket from Forty-Fort police. I was always told that Bufalino took over the entire top floor of a nursing home in Kingston - on Wyoming Avenue - when he was confined to a nursing home; not a nursing home in Scranton. Book made me realize that the working people, the little people don't really stand a chance when the Mafia, the politicians, judges and other public officials join forces and get paid off.

Interesting information on top names in Pennsylvania
.God will judge them. Sad how they thought they were above the law. Felt sorry for all those ladies who worked for practically nothing in those dress factories

Interesting topic, but nearly unreadable writing. It skipped from decade to decade and character to character with seeming randomness. A better writer, could have made this story fascinating. Unfortunately the author appears to have pasted together newspaper stories and called it a book.
Sorry. It just was not well written and organized.

While there are quite a few anecdotes about Bufalino, the narrative jumps around, dicing his life with a seemingly irrelevant story about what happened after he died. I picked this up in hopes of learning more about the man who featured so prominently in 'I Heard You Paint Houses'. I did not learn anything new.

Coming originally from NEPA, I was familiar with Russell Bufalino and many of the names in the book. I found it very informative. I gave it to someone not familiar with the area and the situation there and they found it difficult to follow and understand.

Its interesting that this is more a book on Louis DeNaples than Russell Bufalino. Its also interesting that the writer didn't indicate that the case fell apart because a couple of members of the state police were leaking confidential grand jury information to the writer. I guess its ok to be involved in illegal acts if you hide behind the pen.

Matt's book is just another reminder that PA judges are bought and sold like stolen merchandise at an outdoor flea market. PA government is not only a partner in the Mafia, Rendell and all the other schmucks give absolute loyalty to the Sicilian thugs. PA government, like the mob is nothing more than terrorist groups. Hopefully, some day, the truth will be told about The Zappala Crime Family.

Incredibly helpful for anyone trying to make sense of the problems in PA, Ohio and WVa . When good people stand up and demand justice the blight and fear will be defeated. Crime is destroying our system of government which depends on human rights and trust. Gambling is not an industry..it is VICE. Prostitution is not legal and murder is a heinous crime. There is a long shadow that hides the children of these criminals who continue to kill and rob. Who are the criminals? do they have friends who are convicted of felonies? Do they have marriages with other criminal families? Do they consistently grab for power? Look at the news and decide that change is going to happen now and unmasking organized crime in politics is the beginning.

I was quite disappointed in this book. I guess I expected it to be a book all about Bufalino's life from childhood. Instead the book bounced all around quoting newpaper articles of the times. It seemed to be more about Denaples and his casino. I guess if you are looking for something about the Mafia you may enjoy it but to me it was not a bit entertaining. I did read the entire book hoping it would get better but it did not.

It's an interesting book but I doubt it has much appeal outside of Wyoming Valley where Russell Bufalino lived. Its assertion that Bufalino had a hand in the death of Jimmy Hoffa is really pure conjecture. There are some errors in the book. For example
Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan were judges in Luzerne county, not Lackawanna county.

If anyone in hollywood is looking for the next big mafia movie they will choose this book. I. Heard stories about Russell Buffalino but never never knew his ties were so far reavhing and wide.Corruption murder dirty politions Corrupt casino owners its all in here !

For me, a follow up book to " I hear you paint houses". Intrigued with Kennedy and Hoffa murders, who done it, how did it happen. Read about Bufalino in this book by Frank Sheeran. Enjoyed the book.

Although there was some interesting information and stories about Russell Bufalino, over half the book is about Dunmore businessman Louis DeNaples and his life. It seemed the majority of the book dealt with Mr. DeNaples and his acquisition of a state gambling license. Maybe Mr. Bufalino was so quiet, there wasn't much to write about.

I grew up in the area so I can relate to the book. Unfortunately Pittston lost many educated, talented young residents to neighboring states due to a lack of employment opportunities. The colleges in the area have always been top notch. Ann Grace

As others have said, this is not a book about Russell Bufalino; it is mostly about Louis DeNaples, a NE PA businessman who may/may not have had ties to the Bufalino family. The title is misleading at best - yes, there is some information on Bufalino, but this high-level information could be had from Wikipedia or an organized crime website. Any detailed information the author provides on Bufalino was sourced from "I Heard You Paint Houses" by Frank Sheeran, which I recommend if you don't want to read a book about NE PA shady businessmen/politicians.

If you've read " I Heard You Paint Houses" this book might come as a disappointment. While the subject matter is different and more focused on Buffalino- the writer fails to grab the readers attention the same way.

Everybody knows that there was a heavy mafia presence in NEPA for decades but specific information is foggy at best. This book brings a lot to light and shows how the Bufalino influence of 30 or 40 years ago still has influence today. Russel Bufalino was know for his low profile so the information in the book about him is interesting. But also interesting is the legacy he left in the area. There is a lot of information about Louis Denaples and the casino licensing scandle but its all related to the overall mafia influenced corruption in the Scranton/WB area.

The title of this book is very misleading. Russell Bufalino is at most an ancillary character. This is in an investigate journalism piece on corruption that occurred in Pennsylvania gaming more than a decade after Bufalino's death filled in with background on organized crime and corruption in Northeast Pennsylvania. Bufalino is part of that background- a significant one but a part nonetheless. There are only passing references to Bufalino in the first 100 pages of the book. That is a full third of the book and the "subject" is barely discussed. There is more space spent reproducing Senate Committee reports that could have been summed up in a single paragraph. I am extremely annoyed with the publisher of this book for its misleading title. It should have been presented as a general history of crime and corruption in NE Pennsylvania with an emphasis on Bufalino's part in it. I was really looking forward to reading Bufalino's story. Unfortunately this is not it.

Having had many Lunches and Dinners with Mr. Bufalino in the 70's and early 80's at The Vesuvio, Matt?? Where are the interviews with the surviving members of the Casciole, Gullota, Cortese and Poidomani families? My Uncle Tony Casciole ran The Vesuvio till his death in 1982. My cousins Ernie and his sisters observed Russ's every move at The Vesuvio; between just the cousins, we could replace thsoe 10 chapters you have devoted to PA gambling licenses to real info on Mr. Bufalino's activites at The Vesuvio!

Try again! Maybe the next time you'll get it right!!

George

This books describes organized crime activities in Northeast Pennsylvania. Readers of organized crime and Northeast Pennsylvania history may find this book fascinating. There are several points of interests to Political Science students.

Some observations the author makes that are of interest to Political Scientists are the following:

Rossario "Russell" Buffalino was the mob boss who organization the meeting of mob bosses in 1957 which the police raided. This raid confirmed suspicious that mob organizations had interconnections.

Buffalino's territory included northeast Pennsylvania and parts of New York State. Northeast Pennsylvania, in the 1940s, was known for garment companies that were controlled by Buffalino that paid low wages in hopes of undercutting higher wages of unionized garment workers in New York City.

Buffalino often picked which people would run and be elected to county and local political offices. He led a political operation which rigged election results.

Buffalino was close to U.S. Rep. Dan Flood. Flood helped Medico Industries, in which Buffalino had a major interest, in obtaining military contracts. Rep. Flood resigned from Congress in lieu of facing a second trial for accepting illegal funds from lobbyists and contractors. His trial was suspected of having a fixed juror. Although Flood was not charged with anything regarding this, the FBI had wiretaps of Flood and Medico officials discussing deals.

Buffalino also controlled illegal gambling of sports betting and poker parlors in the Scranton-Wyoming area. Buffalino received a commission and a percent of gross profits from these operations. He also persuaded local police to look the other way at these illegal activities.

A 1951 government report criticized the Scranton police for ignoring obvious signs of illegal gambling sites. State Police officers reported bribe offers. The committee report estimated the illegal operations grossed $30 million a year.

There were raids that captured millions of gambling tickets. These raids resulted in fines ranging from $200 to $300. It was alleged a suspected gambling operator gave a $2,500 ring to the Public Safety Director.

The Lackawanna Country District Attorney claimed it did not prosecute many gambling cases because its office did not police matters even though the office had four detectives. The State Police tried to raid illegal lottery operations while local police remained uninvolved in halting gambling.

In 1961, Buffalino joined with a Central Intelligence Agency agent awaiting a hoped for successful invasion of Cuba. Earlier, Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa had introduced Buffalino to Federal government agents. The invastion effort failed. Had it worked, Buffalino was going to return to Cuba to help regain mob assets. Among them was $1 million Buffalino had buried in Cuba when Castro took control

The mob use to earn over $1 million a day in its Cuban activities. In 1995, Time magazine presented a story about CIA ties with Hoffa, Buffalino, and mobsters Sam Giancona and Johnny Roselli. Ten days after the article appeared, Giancona was shot to death. Six weeks later Hoffa disappeared. Some theorize Hoffa was murdered as he was threatening to expose ties of then current Teamsters President Frank Fitzsimmon to the mob in hopes Hoffa could regain his old position. About a year later, Roselli was murdered. Some theorize there were fears Giancona and Roselli might also expose secrets and those fears led to their deaths.

In 2005, Pennsylvania Deputy Police Commissioner Ralph Periandi began investigating Governor Ed Rendell. Suspicions arose over Rendell's support of legalizing casino gambling and awarding contracts. Rendell had sought election as a supporter of casino gambling as a means of obtaining funds to reduce property taxes. There were also concerns over Turnpike Commission contracts. It was the reported tradition that half of Turnpike Commissions are awarded by the legislative majority party, one fourth are awarded by the legislative minority party, and one fourth are awarded by the Governor.

State Senators Robert Mellow and Vincent Fumo were instrumental in getting legislation passed legalizing casino gambling, Both would later be charged with corruption.

The State Police conducted background checks on appointees to the newly created Gaming Control Board. Rendell's Chief of Staff John Esty and Revenue Secretary Greg Fajt told the State Police that Rendell wanted speedy background checks on his appointees to the Gaming Control Board to get the casinos operating quickly.

Rendell named Frank Friel Gaming Board Chairman. Friel allegedly had friendships with people with alleged mob ties. The State Police investigation of Friel caused Rendell to ask Friel to step aside. The press obtained the confidential State Police report on Friel. This upset Rendell who privately blamed the State Police for leaking the report.

Secretary Fajt switched having background checks conducted by the State Police and instead had them conducted by the Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement (BIE), a division of the Gaming Control Board. The State Police would conduct low level background checks and overall casino security. The BIE did not have access to information which the State Police did.

Louie DeNaples, an associate of Buffalino's, waned a casino. DeNaples had previously been charged with defrauding the government. DeNaples was charged with submitting $525,000 in false reimbursements for Federal government clean-up funds following a hurricane. In his first trial, one lone juror created a hung jury. The juror was later convicted of receiving $1,000, four tires, and a watch for the ruse. DeNaples then pled guilty in a plea bargain where he was fined $10,000 and received no jail time.

This 1978 conviction of DeNaples would have prevented him from obtaining a casino license in Nevada and New Jersey. Pennsylvania created a law preventing people convicted of felonies over the past 15 years from obtaining casino licenses. DeNaples was not legally barred from seeking a Pennsylvania casino license. DeNaples received a slots casino license by a unanimous Gaming Control Board vote in 2006.

A grand jury report noted that some Gaming Control Board members had favorite awardees for different casino applications They got together with other Board members and agreed to vote foreach other's favorite applicants. State legislative leaders had influence in these selections. No criminal charges resulted from this grand jury.

Periandi believes a State Police background check would have blocked DeNaples from getting a casino license. Periandi theorized the creation of the BIE was to allow DeNaples to circumvent the process.

DeNaples contributed over $100,000 to Rendell's political campaign. Tad Dexter, the Board Chairman, had worked with the Cozon O'Coner law firm whose clients included DeNaples. Dexter returned to this firm after stepping down as Chairman. William Conaboy, who had also been an attorney for DeNaples, was appointed to the Gaming Control Board. One of DeNaples's consultants was Kevin Feeley, who was Deputy Mayor to Rendell when Rendell was Philadelphia Mayor. U.S. Attorney Thomas Marino, whose jurisdiction included northeast Pennsylvania, was a personal reference for DeNaples's application. Marino shortly afterwards became a $250,000 a year attorney for DeNaples's casino. Marino was later elected to the U.S. Congress.

William D'Elia took over for Buffalino when Buffalino died. The FBI arrested D'Elia. D'Elia agreed to cooperate with authorities.

Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico began a grand jury investigation into the Gaming Control Board. He subpoenaed D'Elia. D'Elia told of organized crime acivity with DeNaples including fixing his 1977 trial. Shamsud Din-Ali testified about his landfill dealings with DeNaples.

DeNaples, in seeking a casino license, denied knowing Shamsud-Din Ali, who was convicted of racketeering and defrauding Philadelphia government. It was later disclosed the FBI had taped Ali arranged for DeNaples to accept hazardous waste at a landfill DeNaples operated.

The Pennsylvania Casino Association, which was funded by DeNaples, hired former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Stephen Zappala as a lobbyist for $500,000.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in its first time ever in a criminal case, used its "King's Bench" powers to stop the prosecution of DeNaples by Marsico

Marsico decided to go after DeNaples for perjury. DeNaples and Marsico came to an agreement that perjury charges would be dropped if DeNaples yielded ownership of his casino. DeNaples then transferred ownership to his daughter.

Paul Rossi testified that the state Supreme Court negotiated rulings on cases with state legislators. One of these was getting the Court to oppose a lawsuit against pay raises for legislators, judges, and Justices. A Supreme Court Justice even reassured Gaming Control Board staff that the Court would side with them in their casino licensing decision

DeNaples was not clear of trouble. D'Elia alerted Federal authorities to a scam where teenagers were being improperly sent to a private juvenile detention center that was profiting from these detentions. Bank regulators implicated the First National Bank in scams. DeNaples had a major interest in the bank.

DeNaples registered trucks, that were damaged being under flood waters, as non-damaged vehicles with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. These vehicles were sold at regular, non-damaged vehicle prices. This was discovered when some vehicles malfunctioned.

A waste of time and money!I was thoroughly disappointed in this book. The title is misleading. Most of the book focuses on corruption and what not, and very little on the Quiet Don himself.

If you do want to read up something much MORE sinister and threatening, then I suggest John Perkin's "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" or anything on the evil Federal Reserve. Believe it or not they, the Federal Reserve, has destroyed/hyper-inflated the US dollar!!!

La Cosa Nostra which roughly means "This thing of ours" in Sicilian, was created in a small city about an hour and a half north of Philly and an hour and half south east of NYC in Pittston, Pennsylvania. This is where I live. I've lived in a few large cities throughout my life so far. And I've yet to find a place with a bank and church on every block. Pittston is my home and where I grew up. Russell was the guy who created "The Commission" and the idea of the "Five Families". He lived modestly but was one of the most powerful men in the world (if not the most powerful). Some people say JFK was killed from a phone booth in Pittston and the same goes for Hoffa. His influence literally had no boundaries. Yet no one knows who he is. He died peacefully of natural causes at his home with his wife and family. This man created the "Casino business". Literally. First in Cuba, and then when his relationship with the government fell through they created Las Vegas. This is a MUST READ book for anyone who enjoys a REAL TRUE CRIME piece of work. Of course a lot of the goods are omitted. But still a fabulous read.

This book was just OK. It does not reveal anything new if you are from the Northeast and follow politics there, or know anything about how gambling was legalized in Pennsylvania. These subjects are what the book focused on instead of what the title leads the reader to believe.

The book focused way too much on gambling permit, court cases, trashing Ed Rendell, being racist towards Italians and Italian Americans, etc. than it did as any sort of biography or history book. The author also claims things as facts, but offers no concrete proof or sources to back up his claims. The author also repeated way too many things that the reader had read about before in previous chapters.

I understand why the journalist author put in all of the reports, testimonies, interviews, etc. verbatim however he could have just included a summary or excerpt from them and put them in a bibliography instead. I found the book to be entertaining in some parts but boring throughout most of it.

The first few chapters were boring, and they had very racist undertones or opinions by the author that claimed that if you are Southern Italian or Sicilian that this means you're involved in organized crime, that you know someone who is, or that family members of yours are. As an investigative journalist Birkbeck is not that good of a journalist, researcher, or author. I think the author wants to make people angry, or likes to live dangerously.

The author seems to think it was perfectly acceptable how they wanted to deport a certain American citizen. Yes I know he was not a saint but he did emigrate and did become a naturalized American citizen like hundreds of thousands of people have and do.

The main court case that Birkbeck spends way too much time and energy on fell apart because the supposed LOL "black ops" PA state troopers could not keep their mouths shut to him.

The last part of the book that was pretty much all only about court cases, gambling permits, etc. was very boring too.

At least I did not pay for this book as my local library had it.

Having been born and raised in Scranton, PA. I was familiar with the names of some of the people in the book; Russell Bufalino, Louis DeNaples, Dan Flood and several others. The book was a real page turner for me. Learning about the Mafia and what it was all about was mind blowing. I had no idea the Russell Bufalino was as powerful as he was but then very few were aware. I knew Louis DeNaples was tied to the mafia but I didn't know the extent of his involvement. I recommend this factual book to those who are looking for a great read. Cuba was a haven for the mob back before 1959, Jimmy Hoffa is covered and the death of J. F. Kennedy. You will not be disappointed in this book, I highly recommend it.

Intriguing story about who May have been the real role model for Marlon Brando's Goodfather role.

I'll never look at Ed Rendell on MSNBC again in the same light.
Was his administration entangled in the mob?
We're those three long guns carried about, the one that shot JFK?
Should Castro have been thanked for kicking out the mob?

And last--but most importantly, why was the author Matt Birkbeck uninvited by a Lackawanna Library in the summer of 2014? Was someone from a mob pressuring politicians in Scranton? I hear this book "flies" off the shelf there. Anyone who lives there should devour it.

THAT was what I wrote a few days ago. Now I've learned more. Letters to the Editor of the Scranton newspaper questioning WHY the Lakawanna County Library UNinvited the author of this book (see his link about this at [...]

SOMEONE will win a Pulitzer investigating this. And yes, the truth will out.

great book tells it as it is, Outs the corrupt then governor of Pa and the trash that looked the other way when they brought in organized gambling in PA. Identifies the true heros in the PA state police as they tried to overcome the corruption of the Gaming Commission and those who promoted get gambling at any cost in PA.

I was hopeful when I picked up this book but the writing style was clunky and dull. The author skipped around in the text in a manner that, while it wasn't hard to follow, was annoying. I was looking forward to reading about Bufalino but the book focused more on graft and corruption in the state of Pennsylvania.

One gets the feeling that the author cobbled together various notes and articles he may have written into a whole that wasn't cohesive at all.

A very interesting book for anyone who lives in or is from northeastern PA. I grew up near the Poconos and it was fascinating to read about the push for casino gambling there. An another reviewer noted much of the book dealt with PA corruption in which Buf was not a primary figure, but since little has ever been written about him i was anxious to learn more.

The author has compiled quite a book by naming names and events that most people including myself never knew or heard of. Some are current others in the past. I have to wonder if he could have found any more people to upset than he did by telling this story? From Catholic priest to the Mafia to an X governor, judges, police and on and on!

Read some of this book on line and just ordered the paperback copy. What I read was really interesting because I met and worked with some of the law enforcement personnel during the forced introduction of gambling interests into PA. Author's sources in this area are really insightful. Just downloaded the 5/19/11 grand jury investigation I figure reading that while awaiting the paperback will certainly give me more insight into the players who may have been looking the other way when streamlining the shady into licenses.

I have lived in NEPA my entire long life. This book has many errors which takes away from any credibility, in my opinion. For example: The judges in the kids for cash scandal are from Luzerne County, not Lackawanna County. Our local airport is Avoca (AVP), not Evoca. These two things alone are so easily verifiable via the net, that an amateur could have done better. Please check your facts better. What started out to be a decent read was cheapened by your shoddy fact checking.

This book is not a saver for my tastes. I don't feel I really learned a lot about Russell Bufalino. I also found the chapters skip from one subject to another and then back to a previous subject. I did find it interesting that Frank Sheeran's version on his involvement in the murder of Joey Gallo and Jimmy Hoffa coincide with Sheeran's version in "I Heard You Paint Houses." However, I won't add this book to my library on true crime.

Great book, I've never heard of this Russell Bufalino until this book this man was a very,very powerful man in the mob with great respect. I come to find out some relatives live in that area and told me all the stories are true in the book. It was a great read and I still go back and read parts of it.