Editing Philadelphia crime family (section)

==Early formation and Sabella phase==
Philadelphia contained several Italian immigrant criminal groups before one stable Mafia hierarchy became publicly identifiable. Historical reconstructions date Salvatore Sabella's leadership to the late 1910s or around 1919, but surviving evidence does not establish a single charter date or prove the common story that Sicilian bosses formally “sent” him to create the organization.<ref name="MafiaHistory">[https://mafiahistory.us/maf-b-ph.html “Philadelphia Crime Family Bosses”], ''The American Mafia'', historical leadership and source overview.</ref>

Sabella was born in Castellammare del Golfo. David Critchley calls him the late-1920s head of the Philadelphia Family and notes his solid connections to Vito Bonventre and Stefano Magaddino before leaving Brooklyn.<ref name="Critchley">David Critchley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2eCPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA179 ''The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891–1931''] (New York: Routledge, 2009), pp. 27, 92, 179 and 216.</ref> These links place Sabella within the wider Castellammaresi hometown and Mafia milieu; they do not establish Schiro's routine command over Philadelphia.

Critchley also cites an early description of Sabella as a “respected storekeeper,” illustrating how Mafia figures could maintain conventional businesses and social standing.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=2eCPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 Critchley, ''Origin of Organized Crime'', p. 27].</ref> Legitimate business activity should not itself be treated as criminal evidence.