by Villain » Mon Feb 12, 2018 3:47 am
Confederate wrote: ↑Mon Feb 12, 2018 3:20 am
Ovid Demaris mentions the Grande Cheese Company in his book "Captive City". I believe he said Ross Prio was a partner, if not sole owner, of that Cheese Company. For a guy in 1969, Demaris had some really good inside information that was amazing for that time.
The guy was incredible and he was obviously receiving infos from the feds.
In addition, heres my story on the Grande Cheese...
As we can see, the milk business was going pretty well for Ross Prio and the Mob but by the late 1930’s, when one Sicilian businessman arrived in Chicago, the whole situation literally changed for the better and also for the worst. That individual went by the name of Giovanni Vincenzo DiBella, who in turn was just another Sicilian immigrant and cheese maker with many Mafia connections. My personal belief is that DiBella might’ve been brought be two of Prio’s Sicilian cohorts and Mafia members known as Thomas Oneglia and Vincent Benevento, who in turn was also traditionally involved in the cheese making business around the West Grand Avenue area and the Northwest Side. And since both Prio and Benevento were heavily involved in the diary business, DiBella came as a perfect combination, regarding him being a professional cheese maker. Back home, or should I say in Sicily, the milk production mainly consists of sheep, goats and cows, but in reality more Sicilian cheese is produced from cow's milk rather than from goat's milk, even though there are more goats than cows in the country. Certain Sicilian cheese products which were made in ancient times were still made during the 20th century and even today. The “legend” goes that some of the better-known ones are made from cow's milk, including Ragusano, which is a product with mild flavour and the recipe comes from the province of Ragusa located in southeastern Sicily, or Provola, which comes from various Sicilian regions such as Nebrodi or Madonie, and is usually served in tasty smoked form, or even Caciocavallo which is also made from cow's milk but it has quite funny, confusing and at the same time cryptic name that literally means horse cheese.
So with the help of the individual who had the skills of producing all of these tasty and traditional Sicilian cheeses, the group decided to invest in the infamous Grande Cheese Company, located 134 North La Salle St. and this time Prio wasn’t the company’s president, but instead it was one of Prio’s close associates known as Fred Romano, who in turn together with two other front men Tony Paterno and Gabriel Spataro, founded the Grande Cheese Company for the purpose of owning, leasing and managing dairies around the city of Chicago. In reality, DiBella was the real owner and as for Prio and the rest of the North Side faction, they all had personal interests in the company by being the main stockholders. Even though Romano was the company’s president with Spataro as the managing director, according to some reports, Prio visited the company on daily basis and acted as the real general manager. In fact the company had a quite lucrative start by having huge cheese production, and with the help of their distribution system, meaning truck drivers, they delivered their products to all food stores and restaurants around the city. Just imagine on how many grocery stores, hotels and restaurants did the Italian Mob owned at the time in Chicago, all supplied by the Grande Cheese, which obviously reaped enormous amounts of cash, and in fact was the perfect money laundering operation for the Outfit.
The funny thing was that when all that cash began arriving, the whole situation became quite bloody, or in other words, lots of greed from the mobsters has only brought violence, arson, insurance fraud, economic loss to legitimate business, and higher taxes for everyone but also, a lot of dead bodies on the streets. In fact all of these previous situations created the main reason for the bloody streets which brought the envy and greed from some of the company's main stockholders towards the Outfit's top and imprisoned leadership at the time.
So the whole “clean up” began with one of Prio’s closest associates 48 year old “Black Tom” Oneglia. On December 7, 1943 Oneglia went to the barber shop at 1608 Sedgwick Street for a shave and a hair cut. While being shaved in the barber’s chair, suddenly three hitmen burst in and shot to death Oneglia while his face was still covered in lather. Than the killers drove off in a black automobile and were never seen again.
On February 25, 1944, 42 year old James DeAngelo and 50 year old Onofrio Vitale were called for a meeting. At the same day both went missing. Later on March 11 DeAngelo’s battered and bound corpse was found in the trunk of his wife’s car on the North Side of Chicago. He was tortured for several days, four of his ribs were broken and there were also several holes on his skull made by a small sharp instrument. Also year later Vitale’s corpse was found stuffed in a sewer. Ross Prio was questioned by the cops regarding the murders and he said that he knew nothing of Vitale except that he was a good cheese curer and an excellent salesman. On DeAngelo, Prio said that he knew him casually. On March 2, 1944, 39 year old Sam Gervase was shot to death in his refrigerator repair shop at 609 Division St. Gervase's body was found crumpled in the rear of the store, riddled by five bullets mostly in the head and chest. Clenched in his right hand was his own .38 caliber revolver from which all six shells had been fired. On August 3, 1944, “the West Side King” Lawrence Mangano was shot by the “Three Doms” while driving along Blue Island Avenue on the West Side. Later he died in a hospital.
Next on the hit list was “Don Vincenzo”. On December 28, 1945 Benevento was working in one of his cheese stores at 1057 Grand Avenue. Three gunmen entered the store and ordered Benevento to raise his hands. So he didn’t raise his hands and one of the gunmen fired four times from an automatic pistol at Benevento. He was hit twice in the stomach, once in the neck, in the right arm and left armpit. But miraculously Benevento managed to survive the attack. While in the hospital, the cops questioned Benevento but true to the gangster code of “omerta”, he refused to identify to attackers and said that it was a simple robbery. When the cops searched his apartment they found a huge arsenal of weapons, including a Thompson submachine gun, eight shotguns, six rifles, eight revolvers, two pistols and a basket full of ammunition. All of the weapons were loaded and well oiled. Benevento said that he owned the weapons because he loved to hunt. It was clearly that he was prepared to defend himself from the wrath of the Outfit. On March 1, 1946 Benevento told his wife that he’s heading south and fled Chicago and traveled around the country constantly. On September 20, 1946 Benevento called his wife Jane and told her to meet him at the Johnson Cabins, about three miles south of Lake Zurich. In the early hours of September 21, Benevento and his wife were sleeping in their cabin when suddenly two cars came near the place. Three hitmen burst the cabin door and fired seven shotgun blasts and few .45 caliber pistol bullets at Benevento. His wife was lying next to him but remained untouched by any of the bullets. Benevento’s body was riddles by the blasts and so were the mattress and the wall behind the bed. This time he was dead for sure.
After the murder of “Don Vincenzo” his nephew Nick DeJohn also fled Chicago and went to San Francisco, were he lived under the alias Vincent Rossi. On May 9th 1947, DeJohn was seen that afternoon with another Outfit member known as Leonard Calamia driving around San Francisco and shopping. Later he was told by Calamia that they should have a meeting in a bar known as LaRocca's Tavern on Columbus Avenue, wich was a mafia hangout.They met with Sebastian Nani,a gangster out of Brooklyn, San Francisco Crime Family members Tony Lima and Michael Abati,Frank Scappatura and Outfit member Frank Tornabene. At the end of the meeting, DeJohn had been garroted or strangled with heavy braided fishing line, allegedly by Calamia. In the eyes of the police the only thing that connected some of these victims together was that they were stockholders in the Grande Cheese Co.
So from 1943 until 1947, six North Side area mobsters or should I say, the company’s main stockholders were killed on the orders of the Outfit’s top administration, and even DeGeorge received a “contract” on his head, but somehow got a “pass” and was transferred to Wisconsin. During that period, the Outfit was led by one Tony Accardo, who in turn quickly placed Prio as the new leader of that same faction. On top of that, the so-called management of Grande Cheese changed several times, including once in 1946, when one Giuseppe Uddo of New Orleans became the front man, and later was succeeded by another front man known as Eugene Taormina. But the problem was that the owner of the Grande Cheese, John DiBella, was shaking in his boots, understandably because of the dangerous situation and so according to some reports, DiBella begged Prio to help him and relocate the whole cheese making factory to a different city or state. To tell you the truth, I completely understand DiBella since all of the murders which occurred were later connected to his company out of obvious reasons and so relocation in Wisconsin was the best solution for the problem.
In addition, the feds also speculated that the Grande Cheese main purpose was in fact the transport of narcotics.
[quote=Confederate post_id=69192 time=1518430814 user_id=5427]
Ovid Demaris mentions the Grande Cheese Company in his book "Captive City". I believe he said Ross Prio was a partner, if not sole owner, of that Cheese Company. For a guy in 1969, Demaris had some really good inside information that was amazing for that time. :shock:
[/quote]
The guy was incredible and he was obviously receiving infos from the feds.
In addition, heres my story on the Grande Cheese...
As we can see, the milk business was going pretty well for Ross Prio and the Mob but by the late 1930’s, when one Sicilian businessman arrived in Chicago, the whole situation literally changed for the better and also for the worst. That individual went by the name of Giovanni Vincenzo DiBella, who in turn was just another Sicilian immigrant and cheese maker with many Mafia connections. My personal belief is that DiBella might’ve been brought be two of Prio’s Sicilian cohorts and Mafia members known as Thomas Oneglia and Vincent Benevento, who in turn was also traditionally involved in the cheese making business around the West Grand Avenue area and the Northwest Side. And since both Prio and Benevento were heavily involved in the diary business, DiBella came as a perfect combination, regarding him being a professional cheese maker. Back home, or should I say in Sicily, the milk production mainly consists of sheep, goats and cows, but in reality more Sicilian cheese is produced from cow's milk rather than from goat's milk, even though there are more goats than cows in the country. Certain Sicilian cheese products which were made in ancient times were still made during the 20th century and even today. The “legend” goes that some of the better-known ones are made from cow's milk, including Ragusano, which is a product with mild flavour and the recipe comes from the province of Ragusa located in southeastern Sicily, or Provola, which comes from various Sicilian regions such as Nebrodi or Madonie, and is usually served in tasty smoked form, or even Caciocavallo which is also made from cow's milk but it has quite funny, confusing and at the same time cryptic name that literally means horse cheese.
So with the help of the individual who had the skills of producing all of these tasty and traditional Sicilian cheeses, the group decided to invest in the infamous Grande Cheese Company, located 134 North La Salle St. and this time Prio wasn’t the company’s president, but instead it was one of Prio’s close associates known as Fred Romano, who in turn together with two other front men Tony Paterno and Gabriel Spataro, founded the Grande Cheese Company for the purpose of owning, leasing and managing dairies around the city of Chicago. In reality, DiBella was the real owner and as for Prio and the rest of the North Side faction, they all had personal interests in the company by being the main stockholders. Even though Romano was the company’s president with Spataro as the managing director, according to some reports, Prio visited the company on daily basis and acted as the real general manager. In fact the company had a quite lucrative start by having huge cheese production, and with the help of their distribution system, meaning truck drivers, they delivered their products to all food stores and restaurants around the city. Just imagine on how many grocery stores, hotels and restaurants did the Italian Mob owned at the time in Chicago, all supplied by the Grande Cheese, which obviously reaped enormous amounts of cash, and in fact was the perfect money laundering operation for the Outfit.
The funny thing was that when all that cash began arriving, the whole situation became quite bloody, or in other words, lots of greed from the mobsters has only brought violence, arson, insurance fraud, economic loss to legitimate business, and higher taxes for everyone but also, a lot of dead bodies on the streets. In fact all of these previous situations created the main reason for the bloody streets which brought the envy and greed from some of the company's main stockholders towards the Outfit's top and imprisoned leadership at the time.
So the whole “clean up” began with one of Prio’s closest associates 48 year old “Black Tom” Oneglia. On December 7, 1943 Oneglia went to the barber shop at 1608 Sedgwick Street for a shave and a hair cut. While being shaved in the barber’s chair, suddenly three hitmen burst in and shot to death Oneglia while his face was still covered in lather. Than the killers drove off in a black automobile and were never seen again.
On February 25, 1944, 42 year old James DeAngelo and 50 year old Onofrio Vitale were called for a meeting. At the same day both went missing. Later on March 11 DeAngelo’s battered and bound corpse was found in the trunk of his wife’s car on the North Side of Chicago. He was tortured for several days, four of his ribs were broken and there were also several holes on his skull made by a small sharp instrument. Also year later Vitale’s corpse was found stuffed in a sewer. Ross Prio was questioned by the cops regarding the murders and he said that he knew nothing of Vitale except that he was a good cheese curer and an excellent salesman. On DeAngelo, Prio said that he knew him casually. On March 2, 1944, 39 year old Sam Gervase was shot to death in his refrigerator repair shop at 609 Division St. Gervase's body was found crumpled in the rear of the store, riddled by five bullets mostly in the head and chest. Clenched in his right hand was his own .38 caliber revolver from which all six shells had been fired. On August 3, 1944, “the West Side King” Lawrence Mangano was shot by the “Three Doms” while driving along Blue Island Avenue on the West Side. Later he died in a hospital.
Next on the hit list was “Don Vincenzo”. On December 28, 1945 Benevento was working in one of his cheese stores at 1057 Grand Avenue. Three gunmen entered the store and ordered Benevento to raise his hands. So he didn’t raise his hands and one of the gunmen fired four times from an automatic pistol at Benevento. He was hit twice in the stomach, once in the neck, in the right arm and left armpit. But miraculously Benevento managed to survive the attack. While in the hospital, the cops questioned Benevento but true to the gangster code of “omerta”, he refused to identify to attackers and said that it was a simple robbery. When the cops searched his apartment they found a huge arsenal of weapons, including a Thompson submachine gun, eight shotguns, six rifles, eight revolvers, two pistols and a basket full of ammunition. All of the weapons were loaded and well oiled. Benevento said that he owned the weapons because he loved to hunt. It was clearly that he was prepared to defend himself from the wrath of the Outfit. On March 1, 1946 Benevento told his wife that he’s heading south and fled Chicago and traveled around the country constantly. On September 20, 1946 Benevento called his wife Jane and told her to meet him at the Johnson Cabins, about three miles south of Lake Zurich. In the early hours of September 21, Benevento and his wife were sleeping in their cabin when suddenly two cars came near the place. Three hitmen burst the cabin door and fired seven shotgun blasts and few .45 caliber pistol bullets at Benevento. His wife was lying next to him but remained untouched by any of the bullets. Benevento’s body was riddles by the blasts and so were the mattress and the wall behind the bed. This time he was dead for sure.
After the murder of “Don Vincenzo” his nephew Nick DeJohn also fled Chicago and went to San Francisco, were he lived under the alias Vincent Rossi. On May 9th 1947, DeJohn was seen that afternoon with another Outfit member known as Leonard Calamia driving around San Francisco and shopping. Later he was told by Calamia that they should have a meeting in a bar known as LaRocca's Tavern on Columbus Avenue, wich was a mafia hangout.They met with Sebastian Nani,a gangster out of Brooklyn, San Francisco Crime Family members Tony Lima and Michael Abati,Frank Scappatura and Outfit member Frank Tornabene. At the end of the meeting, DeJohn had been garroted or strangled with heavy braided fishing line, allegedly by Calamia. In the eyes of the police the only thing that connected some of these victims together was that they were stockholders in the Grande Cheese Co.
So from 1943 until 1947, six North Side area mobsters or should I say, the company’s main stockholders were killed on the orders of the Outfit’s top administration, and even DeGeorge received a “contract” on his head, but somehow got a “pass” and was transferred to Wisconsin. During that period, the Outfit was led by one Tony Accardo, who in turn quickly placed Prio as the new leader of that same faction. On top of that, the so-called management of Grande Cheese changed several times, including once in 1946, when one Giuseppe Uddo of New Orleans became the front man, and later was succeeded by another front man known as Eugene Taormina. But the problem was that the owner of the Grande Cheese, John DiBella, was shaking in his boots, understandably because of the dangerous situation and so according to some reports, DiBella begged Prio to help him and relocate the whole cheese making factory to a different city or state. To tell you the truth, I completely understand DiBella since all of the murders which occurred were later connected to his company out of obvious reasons and so relocation in Wisconsin was the best solution for the problem.
In addition, the feds also speculated that the Grande Cheese main purpose was in fact the transport of narcotics.