- Saverio Santora
Saverio Santora aka Sammy Black (1935 - 1987) was a New York mobster with the
Genovese crime family who briefly served as familyunderboss .In the late 1970s, Santora took over as
caporegime ofAntonio "Buckaloo" Ferro 's powerful 116th Street crew in theEast Harlem section ofManhattan . Santora quickly became one of the most powerful captains in the family. The crew was involved inillegal gambling ,bookmaking ,loan sharking ,heroin trafficking and laborracketeering within the Carpenters' Union.In 1981, longtime Genovese boss
Philip Lombardo went into semi-retirement.Vincent "Chin" Gigante and Santora were the prime candidates to succeed Lombardo boss, being two of the most respected and influential members of the family. Lombardo made Gigante the boss and Santora theunderboss . Santora would continue as underboss of the family until his death in 1987.Acting boss
Liborio Bellomo was considered a protegeé of Santora.External links
* [http://www.ganglandnews.com/column533.htm This Week in Gangland: Plead To What? Misprision of Who?] by Jerry Capeci
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