THE BLACK HAND FORUM

Another co-defendant in the 1977 Tampa case that turned, was Willie "The Torch" Noriega, a noted arsonist.

I forgot that Roland Rodriguez was also part of that case. He was a well-known bolita guy who later got into dealing drugs. He was part of a "crew" under Sam Trafficante, Santo Jr's brother.

[quote=B. post_id=258449 time=1680661541 user_id=127]
DeMonte was also a cousin of DiVarco. Tony also found the DeMontes were possible extended relatives of the Nuccio name.
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Some of this has been covered in various posts in the origins thread, but there were blood, marriage, and compadrinato ties between DiVarcos, Nuccios, Arrigos, Battaglias, DeMontes (Damante), Tornabenes. Many of these families were intertwined with each other for generations. Some of it went back to Sicily, and other connections were forged in Chicago. The more that we learn about who these guys were and where they came from, the clearer it is to me that the early 70s CI (who may have been Gianola) was not wrong when he claimed that the “outfit’s” strength was in part due to the strong familial bonds among its membership.

DeMonte was also a cousin of DiVarco. Tony also found the DeMontes were possible extended relatives of the Nuccio name.

DeMonte was North Side.

The contention was that Arrigo confused being "sponsored" as being "made," which is also what Richard Mara did. I'm convinced that DeMonte was made with Nick C in 1983 (Nick didn't say Arrigo was there and did not mention any "unknowns" being present). Arrigo also started encountering major legal trouble around the time he claims DiVarco was going to sponsor him for membership. As Tony mentioned, it could be they were both proposed at the same time, but Arrigo was never made.

Per this source, Arrigo indeed entered the program in 1986 and told the FBI he was in the same ceremony as Babe DeMonte:
http://laborers_chicago.tripod.com/ChicagoOrder.html

I follow Matassa in Chicago quite a bit and Arrigo appears to be a major source of information on a lot of union related matters.

Was DeMonte Chinatown or also under DiVarco?

[quote=PolackTony post_id=258144 time=1680376176 user_id=6658]
Arrigo's father was [b]Antonino "Anthony" Arrigo [/b] of Evanston, whose parents were from Termini Imerese, like the DiCaros. It should also be noted that Vic "Popeye" Arrigo was not the same [b]Victor Arrigo[/b] who was a celebrated Chicago alderman and IL State Representative for whom the nostalgic old "Peanut Park" in the Taylor St Italian colony was renamed "Arrigo Park". That Victor Arrigo was born Vito Arrigo in 1908 in Termini Imerese and was actually a distant cousin of Popeye, though one has to go back to the beginning of the 19th century to trace the exact link (both Arrigos were also likely related at some level to the Arrigos of the Termitano-owned [b]LaMantia Bros. & Arrigo[/b] produce wholesaling company of South Water St Market fame).
[/quote]

[quote=B. post_id=258391 time=1680595549 user_id=127]
With his surname and distant relation to another Arrigo, I wonder about a relation to [b]Salvatore Arrigo[/b] of the Banana Society case. He came from Termini and lived in Ohio.
[/quote]

Ok, my genealogy for Popeye was a little mixed up, due to old info from ancestry.com that I hadn't rechecked to confirm.

There were a ton of Arrigos in Chicago, of course, and after spending hours swimming through records for Arrigos (and Battaglias, and Pusateris, and DiMarias, and Ragonas, and LoCocos and on and on...), I have it straightened out.

Vic's mother was Antonina "Antoinette/Lena" Arrigo, who was born in 1915. When Vic was born in 1938, no father was listed and I have not found anything to verify who his father was. He was born out of wedlock, as Antoinette Arrigo later married a guy named Alfred Peterson (whose obit listed him as Richard Victor Arrigo's stepfather). The Antonino Arrigo who I thought was Vic's father above (whose wife was also named Antoinette) was Antoinette Arrigo's 1st cousin. Her father was Ignazio Arrigo (her mother Filippa Sicalabba, also of Termini) and his Giuseppe Arrigo. These two were brothers who initially lived at Grand and Curtis (Aberdeen St, later notorious for multiple mafia killings and Benevento's block) and then decamped to the Evanston/Skokie area in North Suburban Cook County. Their parents were Antonino Arrigo (died in Chicago in 1914) and Rosaria Ragona of Termini. These Arrigos were, like so many of their relatives and paesani, produce wholesalers. Now, their father Antonino was indeed the 1st cousin (though apparently by adoption) of the Salvatore Arrigo of Cincinnati who was reputed to have been the leader of the "Society of the Banana" after Salvatore Lima (Antonino's father was Ignazio Arrigo, brother of Salvatore's father Vincenzo Arrigo; they were sons of Giuseppe Arrigo and Filippa Battaglia, so now we're getting back to the late 18th century). In actuality, Salvatore Arrigo of Cincinnati was a foundling in Termini adopted as a newborn by Vincenzo Arrigo and his wife Angela Comella as their son.

So both branches of the Arrigos were related to the Chicago politician Victor Arrigo, as his father Antonino Arrigo was the great-grandson of a brother Antonino of the same Giuseppe Arrigo who was Salvatore Arrigo of Cincinnati's adoptive grandfather.

Additionally, there was the Francesco "Frank M." Arrigo who co-founded the storied LaMantia Bro. & Arrigo produce wholesaling house at the old South Water Market in Chicago. He arrived from Termini Imerese to Chinatown and later moved up and out of the ghetto to the SW suburb of Evergreen Park, where he died in 1956. His father was Ignazio Cosimo Arrigo who was a grandson of a Salvatore Arrigo who was another brother of the Giuseppe Arrigo who was Salvatore Arrigo of Cincinnati's adoptive grandfather. So, yes, these are all branches of the same Arrigo produce wholesaling dynasty.

Then there was the "Joe Arrigo" who was said to have been an early connected guy in Chicago Heights. I know very little about him except that Louis Corsino has written that he "was hired by Chicago Outfit boss, Johnny Torrio, to run the Outfit’s first foray into
Chicago Heights, the Moonlight Café" (no citation given, apparently taken from Matt Luzi's research). Without more info, I'm uncertain, but there was an Agostino Giuseppe Arrigo from Termini who lived first by Taylor St, then in the Heights, and then died in Cleveland in 1932. He was another one of these Arrigo cousins descended from the same ultimate line, I believe. One of his sisters, Domenica Arrigo, married Salvatore Battaglia (not Teets) of Termini, who I believe was also a connected guy in the Heights. One of their kids was Anthony "Nino" Battaglia , who married another Arrigo descendant (some real greaseball shit; I think she was Agostino Arrigo's daughter, so his 1st cousin); another son I believe was the Joe Battaglia who was married to one of Joe Costello/Castelli's sisters.

Arrigo also didn't appear on the membership list in 1985, which, assuming he was fully inducted and cooperating by that point, he would have. He also didn't appear on the 1993 list and he was definitely in WSP by then. There is a redacted space where his name fits, but that's almost certainly Joseph Andriacchi. Arrigo (or the C.I.) didn't mention DeMonte in 1976, but Arrigo was 100% the guy who told the FBI that he was "sponsored into the Outfit" at the same time as DeMonte.

B mentioned Mara listing names of made guys and he did use "sponsor" as a word to describe what was actually their capo. It could be that Arrigo made the same mistake as Mara and equated being put on record or formally assigned to a crew or capo equated being "brought into the Outfit."

Another point to note is that Nick is pretty clear when guys were present at an event that he did not know. He mentioned this specifically on at least two murders (Spilotro, D'Andrea), so I'd imagine he would do the same at the making ceremony, but it's hard to know for certain.

Also, Nick testified 24 years after his induction, not 34, but I guess Rick's point would still stand as that is also a long time.

Great post. Trafficante was very close to Chicago leaders but we're learning other members forged ties as well.

I could see "sponsored into" being used loosely to mean proposed for membership but not necessarily made or like Snakes said in context it could mean "on record". I'd usually take it to mean made but it's hard to know how it was used in the FBI interview without more detail. I believe it's Richie Mara's FBI interviews where he identifies non-members in Chicago as having a "sponsor" in the Family and though he mistakenly thinks they were made they were all definitely full-on associates of important members and Mara evidently used sponsorship to mean "on record". That's only if he actually used the word "sponsor" in his interviews vs. the FBI translating his words into that which is another issue. He was also a fringe associate who made mistakes about the organization and not an insider.

Could be too that "Belmonte" wasn't DeMonte, however unlikely. Much stranger things have happened with this subject than a phonetic name sounding like the name of another guy or the witness butchering the true name / confusing it with someone else. I agree DeMonte is the most likely 1983 inductee by far but it's not a fact. Could see Calabrese forgetting one of his co-inductees (Arrigo) but he's the ultimate source we have on the ceremony so hard to challenge it just because Frank DeMonte was said by a CI to have been "sponsored" alongside Arrigo and that DeMonte is a solid guess for "Belmonte".

If "Belmonte" was DeMonte and Arrigo was a forgotten inductee that day, it means Arrigo had to wait over 6 years to get made after being proposed. Not uncommon but like Tony said this is after he cooperated. If DeMonte was actually made earlier with Arrigo around late 1976 then he must not be "Belmonte" as it's unlikely Calabrese invented a guy he didn't know who was made at the 1983 ceremony.

With his surname and distant relation to another Arrigo, I wonder about a relation to Salvatore Arrigo of the Banana Society case. He came from Termini and lived in Ohio.

I thought the same. Also wonder if Nick Calabrese's recollections were comprehensive or if there were gaps. After all, there's a 34 year difference from when Nick was made and when he testified. I think some skepticism of his testimony is warranted and shouldn't be fully accepted at face value.

I always thought that 12076-PC was Arrigo himself. Arrigo told the FBI that he and Frank DeMonte were "sponsored into the Outfit on the same date," but we also know that other non-members have associated "sponsorship" not with making but with but with someone being represented by another Outfit member, usually within an existing street crew. Calabrese testified that DeMonte ("Belmonte") was made with him in 1983, so this would also dispute Arrigo being "made" with DeMonte.

I used to have a picture of Arrigo, but I'm not sure where it is.

[quote=sdeitche post_id=258313 time=1680463466 user_id=5233]
I had a bunch on Vic Arrigo, but never went further into research about him. This is great. It fills in a big blank slate on the Diecidue crew that was operating out of Castaways Lounge in the 1970s. They were heavy into arson for hire and narcotics. I'll see if I can add anything else in here.
[/quote]
Great to hear, looking forward to any further insight or info that you have on this.

If the 1976 FBI intel on Arrigo (as noted, likely provided by Arrigo himself) was accurate, it would seem that Arrigo was a Chicago associate, apparently on record with Caesar DiVarco, who was living and operating in Tampa for years with the approval (later retracted) of Diecidue. I wonder what the Tampa sources say about this.

I'm inclined to think that even if he had been proposed by DiVarco, Arrigo probably wasn't made, as he of course was pinched and then flipped and testified in Tampa in 1977.

I had a bunch on Vic Arrigo, but never went further into research about him. This is great. It fills in a big blank slate on the Diecidue crew that was operating out of Castaways Lounge in the 1970s. They were heavy into arson for hire and narcotics. I'll see if I can add anything else in here.

On the heels of Scott D's recent find that Chicago associate August DiCaro was suspected in a Tampa murder (http://theblackhand.club/forum/viewtopic.php?p=256821#p256821), here's another interesting Chicago-Tampa connection that I have not seen discussed.

Chicago aficionados will know the name of Richard Victor "Popeye" Arrigo (the nickname due to a glass eye that Vic Arrigo would reportedly pop out and tell guys that he was "keeping an eye" on his money; Arrigo had reportedly lost the eye in a shootout with police in Ft Lauderdale), a Chicago affiliate. In 1976, a CI reported to the FBI that Arrigo had claimed that he had been told by Northside crew member Joey "Caesar" DiVarco that he was being sponsored for membership in an upcoming ceremony to be officiated by Tony Accardo. It's not entirely clear whether Arrigo was actually made or not, however (and it's worth noting in this context that from my info, his mother was not Italian, though if he was made the bosses may not have been aware of this). Also worth noting that the CI in question, given the code CG 12076-PC, is unknown to me and doesn't seem to appear in any other report that I've seen; further, the agent handling this CI, Richard Cavanagh, was subsequently convicted of perjury in the early 1980s for lying to a Federal Grand Jury.

It would also seem that in the period in question, Vic Arrigo was living in FL, whether full or part-time I'm not sure. He may have relocated there in the 1960s when the Chicago press reported that Arrigo was wanted by police for his alleged role as the driver in a high-speed chase who had subsequently skipped town and was living out of state. In 1977, Arrigo was pinched for plotting to burn an Ybor City warehouse down in partnership with Tampa real estate broker Benton Chase. Arrigo flipped and agreed to testify, admitting to having participated in a "massive arson and mail fraud conspiracy" in the Tampa area from 1972 to 1976; the case wound up netting 19 defendants in total. Arrigo, who reportedly went by the alias "Vic Rossi", as well as "Victor Rizzo" and other aliases while in FL (he was convicted of possession of stolen paintings in Tampa in 1976, pled guilty to 8 charges and agreed to testify in return for a light prison sentence. The defendants that Arrigo flipped on in 1977 included City of Tampa housing inspector Rosario "Sam" Palermo, John Lazzara (brother of major gambling figure Primo Lazzara), and John "Scarface" Rivera, reputed bodyguard to gambling boss Charlie Wall. Interestingly, the Tampa press also reported that Arrigo had been a personal associate of Frank Diecidue (they reportedly had shared a prison cell in the past) until the two had a falling out and Diecidue had allegedly ordered Arrigo to leave Tampa.

Further articles in the Tampa press reported that Arrigo -- stated to have used at least a dozen aliases in FL -- also testified in a tax evasion case against Tampa lounge owner Rick Pauline in 1988, claiming that he had worked with Pauline in a stolen diamond fencing scheme. At this time it was further reported that Arrigo had begun informing to LE when he was pinched in '76 for the stolen paintings case. In this light, "CG 12076" was quite possibly Arrigo himself, as it is not uncommon for FBI reports to render informant accounts of themselves in the third person.

Clearly, Arrigo's cooperation in these cases paid off, given that at least by 1981 he was back living in Skokie, a northern suburb of Chicago that borders Evanston, where Arrigo was born. In September of that year, Arrigo was busted in his Skokie home by Federal agents for an interstate arson-for-hire conspiracy between Chicago and Atlanta. In 1992, a Tribune article noted Arrigo as having been suspected of being involved in narcotics trafficking via a car wash that he had owned in North Suburban Lake County; it was also noted at this time that Arrigo was said to have "disappeared" in 1991. He may have entered WITSEC around this time, though I'm not sure of the details there or who he might have testified against if true (the guy was basically a one-man crime spree for decades, so who knows). Arrigo was apparently pinched again on gun charges in the 90s and was interviewed by ABC-7's "I Team" mob reporter Chuck Goudie around that time, though I don't know the details. in 2007, Arrigo was pinched for stealing salumi and cheese from a deli in West suburban Berkeley (Arrigo told reporters, that at his age, you "do things to see if you can get away with them"). Vic "Popeye" Arrigo died in 2012 in Merlose Park, at age 74.

Given his many aliases and obviously wide scope of criminal activity, there is much about Arrigo that remains murky. It's hard to believe that the guy testified multiple times against people in FL and then wound up moving back to Chicagoland and not getting clipped. Possible that the Chicago bosses didn't know about what happened in FL (which seems unlikely given that Arrigo was all over the papers in the 70s in Tampa, but news didn't travel then like it does today, of course). Or they did know but gave him a pass for some unknown reason.

Also interesting to note that we now have three Chicago-Tampa connections where all were Sicilians and apparently involved in narcotics -- the Franzone brothers, the DiCaros, and Arrigo. Arrigo's father was Antonino "Anthony" Arrigo of Evanston, whose parents were from Termini Imerese, like the DiCaros. It should also be noted that Vic "Popeye" Arrigo was not the same Victor Arrigo who was a celebrated Chicago alderman and IL State Representative for whom the nostalgic old "Peanut Park" in the Taylor St Italian colony was renamed "Arrigo Park". That Victor Arrigo was born Vito Arrigo in 1908 in Termini Imerese and was actually a distant cousin of Popeye, though one has to go back to the beginning of the 19th century to trace the exact link (both Arrigos were also likely related at some level to the Arrigos of the Termitano-owned LaMantia Bros. & Arrigo produce wholesaling company of South Water St Market fame).

A picture of a young Popeye Arrigo being tried in "Santa Court". In the following years, Arrigo was indeed found to have been a very, [i]very[/i] bad boy:

[img]http://theblackhand.club/forum/ext/dmzx/imageupload/files/c30570f300fbfe1be061dc1545c7c57a.jpg[/img]

1976 FBI report citing CG 12076-PC as the source for Vic Arrigo having been proposed to be made. As Arrigo was said to have begun cooperating with LE when he was knocked for a stolen paintings case in FL in 1976, I think the CI was actually Arrigo himself (also note that "Vic Rossi", Arrigo's preferred Tampa alias, was added as a note):

[img]http://theblackhand.club/forum/ext/dmzx/imageupload/files/32bc28cdaae8fbf592793f089ff3d0d5.jpg[/img]