General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground

[Patrickgold]

Interesting that some Russians tried extorting him. This is around the same time that the Russian American Club, former Cherry Club, on Mannheim road was up and running. It was a straight up brothel that posed as a strip club. I bet it was those Russians that were putting the arm in this Weiss. The club was eventually busted by the FBI. See article below.

FBI raids social club in Leyden Township

By Brett McNeil and Tribune staff reporter
Chicago Tribune
Published: Dec 12, 2003 at 12:00 am


A west suburban social club that officials believe may have been a front for gambling, prostitution and drug trafficking was ordered closed after a late-night raid Wednesday by federal agents and Cook County sheriff's police, authorities said.

FBI spokesman Ross Rice said agents who stormed the Russian-American Social Club, 2201 N. Mannheim Rd. in unincorporated Leyden Township, seized "several boxes containing items of evidentiary value" from the windowless one-story building.

Rice declined to specify what evidence had been recovered, saying investigators were continuing to comb through the boxes Thursday evening. The federal search warrant allowed agents to search for evidence of illegal gambling and prostitution, he said.

None of the club's members or officers have been charged with a crime, but county officials ordered the building closed because of license violations, said a spokesman for the sheriff's office.

The raid is part of a year-old investigation of the club by federal and county law enforcement officials, Cook County Sheriff Michael Sheahan said in a statement.

County police launched the inquiry last year "when information was developed that persons associated with Russian organized crime activities were allegedly involved in and preparing to open the club," Sheahan said in the statement.

According to Illinois secretary of state records, the Russian-American Social Club was incorporated as a non-profit group in June 2002. Three men--two Buffalo Grove residents and one from Des Plaines--were listed as directors.

But the non-profit was officially dissolved in November, said a spokeswoman for the secretary of state's office. Calls to the group's registered officers and its attorney of record were not returned Thursday.

The club opened in January and operated privately until recently, when it began admitting non-members, Cunningham said.

Located along a gritty and heavily traveled stretch of Mannheim Road near O'Hare International Airport, the clubhouse is painted teal and hot pink and is identifiable from the outside only by a sign announcing "Russian-American Social Club: members only" in both English and Russian.

According to the sheriff's statement, the building was once home to the Cherry Club strip club. Sheriff's police closed the Cherry Club in 2000 because of "illegal vice activity."

Rice said the investigation of the Russian-American club is ongoing.

[funkster]

Hooo boy looks like Individual B is Bobby Dominic

https://x.com/jmetr22b/status/170997578 ... R52ynZIi_Q

[Snakes]

Hooo boy looks like Individual B is Bobby Dominic

https://x.com/jmetr22b/status/170997578 ... R52ynZIi_Q

Great find, I was doing some digging, but this guy at the Tribue did all my work for me

[PolackTony]

Given him being involved with bribing politicians to pass legislation for the sweepstakes machines, unsurprising that Weiss has outfit ties. Now we can see that he has a long history of these connections around gambling and massage parlors. Also would make sense if it turns out that Bobby D is the guy that Schweihs passed off Weiss to.

On the Joe Berrios note, worth recalling also that Maria Vargas Koroluk, Paulie K’s wife, worked for years for Berrios as a Director in the Cook County Assessor’s Office; until she was busted in “Operation Crew Cut” for cocaine distribution charges, of course. So, Berrios employed the wife of an outfit associate in an important position in his office and his daughter is also married to a guy with mob connections.

[funkster]

Are you able to see the entire article? Even my reader view has me blocked after the first paragraph.

[falco]

democrats and corruption in illinois - a never ending love story

[funkster]

Incidentally, I remember about five years ago one of the regular thread trolls on here ravaged me for suggesting I’d heard Dominic was rumored to run hookers.

[Coloboy]

We’ve gone over this quite a bit in the past and no new sources of evidence have surfaced since those prior discussions. Sometimes these Chicago discussions start to feel like Groundhog Day.

From 1956 to his flight from the US in 1966, Giancana was the boss of the Family. We know from Bompensiero, who reported to the FBI directly from a meeting with Alderisio in 1969, that Battaglia succeeded Giancana as boss and that Accardo and Ricca shared the acting boss position after Battaglia was jailed. Sometime around 1975, Aiuppa was officially installed as boss; he may have held an acting position for a bit, but was also know that his health was poor in the early 1970s, which may have delayed him being formally installed as official boss.

We know that Ricca and Accardo participated in the administration of the Family on the Consiglio during Giancana’s tenure. There is no evidence that either of these two had the “final say” or exercised any ultimate authority, whether formally or informally, that superseded that of the Family’s actual boss. Giancana was the boss and I have seen no strong evidence that he didn’t enjoy full executive power in accordance with his office. Now, as was the case in other Families in both the US and Sicily, the rappresentante was not a dictator and his authority was balanced by the Consiglio. We can see that when Giancana was in dereliction of his duties, he was indeed removed by the Consiglio, but up until that point I am not aware that he was ever overruled in any matter or anything like this. We have transcripts of bugs where Giancana is interacting with Accardo and Ricca and discussing mafia affairs, including the affairs of the Commission. The latter two do not tell him what to do or issue orders or directives to him, but rather advise and counsel him based on their experience.

We don’t actually know what Accardo’s formal position was during the period following his removal as boss in 1956 and his later acting boss position. He was evidently a “consigliere” at least in the sense that he was on the Consiglio. He may have technically been a soldier (though obviously just in the sense that he had no formal rank beyond “member”, as “former boss” is not a position in the mafia), or he and Ricca may have shared the role of Chairman or Segretario of the Consiglio (sort of like the Speaker of the House in Congress), the equivalent of the official Consigliere position in Families that did not use a Consiglio. Following Aiuppa’s installation as boss, Accardo almost certainly held this position and the FBI carried him as Chicago’s Consigliere in this period. We don’t know if he held this office until his death or not. The only Chicago member to be asked on the stand about Accardo’s rank was, of course, Nick Calabrese who only stated that he understood Accardo to have been a former boss at the time he was inducted in 1983.

Not to get on a soapbox (and this is not personally directed at Coloboy), but the discussion of Chicago has suffered a lot from an excess of opinion (more often than not passed off as “fact”, which has greatly distorted the conversation on this Family) and a dearth of evidence from actual inside sources. Secret bosses, top bosses, front bosses, back bosses, left and right bosses, before and after bosses. I’ve seen people make all sorts of claims over the years, though the insider evidence that we actually do have underscores that Chicago very much maintained a traditional structure.

Lol well this thread had not seen an active post in a while and I was hungry for at least a little outfit talk! Thanks for the thoughts everyone.

While I agree that there is probably too much reading into all the "secret" postiions in the outfit, it does seem clear that both Accardo and Ricca enjoyed a unique level of authority. As stated by Antilliar, conversations can be interpreted many ways. When I read that commission discussion between Accardo, Giancana, and Ricca, I sense a level of authority that Accardo possesses over Giancana, official or not.

Fosco also relayed something that Magnafichi supposedly told him when Difronzo stepped down due to Alzheimer's and that role reportedly shifted to Andriacchi (around 2014 or so). "Only 5 or 6 guys have held that spot". "That spot" referring to the man, the top boss, the chairman of the board, whatever you want to call it.

I supposed it's all splitting hairs at the end of the day. Ultimately there is no question who played the game the best. Giancana was shot in the face in his basement. Aiuppa went to jail for his last remaining good years for a scheme that Accardo may likely have originally gotten off the ground for Chicago in Vegas back in the 50's. Accardo profited off of the outfit every day of his life and died a free old man at the age of 86.

[Snakes]

My two cents on this:

The spot that was called the "top boss," "chairman," etc. back in the day was quite possibly the consigliere or chair of the consiglio (or council, a governing board which seemingly included some or all of the capos and possibly other members). As Tony said, Chicago's consigliere was seemingly viewed in it's much more "traditional" role, that of a equal or near-equal to the boss, instead of a "#3". They can hold a tremendous amount of sway and possibly authority, but based on what we've seen with Ricca, Accardo, and DiFronzo, they also voluntarily limit their influence and attempt to act in an advisory capacity as respected senior members. What's the point of "stepping back" if they just run everything anyway? The boss was allowed to be boss and could call on the consigliere for assistance or advice, when needed. Some of these exchanges (as Rick mentioned above) can be interpreted as authoritative -- especially to "outsiders" -- but I'm sure a level of respect was still granted by the bosses, similar to how a grown son can run his own family, but will still respect his father's advice and seniority.

We don't when the consiglio stopped being a thing, but Chicago's admin and capos were collectively mentioned as a Chicago "commission" as late as 1990, but whether this was a formal or informal arrangement isn't known.

Since 1957, my best guesses for this position are as follows:

1957-1972: Paul Ricca/Tony Accardo
1972-1992: Tony Accardo
1992-1997: Joey Aiuppa (Aiuppa mentioned as "consigliere" in more than one file in the 90s)
1997-????: John DiFronzo
????: ?Joseph Andriacchi?

[Antiliar]

My information is that when Aiuppa went to prison in 1986 he stepped down and had no power, so he never had the consigliere position. Fosco agrees that DiFronzo had Accardo's old position after Carlisi died (and maybe while Carlisi was locked up) and Andriacchi might have it now. I think all we can do is speculate if this is accurate.

Just to add, I've never seen any documentation that consigliere was ever used in Chicago, at least since the FBI began using wiretaps. Mike Mags was unfamiliar with it and when I asked he used it for Gus Alex. It seems that Louis Campagna may have been an early consigliere or its functional equivalent.

[Snakes]

When I use "consigliere," it's essentially the functional equivalent. I simply use it to apply consistency to something which has had 50 different titles, as Coloboy mentioned above.

[Patrickgold]

I guess it’s always possible that the Outfit payed these Russians to go in there and smash the place up knowing that he would run to the Outfit for protection. That is the MO of the mafia.

Brother of Berrios son-in-law James Weiss charged with lying about ties to mobster Frank ‘The German’ Schweihs
The indictment against Joseph Weiss was handed up in August 2022 but unsealed this week. Prosecutors moved to keep it under seal in February, saying the investigation “extends beyond Joseph Weiss, and is ongoing.”
By Jon Seidel Oct 4, 2023, 11:22am CST

An undated file photo provided by the U.S. Attorney’s office, Northern District of Illinois, shows alleged mob enforcer Frank “The German” Schweihs.
Alleged mob enforcer Frank “The German” SchweihsU.S. Attorney’s Office via AP

A newly unsealed federal indictment lifted the curtain Wednesday on alleged ties between organized crime and a public corruption investigation involving a relative of former Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios.

The two-count indictment charged Joseph Weiss, brother of convicted businessman James T. Weiss, with lying to the FBI about his brother and the late Chicago mobster Frank “The German” Schweihs, who died in 2008.

Joseph Weiss is also charged with attempted obstruction of justice.


The indictment refers to a separate investigation with a grand jury number tied to the indictment earlier this year of Iman Bambooyani, an associate of James Weiss, for an alleged prostitution conspiracy.

The indictment against Joseph Weiss was handed up in August 2022 but only unsealed this week. Prosecutors moved to keep it under seal in February, saying the investigation “extends beyond Joseph Weiss, and is ongoing.”

Joseph Weiss’ attorney, Lisa Wood, and James Weiss’ attorney, Ilia Usharovich, each declined to comment.

A federal jury found James Weiss guilty in June of bribing two Illinois lawmakers: then-state Rep. Luis Arroyo and then-state Sen. Terry Link. James Weiss is due to be sentenced next week by U.S. District Judge Steven Seeger.


James Weiss is the husband of former state Rep. Toni Berrios and son-in-law of former Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios.

The newly unsealed indictment alleges that Joseph Weiss lied to the feds nine times on Jan. 13, 2022, when:

He denied knowing anyone who did business with or had a relationship with Schweihs.
He said he had “no idea” if Schweihs and an unnamed associate of James Weiss were connected in any way.
He said he didn’t know if James Weiss had done business with the unnamed associate but said he knew they were good friends.
He said he’d never heard anything about Schweihs.
He denied knowing if James Weiss ever had anything to do with Schweihs.
He denied knowing how James Weiss and the unnamed associate had met.
He denied hearing that James Weiss once had a problem and went looking for protection.
He denied being part of a conversation where the story of James Weiss meeting the unnamed associate was discussed.
He denied hearing that James Weiss had once reached out to Schweihs, who was out of town, and that somebody told James Weiss to see the unnamed associate.
After speaking with investigators that day, Joseph Weiss allegedly told them, “I swear I’ve been honest,” and, “I think I’ve given you what I know.”

James Weiss sought leniency last week in his bribery case involving Arroyo and Link, arguing that the people of Illinois would have benefited from legislation at the center of his scheme.

An October 2020 indictment against Arroyo and James Weiss alleged that Arroyo served as James Weiss’ bought-and-paid-for member of the Illinois House of Representatives. In exchange for $32,500 in bribes, Arroyo agreed to vote for and promote sweepstakes legislation in Springfield.

Weiss was involved with sweepstakes machines. The unregulated gambling devices can look like video slot machines but offer “free play” options and coupons to users.

When the Illinois General Assembly passed landmark gambling legislation in 2019 without sweepstakes language, Arroyo and Weiss turned to Link, a key lawmaker on gaming issues.

But Link was secretly cooperating with federal investigators. He recorded Arroyo and testified against James Weiss.

Link is due to be sentenced March 6 for tax crimes. Arroyo is serving a nearly five-year prison sentence.

[Ivan]

We’ve gone over this quite a bit in the past and no new sources of evidence have surfaced since those prior discussions. Sometimes these Chicago discussions start to feel like Groundhog Day.

Hmm. Perhaps it might be a good idea for someone to make a Chicago FAQ? (I mean someone competent, not me. )

Could just compile the most common questions that keep coming up (literally frequently asked questions) and sticky them in the main forum. If someone asks one of the common questions you could just link the FAQ instead of having to type out the answer again (which, don't get me wrong, is appreciated).

Might save you guys work over time.

[Patrickgold]

We’ve gone over this quite a bit in the past and no new sources of evidence have surfaced since those prior discussions. Sometimes these Chicago discussions start to feel like Groundhog Day.

Hmm. Perhaps it might be a good idea for someone to make a Chicago FAQ? (I mean someone competent, not me. )

Could just compile the most common questions that keep coming up (literally frequently asked questions) and sticky them in the main forum. If someone asks one of the common questions you could just link the FAQ instead of having to type out the answer again (which, don't get me wrong, is appreciated).

Might save you guys work over time.

I agree. I feel some potentially good conversations get lost with the same questions over and over. For example this potential Russian Organized Crime shaking down massage parlors along with the Bobby Dominic and Weiss connection is fascinating and is getting lost with this consigliere question that comes up often.

[funkster]

We’ve gone over this quite a bit in the past and no new sources of evidence have surfaced since those prior discussions. Sometimes these Chicago discussions start to feel like Groundhog Day.

Hmm. Perhaps it might be a good idea for someone to make a Chicago FAQ? (I mean someone competent, not me. )

Could just compile the most common questions that keep coming up (literally frequently asked questions) and sticky them in the main forum. If someone asks one of the common questions you could just link the FAQ instead of having to type out the answer again (which, don't get me wrong, is appreciated).

Might save you guys work over time.

I agree. I feel some potentially good conversations get lost with the same questions over and over. For example this potential Russian Organized Crime shaking down massage parlors along with the Bobby Dominic and Weiss connection is fascinating and is getting lost with this consigliere question that comes up often.

Totally agree. Again, not putting anyone down but we've got new info on legit Outfit activity and its getting lost in the fifteenth discussion on whether Accardo answered to Ricca.