Gaspar Milazzo

Gaspar Milazzo (April 25, 1887 – May 31, 1930) was a major organized-crime figure in Detroit, Michigan, during the Prohibition era. He had earlier been a member of the Brooklyn-based gang that would later become known as the Bonanno crime family.

Born to Vincenzo Milazzo and Camilla Pizzo in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Milazzo immigrated to the U.S. in 1911 and settled in Brooklyn, New York. Upon his arrival Milazzo quickly established himself within Brooklyn's Sicilian community and the Italian underworld. His criminal record would contain the alias Gaspar Sciblia and Gaspar Lombardo, Sciblia being his wife's maiden name.

Once powerful and now deceased New York Mafia Boss, Joe Bonanno wrote his 1983 autobiography, "A Man of Honor", that "Gaspar Milazzo and his cousin Stefano Magaddino were important men in the Brooklyn based "Castellammarese Clan".

Gaspar Milazzo began working with Salvatore Catalonotte and created a close working relationship and alliance with the powerful Mafia leader in the early-to-mid-1920s, there are conflicting reports as to exactly when Milazzo arrived in Detroit, possibly making stops in other cites with Castellammarese Clan influence such as Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and even California where he could look over his criminal and business opportunities in these areas of the country, but by no later than 1923 Milazzo was established in Detroit.

After the death of Catalonotte in February 1930, Milazzo continued to be a high-ranking member of the Detroit crime family, although the actual extent of his power is under debate. Some organized crime writers and authors claim that Milazzo was the successor to Sam Catalanotte, but if that was even true he had a very, very short reign. It is known that Milazzo was a close associate of the East Side Gang led by Angelo Meli, and Joseph "Joe Uno" Zerilli who took over and led the East Side Mob, the remnants of the former Gianolla Gang, Vitale-Bosco Gang and eventually became the first three leaders of the modern Detroit Partnership, otherwise known as the Detroit Combination or the Zerilli crime family. Milazzo also had a close working relationship with the other leading Detroit Mafia factions including the Down River Gang led by brothers Thomas "Yonnie" and Peter Licavoli and their cousins, the brothers Joseph "Joe Misery" and Leo "Lips" Moceri, one of the more formidable Mafia factions within Detroit whose members would become the members of the Detroit Partnership's highest levels. There was the West Side Mob which was the remnants of Sam Catalanotte's faction, Wyandotte-area Boss, Joseph "Joe the Beer Baron" Tocco, and the La Mare Gang led by Chester "Big Chet" La Mare of the Hamtramck area.

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