| In | San Jose, California |
|---|---|
| Founded by | Onofrio Sciortino |
| Years active | 1900s-2009[1] |
| Territory | California (San Jose and other various neighborhoods in Santa Clara County, California) |
| Ethnicity | Italian, Italian-American made men and other ethnicities as "associates" |
| Membership | Unknown (was 30 in Total) |
| Criminal activities | Racketeering, loansharking, extortion, prostitution, drugs, and gambling |
| Allies | Bonanno, Los Angeles, Dallas and San Francisco crime families. |
The San Jose crime family, also known as the Sciortino crime family, was a small Mafia family based in the city of San Jose, California.
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The first known Mafia boss of organized crime in San Jose was Onofrio Sciortino. Very little is known about the man except that his rackets included gambling, counterfeiting, shylocking, prostitution and extortion. Sciortino ruled over the San Jose Family from the early 1940s until his death in 1959.[2]
Joseph Cerrito took over the crime family after the death of Sciortino. Cerrito emigrated to the United States from Palermo, Sicily in the late 1920s and eventually settled in San Jose in the early 1940s. He owned three car dealerships in the San Jose area. Cerrito gained some popularity for being caught at the 1957 mob meeting in Apalachin, New York. In 1964, he was spotted meeting Bonanno crime family former consigliere Frank Garofalo at a hotel in Palermo, Sicily. Many believe they were discussing the war within the Bonanno Family. Life Magazine listed Cerrito as the Mafia boss of San Jose in 1968. Angry over the accusation, he sued the company for libel. But the case was later thrown out of court. Cerrito died in 1978 from natural causes.
Cerrito's successor was Angelo Marino, a head caporegime in the crime family. Marino was close to San Francisco Mafia boss James Lanza and Los Angeles crime family consigliere Frank Bompensiero. He was also close with San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto. His father, Salvatore, was a big member in the Pittsburgh crime family who passed his California Cheese Company down to Marino in the late 1940s. Salvatore also owned the Sharon Cheese Company in Pennsylvania. The California Cheese Company controlled 85% of the cheese distribution in California.[3]
Marino was indicted for the murder of Peter Catelli and the wounding of his father Orlando in 1977. The beef was over Peter Catelli trying to extort money from Marino. Orlando survived the shooting and testified in court. Marino ordered his men to murder Peter and Orlando, he testified. Orlando also said he pretended to be dead as the mobsters stuffed them into a cadillac and left it on a San Francisco street. The Police saved his life after a person heard some screaming and pounding from inside the trunk. Marino was convicted of the murder and attempted murder in 1980. But he was released when he won an appeal. He continued to run the Sciortino crime family from a hospitol until he died of a heart attack on February 9, 1983.
Emmanuel J. Figlia was the boss over the remaining crime family. He was considered an underboss to Marino. In 1998 Salvatore Marino, son of the previously mentioned Angelo, was released from San Quentin Prison. The crime family took a large blow after the deaths of Frank Maestri and Vito Adragna in 2008. Both members were considered soldiers. Figlia died of natural causes on September 25, 2009.
With the death of Don Figlia in 2009, much of the family's power has been lost to Mexican and Asian gangs in the city. Now, the Sciortino family is extinct.
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