by cavita » Fri Sep 15, 2023 12:09 pm
Anthony F. Calcione was born on March 8, 1914 in Rockford, Illinois to Salvatore Calcione and Caterina Massari, both of whom were immigrants from San Salvatore di Fitalia, Sicily, a small town midway between Cefalu and Messina in the eastern portion of Sicily.
Calcione’s first arrest came at the age of 14 when on April 18, 1929 he was caught for being part of a gang of automobile thieves that stole cars from Rockford, Oregon, Mount Morris and other neighboring northern Illinois cities. Others arrested were Tony Gagliano, 17, Otto French, 19, Joe Sartino, 18, Tony LaFranka, 18, and Mario Giglio, 17. Gaspare Alfano, 32, was also arrested for receiving stolen property relating to this case. Calcione pled guilty the following November and was given probation. This operation could very well have been loosely tied to the early Rockford LCN as Sartino, LaFranka and Giglio would later to go on to work under the sphere of the Mafia in Rockford and it was well known that Italian organized crime at the time was involved in the stolen auto/auto parts racket.
Going the straight and narrow path didn’t last long for Calcione as he was arrested again on September 10, 1932 along with Frank Giardono and Charles Vince. The three were charged with robbing the Phillips oil station in Byron and other robberies in northern Illinois. Charges were eventually dropped for all three and it is noteworthy that in the years to come, Charles Vince would rise to the position of acting boss in the Rockford LCN and Giardono, who died in 1954, was possibly an early made member.
Once again, Calcione was arrested on January 29, 1933 for the holdup of a Beloit, Wisconsin oil station but he was released when the victims failed to identify him. It was at this time Calcione most certainly became a peripheral player in the Rockford mafia and this time period was very tumultuous as LCN boss Tony Musso had solidified his grip on the Rockford underworld having murdered his rival Paul Giovingo in February 1933.
On October 4, 1936 Maria Marotta found herself the bride of Anthony Calcione at St. Anthony’s Church. Maria’s parents were Andrea Marotta and Caterina Sagona of Sambuca, Sicily and the newlyweds settled into their new home at 1314 Victoria Avenue in southwest Rockford, which at the time was considered “Little Italy.” Their home was just down the street from Gaspare Calo, who would become Rockford LCN’s underboss.
By April 1944, Calcione was listed as the proprietor of the Town Lounge at 602 West State Street along with George Leggio. Calcione was used as a frontman for this tavern by Joe Zito, who was consigliere of the Rockford LCN and Zito would employ many frontmen to operate taverns for him and hold liquor licenses in their name over the years.
Anthony Calcione stayed out of trouble until January 31, 1946 when he was arrested and charged as being the keeper of a gambling establishment when he was overseeing gambling in the form of dice games at the Veterans of World War II Club at 1026 ½ South Main Street. Twenty other men were also arrested in this raid and Calcione only paid a modest fine for the charge. Gambling during this time was at a peak as police files had indicated there was a sophisticated syndicate that was running gambling and bookmaking utilizing the wire services coming into various businesses in Rockford. LCN boss Tony Musso had taken complete control of the gambling business in Rockford with the shotgun murder of bookie czar Charles Kalb in December 1937.
Continuing to be “employed” at the Town Lounge in February 1948, Calcione, along with his brother Joe and their brother-in-law Frank Tripodi, sold the two-story building that housed the Town Lounge on the first floor and the Roma Benefit Society on the second floor. The building was sold to Ralph and Bernadine Petty, but the businesses were still firmly controlled by consigliere Joe Zito according to later FBI files.
By August 1952, Joe Zito utilized Anthony Calcione again and had him operating the Lincoln Lounge at 206 North Church Street in Rockford. The lounge was a popular nightlife spot in the heart of downtown Rockford and that address would continue to be controlled by Zito with Calcione acting as his frontman.
In February 1959 two Rockford gamblers using crooked dice and marked decks were warned by Rockford LCN members to stay out of Rockford or they’d “end up in a ditch.” Though the Rockford LCN wasn’t specifically mentioned, those interviewed stated they were told by the two gamblers, Joe Greco and Donald Burton, that they had run afoul of “The Syndicate.” When the two men were found beaten and strangled in the trunk of their car outside the Rockford city limits an investigation was launched in July and many people were questioned before the Grand Jury. Anthony Calcione was one of those questioned but his testimony along with many others came to nothing and no one was arrested for this double murder.
Things remained quiet for Calcione as the 1960s got underway and he changed the name of the Lincoln Lounge to The Playroom and the tavern continued to be secretly run by consigliere Joe Zito, however trouble was brewing. Through Milwaukee LCN informant Augie Maniaci, the FBI found out about that tavern and many others that were being run by frontmen. In December 1968 the government opened up a Grand Jury probe into the Rockford LCN under the guise of gambling and liquor violations. Many Rockford LCN members and their associates were paraded before the Grand Jury and the story was front page news for a few days. Anthony Calcione was one of those associates who testified and when the dust settled, only two people were found guilty- Anthony Calcione and Nello Cellitti, another tavern frontman for Joe Zito. Calcione pled guilty in March 1969 for mislabeling and selling watered down whiskey and he was fined $700.
In the 1970s Calcione changed the name again of his tavern at 206 North Church Street from The Playroom to The Cart and he continued to run it as a front for Joe Zito and it became a popular lunchtime hangout with the downtown crowd as well as a swinging nightspot.
In November 1992 Calcione moved out of his home at 1510 Montague Street in the Little Italy section of Rockford and bought a house on the east side of Rockford at 707 Hemlock Lane, but he didn’t enjoy the home for long and he passed away on September 8, 1993 at the age of 78.
Anthony F. Calcione was born on March 8, 1914 in Rockford, Illinois to Salvatore Calcione and Caterina Massari, both of whom were immigrants from San Salvatore di Fitalia, Sicily, a small town midway between Cefalu and Messina in the eastern portion of Sicily.
Calcione’s first arrest came at the age of 14 when on April 18, 1929 he was caught for being part of a gang of automobile thieves that stole cars from Rockford, Oregon, Mount Morris and other neighboring northern Illinois cities. Others arrested were Tony Gagliano, 17, Otto French, 19, Joe Sartino, 18, Tony LaFranka, 18, and Mario Giglio, 17. Gaspare Alfano, 32, was also arrested for receiving stolen property relating to this case. Calcione pled guilty the following November and was given probation. This operation could very well have been loosely tied to the early Rockford LCN as Sartino, LaFranka and Giglio would later to go on to work under the sphere of the Mafia in Rockford and it was well known that Italian organized crime at the time was involved in the stolen auto/auto parts racket.
Going the straight and narrow path didn’t last long for Calcione as he was arrested again on September 10, 1932 along with Frank Giardono and Charles Vince. The three were charged with robbing the Phillips oil station in Byron and other robberies in northern Illinois. Charges were eventually dropped for all three and it is noteworthy that in the years to come, Charles Vince would rise to the position of acting boss in the Rockford LCN and Giardono, who died in 1954, was possibly an early made member.
Once again, Calcione was arrested on January 29, 1933 for the holdup of a Beloit, Wisconsin oil station but he was released when the victims failed to identify him. It was at this time Calcione most certainly became a peripheral player in the Rockford mafia and this time period was very tumultuous as LCN boss Tony Musso had solidified his grip on the Rockford underworld having murdered his rival Paul Giovingo in February 1933.
On October 4, 1936 Maria Marotta found herself the bride of Anthony Calcione at St. Anthony’s Church. Maria’s parents were Andrea Marotta and Caterina Sagona of Sambuca, Sicily and the newlyweds settled into their new home at 1314 Victoria Avenue in southwest Rockford, which at the time was considered “Little Italy.” Their home was just down the street from Gaspare Calo, who would become Rockford LCN’s underboss.
By April 1944, Calcione was listed as the proprietor of the Town Lounge at 602 West State Street along with George Leggio. Calcione was used as a frontman for this tavern by Joe Zito, who was consigliere of the Rockford LCN and Zito would employ many frontmen to operate taverns for him and hold liquor licenses in their name over the years.
Anthony Calcione stayed out of trouble until January 31, 1946 when he was arrested and charged as being the keeper of a gambling establishment when he was overseeing gambling in the form of dice games at the Veterans of World War II Club at 1026 ½ South Main Street. Twenty other men were also arrested in this raid and Calcione only paid a modest fine for the charge. Gambling during this time was at a peak as police files had indicated there was a sophisticated syndicate that was running gambling and bookmaking utilizing the wire services coming into various businesses in Rockford. LCN boss Tony Musso had taken complete control of the gambling business in Rockford with the shotgun murder of bookie czar Charles Kalb in December 1937.
Continuing to be “employed” at the Town Lounge in February 1948, Calcione, along with his brother Joe and their brother-in-law Frank Tripodi, sold the two-story building that housed the Town Lounge on the first floor and the Roma Benefit Society on the second floor. The building was sold to Ralph and Bernadine Petty, but the businesses were still firmly controlled by consigliere Joe Zito according to later FBI files.
By August 1952, Joe Zito utilized Anthony Calcione again and had him operating the Lincoln Lounge at 206 North Church Street in Rockford. The lounge was a popular nightlife spot in the heart of downtown Rockford and that address would continue to be controlled by Zito with Calcione acting as his frontman.
In February 1959 two Rockford gamblers using crooked dice and marked decks were warned by Rockford LCN members to stay out of Rockford or they’d “end up in a ditch.” Though the Rockford LCN wasn’t specifically mentioned, those interviewed stated they were told by the two gamblers, Joe Greco and Donald Burton, that they had run afoul of “The Syndicate.” When the two men were found beaten and strangled in the trunk of their car outside the Rockford city limits an investigation was launched in July and many people were questioned before the Grand Jury. Anthony Calcione was one of those questioned but his testimony along with many others came to nothing and no one was arrested for this double murder.
Things remained quiet for Calcione as the 1960s got underway and he changed the name of the Lincoln Lounge to The Playroom and the tavern continued to be secretly run by consigliere Joe Zito, however trouble was brewing. Through Milwaukee LCN informant Augie Maniaci, the FBI found out about that tavern and many others that were being run by frontmen. In December 1968 the government opened up a Grand Jury probe into the Rockford LCN under the guise of gambling and liquor violations. Many Rockford LCN members and their associates were paraded before the Grand Jury and the story was front page news for a few days. Anthony Calcione was one of those associates who testified and when the dust settled, only two people were found guilty- Anthony Calcione and Nello Cellitti, another tavern frontman for Joe Zito. Calcione pled guilty in March 1969 for mislabeling and selling watered down whiskey and he was fined $700.
In the 1970s Calcione changed the name again of his tavern at 206 North Church Street from The Playroom to The Cart and he continued to run it as a front for Joe Zito and it became a popular lunchtime hangout with the downtown crowd as well as a swinging nightspot.
In November 1992 Calcione moved out of his home at 1510 Montague Street in the Little Italy section of Rockford and bought a house on the east side of Rockford at 707 Hemlock Lane, but he didn’t enjoy the home for long and he passed away on September 8, 1993 at the age of 78.