by PolackTony » Wed Jun 29, 2022 11:44 am
In terms of personal “associates” who are friends/partners with a high-ranking member, we can look at the example of Tony Accardo’s trip to Italy in 1973. Accardo was accompanied by personal friends who were also successful businessmen in Chicago: Nick Nitti (who owned the travel agency, along with Accardo’s son, that presumably booked the arrangements for this trip), restauranteur Al Meo, and wealthy grocery store owner Rosario Marino (originally from Cefalu). Their wives all came along, we can assume that a major element here was purely social. They may have also did some business in Italy, but it’s not like these guys went there to set up narcotics or contraband trafficking rings or something; most likely, they may have met with some people who were interested in having some Ital-American business people invest in local ventures or the like. The FBI seemed to think so, as following the trip, they interviewed wealthy Chicago wine importer Antonino Paternò (from Vizzini, Catania) afterwards concerning his connections to Accardo and allegations from Italian police that Paternò’s wine suppliers in Tuscany and Sicily were controlled by the mafia (the Feds stated that Paternò at the time was the largest wine importer in the US); Italian LE had informed the FBI that Accardo’s itinerary had included Tuscany, so maybe he visited one of those suppliers.
Now, apart from Nitti (who was basically the “family” travel agent for the Outfit), these other guys are personal friends, associates, and business partners of Accardo. They presumably don’t belong anywhere near a chart of formal “LCN associates”, but these guys were most certainly “with” Accardo. As such, they would’ve received significant benefits in terms of protection and clout (if someone needed to grease the wheels of power at the city, county, state level, they would’ve had access to those channels. This sort of thing was not a minor benefit at all). In turn, sure, they were useful to Accardo, but not like these guys were being forced to stash guns in their house or run a wire room in their basement or something. It wouldn’t have been anything like Tony Soprano and his guys coming in like a horde of locusts. If Accardo needed these guys to perform a favor, in a situation where they could be helpful, I’m sure they’d be asked to do so and expected to comply, when reasonable. But I doubt that they were being bullied or strong armed. If they were involved in any criminal/grey area activity with Accardo, presumably it was business racketeering stuff, and maybe investing or partnering with Accardo on some import stuff in Italy with shady mafia-connected companies. You know, classy shit.
In terms of personal “associates” who are friends/partners with a high-ranking member, we can look at the example of Tony Accardo’s trip to Italy in 1973. Accardo was accompanied by personal friends who were also successful businessmen in Chicago: Nick Nitti (who owned the travel agency, along with Accardo’s son, that presumably booked the arrangements for this trip), restauranteur Al Meo, and wealthy grocery store owner Rosario Marino (originally from Cefalu). Their wives all came along, we can assume that a major element here was purely social. They may have also did some business in Italy, but it’s not like these guys went there to set up narcotics or contraband trafficking rings or something; most likely, they may have met with some people who were interested in having some Ital-American business people invest in local ventures or the like. The FBI seemed to think so, as following the trip, they interviewed wealthy Chicago wine importer Antonino Paternò (from Vizzini, Catania) afterwards concerning his connections to Accardo and allegations from Italian police that Paternò’s wine suppliers in Tuscany and Sicily were controlled by the mafia (the Feds stated that Paternò at the time was the largest wine importer in the US); Italian LE had informed the FBI that Accardo’s itinerary had included Tuscany, so maybe he visited one of those suppliers.
Now, apart from Nitti (who was basically the “family” travel agent for the Outfit), these other guys are personal friends, associates, and business partners of Accardo. They presumably don’t belong anywhere near a chart of formal “LCN associates”, but these guys were most certainly “with” Accardo. As such, they would’ve received significant benefits in terms of protection and clout (if someone needed to grease the wheels of power at the city, county, state level, they would’ve had access to those channels. This sort of thing was not a minor benefit at all). In turn, sure, they were useful to Accardo, but not like these guys were being forced to stash guns in their house or run a wire room in their basement or something. It wouldn’t have been anything like Tony Soprano and his guys coming in like a horde of locusts. If Accardo needed these guys to perform a favor, in a situation where they could be helpful, I’m sure they’d be asked to do so and expected to comply, when reasonable. But I doubt that they were being bullied or strong armed. If they were involved in any criminal/grey area activity with Accardo, presumably it was business racketeering stuff, and maybe investing or partnering with Accardo on some import stuff in Italy with shady mafia-connected companies. You know, classy shit.