Stefano Magaddino
| Stefano Magaddino | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Stefano Magaddino October 10, 1891 Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Italy |
| Died | July 19, 1974 (aged 82) Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| Resting place | St. Joseph's Cemetery, Niagara Falls, New York |
| Nationality | Sicilian, Italian, American |
| Other names | "Don Stefano", "The Undertaker" |
| Citizenship | Italian, American |
| Occupation | Bootlegger, Businessman, Mobster, Racketeer |
| Known for | Boss of the Buffalo crime family |
Stefano "The Undertaker" Magaddino (October 10, 1891 – July 19, 1974) was a Sicilian mafioso who became the boss of the Buffalo crime family in western New York. His underworld influence stretched from Ohio to Southern Ontario and as far east as Montreal, Quebec. Known as Don Stefano to his friends and The Undertaker to others, he was also a charter member of the American Mafia's ruling council, otherwise known as The Commission.
Born in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Magaddino emigrated to the United States in 1909 and settled in Brooklyn, New York. One of Magadinno's cousins from Sicily was Joseph Bonanno, the future boss of the Bonanno crime family in New York City.
In 1921, in Avon, New Jersey, Magaddino was arrested for his involvement in the murder of Camillo Caiozzo, a member of the rival Buccellato clan from Castellammare del Golfo. In 1924, Magaddino became a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Magaddino eventually moved to Niagara Falls, New York, then in later years further north to Lewiston, another town on the Niagara River facing the Canada–US border. Although he was a successful mortician operating his legitimate Magaddino Memorial Chapel funeral home business in Niagara Falls, with Prohibition in effect in the United States, Maggadino made his real money running a profitable bootlegging business by smuggling wine and spirits across the Niagara River into New York State, thereby supplying the needs of speakeasies located in Buffalo and the very "Honky-tonk" Niagara Falls. After Prohibition ended, Magaddino and his crime family made their money by means of loan sharking, illegal gambling, extortion, carjacking and labor racketeering as well as other legitimate lucrative businesses such as linen service businesses that served the needs of most of the hotels located throughout the region as well as taxicab companies and other service-oriented businesses.
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