1. Russell Bufalino was a cousin of attorney William Bufalino, the longtime counsel for Jimmy Hoffa.
18 Facts About Russell Bufalino
1. 2.
Russell Bufalino was born on October 29,1903, in Montedoro, Sicily, to Angelo Russell Bufalino and Cristina Buccoleri.
3.
Russell Bufalino emigrated to the United States again in January 1906.
4.
Russell Bufalino returned to the United States in February 1914, settling in Pittston.
5.
At the age of 14, Russell Bufalino moved to Buffalo, New York, where he became a criminal during his teenage years.
6.
Russell Bufalino worked alongside many Buffalo mobsters, some of whom became top leaders in the Buffalo crime family and other future Cosa Nostra families along the East Coast of the United States.
7.
Genovese elected Buffalo, New York boss and Commission member, Stefano "the Undertaker" Magaddino, who in turn chose northeastern Pennsylvania crime boss Joseph Barbara and Russell Bufalino to oversee all the arrangements.
8.
Russell Bufalino had become aware that Barbara's son was reserving rooms in local hotels along with the delivery of a large quantity of meat from a local butcher to the Barbara home.
9.
In 1977, Russell Bufalino was indicted on extortion charges after Jack Napoli, who was in the Witness Protection Program, testified that Russell Bufalino had threatened to kill him for failing to pay a $25,000 debt to a jeweller in New York.
10.
Once Russell Bufalino was indicted, he took steps to reduce the possibility of further criminal charges.
11.
Russell Bufalino named caporegime Edward Sciandra as the acting boss and removed himself from the day-to-day operations of the family.
12.
Russell Bufalino was released in May 1981 but was indicted again, this time for conspiring to kill the witness, Napoli.
13.
The main prosecution witness, Jimmy Fratianno, said that he and Michael Rizzitello had been asked by Russell Bufalino to kill Napoli in 1976.
14.
In November 1981, Russell Bufalino was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, held at United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth.
15.
In 1989, Russell Bufalino was released from prison, and the operations of the remainder of the Northeastern family were given to Billy D'Elia.
16.
On February 25,1994, Russell Bufalino died of natural causes at Nesbitt Memorial Hospital in Kingston, Pennsylvania, aged 90.
17.
Russell Bufalino is buried in Denison Cemetery in Swoyersville, Pennsylvania.
18.
Russell Bufalino is portrayed by Joe Pesci in Martin Scorsese's 2019 film The Irishman.