Salvatore Catalanotte


Salvatore "Sam Sings in the Night" Catalanotte was an Italian-American mobster, and boss of Detroit's Unione Siciliana from 1920 to 1930.
"Sings in the night" is a translation of a close misspelling of his last name.

Criminal career

Catalanotte was born on 15 February 1893, in Alcamo, Trapani, Sicily, the son of Liborio Catalanotto, peasant, and Vincenza Giacalone, homemaker.
He immigrated to Detroit, Michigan, in 1912. He arrived from Palermo with the SS Ancona, landing in Ellis island the 4 June 1912. He came back to Sicily, but then returned in 1913, arriving from Palermo with the SS Perugia, landing in Ellis island the 13 April 1913. In the 1912 ship manifest his surname was spelled Catalanotto, the variant mainly used on the Valle del Belice in western Sicily, but in the 1913 ship manifest his surname was spelled Catalanotti, the variant mainly used on the western sicilian coastal communities. Catalanotte is likely an English rendering of the latter variant.
In Detroit he worked for the bootlegging Giannola brothers during the Vitale-Giannola War. Catalanotte survived several attempts on his life and emerged the "king of Little Sicily in Detroit". He lobbied for an uneasy alliance between the Eastside and Westside Mobs, which was renamed the Pascuzzi Combine. Catalanotte's unified crime syndicate demonstrated its influence by corrupting city and state officials while simultaneously ensuring protection for its racketeering operations. The Pascuzzi Combine is considered the precursor to the Detroit Partnership of La Cosa Nostra.

Death

Sam Catalanotte's reign came to an end after he died from pneumonia on 14 February 1930. As a sign of respect, every prominent member of Detroit's criminal underworld paid their respects at the Church of the Most Holy Family in Detroit. This was followed by a 1,200 car procession to his grave at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Detroit.