Died Smithtown, NY, June 11, 1970.
DiGregorio, an in-law of the Bonannos and Magaddinos, was a clothing manufacturer and a prominent member of the Bonanno Crime Family in New York City. DiGregorio served as best man in Joseph Bonanno's wedding and was godfather to Bonanno's oldest son Salvatore (Bill).
DiGregorio was a native of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and was likely connected with the Magaddino and Bonanno families while in Sicily. After entering the U.S., he married the sister of Buffalo crime boss Stefano Magaddino. After her death, he remarried.
He was a trusted group leader within the Brooklyn-based Bonanno Crime Family. With support from Magaddino, DiGregorio seized control of the Bonanno crime Family after Joe Bonanno disappeared in the early 1960s. Joe Bonanno's son fought the takeover and the so-called Banana Wars were the result.
Joe Bonanno re-emerged in 1966 and promised to get his Family in order. The Mafia Commission, which had pushed out Bonanno and welcomed DiGregorio's takeover of the Bonanno clan, withdrew their support for DiGregorio. DiGregorio was in poor health and seemed unwilling to engage in a fight with his old friends the Bonannos. Paul Sciacca, DiGregorio's top lieutenant, took over day to day operations of the anti-Bonanno faction and eventually made himself a candidate for boss.
After several years of quiet living with family on Long Island, DiGregorio succumbed to lung cancer at St. John's Hospital in Smithtown on June 11, 1970. He was buried in St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.
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