Background
Gaspare Messina was born on August 7, 1879 in Salemi, Sicily to Salvatore Messina and his wife, Gaspara Clementi.
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Gaspare Messina
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Career
Messina and his family arrived in by 1915 and he soon Messina retired as head of the Mafia in 1932. He was succeeded by Philosophy Buccola. Messina died on June 15, 1957, in Somerville, Massachusetts.
Gaspare married Francesca Riggio on November 4, 1905 in Salemi.
Within the same month the couple immigrated to United States, arriving in New York Harbor on November 25, 1905 for an extended honeymoon. The couple settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn and decided to stay in the United States permanently.
While living in Brooklyn with a growing family, Messina opened a bakery and joined the local mafia that would later become known as the Bonanno crime family. By 1915, Messina and his family had moved to He opened a new bakery there and soon became recognized as the boss of the local Sicilian-based mafia.
The exact circumstances of his crime family"s formation and his elevation to boss are unknown.
All that is certain is that he arrived in by 1915 and in Nicola Gentile recalled being invited to a banquet in his honor in 1921 by Messina, the local mafia boss in In 1923, the United States. Secret Service found evidence of Messina"s involvement in a counterfeiting scheme when they arrested Salvatore Leonardi, finding a letter in his position addressed to Messina and discovered that Messina had sent a $100 money order to the leaders of the scheme. Over fifty people were arrested for being involved in the scheme to distribute a half-million dollars worth of counterfeit $10 Federal Reserve Bank of notes. Messina was never charged in the scheme but he took an extended trip to Sicily, returning in December 1924.
In 1925, Messina was the president of a wholesale grocery business called G. Messina & Company.
Later that year, Cucchiara was fined $50 for running an illegal lottery. Around 1927, Messina and his family moved to the nearby suburb of Somerville.
Maranzano acquired the title after he proved victorious in the conflict. According to an Federal Bureau of Investigation listening device placed in Raymond Patriarca"s office, Messina stepped down as boss in 1932 and was replaced by Philosophy Buccola.
After his retirement he retained an "advisory" role to his successors.
Messina died on June 15, 1957 in Somerville, Massachusetts.
