Chicago Outfit Information, 1971-1972

[Snakes]

I believe he was more of a juice guy at that point. He didn't really make book until after he hooked up with them.

[Confederate]

I believe he was more of a juice guy at that point. He didn't really make book until after he hooked up with them.

So Joe Spa was a juice guy before Bookmaking. That's interesting. Was he a juice guy under Cerone or Buccieri? I know it was mentioned earlier that he may have been under Buccieri so I was wondering if it said anything about who he was under in any F.B.I. Document?

[Snakes]

He was close to Cerone but there is some evidence he worked under Buccieri, as well. But he could have worked with both men at some point or acted as a juice "bank" as mentioned in the file.

[Snakes]

So I did some more digging and it seems that Spadavecchio, regardless of whether or not he was sponsored into the Outfit by Cerone, started out under James "Starchy" Pullano who worked for Skid Caruso. Pullano was killed in 1979. Joe Spa was into big juice loans but also seemed to do some sports handicapping and also some horse betting and was apparently quite good at it. He had a falling out with Pullano and approached the Bravos brothers but they declined his offer to work with them so he went to Buccieri instead. Many of the juice loans he handled were with business men and were generally at least $50,000. It seems that Joe Spa also handled some juice for Angelini and Cortina in their gambling ventures in the 1960s. Joe Spa was not a well-liked individual. He was seen as cocky because of his position but also nervous as he was concerned about becoming too deeply involved in the "dirty" side of the Outfit. Joe Spa once handled a 20k loan for Buccieri to an auto dealership. When the owners were unable to pay, they turned over 50(!) automobiles to Buccieri as payment. Buccieri flipped the cars and sold them at a discount to other Outfit members. Joe Spa once traveled to New York with Phil Alderisio, Frank Buccieri, and others to collect on a $50,000 juice loan. It seems like once the juice loan business dried up, Spadavecchio concentrated more on bookmaking. He wasn't involved in the 1967 bust of Cerone, Cortina, etc. but he was familiar with all of the major players in that case and was later arrested with Cortina, Angelini, John LaPlaca and others for bookmaking in 1976. All of the other defendants pleaded guilty but Spadavecchio went to trial, where he was convicted in 1979. If I remember correctly, this case was eventually thrown out because the government had mishandled some phone-tap evidence. Spadavecchio was also convicted in 1990 for bookmaking, again with Cortina and Angelini. Spadavecchio was sentenced to 18 months. Cortina and Angelini, probably due in no small part to their previous gambling convictions, received 21 month sentences -- the largest at that time for a federal gambling offense.

[Snakes]

This is a list of guys that had been identified by the FBI as active or potentially active Outfit members or associates as of 1972/73. This list does not include imprisoned members (I will have them listed separately) and there were fourteen redacted names that I was not able to determine the identity of. I was going to include a lot of the information in this thread on a project I was working on but I've been getting stonewalled by the FBI on a few requests so I'm just gonna dump a lot of it here.

Imprisoned
Joseph Amabile
Donald Angelini
Sam Battaglia
Marshall Caifano
Jack Cerone
Dominic Cortina
William Daddano
Joseph Ferriola
William Messino
James Mirro
Rocco Pranno

Out of State/Jurisdiction
Anthony Pinelli (California)
John Rosselli (California)
Anthony Spilotro (Nevada)
Frank Zizzo (Indiana)

Members and Associates
Anthony Accardo
Joseph Aiuppa
Eugene Albano
Gus Alex
Joseph Amato
Sam Ariola
Joseph Arnold
Phil Bacino
Carmen Bastone
Sal Bastone
Joseph Battaglia
Tony Battaglia
Dominic Blasi
Dominick Brancato
Louis Briatta
Fiore Buccieri
Frank Buccieri
Lawrence Buonaguidi
Richard Cain
Frank Calabrese
John Campanali
Jasper Campise
John Capone
Carmen Carlisi
Frank Caruso
James Catuara
Frank Cerone
Casper Ciapetta
John Cimitile
Anthony Cirignani
Pasquale Clementi
Eco Coli
Carlo Colianni
George Colucci
Joseph Colucci
Joseph Corngold
Joseph Costello
Ronald DeAngeles
John DeBiase
Guido DeChiaro
Rocco DeGrazio
Joseph Delmonico
Mario DeStefano
Sam DeStefano
Dominick DiBella
Charles DiCaro
Anthony DiChiarinte
Sam DiGiovanni
George Dicks
Joseph DiVarco
Louis Eboli
Anthony Eldorado
Ralph Emery
Charles English
Samuel English
Ken Eto
Sam Farruggia
John Fecarotta
Ben Fillichio
Albert Frabotta
Frank Franze
Frank Fratto
Simone Fulco
Robery Furey
Joseph Fusco
Nicholas Garambone
John Gattuso
Joseph Giancana
Samuel Giancana
Leonard Gianola
August Giovenco
Joseph Glimco
Joseph Grieco
Salvatore Gruttadauro
Anthony Guzaldo
Rocco Infelise
Max Inserro
Vincent Inserro
Angelo Jannotta
Leslie Kruse
John Lardino
Angelo LaPietria
James LaPietra
Hyman Larner
Frank Lisciandrella
Sam Lisciandrella
Joseph Lombardo
Frank LoVerde
Sam Maccaluso
Anthony Maenza
Leo Manfredi
John Manzella
Anthony Mastro
John Matassa
Phil Mesi
William McGuire
Frank Mulea
Romeo Nappi
Charles Nicoletti
Dominic Nuccio
Anthony Orlando
Frank Orlando
Anthony Ortenzi
Anthony Padavonia
Nick Palermo
Anthony Panzica
Sam Pardee
Leonard Patrick
Ralph Pierce
Alfred Pilotto
Ben Policheri
Rocco Potenzo
Lawrence Rassano
Albert Rayola
Joseph Rocco
Sam Rosa
Willie Russo
Ernest Sansone
Ralph Scaccia
Frank Schweihs
Dominic Senese
Chris Seritella
Angelo Severino
Tarquin Simonelli
Anthony Sisto
Vincent Solano
Joseph Spadavecchio
Joseph Testa
Frank Teutonica
James Torello
Louis Tornabene
James Tortoriello
Nick Visco
Eddie Vogel
Dominic Volpe
Irwin Weiner
Gus Zapas

[Villain]

Albert Rayola was in fact Albert Capone who changed his last name sometime during the previous decades

[maxiestern11]

A wealth of info...... good job men!

[electricslim]

So I did some more digging and it seems that Spadavecchio, regardless of whether or not he was sponsored into the Outfit by Cerone, started out under James "Starchy" Pullano who worked for Skid Caruso. Pullano was killed in 1979. Joe Spa was into big juice loans but also seemed to do some sports handicapping and also some horse betting and was apparently quite good at it. He had a falling out with Pullano and approached the Bravos brothers but they declined his offer to work with them so he went to Buccieri instead. Many of the juice loans he handled were with business men and were generally at least $50,000. It seems that Joe Spa also handled some juice for Angelini and Cortina in their gambling ventures in the 1960s. Joe Spa was not a well-liked individual. He was seen as cocky because of his position but also nervous as he was concerned about becoming too deeply involved in the "dirty" side of the Outfit. Joe Spa once handled a 20k loan for Buccieri to an auto dealership. When the owners were unable to pay, they turned over 50(!) automobiles to Buccieri as payment. Buccieri flipped the cars and sold them at a discount to other Outfit members. Joe Spa once traveled to New York with Phil Alderisio, Frank Buccieri, and others to collect on a $50,000 juice loan. It seems like once the juice loan business dried up, Spadavecchio concentrated more on bookmaking. He wasn't involved in the 1967 bust of Cerone, Cortina, etc. but he was familiar with all of the major players in that case and was later arrested with Cortina, Angelini, John LaPlaca and others for bookmaking in 1976. All of the other defendants pleaded guilty but Spadavecchio went to trial, where he was convicted in 1979. If I remember correctly, this case was eventually thrown out because the government had mishandled some phone-tap evidence. Spadavecchio was also convicted in 1990 for bookmaking, again with Cortina and Angelini. Spadavecchio was sentenced to 18 months. Cortina and Angelini, probably due in no small part to their previous gambling convictions, received 21 month sentences -- the largest at that time for a federal gambling offense.

I'm glad you brought this up. Joe Spa was particularly disliked by Cerone, is what I've heard from a few people who were around at the time.

[Snakes]

So I did some more digging and it seems that Spadavecchio, regardless of whether or not he was sponsored into the Outfit by Cerone, started out under James "Starchy" Pullano who worked for Skid Caruso. Pullano was killed in 1979. Joe Spa was into big juice loans but also seemed to do some sports handicapping and also some horse betting and was apparently quite good at it. He had a falling out with Pullano and approached the Bravos brothers but they declined his offer to work with them so he went to Buccieri instead. Many of the juice loans he handled were with business men and were generally at least $50,000. It seems that Joe Spa also handled some juice for Angelini and Cortina in their gambling ventures in the 1960s. Joe Spa was not a well-liked individual. He was seen as cocky because of his position but also nervous as he was concerned about becoming too deeply involved in the "dirty" side of the Outfit. Joe Spa once handled a 20k loan for Buccieri to an auto dealership. When the owners were unable to pay, they turned over 50(!) automobiles to Buccieri as payment. Buccieri flipped the cars and sold them at a discount to other Outfit members. Joe Spa once traveled to New York with Phil Alderisio, Frank Buccieri, and others to collect on a $50,000 juice loan. It seems like once the juice loan business dried up, Spadavecchio concentrated more on bookmaking. He wasn't involved in the 1967 bust of Cerone, Cortina, etc. but he was familiar with all of the major players in that case and was later arrested with Cortina, Angelini, John LaPlaca and others for bookmaking in 1976. All of the other defendants pleaded guilty but Spadavecchio went to trial, where he was convicted in 1979. If I remember correctly, this case was eventually thrown out because the government had mishandled some phone-tap evidence. Spadavecchio was also convicted in 1990 for bookmaking, again with Cortina and Angelini. Spadavecchio was sentenced to 18 months. Cortina and Angelini, probably due in no small part to their previous gambling convictions, received 21 month sentences -- the largest at that time for a federal gambling offense.

I'm glad you brought this up. Joe Spa was particularly disliked by Cerone, is what I've heard from a few people who were around at the time.

That's interesting to hear as the one informant said that he was close to Cerone and was affected by him going to prison. This same informant also stated that Cerone sponsored him into the Outfit. It didn't sound he was well liked all-around, though.

[Confederate]

I know Cerone has always been listed as the #2 in the Outfit but I think it's quite possible that Cerone actually took Accardo's spot & Accardo took Ricca's spot. In other words, when Cerone got out of Jail, instead of (Ricca & Accardo) it became (Accardo & Cerone) with Auippa being the day to day Boss. Roemer stated it this way but I know he wasn't always accurate. However, in this case, he was supposedly "repeating" what Ralph Pierce told him.

I think it's quite possible since Cerone was the Boss before Auippa and only relinquished that position because he went to jail. Also, the pattern it seemed, had been that when a Boss went to jail, when he came out he was more in an Advisory role. I could be wrong but I don't see Cerone taking "orders" from Auippa. Another scenario might have been that Auippa & Cerone were basically "equal" under Accardo when Cerone got out of Jail.

[Snakes]

I don't think he "took orders" from him at all. It was basically a 1a, 1b type situation. Aiuppa made some decisions and I'm sure he consulted with Cerone on some of those decisions. The files make it pretty obvious who the top three guys in the organization are in the early 70s (Accardo, Aiuppa, and Alex) and they worked off of similar information as Roemer. I think it was just Roemer letting his personal bias for anyone close to Accardo seep into his work.

I feel like I'm beating a dead horse but the simplest explanation for the structure of the Outfit throughout the years is probably the closest to reality. In the 50's and 60's, you clearly had Accardo and Ricca at the top. They didn't hold specific positions. They were simply the top two guys. You then had a boss to run the day-to-day affairs of the Outfit. He had a group of guys that worked with him to make decisions (Ferraro, Humphreys, etc.) Then you had a group of guys that ran the major territories. Then you had a pecking order underneath each one of them.

After Ricca died and a bunch of guys went to prison, you had Accardo at the top and then Aiuppa, Alex, (and later Cerone) who made most of the day-to-day decisions. Then you had the bosses of the major territories with their own respective hierarchies. By the time Aiuppa went to prison, the Outfit basically functioned as a group of interconnected street crews (or territories) and the boss of the strongest crew seemed to be who the rest deferred to. Again, there were a group of guys that seemed to be in that "elder statesmen" group in the nineties (DiFronzo, LaPietra, possibly Lombardo; you could add Andriacchi after the turn of the century) that may or may not have been making major decisions but were probably influencing some things behind the scenes.

I think the structure has traditionally been a lot simpler than we think, one that almost seems chaotic on brief examination. There was a strict hierarchy or pecking order and everyone knew their place in it; I think when we try to start assigning positions it adds an entirely different structure to something where it doesn't exist or isn't necessary, especially when you consider how many times guys crossed into other territories or engaged in mutual rackets with members of other crews.

This isn't a knock on anyone, nobody knows for sure, but just like Villain and Frank like to have that 1+1=2 lineage and organizational structure, I'm here to be the dark side, opposite-brain thinker, and promote a different theory on how it was run and organized.

[Confederate]

I don't think he "took orders" from him at all. It was basically a 1a, 1b type situation. Aiuppa made some decisions and I'm sure he consulted with Cerone on some of those decisions. The files make it pretty obvious who the top three guys in the organization are in the early 70s (Accardo, Aiuppa, and Alex) and they worked off of similar information as Roemer. I think it was just Roemer letting his personal bias for anyone close to Accardo seep into his work.

I feel like I'm beating a dead horse but the simplest explanation for the structure of the Outfit throughout the years is probably the closest to reality. In the 50's and 60's, you clearly had Accardo and Ricca at the top. They didn't hold specific positions. They were simply the top two guys. You then had a boss to run the day-to-day affairs of the Outfit. He had a group of guys that worked with him to make decisions (Ferraro, Humphreys, etc.) Then you had a group of guys that ran the major territories. Then you had a pecking order underneath each one of them.

After Ricca died and a bunch of guys went to prison, you had Accardo at the top and then Aiuppa, Alex, (and later Cerone) who made most of the day-to-day decisions. Then you had the bosses of the major territories with their own respective hierarchies. By the time Aiuppa went to prison, the Outfit basically functioned as a group of interconnected street crews (or territories) and the boss of the strongest crew seemed to be who the rest deferred to. Again, there were a group of guys that seemed to be in that "elder statesmen" group in the nineties (DiFronzo, LaPietra, possibly Lombardo; you could add Andriacchi after the turn of the century) that may or may not have been making major decisions but were probably influencing some things behind the scenes.

I think the structure has traditionally been a lot simpler than we think, one that almost seems chaotic on brief examination. There was a strict hierarchy or pecking order and everyone knew their place in it; I think when we try to start assigning positions it adds an entirely different structure to something where it doesn't exist or isn't necessary, especially when you consider how many times guys crossed into other territories or engaged in mutual rackets with members of other crews.

This isn't a knock on anyone, nobody knows for sure, but just like Villain and Frank like to have that 1+1=2 lineage and organizational structure, I'm here to be the dark side, opposite-brain thinker, and promote a different theory on how it was run and organized.

You know what, I basically agree with you. The top 3 after Cerone got out of Jail were Accardo, Auippa & Cerone. I think they worked together as a team. To me, the title assigned to Cerone didn't correspond to "reality". I also don't think it was a dictatorship in any way. I think the "titles" are many times a bunch of bullshit. Alongside those top 3 was Gus Alex. Then, it was basically how you described it IMO. I do think that the Outfit was definitely divided into 4 big section: North, West, South & Far South. Yes, there was a lot of "crossing over" which resulted in some beefs.

For example, the use of the word "Consigliere" for the Outfit is a term made up by the Media and other people trying to "fit" the Outfit into a neat little package like New York. Accardo or Ricca never had a title called "Consigliere". The Outfit never used that title from what I researched. I'm going to go even one step further: I don't think this "made man" thing is a strictly defined thing like in New York & elsewhere. I am not doubting Nick Calabrese's testimony about the making Ceremony anymore because it was backed up to a certain degree by Frank Calabrese. I'm just saying that IMO it was NOT the "end all" to everything. I think a guy was considered "made" when he was put "in charge" of something. Then, maybe they had their little ceremony later when it was "convenient". But, by the time they may have had the ceremony, (like in the case of Tocco in 1983), he ALREADY was "considered" made. I don't know about 2019, but in the older days where there is a lot more information and the Outfit was much stronger, they did things in their own way that was "somewhat" different than New York.

[Snakes]

I think they just used "underboss" to describe Cerone because there wasn't any other word they could use. They were trying to make them like the New York families, structure-wise, at least for simplicity's sake since they had bosses in D.C. they had to report too.

I will slightly disagree on the "made" terminology. Informants used "made" to describe guys all the way back into the 50's (which is as far back as the files I have go) and there is a pretty clear distinction between guys who are and guys who aren't. There are a few exceptions (Alex, Humphreys, etc.) but as time went on the Outfit became more and more a strictly Italian organization. As far as Tocco is concerned, I think he had a lot less power based on what I've seen than some people think but that's for another time.

[Confederate]

I think they just used "underboss" to describe Cerone because there wasn't any other word they could use. They were trying to make them like the New York families, structure-wise, at least for simplicity's sake since they had bosses in D.C. they had to report too.

I will slightly disagree on the "made" terminology. Informants used "made" to describe guys all the way back into the 50's (which is as far back as the files I have go) and there is a pretty clear distinction between guys who are and guys who aren't. There are a few exceptions (Alex, Humphreys, etc.) but as time went on the Outfit became more and more a strictly Italian organization. As far as Tocco is concerned, I think he had a lot less power based on what I've seen than some people think but that's for another time.

Agree 100% about the use of that word to describe Cerone because there was no other word. It was done for their "simplicity". lol

Now, don't misunderstand me, I completely agree that there was a distinction between "Made" and "Not Made". What I'm saying is that a guy was considered of "Made Status" in the Outfit BEFORE any ceremony ever took place. They didn't even have that finger pricking ceremony during the 50's 60's and 70's according to F.B.I. documents. It seemed like a man was considered "Made" when it was known that he had been given some kind of high position within a Crew and was vouched for by his sponsor. Then, a dinner would be given for some type of a more honorary acknowledgment. It's not like the dinner made the man. The man was already made and some type of acknowledgement was done later when it was convenient for everyone. That was my only point.
As far as Tocco's status in 1983, we probably have a slight disagreement but that is for another time like you stated.

[Villain]

Some answers can be found in the hierarchical structure of the old Camorra but there's not much info out there, although I've managed to translate few texts which I'll keep them for some future project. They almost copied the whole thing and completely Americanized it by bringing the non-Italians. From the 1930s until the late 70s, there wasn't even a speck of CN traditions within the Chicago Mob. On top of that, they had a seat on the CN commission, which shows the power they had at the time. During the late 20s and early 30s a lot of national mob bosses were scared of Capone and it seems that the so-called "fear and respect" continued. And they were still one quite murderous organization even during the 70s with almost 120 hits in just one decade. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the Outfit used to be most powerful family but instead they represented something which forced the other bosses to think twice before going against them.

For example once there was a meeting between Gambino, Lucchese, two reps of the Genoveses such as Catena and Eboli, and Giancana together with Rocco Fischetti. The problem was that one Chicago member and brother of Rocco, Joe Fischetti had problems in Florida with one high level member of the Genoveses family Trigger Mike Coppola, and so Giancana personally told Coppola to accept Fischettis request and that was the end of the discussion regarding that same subject. That was the authority which they used to have