THE BLACK HAND FORUM

Louis Frank “Louie the Tailor” Rosanova was a real guy, I’ve posted a bit about him before. The only “source” that I can recall seeing for the claim that he was an NFL player was Scott Burnstein. Rosanova was a pretty well-covered guy by LE and the Chicago press in the 1960s/70s, and no such claim was ever made in that coverage (if he had played for the Bears, this fact certainly would have been reported, so this claim is probably bullshit). He was a well-known Pro-Am golfer, however. The idea that he was an “enforcer” also seems to come from Gangster Report and I believe is similarly spurious. He was the manager of a fancy suburban country club, not some goon. I can post what I have on him later.

Anyone have any info on Luigi Rosanova? Apparently a former Chicago bears football player, who had a tailor shop in Elmwood park and became one of that crews primary enforcers. Cerone and Difronzo were constantly meeting at this shoppe during the early 80s. I can’t find any info on him, not even when searching for his alleged football career

Aunt+Baby wrote: ↑Wed Jun 18, 2025 6:54 am

Proletarian187 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 14, 2025 2:01 pm I just wanted to drop a podcast tip. Gary Jenkins of Gangland wire had an episode recently about Jerry Scalice. He interviewed a lawyer/business man who did time with him in the feds and apparently they became friends.

Interesting fella that Scalice, I love stories about wiseguys who spread their wings outside of the typical mafia sphere. Seems like a unique guy.

I haven't vetted the lawyer, David Grosky so I'm not co signing anything. I don't think he's full of shit, but he is a lawyer who committed health care fraud so beware haha..

Listened to it. The most interesting thing I got out of it was that he also did time with Big Mike Spano, who is one of the most interesting outfit figures of all time, and whose son I firmly believe to be a major player today. He runs his crew out of a bowling alley in Berwyn.

Scalise doesn’t interest me all that much. But anyways, it’s very clear that these Outfit Guys don’t discuss *anything* with outsiders, and possibly not even amongst themselves. Polar opposite of NY, and seem to be more in line with Italy/canada.

I think this might be even more strict today. I think about the PK Crew bust, and how Hollingshead was giving the feds info on that group. He was verified as hanging with and socializing with Vena as part of that crew. Yet, no indictment on Vena came of that. This tells me that Vena was really strict about protocol, and likely only discussed real "business" with Panozzo, and kept his stuff with Hollingshead strictly social.

It seems like this type of protocol got a lot more serious in the Difronzo era, even though it goes back a good ways to the 70's, when orders came down (according to Calabrese Jr. at least), that you were only supposed to hang with your immediate group and not socialize with outsiders.

I remember hearing a while back that while Marco DAmico was in Milan Michigan, he didn’t talk to anyone else from the Life who was in there with him at the time. That’s some discipline for sure

However, on that fat fuck chef Joe Merlino lackey’s (Angelo something) old podcast or whatever it was, he states that he and Merlino buddied up to Marco DAmico and Tony Dote. Not sure what prison that would have been in, but it was obviously sometime during the 90s. I don’t know if Merlino was ever in Milan. And I don’t know which years Dote was locked up

Proletarian187 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 14, 2025 2:01 pm I just wanted to drop a podcast tip. Gary Jenkins of Gangland wire had an episode recently about Jerry Scalice. He interviewed a lawyer/business man who did time with him in the feds and apparently they became friends.

Interesting fella that Scalice, I love stories about wiseguys who spread their wings outside of the typical mafia sphere. Seems like a unique guy.

I haven't vetted the lawyer, David Grosky so I'm not co signing anything. I don't think he's full of shit, but he is a lawyer who committed health care fraud so beware haha..

Listened to it. The most interesting thing I got out of it was that he also did time with Big Mike Spano, who is one of the most interesting outfit figures of all time, and whose son I firmly believe to be a major player today. He runs his crew out of a bowling alley in Berwyn.

Scalise doesn’t interest me all that much. But anyways, it’s very clear that these Outfit Guys don’t discuss *anything* with outsiders, and possibly not even amongst themselves. Polar opposite of NY, and seem to be more in line with Italy/canada.

Shows how well insulation of bosses worked in practice considering the upper level of bosses go unnamed in the report. Report complied after 1969 crackdown on juice loans operations.

Cool site on juice loans

I just wanted to drop a podcast tip. Gary Jenkins of Gangland wire had an episode recently about Jerry Scalice. He interviewed a lawyer/business man who did time with him in the feds and apparently they became friends.

Interesting fella that Scalice, I love stories about wiseguys who spread their wings outside of the typical mafia sphere. Seems like a unique guy.

I haven't vetted the lawyer, David Grosky so I'm not co signing anything. I don't think he's full of shit, but he is a lawyer who committed health care fraud so beware haha..

As the question of documented ties that Alderisio had to NY guys came up recently. A source in Frank "Butch" Loverde's file claimed that Alderisio and LoVerde, unsurprisingly, had ties to Genovese member Gaetano "Tony Goebels" Ricci, as the two had been known to attend meetings with Ricci and Giancana in the early 1960s. Alderisio and LoVerde were both heavily involved in various legitimate business enterprises, including, but not at all limited to, operating taxi cab companies tied to gambling and prostitution operations in the Rush St nightlife district. We also know that Alderisio was a soldier direct with Giancana at this time; I would presume that Ricci may have been partnered with Giancana and Alderisio in some legitimate business activities, which would explain the meetings. Also worth noting that another CI in LoVerde's file also claimed that Alderisio and LoVerde were close "personal friends" of Detroit outfit member Pete Licavoli.

Ivan wrote: ↑Wed Jun 11, 2025 6:16 pm

VC2 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 11, 2025 3:15 pm i think most can agree BH in general has had enough "excitement" across the board lately, outfit debates of that kind derail faster than usain bolt.

If you're new just FYI that was all totally anomalous. Was due to deliberate trolling by a certain member who is no longer with us.

He threw one final grenade before he was clipped with the Bonanno Social Club thread though.

VC2 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 11, 2025 3:15 pm i think most can agree BH in general has had enough "excitement" across the board lately, outfit debates of that kind derail faster than usain bolt.

If you're new just FYI that was all totally anomalous. Was due to deliberate trolling by a certain member who is no longer with us.

The relationship between the mafia and criminality is not black and white or always continuous. While the "organized crime" tag is certainly deserved and any active mafia organization is inevitably going to be "open" to organized crime activity even if they're not heavily involved in it at a given time (i.e. some of the smaller US Families by the 1960s), that can change in the blink of an eye for an individual member and therefore the organization as whole.

There are examples like George Adragna who transferred from Pittsburgh to the barely-active San Jose Family and was seemingly "retired" but as MotorFab found he looks to have been helping facilitate a large-scale drug network with his in-laws and the Sicilian mafia in his later years; the opportunity apparently came up and he took it. Colombo member Tom DiBella was said by sources like Scarpa to have been completely uninvolved in "organized crime" activity for a decade or more and the FBI actually closed his file in the 1970s because of his ongoing "uninvolvement" in OC but a year later he was elected boss and overseeing the entire Family, therefore suddenly very "criminally active" by default.

With members, unless they are shelved or truly trying to remove themselves from the mafia network, they will maintain contact and relationships with other mafiosi until they die. It's what they do and even though there are exceptions, members will continue to maintain their place in the network for the entirety of their lives even if they no longer participate in organized crime or involve themselves in organizational politics. It's not so much a choice, it's what they are.

Associates are a little different because they didn't take an oath that cements them to the org for life but most of them too operate similarly. Their social existence, familial relationships, and legitimate businesses are often ingrained in the mafia network and it's simply the water they swim in. Some "associates" are around the org because of familial connections and not truly embedded in the mafia infrastructure so if their mafioso relative dies they may become very distanced from the organization but even years later a situation might come up where they need the mafia or they are preyed upon by the mafia, so they're never truly removed from it. (Think of the taped New England induction where JR Russo says your relatives will be part of this for 'seven generations'.)

It isn't black and white and even if we can't say positively whether an associate was involved in organized crime or mafia activity after 1991, like the example you gave, probability suggests that guy was still "with" the mafia and socially involved if nothing else and there is a high probability he was open to criminal opportunities if not participating in crime if he had a long history of OC activity.

this is such a breath of fresh air fellas. a question asked, direction given and answers given without any BS, i love it.

my question was unclear to a point, which is entirely my fault, ole brain doesnt always click these days, well most of last 2 plus years. i have used the search function a lot and it works very well. i suppose not finding much on some of these guys gives one a clue to their alleged activity. to al pilotto i was curious if indeed with local 5 he had ever tried to reassert influence after release. thought maybe something gone unread in an o'rourke report that i had missed but that settles that.

now to the others i had listed i couldnt find much in search on BH or really anywhere indicating being active in any function or rank. but they continue to pop up in conversation, on charts etc and i guess my point is it needs to be expressed that their involvement in criminality was not constant for the majority of these guys but for short periods of time related to a specific crew. so a guy like sam glorioso for example, more than likely his association with the outfit ended circa 1991 and did not continue, best we know up until his death in 2005.

however a guy like rocco lamantia may be entirely different. with his father being who he was, with the families relationships to other for better word, bridgeport families and connections he could at least be thought of as an associate possibly up until his 2017 death. so i understand that perhaps best practice is to as others have said go case by case and build best evidence and information.

last, i did not intend to start a made or not outfit discussion. i think most can agree BH in general has had enough "excitement" across the board lately, outfit debates of that kind derail faster than usain bolt. that part i wrote was obviously confusing to most and well to me when i re read. it was more to continued criminality of some of these guys.

thanks again, may have a few more names to ask about if ok.
have a good night all.

And even with NYC where there is exponentially more info, coverage, and ex-members/associates giving info, look at the debates that rage over what goes on in NYC and questions people still have. People who follow NYC closely are still surprised whenever new info comes out about what members/associates have been up to.