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| - Pieri was born in Buffalo to Sicilian immigrants Giovanni and Ignazia Ciresi Pieri who hailed from Montemaggiore Belsito, Sicily. Giovanni entered the U.S. on April 20, 1893. Ignazia entered July 1, 1898 and were married in 1900. Sam was the seventh of nine children born to the couple. He first ran into trouble with the law when he was just 10 years old. He was arrested Aug. 7, 1921, for malicious mischief. His rap sheet included arrests for Grand larceny, truancy, second-degree larceny, first-degree robbery, bootlegging and tariff violations and for violating the Brownell Law.
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| abstract
| - Pieri was born in Buffalo to Sicilian immigrants Giovanni and Ignazia Ciresi Pieri who hailed from Montemaggiore Belsito, Sicily. Giovanni entered the U.S. on April 20, 1893. Ignazia entered July 1, 1898 and were married in 1900. Sam was the seventh of nine children born to the couple. He first ran into trouble with the law when he was just 10 years old. He was arrested Aug. 7, 1921, for malicious mischief. His rap sheet included arrests for Grand larceny, truancy, second-degree larceny, first-degree robbery, bootlegging and tariff violations and for violating the Brownell Law. Pieri and brothers John and Joe became members of the DiCarlo Gang. Working for their brother-in-law Joseph DiCarlo they extorted payments from operators of craps games and bookmaking parlors. On Jan. 23, 1934, Pieri married Caroline LoTempio. DiCarlo Gangster and future Cleveland crime family boss John Tronolone was Pieri's best man. Pieri earned the respect of western New York crime boss Stefano Magaddino the following year, as he imposed mob discipline upon a relative. The LoTempio brothers, Pieri cousins, were believed responsible for a May 1936 bombing that took the life of Magaddino's sister. The LoTempios were rebelling against a Magaddino-imposed tax on their gambling rackets. Pieri arranged for Frank LoTempio to attend the wedding of a relative in Buffalo. Following the reception, Pieri escorted LoTempio to his car. After a short conversation, Pieri shook LoTempio's hand and turned away. Two men emerged from a nearby parked vehicle and shot LoTempio to death. The 1949 disappearance of gambler Patsy Quigliano was also linked to Pieri. Quigliano was deeply in debt to mob higher-ups, and Pieri reportedly was to transport him to meet with Joseph DiCarlo in Cleveland on the day he disappeared. In the early 1950s, a three-year Federal Bureau of Narcotics investigation pointed to Sam Pieri and Salvatore Rizzo as the regional leaders of a heroin and cocaine smuggling ring involving Buffalo, New York City and Cleveland. Pieri and Rizzo were arrested May 22, 1954. Charges against Rizzo were dismissed. Pieri was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in Atlanta Federal Prison. He was released May 7, 1963.
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