by PolackTony » Thu Nov 14, 2024 5:59 pm
Patrickgold wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 1:11 pm
PolackTony wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 11:59 am
NorthBuffalo wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 8:14 am
Snakes wrote: ↑Wed Nov 13, 2024 6:23 pm
NorthBuffalo wrote: ↑Wed Nov 13, 2024 4:18 pmAlso for you Chicago experts, I was also recently put on to an individual named 'Steven Veteto' who was a collector for Anthony Chiaramonte in the early 1990s. Has anyone heard of him?
Ignoffo's actual first name is Ronald, but is commonly misspelled as "Roland."
Veteto seems like quite a character. He assaulted an undercover FBI agent and then agreed to cooperate before skipping town. He also beat up his mother and tried to set her on fire(!) according to this court opinion:
https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/u-s-v-veteto-888307723
He ended up serving a few years. I'm not sure if he is still alive, but he is only in his 70s, so it's very possible.
I spoke with someone who knows Ignoffo. Roland Ignoffo was his father who was a major bookmaker for the northside crew in the 1970s, hence the confusion with the names. There was a Roland Jr. who is dead. There is a Salvatore Ignoffo (Ron's brother/Roland's oldest son) who was also affiliated with the Outfit. All of the Ignoffo sons were members of a white gang in Norridge (ChiWest).
Ronald Ignoffo goes by 'RJ' to most who know him. There is a lot of gambling up in north suburbs where he resides.
Right, Ronald Ignoffo’s dad was Roland Salvatore “Goldie” Ignoffo, Sr, a longtime outfit associate. Born in Chicago in 1915 to parents from Sambuca, he married Christine Nappi, sister of Romie Nappi and Gloria Nappi Fosco, Joe Fosco’s stepmother. Sons Ronald and Salvatore Ignoffo are thus step cousins of Joe Fosco. Other sons of Roland and Christine Ignoffo were Richard and Joseph; they did have a son named Roland Ignoffo, Jr, but he died as a toddler in the 1940s.
Not sure where you got Norridge from. I’m not aware that Chi-West ever had a chapter in Norridge, and the Ignoffos were not from there. The Ignoffos lived for over half a century at Keating and Wabansia in West Humboldt Park (father Roland Ignoffo was still living there when he died in 2006, amazingly, as he was interviewed by the Tribune earlier that year during the controversy over Chicago’s first WalMart, located nearby). For those not from Chicago, there is an enormous difference between having grown up in Norridge (a safe middle class suburb) and Humboldt Park (a former blue collar ethnic neighborhood that over the 1960s and 70s precipitously declined into a hardcore slum and one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Chicago).
Eldest brother Salvatore Ignoffo was hospitalized in 1954 after being hit by a shotgun blast during a gang fight in the Montclare neighborhood when he was 15. It should be noted that this predated the formation of Chi-West, so his gang involvement was unrelated to that organization. Chi-West was a predominately Ukrainian gang formed in the late 50s in the vicinity of the intersection of Chicago and Western in the Ukrainian Village section of West Town (on the Westside of Chicago just north of the Grand Ave Italian community; I grew up in this area in the last years of Chi-West’s activity as a street gang). Later, in the 1960s and 70s, Chi-West expanded with new recruitment due to white youth organizing in opposition to the influx of Puerto Ricans on the NW Side, opening chapters in Logan Square, Hermosa/Belmont-Cragin, Albany Park, and West Humboldt Park. Ronald Ignoffo was the President of the latter chapter, which was based around Armitage and Cicero, near the Ignoffo home. Formed in the late 1960s, this chapter only lasted a few years before it was forced to shut down due to heavy opposition, as Chi-West was basically at war with every gang on the NW Side.
By the 1980s, Chi-West had become relegated to their original territory in Ukie Village. Their remaining leadership had, however, reputedly made close ties to Ukrainian organized crime. In the late 80s, Chi-West Chief Jack “The Jew” Farmer was featured on America’s Most Wanted after he fled to Fl to escape trial in Chicago on a litany of 108 Federal charges, ranging from murder to narcotics trafficking, armed robbery, and extortion. Described by Federal LE as a “mini-mafia”, the remaining Chi-West organization was alleged to have been operating a host of criminal activities to finance a FL-to-Chicago cocaine pipeline (the prosecutor in the case described Chi-West as “one of the most vicious groups of people I have ever seen” and feared that Farmer was aiming to have him assassinated). Farmer escaped custody after assaulting his own attorney and went on the lam, but was apprehend and sentenced to 40 years; he hung himself in prison in 1993. After Farmer was busted, Chi-West was basically defunct, though you could still find a couple of them menacing people in the vicinity of Chicago and Western, or near Augusta and Leavitt, into the early 90s, as they were backed on the street by the Latin Kings (Chi-West was left with no choice but to join the People alliance for the protection of the remaining membership). Chi-West was a legendary organization on the Near NW Side when I was a kid, in their last years of decline by then but notorious for their extreme viciousness and bravery. Absolute savages.
Good write up Tony. Just a little more recent info on Chi-West. There tagging has been popping up again on the Western and Chicago area again and supposedly they have made a resurgence by recruiting recent Ukrainian immigrants that have fled war torn Ukraine. I also heard a son of one of their chiefs has been the one responsible for their resurgence. He was living somewhere down south but moved back. No idea who that is. Despite the property value exploding in Ukrainian village, it is still an entry port for Ukrainians coming to Chicago. Never heard of them having a branch in Norridge like you commented on but it would not surprise me now bc if recent Ukrainian immigrants are no going to Ukrainian Village they are moving to that Cumberland and Lawrence area where the huge Ukrainian Church is.
I’ve heard the same about Chi-West undergoing a resurgence recently and recruiting current Ukrainian immigrants. Can’t speak to the veracity of it but wouldn’t shock me if true. As with other old school gangs like the GLs, they remained like a social club for their old heads for decades after becoming basically defunct as an active street criminal organization. So there was some basis for continuity, as like a close knit tradition among the core membership from back in the day. If they indeed have a history of ties to Ukrainian OC, as has also been alleged and which I believe was true, they could well have relationships with those elements still.
And yeah, for decades the more affluent Ukies have been moving out to the Far NW Side. As you note, that community is anchored by the huge St Joseph Ukrainian Catholic Church, though there are several other Ukrainian churches also on the Far NW Side and adjacent suburbs. This community really has grown since the 90s, and since that same time there have been vague claims about “Eastern European organized crime” being active in Elmwood Park and nearby areas. While details are lacking, my assumptions has been at least a good part of this element is Ukrainian (though there are of course plenty of Russians, Balkans, and now a growing Central Asian population around too).
Back in the day, at least, I’m not aware that Chi-West ever had any suburban sections. So far as I know, they were always a city organization (unlike the Notes, who have had some presence in the burbs too), and even their other chapters outside of Ukie Village didn’t last long due to demographic turnover and the fact that they were fighting basically everyone else simultaneously. If they really are coming back today, who knows what the deal is now.
[quote=Patrickgold post_id=286378 time=1731615114 user_id=6577]
[quote=PolackTony post_id=286369 time=1731610780 user_id=6658]
[quote=NorthBuffalo post_id=286358 time=1731597299 user_id=8087]
[quote=Snakes post_id=286332 time=1731547409 user_id=66]
[quote=NorthBuffalo post_id=286327 time=1731539908 user_id=8087]Also for you Chicago experts, I was also recently put on to an individual named 'Steven Veteto' who was a collector for Anthony Chiaramonte in the early 1990s. Has anyone heard of him?
[/quote]
Ignoffo's actual first name is Ronald, but is commonly misspelled as "Roland."
Veteto seems like quite a character. He assaulted an undercover FBI agent and then agreed to cooperate before skipping town. He also beat up his mother and tried to set her on fire(!) according to this court opinion: https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/u-s-v-veteto-888307723
He ended up serving a few years. I'm not sure if he is still alive, but he is only in his 70s, so it's very possible.
[/quote]
I spoke with someone who knows Ignoffo. Roland Ignoffo was his father who was a major bookmaker for the northside crew in the 1970s, hence the confusion with the names. There was a Roland Jr. who is dead. There is a Salvatore Ignoffo (Ron's brother/Roland's oldest son) who was also affiliated with the Outfit. All of the Ignoffo sons were members of a white gang in Norridge (ChiWest).
Ronald Ignoffo goes by 'RJ' to most who know him. There is a lot of gambling up in north suburbs where he resides.
[/quote]
Right, Ronald Ignoffo’s dad was Roland Salvatore “Goldie” Ignoffo, Sr, a longtime outfit associate. Born in Chicago in 1915 to parents from Sambuca, he married Christine Nappi, sister of Romie Nappi and Gloria Nappi Fosco, Joe Fosco’s stepmother. Sons Ronald and Salvatore Ignoffo are thus step cousins of Joe Fosco. Other sons of Roland and Christine Ignoffo were Richard and Joseph; they did have a son named Roland Ignoffo, Jr, but he died as a toddler in the 1940s.
Not sure where you got Norridge from. I’m not aware that Chi-West ever had a chapter in Norridge, and the Ignoffos were not from there. The Ignoffos lived for over half a century at Keating and Wabansia in West Humboldt Park (father Roland Ignoffo was still living there when he died in 2006, amazingly, as he was interviewed by the Tribune earlier that year during the controversy over Chicago’s first WalMart, located nearby). For those not from Chicago, there is an enormous difference between having grown up in Norridge (a safe middle class suburb) and Humboldt Park (a former blue collar ethnic neighborhood that over the 1960s and 70s precipitously declined into a hardcore slum and one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Chicago).
Eldest brother Salvatore Ignoffo was hospitalized in 1954 after being hit by a shotgun blast during a gang fight in the Montclare neighborhood when he was 15. It should be noted that this predated the formation of Chi-West, so his gang involvement was unrelated to that organization. Chi-West was a predominately Ukrainian gang formed in the late 50s in the vicinity of the intersection of Chicago and Western in the Ukrainian Village section of West Town (on the Westside of Chicago just north of the Grand Ave Italian community; I grew up in this area in the last years of Chi-West’s activity as a street gang). Later, in the 1960s and 70s, Chi-West expanded with new recruitment due to white youth organizing in opposition to the influx of Puerto Ricans on the NW Side, opening chapters in Logan Square, Hermosa/Belmont-Cragin, Albany Park, and West Humboldt Park. Ronald Ignoffo was the President of the latter chapter, which was based around Armitage and Cicero, near the Ignoffo home. Formed in the late 1960s, this chapter only lasted a few years before it was forced to shut down due to heavy opposition, as Chi-West was basically at war with every gang on the NW Side.
By the 1980s, Chi-West had become relegated to their original territory in Ukie Village. Their remaining leadership had, however, reputedly made close ties to Ukrainian organized crime. In the late 80s, Chi-West Chief Jack “The Jew” Farmer was featured on America’s Most Wanted after he fled to Fl to escape trial in Chicago on a litany of 108 Federal charges, ranging from murder to narcotics trafficking, armed robbery, and extortion. Described by Federal LE as a “mini-mafia”, the remaining Chi-West organization was alleged to have been operating a host of criminal activities to finance a FL-to-Chicago cocaine pipeline (the prosecutor in the case described Chi-West as “one of the most vicious groups of people I have ever seen” and feared that Farmer was aiming to have him assassinated). Farmer escaped custody after assaulting his own attorney and went on the lam, but was apprehend and sentenced to 40 years; he hung himself in prison in 1993. After Farmer was busted, Chi-West was basically defunct, though you could still find a couple of them menacing people in the vicinity of Chicago and Western, or near Augusta and Leavitt, into the early 90s, as they were backed on the street by the Latin Kings (Chi-West was left with no choice but to join the People alliance for the protection of the remaining membership). Chi-West was a legendary organization on the Near NW Side when I was a kid, in their last years of decline by then but notorious for their extreme viciousness and bravery. Absolute savages.
[/quote]
Good write up Tony. Just a little more recent info on Chi-West. There tagging has been popping up again on the Western and Chicago area again and supposedly they have made a resurgence by recruiting recent Ukrainian immigrants that have fled war torn Ukraine. I also heard a son of one of their chiefs has been the one responsible for their resurgence. He was living somewhere down south but moved back. No idea who that is. Despite the property value exploding in Ukrainian village, it is still an entry port for Ukrainians coming to Chicago. Never heard of them having a branch in Norridge like you commented on but it would not surprise me now bc if recent Ukrainian immigrants are no going to Ukrainian Village they are moving to that Cumberland and Lawrence area where the huge Ukrainian Church is.
[/quote]
I’ve heard the same about Chi-West undergoing a resurgence recently and recruiting current Ukrainian immigrants. Can’t speak to the veracity of it but wouldn’t shock me if true. As with other old school gangs like the GLs, they remained like a social club for their old heads for decades after becoming basically defunct as an active street criminal organization. So there was some basis for continuity, as like a close knit tradition among the core membership from back in the day. If they indeed have a history of ties to Ukrainian OC, as has also been alleged and which I believe was true, they could well have relationships with those elements still.
And yeah, for decades the more affluent Ukies have been moving out to the Far NW Side. As you note, that community is anchored by the huge St Joseph Ukrainian Catholic Church, though there are several other Ukrainian churches also on the Far NW Side and adjacent suburbs. This community really has grown since the 90s, and since that same time there have been vague claims about “Eastern European organized crime” being active in Elmwood Park and nearby areas. While details are lacking, my assumptions has been at least a good part of this element is Ukrainian (though there are of course plenty of Russians, Balkans, and now a growing Central Asian population around too).
Back in the day, at least, I’m not aware that Chi-West ever had any suburban sections. So far as I know, they were always a city organization (unlike the Notes, who have had some presence in the burbs too), and even their other chapters outside of Ukie Village didn’t last long due to demographic turnover and the fact that they were fighting basically everyone else simultaneously. If they really are coming back today, who knows what the deal is now.