During the height of their power, the mafia had up to 25 families operating in the United States. While some like the Five Families continue to exist, some have gone completely defunct. Here are the most prominent families that once existed but no longer do.
Bufalino Crime Family
They are known as the Bufalino Family, and sometimes were called the Northeastern Pennsylvania Mafia. They operated in the cities of Pittston, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. They were one of the oldest mafia families in America, dating back to the early 1900s. They took the name of their long time leader Russel Bufalino.
The early leadership of the family was tightly connected to the Morello Family in New York. Family boss Tomasso “The Ox” Petto was an experienced hitman in New York before moving to Wilkes-Barre was killed in 1905. The very young Steven La Torre took over next but stepped down in 1908. Santo Volpo would then lead the family for the next 25 years.
The most notable boss they had was Joseph “Joe the Barber” Barbara who led the family from 1949 until his death in 1959. Joe the Barber had an estate in Apalachin, New York. It was there that the famous Apalachin Meeting took place in 1957. 100 of the top mobsters from around the country attended, and many of them were arrested.
Bufalino then led the family for almost three decades. He kept strong alliances with the New York families, especially the Genovese Family. The mafia commission legitimized him by recognizing him as a boss. Bufalino was so influential that he reportedly was behind Al Martino getting the part of “Johnny Fontane” in The Godfather.
The last boss of the family was William “Big Billy” D’Elia. He led them from the early 1990s through 2008. That year, he testified in court against a casino owner, putting an end to his mafia days. This also was the end of the road for the Bufalino Family. The remnants of the family dissolved and by this time, most of the hardcore old timers were retired or dead.
Dallas Crime Family
The roots of the Dallas Crime Family can be traced all the way back to 1921. They existed until the late 1980s. Sicilian born Carlo Piranio was the first boss of the family, with his brother Joseph Piranio serving as his underboss. Carlo passed away of natural causes in 1930 and Joseph became the new boss.
The Dallas family was well connected to both the Five Families in New York and the Outfit in Chicago. Their rackets were pretty diversified. They made money loan sharking, drug trafficking, union racketeering and bookmaking. In the early days, running prostitution rings was a big money maker for them.
When Joe Civello took over the family in the 1950s from Joe Piranio, they were at the peak of their powers. After the Albert Anastasia hit in 1957, Civello was among the bosses around the country who was in attendance for the Apalachin Summit. He was arrested and given 5 years for conspiracy, but the conviction was overturned.
That incident exposed the Dallas family and they didn’t have the deep ranks that the New York and Chicago families had. They were under a microscope now and their influence began to wane. Joe Civello died in 1970 and that was essentially the end. There were a few old timers left but were no longer operating as a criminal organization.
Smaldone Crime Family
The Colorado Crime Family had a very long existence, ranging from 1920ish until 2006. It was because of prohibition that they came to prominence during the 1920s. They had control over the Denver and Pueblo, Colorado areas but had to win various shootouts with rival outside gangs during that time.
The family was a much smaller outfit than most others around the country but they maintained power in their state for almost a century. They became known as the Smaldone Family in the 1970s under boss Eugene “Checkers” Smaldone. Checkers was known as a very outwardly kind and soft spoken man but he was a suspect in several murders.
Eugene had an older brother Clyde “Flip Flop” Smaldone who was very influential in every aspect of the family operation. Many people close to the Smaldone Family believed that Checkers was more of a front man for Flip Flop, who actually called the shots behind the scenes.
Checkers Smaldone handed over the family to his youngest brother Clarence “Chauncey” Smaldone in 1992 shortly before his death. The family was very small by this time, only a couple dozen made members. 91 year old brother Clyde died in 1998. The Smaldones stayed relevant for the next 14 years until Clarence passed away.
Some have said that Checkers Smaldone’s grandson also named Eugene Smaldone may have taken over what remained of the Smaldone Family. But since Clarence died in 2006, there’s been very little if any evidence that they still exist in a relevant capacity, and certainly not as a functioning mafia family.
New Orleans Crime Family
New Orleans was the home of Carlos Marcello, one of the most powerful and mysterious mafia bosses in American history. Marcello has long been considered a prime suspect in the killing of president John F. Kennedy, along with Santo Trafficante and Sam Giancano. The New Orleans Family itself had roots dating back to the late 19th century.
The first real boss of the family was Joseph Macheca. On March 14, 1891, Macheca and ten other men were lynched after not being found guilty of the killing of a popular local police chief. An angry mob had formed outside of the jail and rushed in to pull out all the suspects. The incident was the largest scale lynching in American history.
One of the men who narrowly escaped being lynched was Charles Matranga. He left New Orleans for a while but would return and take over the family until 1922. Matranga retired and made Silvestro “Silver Dollar Sam” Carollo the new boss. They became a much more modernized and higher functioning family under Carollo’s leadership.
Carollo was deported to Italy in 1947. He rekindled a partnership with Lucky Luciano there, while Marcello took over in New Orleans. Marcello made tons of money through gambling. He even had his own share of the Las Vegas casino skimming. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy had Marcello deported in 1961, but he snuck back in the U.S. two months later.
Marcello was one of the most influential bosses in the mafia. He had the motive to kill Kennedy and Marcello also knew both Jack Ruby and Lee Harvey Oswald. The theory is that Jimmy Hoffa was also involved in the plot and requested that Marcello have Kennedy killed. FBI recordings of Marcello in an unrelated case have Marcello admitting to the Kennedy killing.
The legendary mob boss went to prison and began to have serious health issues. He passed away in March 1993 taking most of the Kennedy secrets to his grave. His family would hit a steep decline without their longtime leader. Silver Dollar Sam’s son Anthony Carollo took over the remnants of the family. He died in 2007 and by all accounts, so did the New Orleans Family.
Rochester Crime Family
At the Apalachin Meeting in 1957, Rochester Family boss Stanley Valenti was in attendance with his brother Frank. He was one of the bosses who was detained and charged in the incident. He took a 16 month prison sentence after refusing to answer any questions. Frank also went to prison for a couple years at this same time.
A man named Jake Russo stepped into the power vacuum against the wishes of the Valenti brothers. Russo was able to pull off the hostile takeover and keep the post for 6 years. Then in 1964, Frank came back to Rochester. He had support from the Pittsburgh Family in taking back the Rochester Family. Jake Russo disappeared that year and was never seen again.
In 1972, Frank Valenti would be chased out of town after his underboss Samuel “Red” Russotti accused him of stealing from the rest of the family. After his bodyguard was murdered, Valenti agreed to leave Rochester and never come back. Red Russotti then became the new boss of the Rochester Family.
In a twist of mafia irony, Red would be betrayed by his acting boss Tomas Didio in 1977. After accepting the position, Didio demoted all of Red’s men and promoted all Frank Valenti’s underlings instead. Didio was killed the next year after a series of shootings between the two groups.
In 1988, the FBI came through with RICO charges against acting boss Angelo Amico and underboss Loren Piccarreto. This wiped out the hierarchy of the family as both men went to prison for long stretches. This was in effect, the end of the Rochester Family with Frank Valenti long retired.
Lanza Crime Family
The San Francisco Crime Family was created in the days of prohibition. They filled the empty vacuum that was left when rival bootlegging gangs killed each other off from 1928-1932. The boss was Francesco “Frank” who had a smaller stable of mobsters underneath him than the bigger New York families but they gained control of the Bay area and kept it for decades. He kept control over the family for over 45 years.
After prohibition ended. The family expanded their drug dealing, loansharking, prostition and extortion rackets. A couple bosses would come and go before Frank’s son James “Jimmy the Hat” Lanza took over the family in 1961.
Some notable events happened during Jimmy the Hat’s time. He put out a contract on future mafia rat Jimmy “The Weasel” Fratianno. Also in 1974, he gave the ok for the New England mafia to come to San Francisco and kill former Boston hitman and mob rat Joe “The Animal '' Barboza. .
Jimmy the Hat Lanza lived to be 103 years old. After his death in 2006 he family dissolved into history. It’s not believed that he ever named anyone to take his place or even appointed an acting boss. The Lanza Family died with him.