John Bazzano followed Siragusa. He was Sicilian but attempted to bring Calabrians and Neopolitans into the family. One overt move in this direction was a partnership with some of the eight Volpe brothers, Calabrians who had a strong base in Wilmerding. The Bazzano/Volpe alliance was headquartered at Bazzano's Roma Coffee Shop.
By 1932, however, tensions rose when the Volpes tried to expand their operations. On July 29, 1932, Bazzano tried to end their ambitions with an ambush at the Roma Coffee Shop. His shooters stormed in, leaving John Volpe shot to death on the sidewalk outside the front door. Then they blasted Arthur and James Volpe and beat a retreat. It was a brazen act, and few didn't know who was behind it.
Brothers Louis and Joseph Volpe traveled to New York and used their strong connections to lodge a complaint with the Commission. Obviously, they were persuasive because in early August, Bazzano was called to New York to answer the charges. Instead of denying them, he tried to beat the case with a technicality, stating that the Commission did not have jurisdiction over internal family matters. That didn't go over too well with the Commission. Bazzano never got back to Pittsburgh. His body was found in Brooklyn on August 8, 1932, sewn up in a burlap sack, with 22 stab wounds. He was strangled and his tongue had been cut out.
The next two bosses, Vincent Capizzi, who ruled until about 1937, and Frank Amato, who gave it up in 1956, resigned because of health problems. Little is known about Capizzi, but Amato expanded the family's influence beyond Allegheny County, concentrating mostly on gambling. He stepped down to underboss due to kidney problems. He died in 1973.
John LaRocca succeeded Amato and ruled for nearly 30 years. He devoted considerable energy to the family's bootlegging rackets during the Prohibition era and made a big impact in the family's extensive gambling and loan-sharking operations. LaRocca had politicians, police officers, and other authorities on his payroll. He also had a firm grip on union matters in the region through control of Local 1058 of the Laborers' Union. This infiltration wouldn't be shaken until the twenty-first century. LaRocca attended the famous 1957 Apalachin meeting of Mafia leaders. His participation made him a target of a secret FBI intelligence-gathering operation.
Vetern mobster Michael Genovese replaced LaRocca in 1984. The family flexed its muscles and took over gambling interests in Mahoning Valley from the Cleveland family. Overall, hoever, the family lost membership and power under Genovese because some troops grew old and died an many others, such as underboss Charles Porter and capo Louis Raucci, were convicted of drug trafficking and sent away for long prison sentences. Porter eventually became a secret informer from behind bars. Capo Lenny Strollo also cooperated, detailing murders and other violence the family used in Mahoning Valley. Despite all the convictions and informers, Genovese remains free and is still considered the boss at the new century. However, the latest intelligence has the family on its last legs.