The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 20

Tuesday, December 20, 1977 Akron Beacon Journal B3 i dsud MO Agents say crime chief slain in mob war cer By JOHN DUNPHY and DOUGLAS BALZ Beacon Journal Staff Writers Federal officials investigating the violent crime war in Cleveland now say that Leo Moceri, the reputed lowed the arrests of eight men on murder charges in the Oct. 6 slaying of rival gang leader Daniel J. "Danny" Greene. The eight included Moceri's cousin, 73-year-old James Licavoli, whom the FBI says is the head of organized crime in Cleveland. Federal officials are calling the arrests "the most significant case we've developed against an organized crime family in history." Twinsburg firm's state-backed loan default is probed COLUMBUS A Twinsburg sand quarrying company has become the focus of another investigation into questionable loans made by the Ohio Development Financing Commission.

The company, Silica defaulted on about $1 million in loans, went bankrupt, and was recently purchased by an officer and a director of the company for $160,000. Last week, Ohio Development Director James Duerk recommended all loans by the commission be suspended, pending a review. His recommendation was prompted by a questionable $1.7 million loan to a Dayton plastics firm, Crown Hill Industries Inc. State Auditor Thomas E. Ferguson criticizing Duerk's action as "specious" because Duerk was aware of the audit of the commission and that that report would soon be released.

SILICA INC. received an $800,000 loan from the Union Commerce Bank in March 1972, after receiving a 90 percent guarantee of that loan from the Ohio Development Financing Commission. Collateral for that loan included 150 acres, used for quarrying, the company's equipment and its accounts receivable. The nine accused in deaths Alfred Calabrese Calabrese, 34, also known as "Allie," last lived at 107 Evangeline Cleveland. His arrest record shows four convictions three for breaking and entering and one for armed bank robbery.

He was the target of a bomb in September of 1976, but, the bomb, placed on his car while parked in a neighbor's driveway, killed the neighbor when he tried to move the car. Raymond Ferritto Born in Erie, Ferritto, 48, is the man who says Licavoli gave him a contract to kill teamster boss John Nardi and Greene. Ferritto now lives at 3316 Greengarden Blvd. in Erie. Ferritto told the FBI he is not a member of La Cosa Nostra and has agreed to tell what he knows about the Greene bombing and about other organized crime activities in exchange for a reduced plea.

Ferritto told the FBI he drove the car from which the bombing of Greene was accomplished. in FJ Centro. Moceri's arrest in 1952 for questioning in the murder of "Bugsy" Siegel later resulted in the questioning of Fratianno. Raymond Ferritto, the first man arrested in connection with the bombing of Daniel Greene, told the FBI he is a long-time friend of Fratianno, and that it was Fratianno who first told him that DelSanter had a "job" for, him. tial informants that Moceri has been murdered.

Although Moceri is still officially listed as missing, Griffin said he has no doubt that Moceri is dead. The disclosure about Moceri fol James T. Licavoli A 73-year-old Cleveland man, described as the head of an organized crime family in Cleveland, he is the cousin of the late Thomas "Yonnie" Licavoli, the one-time head of Detroit's notorious Purple Gang. Yonnie was sentenced to life in prison for murder in 1934, and was paroled by Gov. James Rhodes in 1972.

Licavoli is also known as "Jack White." He was called before the Kefauver Committee in 1951 and was cited for contempt for refusing to answer questions. Asked what his business was, Licavoli said: "I refuse to answer that. It tends to incriminate myself." He was later found not guilty of the contempt charge. John P. Calandra The 68-year-old head of Royal Machine and Tool Co.

in Cleveland. He is described as second in command to Licavoli. He was indicted in 1971 on a loanshark-ing charge. But the evidence was suppressed by a federal judge. James T.

Fratianno He was born Aladena T. Fra-tiano on Nov. 13, 1913, in Italy; he now lives at 400 California Moss Beach, Calif. Fratianno was arrested in San Fren-cisco. Fratianno is a former associate of the missing Leo Moceri of Akron.

A 1969 Look magazine article said Moceri went to California at Fratianno's invitation and roomed with him Pasqoale Cisternlno Also known as "Butchie," Cis-ternino, 38, lives at 924 London Cleveland and has been convicted three times for burglary. In the FBI affidavit, Ferritto told an agent that it was Cister-nino who assembled the bomb that killed Greene, and that Cis-ternino pushed the remote control switch that detonated the bomb ending Greene's life. Earlier, after the death of Nardi, Ferritto told the FBI, he asked Carabbia if Cisternino had bombed Nardi, and Carabbia supposedly said: "Naw, Butchie belonged to 'the gang that couldn't shoot head of organized crime in the Akron area who has been missing since August 1976, is dead. Cleveland FBI agent Joseph Griffin said federal authorities have received information from confiden- An investigation revealed that the 150 acres was actually only 39 acres and that the land was leased, not owned by the company. At the time of the loan, a Union Commerce director was a member of the Ohio Development Financing Commission.

The man, George R. Herzog, is now dead. The $800,000 loan was for new equipment, according to the loan application, but the money was reportedly used to pay off a $400,000 loan at Euclid National Bank. Another $100,000 paid off a loan to a principal stockholder of Silica, Inc. and $100,000 paid off a second Euclid National Bank loan.

In 1973, Silica Inc. received another Union Commerce loan for $200,000. In October of 1974, Silica Inc. filed for bankruptcy. Union Commerce later received $550,000 in a negotiated settlement.

The bank received another $75,000 from the company's equipment and its accounts receivable. Thomas Anderson, an assistant attorney general and the chief of the financial institutions section, said he had reviewed the Silica loans "several years ago." He said he will review the loans again. battle with the hospital over the release of an "incident report" prepared by the hospital. That report was released to Kyriakides, under a Summit County Common Pleas Court order, on Dec. 12.

In his ruling, Kyriakides said the cause of death was cardiorespiratory failure, due to a lack of oxygen, as a result of respiratory paralysis. THE CORONER also termed Francis' death a "therapeutic misadventure" and said, "This is something that happened in the course of the treatment of this individual that went wrong." He added that this does not, in any way, implicate the physicians who were treating Francis. Kyriakides said the "error" in the treatment of Francis was in not setting the alarm on the respirator after the patient's tubing had been cleaned. He said that when the tubes became disconnected, the alarm did not sound. Francis, the coroner said, had been given medication to paralyze his respiration, a procedure often followed when a patient is placed on a respirator.

He said the medication prevents the patient from fighting the respirator. Kyriakides said he did not make a ruling of homicide in Francis' death because there was no intent to kill him. He said there would be no criminal charges filed against anyone. Francis' widow Carol, of 733 Sumner filed suit in October against St. Thomas Hospital, charging negligence.

She is seeking an unspecified amount of financial damages against the hospital, plus $2,683 to cover funeral expenses. The suit is pending in Common Pleas Court. FEDERAL prosecutors say they are continuing to present evidence to a grand jury in Cleveland. One unconfirmed report is that Raymond Ferritto, the confessed killer of Greene, is giving the FBI information on other, unsolved mob killings across the country. The arrests of the eight men on Dec.

5 were one of the most spectacular in a series of events which have decimated the ranks of organ- ized crime leaders in Northeast Ohio during the last 18 months. Five of the top figures in Cleveland and Youngstown, including Moceri, are dead. Three other top leaders and five top associates are facing murder charges. If convict- ed, they could receive the death penalty. The upcoming trials on state and federal charges of murder and racketeering could provide the public with the most detailed look at the secret and fabled society, La Cosa Nostra, since Joe Valachi tes- tified before a U.

S. Senate subcommittee in 1963. The break in the case, which led to Ferritto's arrest and his agree- I ment to cooperate with officials, came when an eyewitness reported- ly gave Lyndhurst police the li- cense plate of the car Ferritto was driving on the day Greene was killed. The witness also reportedly identified photos of Ferritto. AFTER Ferritto surrendered to authorities, he agreed to cooperate I in the Greene and other cases.

His cooperation resulted in the eight arrests. His statements also led to a 27- page affidavit filed by the FBI detailing the alleged efforts by the eight to eliminate Greene and his associates. The affidavit is one of the most extensive documents ever filed by the FBI. Akron FBI agents were "flabbergasted" by the detail in the affidavit, but Griffin said the docu- ment does not represent a change in FBI policy. The FBI is normally very close-mouthed about its investigations, often releasing only the bare essentials needed to obtain an arrest warrant.

Griffin said this affidavit was detailed only because of the requirements of the federal statute under which the men were charged. For a racketeering charge, extensive patterns of criminal activity among a group of men must be shown, Griffin said. One official said the evidence against the eight men is so strong that information from two confiden- tial informants referred to in the affidavit will not be needed. THE ARREST of Licavoli and his associates reportedly has put feder- al authorities closer to solving the May 17 bombing death of Teamster boss John Nardi, 61, a man believed to be aligned with Greene in the struggle with Licavoli forces for control of rackets in Northeast Ohio. Griffin said the FBI has a few leads in that case.

The arrests also could provide clues to the mysterious disappear-; ance of Moceri, 69, who was last seen Aug. 22, 1976. Moceri's car, with the locks removed and a pool of blood in the trunk, was found about 10 days later. The blood matched Moceri's blood type. FBI agent Griffin said Moceri was among the first to be "eliminated" in the 18-month struggle for power in the Cleveland syndicate following the death of reputed leader John Scalish during heart surgery.

THE FBI SAYS Ferritto, a 48-year-old Erie, resident, told of a series of meetings and telephone calls which led to a dinner meeting in a Niles restaurant where Ferritto allegedly received a "contract" to kill Greene and Nardi. For killing Greene, Ferritto was to be made a member of the Detroit "family" and receive 25 percent of the rackets money in the Cleveland-Youngstown-Warren area. Ferritto has confessed only to the Greene killing. He told the FBI someone else killed Nardi before he could get to him. Griffin said the material contained in the affidavit is only part See AGENTS, page B-4 Death at St.

Thomas is ruled accidental Ronald Carabbia Carabbia, 48, is the operator of Crown Vending in Struthers, a Youngstown suburb. Following the death of Youngstown crime boss Anthony "Tony the Dope" DelSanter in August, Carabbia was reputedly named to head the family's operations in the Youngstown area. He lives at 2277 Knollwood Poland, Ohio. Crown Vending is one of about 18 businesses whose records have been subpoened by the Trumbull County prosecutor in an examination of gambling and gaming machines in the Youngstown area. While attending the 1975 Super Bowl in New Orleans, Carabbia and three other Youngstown-area men were in a room raided by New Orleans police.

In the room, in addition to were the present Mahoning County Prosecutor Vincent Gil-martin and the Youngstown City Council Clerk and two-time candidate for mayor George Vuko-vich. Also in the room was Stanley Goldich, Gilmartin's chief investigator. Angelo Lonardo Lonardo, 66, of 3121 Bremerton Pepper Pike, is married to a sister of the late John Scalish, the former Cleveland crime boss. Lonardo has been convicted of blackmail. During the months Ferritto was trying to kill Greene, according to what Ferritto told the FBI, Greene's telephone calls were taped to provide leads to Greene's activities.

Those tapes, Ferritto said, were held by Lonardo. During a lakeside meeting near Youngstown in the week before Greene was killed, a tape was played, indicating that Greene was scheduled for a dentist appointment on the afternoon of Oct. 6, Ferritto told the FBI. It was after that appointment that Greene was killed. Thomas J.

Slnito Sinlto, 39, of Garfield Heights, has been arrested for assault, felonious assault and resisting arrest. He is the owner of a vending machine company and according to Ferritto, was involved in the taping of Greene's phone calls. With Summit County Coroner A. H. Kyriakides ruled Monday that the death of Daniel Francis was accidental.

Francis, 39, died in November 1976 in St. Thomas Hospital's recovery room after being placed on a respirator following surgery. Kyriakides fought a year-long Facilities open in Barberton BARBERTON Municipal facilities for swimming and basketball will be open during the holiday season. Three extra afternoon swimming sessions have been scheduled at the Community Center pool. The pool will be open from 1 p.m.

to 4 p.m. on Dec. 26, 28 and 30. High school and college students will also be able to use the gymnasiums at Highland, U. L.

Light and Portage schools on Dec. 27, 28 and 29. Hours at Highland and U. L. Light are 1 p.m.

to 3 p.m. Portage will be open from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. There will be no charge for either activity. Winter sports areas with ice skating are located at Tuscora, Newton, Edgewood and Brietenstine parks.

Sled riding is permitted at the Water Tower Park on Summit Street. Officials to meet HUDSON The Summit County Association of Township Trustees and Clerks will meet tonight at 8 at the Hudson Fire Station. Pop Afternoon keeps moving Fran Murphey ill You can't keep a good man down. George Franklin Morris, usually called "Pop" by those who know him, is such a fellow. calendar in recent days to see how close it is to his birthday.

Have patience, Pop, it's getting closer. All about people Sgt Robert L. Gable, a Kenmore High graduate, has been named assistant commander of the West Jefferson Post of the Ohio State High libraries at Montreal's McGill University and in Toledo. Kiwanis Club of Green Township has had its "last paper drive for a while." Maybe next year the collections will resume in time for spring cleaning. They'll meet Again Next summer John Whitaker Jr.

has promised himself he is going to play a round of golf at Good Park in Akron. He wants to get reacquainted with a tree. A blue spruce from the front yard of his home on Victoria Street in Cuyahoga Falls was When Morris celebrated his 100th birthday, he was in the hospital with a broken hip. Friday he will be 102 and he's up and around. Morris has traveled with a walker ever since the fall two years ago.

He doesn't go out very often but he does move around his Oak Park Drive home overlooking the Innerbelt. "Pop's sight isn't the greatest but he sometimes picks up pins that I drop if In "lIum! way Patrol. He was promoted from trooper and transferred from the Massillon Post, where he had served since graduating from the patrol academy in Columbus. Before entering the academy, he worked as a radio dispatcher at the Akron Post in Northampton Township. The officer and his wife, i i l.

nnluiU to see an evergreen he planted in the back yard of his home. For the second consecutive year the Falls man has provided the Salvation Army's Tree of Lights. Whitaker, director of Ohio Edison's real estate services, felt the trees were getting too tall (30 feet) but didn't want to cut them down. The front tree had been planted by a previous owner in the 1950s while he put in the rear yard spruce about 15 years ago. It took a week to prepare each tree for the move to downtown Akron.

Branches had to be tied and roots balled in burlap. Whitaker doesn't know where the second evergreen will be replanted. City Parks and Recreation staffers say the first tree can be seen from 1-77 but Whitaker hasn't figured out which it is. He isn't likely to fret over it for a while. As president of the Akron Chapter of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Qua.

tet Singing in America, he is working on the group's annual show coming Feb. 10-11 to Thomas Hall. "We're hoping to make enough money to buy some equipment for Children's Hospital," he explained. Hope the barbershoppers make their goal. G.

F. Morris moved to the municipal golf course after the holidays last year. The tree had stood through Christmas at Cascade Plaza, strung with 2,500 lights provided by the National Electrical Contractors Association. Each $10 donation in the Salvation Army kettle lit one light on the tree. This month, Whitaker needs only to walk along Main Street from the new Ohio when I'm sewing," observes his daughter, Martha Rae Morris.

He has another daughter Lola Rose in North Canton and son Donald of Akron. Betty Morris, widow of another son, Willard, now lives in Sarasota. Morris' wife, Anna, died in 1976. He is a native of Belmont County and lived in Barnesville before moving to Akron in 1928. He was a painter.

Morris has been constantly checking, the ittirii'ut, nave a sou, imjuch 11, and daughter, Jennl- uawe fer, 7. West Jefferson is west of Columbus. Kathryn H. Faichney, a Canadian-born librarian who has lived in Hudson twice since 1959, this month became a Hudson Library and Historical Society trustee. She succeeds Martha F.

Phlpps. Mrs. Faichney and her husband, Leslie, have three children. She has worked in Whitaker Edison Building i "-r-'.