WILKES-BARRE TWP. — As hundreds of people filed into Barnes & Noble Friday night, William “Big Billy” D’Elia exchanged a few pleasantries with some of them he knew from his old neighborhood.
But most of the attendees were there to get D’Elia’s signature on their personal copies of the book, “The Life We Chose: William ‘Big Billy’ D’Elia and the Last Secrets of America’s Most Powerful Mafia Family.”
D’Elia was joined by Matt Birkbeck, the author who told D’Elia’s life story serving as second in command to reputed Mafia kingpin Russell Bufalino — a role D’Elia assumed after Bufalino’s death.
Before the event began, Birkbeck said the book is selling fast and it has already gone into a second printing. The book signing began at 5 p.m. with police officers stationed throughout the store in the Arena Hub Plaza, and D’Elia also had his own security personnel.
Photographs were few and far between — only a few were allowed to take a picture with D’Elia. The lack of interaction and conversation allowed the line that weaved through the store to move quickly.
Many said they had known D’Elia over the years and wanted to wish him well, and they said they were glad to see him looking well.
‘Setting the record straight’
Earlier this week, Birkbeck told the Times Leader that D’Elia wanted to write the book to “set the record straight.”
Birkbeck, who also wrote “The Quiet Don,” which was about Russell Bufalino, said the book talks about several issues that D’Elia takes exception to, and he felt this would be the best way to get the truth out.
D’Elia maintains Bufalino was one of the most powerful people of the 20th century. Birkbeck said that the book shows how powerful Bufalino was, despite always keeping a low profile.
In the book, D’Elia is described as the “adopted” son of “Uncle Russ” Bufalino, telling how he had unequaled access to the man the FBI and U.S. Justice Department considered one of the leading organized crime figures in the United States.
But even the government had no idea as to the breadth of Bufalino’s power and influence, or that it was Bufalino, from his bucolic home base in Pittston, who reigned over the five families in New York and other organized crime families throughout the country.
For nearly 30 years, D’Elia was at Bufalino’s side, and “Russ’s son” was a witness and participant to major historical events that have stymied law enforcement, perplexed journalists, and produced false and wild narratives in books and movies — not the least of which being the infamous disappearance of union boss Jimmy Hoffa.
D’Elia became the de facto leader of the Bufalino family upon Russell Bufalino’s imprisonment in 1979, and he officially took control upon Bufalino’s death in 1994 until his arrest in 2006. D’Elia pled guilty to money laundering and witness tampering, and was released from federal prison in 2012.
WBRE interview
Candace Kelly, co-anchor at WBRE-TV, had a sit-down interview with D’Elia last week, an experience she said she will never forget.
Parts of that interview have been airing on WBRE newscasts and a longer version will air on Wednesday, Aug. 30, during the 6 p.m. newscast.
“It was sort of intimidating, but I found him to be such a nice man,” Kelly said of D’Elia. “And to think he was Russell Bufalino’s right hand man — you naturally think of the things he saw and participated in, yet he seemingly appeared unfazed by it all.”
Kelly said going into the interview, she wasn’t sure how she would be received.
“I was with him for about an hour and a half and the interview lasted 35 minutes,” Kelly said.
She said Birkbeck was with D’Elia during the interview, conducted at Russell D’Elia’s home in Kingston, which was the former home of Bufalino.
“Birkbeck told me that D’Elia told him he wanted to set the record straight about a number of issues that have been reported over the years,” Kelly said. “He said he wanted to tell who Russell Bufalino was and who Billy D’Elia is.”
“From what I’ve observed, he seemingly is liked by everyone who knows him,” Kelly said. “You can read the book, but when you sit with him and you hear him tell his story, it all becomes much clearer. Nothing is lost in translation. He told me he has had a good life and that he has no regrets.”
Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.