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Salvatore D'Aquila
Salvatore D'Aquila
Born	November 7, 1873; Palermo, Sicily, Italy
Died	October 10, 1928 (aged 54); Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Cause of death	Gunshot
Resting place	St. John Cemetery, Queens, New York, U.S.
Nationality	Italian
Other names	"Toto"
Occupation(s)	Crime boss, mobster
Predecessor	Ignazio Lupo
Successor	Manfredi Mineo
Allegiance	D'Aquila crime family

Salvatore "Toto" D'Aquila (Italian pronunciation: [salvaˈtoːre ˈdaːkwila]; November 7, 1873 – October 10, 1928) was an early Italian-American Mafia boss in New York City of the D'Aquila crime family, what would later become known as the Gambino crime family.^[1]^[2]

Early life and career

Salvatore D'Aquila was born on November 7, 1873, in Palermo, Sicily, to Salvatore D'Aquila and his wife Provvidenza Gagliardo.^[3] D'Aquila emigrated to the United States in 1906^[4] and became an early captain within the Morello crime family in East Harlem.^[4] D'Aquila was arrested in 1906 and in 1909; both times the charges were dropped.^[5] In 1910, boss of bosses Giuseppe "the Clutch Hand" Morello was imprisoned and Salvatore D'Aquila separated from the Morello family.^[6] D'Aquila formed his own crime family and was appointed the new capo dei capi.^[6] His crime family operated from East Harlem and the Bronx, where he rivaled the Morellos'.^[6]

D'Aquila expanded his crime family's power into Brooklyn and southern Manhattan's Lower East Side/Little Italy neighborhoods.^[5] The most prominent members of the D'Aquila family were Umberto Valenti, Manfredi Mineo, Giuseppe Traina, and Frank Scalise.^[4] In 1920, after Giuseppe Morello was released from prison, D'Aquila tried to have him and his closest allies murdered.^[5]^[6] In 1925, D'Aquila moved back into the Bronx.^[5]

Death

On October 10, 1928, D'Aquila was shot dead on Avenue A in Manhattan, aged 54. After his murder, D'Aquila's family was taken over by Manfredi Mineo.^[7]^[8]

References

Citations

^ Capeci, Jerry (2004). The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. New York: Penguin. ISBN 9781440625824.
^ H. Thomas Milhorn (December 2004). Crime: Computer Viruses to Twin Towers. Universal-Publishers. p. 218. ISBN 9781581124897.
^ Warner, Santino & Van't Reit 2014, pp. 39–40.
^ ^a ^b ^c Critchley 2009, pp. 156–157.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d D'Aquila, Salvatore "Toto" (1873–1928) The American "Mafia"
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Mike Dash (2009). The First Family: Terror, Extortion and the Birth of the American Mafia. London: Simon & Schuster. p. 265. ISBN 9781588368638.
^ Ferrara, E.; Nash, A. (2011). Manhattan Mafia Guide: Hits, Homes & Headquarters. Arcadia Publishing Incorporated. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-61423-351-0. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
^ Varese, F. (2013). Mafias on the Move: How Organized Crime Conquers New Territories. Princeton University Press. pp. 118 ff. ISBN 978-0-691-15801-3. Retrieved 17 September 2018.

Sources

Critchley, David (2009). The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891–1931. New York: Routledge. ISBN 9781135854935.
Hunt, Thomas (2016). Wrongly Executed? - The Long-forgotten Context of Charles Sberna's 1939 Electrocution. Whiting, Vermont: Seven Seven Eight. ISBN 978-1-365-52872-9.
Hunt, Thomas; Critchley, David; Van't Reit, Lennert; Turner, Steve (October 2020). "Nicola Gentile: Chronicler of Mafia History". Informer: The History of American Crime and Law Enforcement: 5–41.
Warner, Richard; Santino, Angelo; Van't Reit, Lennert (May 2014). "Early New York Mafia: An Alternative Theory". Informer: The History of American Crime and Law Enforcement. Retrieved 28 May 2016.

External links

D'Aquila biography on The American Mafia website
La Cosa Nostra Database "Salvatore D'Aquila"
Salvatore D'Aquila at Find a Grave
Struggle for Control – The Gangs of New York, article by Jon Black at GangRule.com
1928 D'Aquila photos

American Mafia
New title Crime family established by D'Aquila	Gambino crime family Boss 1910–1928	Succeeded by Manfredi Mineo
Preceded by Sebastiano DiGaetano	Capo dei capi Boss of bosses 1912–1928	Succeeded by Joe Masseria