Russell Bufalino

Russell Alfred Bufalino (; born Rosario Alfredo Bufalino, Italian: [roˈzaːrjo alˈfreːdo bufaˈliːno]; October 29, 1903 – February 25, 1994) was an Italian-American mobster who became the crime boss of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Italian-American Mafia crime family known as the Bufalino crime family, which he ruled from 1959 to 1994. He was a cousin of attorney William Bufalino, the longtime counsel for Jimmy Hoffa.

Early years

Bufalino was born on October 29, 1903, in Montedoro, Sicily, to Angelo Bufalino and Cristina Buccoleri. On July 9, 1903, his father immigrated to the United States, settling in Pittston, Pennsylvania, working as a coal miner. With his mother and siblings, Bufalino entered the United States through the Port of New York in December 1903. A few months later, Bufalino's father died in a mine accident, and his family returned to Sicily. Bufalino emigrated to the United States again in January 1906. After his mother died in 1910, he returned to Sicily again. He returned to the United States in February 1914, settling in Pittston. At the age of 14, Bufalino moved to Buffalo, New York, where he became a criminal during his teenage years. On August 9, 1928, he married Carolyn "Carrie" Sciandra, who came from a Sicilian Mafia family. 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. These relationships proved very helpful to Bufalino in his criminal career. Family and clan ties were important to Sicilian-American criminals; they created a strong, secretive support system that outsiders or law enforcement could not infiltrate. A significant friendship was with his first boss, and fellow immigrant from Montedoro, John C. Montana.