The Salerno Family

The Salerno crime family was started by Aldo Salerno in the early 1900s, shortly after his emigration from Italy. Aldo moved to *working* and recruited young, strong Sicilian immigrants to work for him as soldato, or soldiers. He offered protection to businesses, set up rackets throughout the city, and had his hands in several brothels in *working*. Shortly after the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment, Aldo set up several speakeasies and attempted to get a monopoly on the illegal alcohol trade. His plans failed, however, ending with a bullet finding its way into Aldo's chest.

His son, Anthony Salerno took over and moved away from the alcohol trade, seeing it as better to try again once the rest of the family's affairs were able to keep the business running on their own. He stressed rackets and extortion of small, immigrant owned businesses, especially in *working*, while maintaining a presence in several brothels. He eventually returned to the alcohol trade and the family's business exploded. Soon, the family was the biggest influence in *working*, and was making preparations to expand east to *working*.

The Cullatti family, the largest family operating in *working*, caught wind of the Salerno plans, and decided to act first by moving into *working* before the Salerno could strike at *working*. Being a smaller family, the Cullatti organization was forced to send newer, less experienced soldiers into *working*. One of these amateur soldiers targeted a butcher shop named Frank's Meats. The soldier, refusing to return to his Capo empty-handed, botched the meeting and ended up shooting the shop owner. Frank Meli, the owner of Frank's Meats, happened to be Consigliere to the Salerno family. Frank's death caused a full scale mob war.

The Cullatti family, despite its size, was vicious. Due to their close ties with the Fratianno family of *working*, they forced the Salerno into a war that was impossible to win. Unable to protect their assets despite Caporegime Salvatore Amari's best efforts, Salerno territory shrank as soldier after soldier was found dead in the river or back alleys. Finally, Salerno Capo Lorenzo Costa was able to convince the rival families to cease their bloodshed for the greater good of all involved. The three families returned to their own territories to lick their wounds and strengthen their numbers. Tensions remained fairly high, but large scale violence had ended by early November, 1945.

Through November, the Salerno family restructured itself due to the loss of several family members. After losing three Caporegimes, Tony promoted Paul Nicoletti as the third and final Caporegime, alongside Enzo and Sal. Shortly after, Anthony Salerno became ill, and left day to day operation of the family in the hands of Underboss Luca Buscetta. Buscetta, brother-in-law to Don Salerno, set out to find a new Consigliere for the family, though finding a suitable replacement proved harder than it seemed.


It is early January, 1946, and you have the option to be anyone. Paul Nicoletti is looking for a few good Sicilian men to strengthen his group of soldiers, but maybe you'd rather just be an associate; a hired thug, or even a shop owner or lawyer. Maybe you're a dirty cop in Salerno's pocket. Maybe you're a member of the Cullatti family. The options are many, and only you can decide. Will you help return the Salerno family back to its former glory, or will you watch it burn to the ground?

A group for members, associates, and fans of the Salerno crime family.