Los Santos crime family

Los Santos crime family
Organizational information
Founder{s)	Vittorio DeCosta
Type	La Cosa Nostra family
Locations	Marina Bella Parco Downtown Willowfield
Rackets	Fraud Extortion Loan sharking Illegal gambling Drug trafficking Money Laundering Legiti. businesses
Chronological and political information
Founding	circa 1920s
Enemies	Various L.S. Gangs.

[Source]

The Los Santos crime family is an Italian American criminal organization based in Los Santos as part of the American Mafia. It has since spread throughout San Andreas. Like most Mafia families in the United States, the Los Santos family gained power bootlegging during the Prohibition Era. The LS family reached its peak in the 1940s and early 1950s under Jack Filippelli, who was on the Template:Gta although the Ls family was never bigger than the Template:Gta of Template:Gta families. Since his death the crime family has been on a gradual decline, with the Gambino crime family representing them on The Commission.

In the late 1970s Francis "Frankie Cheeks" Civella become the second member in American Mafia history to testify against the Mafia. In 1981 a biography of Civella was published, The Last Wiseguy by Percival Rubaker, which is the source for a lot of information on the history of the family. In the 1980s, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO Act), became a highly effective law in convicting mobsters and shrinking the American Mafia. Like all families in the United States, the L.S. Mafia only holds a fraction of its former power.

The current boss of the family is ...... The current family is small compared to the families on the East Coast and is involved in fraud, extortion, loan sharking, illegal gambling, drug trafficking, and legitimate businesses. Although not having to share power with other Mafia families like Liberty City's Template:Gta, never having a strong Italian-American population in the region leaves the family to contend with the many street gangs in the "Gang Capital of America." The Los Santos crime family is the last Cosa Nostra family left in the state of San Andreas

Origins

The early years of organized crime in San Andreas were marked by the division of various Italian street gangs as well as the Black Hand organizations in the early 20th century, mostly inhabiting Villa Italia & Bella Parco areas. The most prominent of these was the Vellutino family . Their legitimate business was in fruit vending. Otherwise they used threats, violence and extortion to control the Via Italia area, which was the heart of the Italian American community of Los Santos at the time. Its first leader was Giovanni "John" Vellutino who started leading the family in 1909. John's brothers Lorenzo "Larry" Vellutino, Rocco Vellutino, and Antonio "Tony" Vellutino were other members of the gang.

Vincent Esposito was a well respected criminal amongst the underworld, who served as a translator in court for Italians who didn't speak English. This made him a well liked man in the Italian community. When Claudio Addeo was involved in a dispute with George Maglione, a member of the Vellutino gang, they both went to Esposito to mediate the dispute. Esposito was a relative of Addeo and ruled in his favor, causing the Vellutinos to threaten harm on Esposito. In response, Addeo shot and killed Maglione on July 2, 1906.[10] Addeo then fled the state and was a wanted fugitive.

With Addeo gone, the Vellutinos fulfilled their promise of revenge. On September 25, 1906 Esposito was shot and killed, allegedly by Tony Vellutino. With both Addeo and Esposito gone, the Vellutinos were the dominant force in Los Angeles. However, their power was limited to within the Via Italia community. To change this they cooperated with the police. Giving up information on their enemies and receiving immunity for most of their crimes, the Vellutinos were able to expand their power and influence. Sam Vellutino, and his successor Rocco Vellutino, were both murdered within 33 days of each other in 1917. While their next leader, cousin Peter Baraldi was able to get revenge and kill their murderer Gabriel Rizzo in 1919, many years of violence ruined the Vellutino gang. With the rise of bootleggers in the 1920s, their power declined and was eliminated with Baraldi’s disappearance in 1930.

Vittorio DeCosta, a Black Hand extortionist and grocery store owner, moved to San Andreas from Template:Gta in 1920. He was possibly the first boss of what would become the Los Santos crime family. DeCosta was known as an intimidating and forceful man who was in conflict with several local underworld factions. He survived two attempts on his life before he was murdered in Chicago in 1922. His close associate Raimondo "Skinny Ray" Scaduto was another longtime power figure who took control of rackets quietly in Red County. Scaduto officially stepped down from the top position in the 1920s, but was still the real power within his organization.

Alfred Marconi seized control of Los Santos in the 1920s not by working with the local Mafia, but with the "Commerce Gang", a political machine in Los Angeles run by Kenneth Doyle and Kevin H. Jackson. This transformed Marconi into the Vice Lord of Los Santos, earning $500,000 from bordello prostitution alone. With Jackson and Doyle controlling city hall and the local press, Marconi was able to operate under his bootlegging business and other illegal activities in the shadows with little law enforcement scrutiny. Marconi’s demise came in 1928 when he was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon. Combined with the demise of the Commerce Gang after a reform movement swept LS in the late 1920s, a host of mobsters emerged to operate the liquor operations that Marconi previously dominated. In 1928 Augustus Uricchio was the seventh of alleged bootleggers killed in a six week period.Uricchio was Marconi’s lieutenant and was killed for refusing to come under Raimondo Scaduto's control. Scaduto’s lieutenant Eusebio "Eddie" Porello was acquitted of the murder and took control of Uricchio’s liquor operations. When he tried to challenge Scaduto’s power by moving into syndicated gambling rackets, he was murdered in 1931.

History

Claudio "the Emperor" Addeo returned to San Andreas in 1914 and was acquitted of murdering Maglione in 1915 due to lack of evidence and no witnesses willing to testify. He quickly returned to power and took control of rackets in Los Santos. Addeo teamed up with Jack Filippelli and they worked closely together for over 10 years. During prohibition the two were successful in running bootlegging operations in San Andreas as well as gambling and extortion. By the late 1920s he was rapidly expanding his power and influence. Under Addeo's tenure the Mafia consolidated and took control of organized crime in Los Santos. With the deaths of Baraldi and Porello in 1930 and 1931, respectively, Addeo was the undisputed leader of crime in the city.

Jack Filippelli era

Jack Filippelli took control of the family after Addeo's death in 1952. In addition, his brother Dominic Filippelli was made his consigliere while his nephew Ricardo Filippelli became a made man in 1961. Filippelli was the most successful boss the LS family ever had. Although he wasn't able to infiltrate many of the labor unions in the entertainment industry, he involved the Los Santos family in Vinewood business and brought the L.S. Mafia onto the national stage. He was honored with a place on The Commission, the only boss west of Chicago to hold a spot on the council. When prohibition ended in 1933, Jack Filippelli operated a massive loan shark and illegal gambling business. Along with close supporter Michael Romano, Filippelli's Mafia family ended local gang wars by driving older gambling syndicate headed by Kevin Hanson and Jeffery "Farmhand" Halliwell out of business The pair worked with Joe Weeks (the brother of Mayor Frank Weeks) to muscle out LS bookies, many of whom fled to Las Venturas.

Giacomo "Jackie" Filippelli got his start bootlegging in the '20s in Los Santos. As a youth Jackie and his gang of hoodlum friends high-jacked clandestine trucks that were on their way to seedy politicians the wealthy Vinewood elite. He steadily expanded this operation

For independent bookmakers, Filippelli would use extortion to collect money from their operations. While most mobsters simply threatened harm on a business for not paying tribute to their organization (protection racket), Filippelli’s family came up with a more sophisticated course of action. Filippelli would send in men to threaten businesses, then the owners would pay Filippelli for protection (unaware that these were Filippelli's own men).Filippelli wasn't however, able to control 100% of independent gambling rackets. Along with Filippelli avoiding the spotlight and public life, he often was given the reputation as a weak ruler. According to Harvey Friedman, Filippelli was very powerful and very well respected, but did not put things together the way the East Coast bosses preferred. Armed with top hitman Jesse "Nazzy" Nazzaro and Francis "Frankie Cheeks" Civella (who committed over 30 murders on the orders of their superiors), Filippelli muscled his way into controlling territory stretching throughout San Andreas . The Filippelli family also had connections within the Red County Sheriff's Department, who were more corrupt than the city police (LSPD). Although not having a big hand in labor union rackets, the Filippelli crime family did infiltrate some unions in the laundromat and dress importing business.

Unlike other crime families, for the Filipelli organization, there was never a big pool of Italians to recruit on the West Coast like back East. They worked around this, by accepting members and associates from around teh country, something that is still done today. This had caused the Los Santos family to be viewed as a neutral force amongst other La Cosa Nostra outfits, a prime place to start over. Filipelli's close relationship with the other crime families, especially the Five Families, made him somewhat of an enigma, as he is viewed as the most successful boss in the history of the Los Santos Italian Mafia leader. His reign continued into the early 90's when he died in his sleep, his heart failing him.

Reign of Lepore

After Filippelli's death, circa 1991, Vincent Lepore would become the new boss of the much weakened family. Lepore unlike many of his contemporaries, was more business oriented than mobsters his own age. He prefered diplomacy over violence, using this means to an end only as a last resort. Lepore sought to expand outwards to the nearby cities of San Fierro and Las Venturas. Up until that time the previous boss, Jack Filipelli sought to consolidate power in Los Santos before venturing into unknown waters. With the approval of The Commission, predominantly the Five Families whom had interests in Las Venturas,

Lepore's decision to expand to the other cities, expecially Las Venturas resulted in the crime families credibility and profit marigins to increase dramatically. Another defining point of Lepore's rule is that he adhered to the traditions of the La Cosa Nostra so effectively that under his fuedal empire, his men were complacent and productive. Due to Lepore's administration and standards, the FBI wasn't able to pin any RICO defining defenses on the organization for a very long time.

In 1996 captain, Sam Ricciotti, was murdered in the streets of Los Santos, which to this day remains unsolved. After Ricciotti's untimely death, the Ricciotti crew was taken over by Ricciotti's most trusted solider Francis "Franky Cigars" Lombardi. Other than this incident, Lepore's leadership was regarded as one of the most "peaceful times" for the family who at that point only had a membership of 20-30 members. This continued until the early 2000's when Lepore was ousted by the interests of other crime families.

Period of Falconian Rule

In the late 90's several well-connected "made men" under Lepore began to grow weary of Vincent "The Docile Don" Lepore's lack of aggressive leadership. Several soldiers with connections back East, especially ones with ties to the Gambino crime family, secretly plotted to overthrow Lepore. Santino Falcone, a long-standing captain within a faction of the Gambinos, was naturally thought of the best replacement for Lepore.

In 2000, Falcone was sent to be an emissary between the crime familes, under the guise of looking after the Gambino's interests in Las Venturas. Over time, Santino Falcone, became somewhat of an enigma, and was generally well received by the West Coast family. His crew would operate on a small-level around San Andreas for little over a year, paying a small percentage to Lepore for use of his territory, while the rest went back home.

In 2002, after years of gaining favour and influence, Santino and his East coast crew enacted a "coup" against Lepore, clandestinely having him murdered in his home. With the approval of the Commission, Santino was "installed" as the new boss of the Filippelli crime family, his crew melding with the ranks of Lepore's underlings. Now the Gambinos directly had a stake with in Los Santos and San Andreas as a whole, which is still reflected to this day. As the family still pays a percentage of their earnings to the Gambinos, along with being represented by them on the Commision.

Falcones leadership, a breath of fresh air for the declining family, as he renewed a bit of the power and affluence that had been lost in the last years of Lepore's rule. Soon however, with age, Falcone became somewhat of a calm, calculating boss, as Lepore was. Nicknamed, "The Saint", Falcone was better received then Lepore. While avoiding the spotlight, Falcone lead the family into stability if not financial gain. He lead the family (although through proxies and acting bosses) for some time until his death in early 2010.

Historical Administration

Bosses

• 1920-1922: Vittorio DeCosta - Black Hand extortionist who consolidated power becoming possibly the 1st boss of family
• 1922-1927: Raimond Scaduto - Vitto's most trusted subordinate
• 1927-1952: Claudio Addeo - Known as "the Emperor", Claudio ruled with an iron first in the Golden Age of teh LS Mob.
• 1952-1991: Giacomo Fillipelli - Inheriting the role of boss on it's decline, Fillipelli nonetheless achieved notoriety.
  • 1964-1975: Joseph Mancini - Giacomo's Right-Hand, he served as acting boss with Jackie was imprisoned.
• 1991-2002: Vincent Lepore - Scaduto's great nephew. Vincent was elected boss, by senior made men, over Mancini when Filippelli died.
• 2002-2010: Santino Falcone - Santino clawed his way to the top with Gambetti support, achiving a modest career as LCN boss

Underbosses

• 1952-1964: Joseph Mancini -
• 1964-1975: Anthony Pacitti
• 1975-1991: Francis Valeriani
• 1988-1991: Vincent Lepore -
• 1991-2010: Joseph Landolfo

Consiglieres

• 1952-1963: Dominic Filippelli - Jackie's brother
• 1963-1965: Unknown or Vacant
• 1965-1999: James Esposito - Grandson of Vincent Esposito
• 1999-2002: Richard Romano
• 2002-2010: Nicholas Rivetti

Deceased Soldiers & Informants

Government informants

• Francis "Frankie Cheeks" Civella, Soldier
• Richard "Richie" Santamolta, Soldier
• Ronald "Ron the Builder" Vercaglia, Soldier
• Johnathan "John John" Vanliere