Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime

Angelo Bruno

Named by the Third Circuit as head of the Philadelphia enterprise charged in a 1972 to 1978 RICO case, and in its 1990 account of the trial record as boss from about 1960 until his murder in 1980. Killed on March 21, 1980, FBI records and testimony state.

Died
1980-03-21
Family
The Philadelphia Mafia, in the Third Circuit's account of the trial record (1990)
Role
"served as boss from approximately 1960 until his murder in 1980" (Third Circuit, 1990); "headed the enterprise" charged in a 1972 to 1978 RICO case (Third Circuit, 1983)
Source
United States v. Pungitore, 910 F.2d 1084 (3d Cir. 1990)
Rights
Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.

On the record

  • c. 1960 — Pungitore, 910 F.2d 1084 (1990): "Angelo Bruno served as boss from approximately 1960 until his murder in 1980, when he was succeeded by Phillip Testa." FBI testimony in 1988 spoke of "Bruno's 22-year reign."
  • 1972–1978 — United States v. Riccobene, 709 F.2d 214 (1983): "Angelo Bruno, a named co-conspirator, headed the enterprise; the 'underboss' was co-defendant Philip Testa." He was not a defendant.
  • 21 March 1980 — FBI Philadelphia teletypes of March 22, 1980, captioned "GANGMURS, ANGELO BRUNO - VICTIM," report that he was pronounced dead at the scene of a shooting on the evening of Friday, March 21 (Vault, OCR). FBI Deputy Assistant Director Anthony Daniels told the Senate in 1988: "Angelo Bruno was shotgunned to death on March 21, 1980, as he sat in a car in front of his residence."
  • 1988 — U.S. Attorney Edward S. G. Dennis, Jr. told the Senate subcommittee that Bruno "was Don of the Philadelphia mob for quite a number of years" and was killed "in front of his own home in South Philadelphia in 1980."

The family and role lines quote the Third Circuit’s statements of the trial records in two RICO appeals. The FBI and U.S. Attorney testimony is quoted in the events and is not a finding. The two sources date the start of his leadership differently: about 1960 in Pungitore, and a reign of 22 years before 1980 in the 1988 testimony.

The FBI Vault titles its file “Angelo Annaloro (Angelo Bruno)” without saying which name is the alias, so no alias is listed. No opened record gives his birth date. An 8th Circuit opinion about a man named Angelo Bruno, 474 F.2d 1261, was not attributed to him because it does not identify him.

Records

itemUnited States v. Pungitore, 910 F.2d 1084 (3d Cir. 1990)Third Circuit opinion of August 1, 1990 affirming the RICO convictions of Nicodemo Scarfo and thirteen co-defendants from the 1988 Philadelphia trial, with the court's account of the family's succession from Angelo Bruno to Philip Testa to Scarfo.itemUnited States v. Riccobene, 709 F.2d 214 (3d Cir. 1983)Third Circuit opinion of May 20, 1983 on a RICO prosecution, built largely on FBI wiretaps at three Philadelphia locations from 1972 to 1978, of an enterprise the court says Angelo Bruno headed, with Philip Testa as underboss.itemFBI Vault, Angelo Annaloro (Angelo Bruno), Part 01: Philadelphia teletypes on the March 1980 killingPart 01 of the FBI's five-part file titled "Angelo Annaloro (Angelo Bruno)": Philadelphia teletypes from March 22, 1980 captioned "GANGMURS ANGELO BRUNO" on the shooting of March 21, 1980, and later reports. Read from the viewer's OCR.itemOrganized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi (1988): FBI and U.S. Attorney testimony on the Philadelphia familyPassages of the April 1988 Senate hearings in which FBI Deputy Assistant Director Anthony Daniels traced the Philadelphia LCN family from Salvatore Sabella to Nicodemo Scarfo, and U.S. Attorney Edward S. G. Dennis, Jr. described the killings after Angelo Bruno's death. Testimony, not findings.itemPresident's Commission on Organized Crime, The Edge (1986): Atlantic City and Local 54The Atlantic City section of the President's Commission on Organized Crime's 1986 report on organized crime, business and labor unions, on the struggle for control of hotel workers' Local 54 after the casinos opened.