Vincent Forlenza
Biographical Information
Gender	Male
Born	ca. 1883
Died	November, 1961[1]
Affiliation	Forlenza Roth syndicate
Title(s)	Don

"Sangu sciura sangu. Blood cries for blood. This has been the downfall of our tradition in Sicily. An endless spiral of vendettas has left our friends their less powerful than any time in a century. Yet here in America we are flourishing as never before. There is enough money, enough power, for everyone."

―Vincent Forlenza^[src]

Vincent "the Jew" Forlenza was the Don of the Forlenza syndicate in Cleveland and the oldest member of the original Commission.

BiographyEdit

The Forlenza family was made up almost of all family members, Jews, city patrons and politicians, which was how he managed to stay under the Fed's radar. His organization was the most powerful of strictly gambling in the United States. Vincent Forlenza immigrated to America from Sicily in the early 1900s, and later made his rep running the gambling rackets for big players. He assisted Emilio Barzini during the Pacification of New York.

Vincent Forlenza was, by the late 1940s, a force to be reckoned with. At around this time he employed Fausto Geraci and became godfather to his only son, Nick Geraci. He was quietly expanding his empire without challenge. During the Five Families War, he was known to have some connections with the Barzini family, yet he did not act for any particular side, although Forlenza was known to resent the hypocrisy of the Corleone family shortly afterwards, when, after causing a war due to their refusal to go into the narcotics business, the family did so under Vito Corleone's son Michael, albeit secretly.

By the 1950s, he ran an extremely efficient organization. He ruled his organization with an iron velvet political glove from his stronghold on Lake Michigan's south shores, located on the uncharted Rattlesnake Island, which he claimed was impregnable.

Plot Against the CorleonesEdit

By 1957, he had conspired with Nick Geraci to kill Michael Corleone, who had been plotting with Salvatore Narducci, Forlenza's consigliere, who helped to arrange a plane crash which killed Frank Falcone and Anthony Molinari, as well as ruining Forlenza's reputation with the New York families.

The two men also planned to weaken the Cuba gambling, make the Cleveland mob stronger, and wipe out Fredo Corleone and Hyman Roth. By 1960, Fredo and Roth were killed, Michael lost millions in Cuba, Narducci was executed by a soldato loyal to Cesare Indelicato of Sicily, and the Cleveland mob seemed to be growing stronger under Forlenza.

By 1961, Michael had figured this out and devised a plan to kill Forlenza and members of his family. As part of a sweeping revenge, when Forlenza had a heart attack, Michael sent a dummy ambulance to get him. The ambulance picked him up, and drove him to the docks where they dragged him to a boat. They chained him to the bottom and had the boat sink in Lake Michigan while he was still alive. After this incident, the Cleveland family lost their seat at the Commission due to them becoming too weak compared to other criminal organizations.

Notes and referencesEdit