Understanding Chicago

[Angelo Santino]

The LCN organization in Chicago but by then Capone was already the Boss of his own organization that was not an LCN group.

That is true. No one is disputing that or saying that Capone's non-mafia organization was insignificant. The Lanzetti brothers of Phila. were also bosses of their their own organization, they couldn't expect to kill John Avena and then automatically absorb the Phila. LCN. Even if the Lanzettis numbered 1000 members, the Philadelphia Family would not have gone along and went with a non-mafia element.

Their timeline is off. Capone moved to Chicago before the Masseria family was even formed. Don't think Yale was even LCN by then and instead headed his own group/gang. Was Masseria even made in 1918/9?

That's a good point. However regardless of where Capone was, it's been demonstrated that he remained linked with Yale and as B. pointed out, two made members were describing the Capone-Masseria relationship, enough to indicate an association. We don't know how early Yale and Masseria teamed up, but we can assume they knew each other if not directly associated. And let's say they didn't know each other until 1920, roughly one year before Masseria is recognized as boss, that connection would have been established by 1925 as Yale would have introduced them.

Lombardo was killed Sept 7, 1928; D'Aquila was killed Oct 10, 1928. If Masseria made Capone a member so he could murder Lombardo then this occurred while D'Aquila was still alive.

The Colosimo organization also dates back to that period when they started out as a prostitution ring run by Big Jims wife. They formed independently of the LCN family in Chicago.

Yes, they formed independently of the Chicago Mafia, but they didn't exist in a bubble, independent of each other or eyeing one another with hatred from across the street. They remained separate but they, like with other groups and individuals tended to work together on certain ventures while remaining independent. Colosimo was involved in prostitution and D'Andrea wasn't, their interests didn't overlap until the 20's and when they did overlap, they got along as pragmatists. We see pictures of men from the Mafia and Capone Org hanging out in bars smiling for the photos. They were friends until they weren't and then friends again. That's something the Sopranos got dead on.

[B.]

The Colosimo organization also dates back to that period when they started out as a prostitution ring run by Big Jims wife. They formed independently of the LCN family in Chicago.

Yes, they formed independently of the Chicago Mafia, but they didn't exist in a bubble, independent of each other or eyeing one another with hatred from across the street. They remained separate but they, like with other groups and individuals tended to work together on certain ventures while remaining independent. Colosimo was involved in prostitution and D'Andrea wasn't, their interests didn't overlap until the 20's and when they did overlap, they got along as pragmatists. We see pictures of men from the Mafia and Capone Org hanging out in bars smiling for the photos. They were friends until they weren't and then friends again. That's something the Sopranos got dead on.

Given the Sicilian leadership was working with non-Italians before Capone, I would be curious when Chicago first began inducting non-Sicilians. Richie Boiardo's FBI file (Boiardo grew up partially in Chicago, coincidentally) reported that Cosa Nostra may have began nationally inducting non-Sicilians as early as 1916 and Gentile's info suggests Pittsburgh brought in non-Sicilians around that time. If "Fred" from the DeCarlo tapes is Alfred Toriello, he was a non-Sicilian made into Cosa Nostra in NYC in the mid-late 1910s. CI Rocco Scafidi heard from his brother that non-Sicilians were members in Philadelphia as early as 1920.

Gentile refers to a certain Neapolitan as a "fraternal friend" of Mike Merlo who he met during an early travel to Chicago (pre-1924). Would suggest the Chicago Cosa Nosta family may have inducted non-Sicilians long before Capone took over, so the idea that the non-Sicilians were an entirely separate entity and the Cosa Nostra group in Chicago was exclusively Sicilian in the 1920s seems unlikely. As Capone, Pittsburgh, and the three other examples I gave earlier show, a Camorrista could still be an associate and even member of Cosa Nostra, so we can't pretend these things are mutually exclusive. Once Capone was made into the Masseria family, he could transfer to Chicago officially and that process was common then.

It's more likely the Chicago Cosa Nostra family had already come to adapt to its environment and included non-Sicilian members in the 1920s, like other cities. Lombardo was from Messina, so not exactly someone from a Sicilian mafia pedigree himself and he may have been introduced to the organization in America. If Merlo's "fraternal friend" from Naples was a member in the early 1920s, that is a strong indication the Chicago mafia had already started to Americanize under Sicilian mafiosi leadership and I think you'd agree: of course it had.

[Angelo Santino]

The Colosimo organization also dates back to that period when they started out as a prostitution ring run by Big Jims wife. They formed independently of the LCN family in Chicago.

Yes, they formed independently of the Chicago Mafia, but they didn't exist in a bubble, independent of each other or eyeing one another with hatred from across the street. They remained separate but they, like with other groups and individuals tended to work together on certain ventures while remaining independent. Colosimo was involved in prostitution and D'Andrea wasn't, their interests didn't overlap until the 20's and when they did overlap, they got along as pragmatists. We see pictures of men from the Mafia and Capone Org hanging out in bars smiling for the photos. They were friends until they weren't and then friends again. That's something the Sopranos got dead on.

Given the Sicilian leadership was working with non-Italians before Capone, I would be curious when Chicago first began inducting non-Sicilians. Richie Boiardo's FBI file (Boiardo grew up partially in Chicago, coincidentally) reported that Cosa Nostra may have began nationally inducting non-Sicilians as early as 1916 and Gentile's info suggests Pittsburgh brought in non-Sicilians around that time. If "Fred" from the DeCarlo tapes is Alfred Toriello, he was a non-Sicilian made into Cosa Nostra in NYC in the mid-late 1910s. CI Rocco Scafidi heard from his brother that non-Sicilians were members in Philadelphia as early as 1920.

Gentile refers to a certain Neapolitan as a "fraternal friend" of Mike Merlo who he met during an early travel to Chicago (pre-1924). Would suggest the Chicago Cosa Nosta family may have inducted non-Sicilians long before Capone took over, so the idea that the non-Sicilians were an entirely separate entity and the Cosa Nostra group in Chicago was exclusively Sicilian in the 1920s seems unlikely. As Capone, Pittsburgh, and the three other examples I gave earlier show, a Camorrista could still be an associate and even member of Cosa Nostra, so we can't pretend these things are mutually exclusive. Once Capone was made into the Masseria family, he could transfer to Chicago officially and that process was common then.

It's more likely the Chicago Cosa Nostra family had already come to adapt to its environment and included non-Sicilian members in the 1920s, like other cities. Lombardo was from Messina, so not exactly someone from a Sicilian mafia pedigree himself and he may have been introduced to the organization in America. If Merlo's "fraternal friend" from Naples was a member in the early 1920s, that is a strong indication the Chicago mafia had already started to Americanize and I think you'd agree: of course it had.

Diamond Joe, Neapolitan, described as an early member by Gentile. You're right. Described as Ricca's first boss in Chicago.

I was going to add to my last post, regarding the timeline... Bonanno states that Lombardo asked Masseria for help in getting Capone to lay off and Masseria offered "his presence in Chicago in exchange for Capones." And Lombardo got angry and said to leave Chicago before it becomes not safe for him. So Masseria then "encouraged" Capone... Lombardo was killed before D'Aquila, if Masseria went to Chicago and that situation played out how it did, he came over as the Boss of the Family that Capone was associated with and not as the Boss of Bosses. Which is odd because where was D'Aquila when all this was going on, you would think once the Masseria-Lombardo dispute happened that Lombardo's next course of action would be to go higher to D'Aquila.

There's more to this story. That and/or a combination of guys misremembering specific second-hand info details from 30-40 years prior which is no fault of their own.

-

Americanization took 10 years on average for any first gen Itals in the 1900's. It started with going from dialect to standard Italian within 3 years. In cities like NYC with blocks of homogeneous Italian colonies one could likely go all day without speaking English if they had wanted to. NYC, Philadelphia, New Orleans and San Francisco were port cities. Inland cities weren't as compact so rather than have 1500 or a 25,000 population within 2-3 blocks they were more dispersed. Chicago had Italian dominated neighborhoods, but they weren't exclusively Italian with no other ethnicities. Did this matter or factor in? Perhaps marginally so, allowing guys to come up together.

-

Just to say, I never pondered the Chicago Mafia making non-Sicilians. I knew of Diamond Joe but I never analyzed or thought about it. So yes, the Chicago LCN inducted certain non-Sicilians before the Capone war. It's interesting. Thank you for that, it never occurred to me.

[B.]

Diamond Joe, Neapolitan, described as an early member by Gentile. You're right. Described as Ricca's first boss in Chicago.

I was going to add to my last post, regarding the timeline... Bonanno states that Lombardo asked Masseria for help in getting Capone to lay off and Masseria offered "his presence in Chicago in exchange for Capones." And Lombardo got angry and said to leave Chicago before it becomes not safe for him. So Masseria then "encouraged" Capone... Lombardo was killed before D'Aquila, if Masseria went to Chicago and that situation played out how it did, he came over as the Boss of the Family that Capone was associated with and not as the Boss of Bosses. Which is odd because where was D'Aquila when all this was going on, you would think once the Masseria-Lombardo dispute happened that Lombardo's next course of action would be to go higher to D'Aquila.

There's more to this story. That and/or a combination of guys misremembering specific second-hand info details from 30-40 years prior which is no fault of their own.

That's why we can look at Gentile, Bonanno, and Maniaci and see where they blend together:

- All three agree that Masseria backed Capone against Aiello.
- Two of them agree that Masseria backed Capone against Lombardo, too.
- All of them agree Capone was paying tribute to Masseria and was associated with him while living in Chicago.
- Two of them explicitly state Capone was inducted by Masseria and made capodecina in Chicago.
- All of them agree Capone's induction into Cosa Nostra preceded his official takeover in Chicago.
- All three agree that Capone became official boss of the Chicago Cosa Nostra family in 1931.

Lombardo seems to be the main question.

[Angelo Santino]

Diamond Joe, Neapolitan, described as an early member by Gentile. You're right. Described as Ricca's first boss in Chicago.

I was going to add to my last post, regarding the timeline... Bonanno states that Lombardo asked Masseria for help in getting Capone to lay off and Masseria offered "his presence in Chicago in exchange for Capones." And Lombardo got angry and said to leave Chicago before it becomes not safe for him. So Masseria then "encouraged" Capone... Lombardo was killed before D'Aquila, if Masseria went to Chicago and that situation played out how it did, he came over as the Boss of the Family that Capone was associated with and not as the Boss of Bosses. Which is odd because where was D'Aquila when all this was going on, you would think once the Masseria-Lombardo dispute happened that Lombardo's next course of action would be to go higher to D'Aquila.

There's more to this story. That and/or a combination of guys misremembering specific second-hand info details from 30-40 years prior which is no fault of their own.

That's why we can look at Gentile, Bonanno, and Maniaci and see where they blend together:

- All three agree that Masseria backed Capone against Aiello.
- Two of them agree that Masseria backed Capone against Lombardo, too.
- All of them agree Capone was paying tribute to Masseria and was associated with him while living in Chicago.
- Two of them explicitly state Capone was inducted by Masseria and made capodecina in Chicago.
- All of them agree Capone's induction into Cosa Nostra preceded his official takeover in Chicago.
- All three agree that Capone became official boss of the Chicago Cosa Nostra family in 1931.

Lombardo seems to be the main question.

-Oct 23, 1930, Joe Aiello is killed. Was he Official Boss after Lombardo or just the remaining leader of the opposing faction? Perhaps it wasn't black and white and some Chicago Family members were seeing the way the tide was going opted not to follow Aiello but instead wait it out. We see that with 1/2 the members in any mafia war.
-December of 1930 at a general assembly in Boston (or was it Buffalo?) Maranzano bitches about Masseria's conduct, citing a list of things including bringing Capone into the organization and staining it wit his membership. Lo Verde was boss of Chicago at this time, but as Gentile noted, the real head was Al Capone.
-April 15, 1931 Joe Masseria is murdered. Gentile describes Capone as a capodecina at this time in Masseria's family.
-April/May 1931 a meeting is held in Chicago where Maranzano becomes boss of bosses, Capone hosts the Chicago meeting and plays the part of an amicable politician. Both Gentile and Bonanno rave about him (rare for them). During this meeting Maranzano acknowledges him as the Official Boss of Chicago.
-Sept 10, 1931, Maranzano is murdered. Following his murder, the commission is formed and originally included Al Capone.
-Oct 17, 1931, Capone is convicted and sent to prison. Meaning he was Official Chicago LCN Boss for 5 months and sat on the commission for an entire month assuming the commission was ironed out within a week of Little Ceasar's murder by the 17th.

[Antiliar]

I also believe that the death of the most important mainlander Ricca also had something to do with accepting the CN traditions to an extent, since they still kept their old structure or type of hierarchy which gave the feds a lot of headache on who was who or on which level or rank

That's a good point. Accardo was the top boss and policy maker after Ricca died, and he and Aiuppa were both of Sicilian ancestry. It would have been their decision to "normalize" the standard LCN ceremony. Ricca may have experienced two ceremonies. He may have been a Camorrista when he was young, then was probably one of the ten men made into Al Capone's original crew after Masseria made Capone. It may have been Masseria who skipped some of the formal ceremony, which Capone and his successors followed.

Of Sicilian ancestry but American renditions who came up in the world of Chicago starting in Capone's orbit. Giancana himself was from Partanna and yet we see zero links to the Bonanno Family similarly to Salvatore Costa of Navy Street, he also didn't seem steeped in mafia tradition due to his Sicilianismo if he allegedly didn't want to have an underboss.. By the 1930's I don't think anyone was trying to mafa-ize or camorra-cize anything. The examples of people I'm not going into certainly didn't seem to have that agenda, their actions do not point to it. Even Pittsburgh which, along with Chicago, was the least Sicilian, they took off their shoes when entering the house. I'll leave it at that.

The opposing argument could be that these Chicago Italians were American and thus less influenced by the Sicilian tradition but even then, the hierarchy is not that intricate and leaves room for interpretation and for each member occupying to position to make it his own. Rappresentante or Boss, Underboss or #2, caporegime or crew boss. We've seen the structure in every city. Families were more connected, not less, between 1900 and 1960 so it makes little sense that Chicago would just decide to adopt a traditional method in the 1970's just like NY adopting a structure in 1931 doesn't make sense.

We don't know whether or not Masseria gave Capone the full ceremony or just said you're a member, given how both examples have occurred throughout history in different cases, Capone's bloody index finger is less relevant compared to his mafia-ization and the bestowing of legitimacy into a network that would have to recognize him from LA to NY. A low-class pimp associate challenging confratello Aiello in Chicago is a no-brainer as to where loyalties would lay. But Capone as BOB Masseria's capo aganst Aiello- staying the fuck outta that. People have made the argument that Capone didn't need membership to be successful because he already was. While he didn't need it to make money but he needed it to be recognized within the mafia/LCN/national syndicate, otherwise he would have been just a gang. Powerful yes, but not part of the national network. Had that happened that way they likely would have eventually been but that's neither here nor there, we have the evidence that mafia membership was a factor in everything Chicago related, past and present.

Let's assume that along the way someone said screw the ceremony, either Masseria onto Capone or Capone onto his ten men. Those who used the ceremony in Chicago in the 1970's had to have learned it from somewhere unless they called NY for advice. Cleveland allegedly didn't remember how to conduct the ceremony so Fratianno was consulted. But even then, ceremonies were likely used under Lonardo up to when Scalish stopped making people, they likely were a thing in Chicago prior to Lo Verde and we don't know what Al did. There was some rumor of members swearing on a Greek bible or something which I don't believe was ever confirmed.

I once seen Allan May make the argument that he never read Frank Costello having to undergo a ceremony and can't envision him in a dark room doing so. Tree falls in the woods type of thing, we weren't there to confirm what ceremonial or verbal practice Costello or Capone underwent but we do know their statuses as members were confirmed.

-

I think a High Level Researcher like B makes a good point, the ceremony has been used, altered or ignored in different groups including the most Sicilian of groups at various points in the past century. But one thing that hasn't changed is the significance of membership. All Chicago accounts point to it being a very rare and privileged distinction, as it was in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and everywhere else. And if it is rare, then the distinction of separating amico nos from associates despite an Alex or Humphries' vital importance in how the mafia ran affairs in the city is necessary.

I didn't write anything about the significance of membership. That's a separate issue that I didn't address. I was only coming up with an explanatory theory about why the Chicago ceremony changed when it allegedly did. This is based on the information that we have and conjecture. Yes, Sam Giancana was of Sicilian heritage, but his beliefs about the ceremony were irrelevant since Paul Ricca was the last word during the period Giancana was the day-to-day boss. Accardo wasn't the final word until Ricca died in 1972. He co-ruled with Ricca, but Ricca was the senior partner. In 1972 Accardo could set the policy the way he wanted. Both Aiuppa and Cerone deferred to Accardo in everything. At that point it is *possible* that their (Accardo's and Aiuppa's) Sicilian heritage and *possible* love for tradition was reflected in policy. I don't *know* this to be true, but believe it's a good theory with explanatory power. Perhaps there was influence or pressure from New York too. We don't know, but those are both good possible reasons. We do know that there had to be reasons of some sort, and those seem to be good and probably reasons. But again, I can't prove this.

[B.]

That's why we can look at Gentile, Bonanno, and Maniaci and see where they blend together:

- All three agree that Masseria backed Capone against Aiello.
- Two of them agree that Masseria backed Capone against Lombardo, too.
- All of them agree Capone was paying tribute to Masseria and was associated with him while living in Chicago.
- Two of them explicitly state Capone was inducted by Masseria and made capodecina in Chicago.
- All of them agree Capone's induction into Cosa Nostra preceded his official takeover in Chicago.
- All three agree that Capone became official boss of the Chicago Cosa Nostra family in 1931.

Lombardo seems to be the main question.

-Oct 23, 1930, Joe Aiello is killed. Was he Official Boss after Lombardo or just the remaining leader of the opposing faction? Perhaps it wasn't black and white and some Chicago Family members were seeing the way the tide was going opted not to follow Aiello but instead wait it out. We see that with 1/2 the members in any mafia war.
-December of 1930 at a general assembly in Boston (or was it Buffalo?) Maranzano bitches about Masseria's conduct, citing a list of things including bringing Capone into the organization and staining it wit his membership. Lo Verde was boss of Chicago at this time, but as Gentile noted, the real head was Al Capone.
-April 15, 1931 Joe Masseria is murdered. Gentile describes Capone as a capodecina at this time in Masseria's family.
-April/May 1931 a meeting is held in Chicago where Maranzano becomes boss of bosses, Capone hosts the Chicago meeting and plays the part of an amicable politician. Both Gentile and Bonanno rave about him (rare for them). During this meeting Maranzano acknowledges him as the Official Boss of Chicago.
-Sept 10, 1931, Maranzano is murdered. Following his murder, the commission is formed and originally included Al Capone.
-Oct 17, 1931, Capone is convicted and sent to prison. Meaning he was Official Chicago LCN Boss for 5 months and sat on the commission for an entire month assuming the commission was ironed out within a week of Little Ceasar's murder by the 17th.

Ricca was also involved in high-level discussions with other bosses during those meetings:

- Magaddino was recorded discussing how Ricca approached him privately in Chicago when they were electing bosses to the Commission and Magaddino took Ricca aside and told him he liked him. Ricca in turn told Magaddino they wanted him on the Commission. He seems to suggest Ricca made a comment about Capone being "overruled" in his absence. As mentioned earlier, Capone was frequently traveling and engaged in other priorities during his short time on the street as official boss. It's hard to completely interpret what he's saying, but by Magaddino's own account Ricca was influential in high-level mafia politics during the post-war period and may have made a comment that implied Capone was overruled in some matter.

- Magaddino also talks about how Toto LoVerde was "chief" of the Chicago "borgata", but represented the "Greaseballs" while they also had an "Americanized" faction (Magaddino's words). He seems to say that Paul Ricca had a dislike for LoVerde and, again, it's hard to dissect everything he's saying, but it sounds like Magaddino and LoVerde weren't friendly, while Magaddino and Ricca got along.

Another curious bit about Ricca:

- Gentile talks about Ricca being involved in the Polizzi/Romano issue in Cleveland, with Polizzi apparently having supported Ricca in some matter that would have drawn the ire of other mafia leaders. This is in context with the Romano murder but it's not clear if the Ricca issue was directly related.

The Capone/Maranzano thing is curous, too. Maranzano eventually recognized Capone as official boss, but wasn't Capone also on his hitlist alongside other new bosses he supported, like Luciano and Mangano? It seems like Maranzano went through the motion of supporting various bosses with the plan to later eliminate them.

Because Chicago had already made Diamond Joe Esposito into the mafia in the early 1920s and other families had done the same across the US, it suggests the issue Maranzano had with Capone either had to do with his personal conduct (prostitution?) or something else. Maranzano had a relationship with Valachi, a Neapolitan, who he personally inducted, so it doesn't seem he was opposed to Neapolitan members. Dominick Petrilli was also a top non-Sicilian Lucchese member who supported Maranzano.

It's also possible he had problems with the way Masseria had inducted Capone specifically to be used against Aiello, who was an ally of Castellammarese leaders Magaddino and Milazzo. Joe Bonanno said the Gaspare Milazzo murder was directly connected to the Aiello situation and Milazzo had previously attended meetings concerning the Aiello/Masseria issue. Maranzano may have also been using the Capone situation for political leverage, as there is reason to believe he spun a number of events during that time to gain momentum against Masseria.

[Antiliar]

Regarding the Outfit's organization and where Guzik/Humphreys/Alex existed in it, I'm not sure it compares to Joe Watts. I don't know enough about Watts to say much about him or make a good comparison. For this explanation I'll label Guzik/Humphreys/Alex as GHA. I'll try to compare GHA to Maishe Rockman, but my understanding of Rockman could be mistaken too since I haven't spent a lot of time investigating him. Rockman, as far as I know, was a close friend and associate of Jack Licavoli and John Scalish. He may or may not have had his own personal crew, but as far as I know if he did have a crew, the crew belonged to him and not the Cleveland Family.

GHA is different. GHA were actual members of the Chicago Family/Outfit without being members of LCN. They were the essentially capodecinas and consiglieri, but not sure if they had those titles. They had their own crews, but their crews also belonged to the Outfit like other crews. They were direct to the bosses and underbosses like other capodecinas, but they were not made members. Here is a little graph I just made that hopefully illustrates what I'm saying, but I never made a computer graph before so take it for what it's worth.

Chicago Outfit organization.jpg

[B.]

Thanks for sharing. The diagram definitely makes sense, though I believe it would translate closely to Watts and Lansky as well, Watts in particular based on the information I shared earlier. It was just more rare and there were fewer examples.

It doesn't seem that the individuals who fit in the crossover between the admin and non-made members were part of a permanent structure (even if individuals held those spots for long periods), as those positions shifted and changed based on the desires of the admin / made member crossover. The crossover between the admin and made members was a more fixed structure that accounted for different power dynamics but remained essentially the same regardless of who held the positions. I think that's a big difference, as well as the fact that certain activities/events were limited only to the admin/made member crossover, including the 1956 and 1983 inductions.

I am not looking to challenge what you're saying and the functionality makes sense, though there are still certain aspects that are open for interpretation.

[Pogo The Clown]

I think the biggest difference between an Alex in Chicago or a Watts in NY is that it would have been unthinkable for a Watts to be on a ruling panel and have a say in the decision making of the organization. For as much as e was respected I don't see any NY informant refering to Watts as a Boss or leader like the Chicago informants refer to Alex.


Pogo

[B.]

I think the biggest difference between an Alex in Chicago or a Watts in NY is that it would have been unthinkable for a Watts to be on a ruling panel and have a say in the decision making of the organization. For as much as e was respected I don't see any NY informant refering to Watts as a Boss or leader like the Chicago informants refer to Alex.


Pogo

DiLeonardo didn't use the word boss or claim Watts was on the Gambino family's ruling panel (both positions that apply to the membership), but he described him as a "member of the inner circle" who carried a murder order to a top captain and was authorized to overrule a family captain / acting boss in construction business, and got DiLeonardo sponsored for membership (possibly Dominick Borghese, too) in addition to other examples of his status.

I would say the bigger picture of what that means is open for interpretation, as similar cases are, but Watts was a Gambino leader outside of the membership either way you cut it. If someone doesn't want to say it's exactly the same, I would agree to that, but it's a very similar arrangement and a relevant comparison.

[Villain]

Regarding the Outfit's organization and where Guzik/Humphreys/Alex existed in it, I'm not sure it compares to Joe Watts. I don't know enough about Watts to say much about him or make a good comparison. For this explanation I'll label Guzik/Humphreys/Alex as GHA. I'll try to compare GHA to Maishe Rockman, but my understanding of Rockman could be mistaken too since I haven't spent a lot of time investigating him. Rockman, as far as I know, was a close friend and associate of Jack Licavoli and John Scalish. He may or may not have had his own personal crew, but as far as I know if he did have a crew, the crew belonged to him and not the Cleveland Family.

GHA is different. GHA were actual members of the Chicago Family/Outfit without being members of LCN. They were the essentially capodecinas and consiglieri, but not sure if they had those titles. They had their own crews, but their crews also belonged to the Outfit like other crews. They were direct to the bosses and underbosses like other capodecinas, but they were not made members. Here is a little graph I just made that hopefully illustrates what I'm saying, but I never made a computer graph before so take it for what it's worth.

Chicago Outfit organization.jpg

This is the best explanation so far and completely closes the non-Italian question regarding the Outfit and also confirms that they were a different organization. Thanks a thousand times bro.

This should be a first lesson or example for all the newbies who came to learn something and it doesnt give them any chance to try and deform the Outfits real picture

[Villain]

I think the biggest difference between an Alex in Chicago or a Watts in NY is that it would have been unthinkable for a Watts to be on a ruling panel and have a say in the decision making of the organization. For as much as e was respected I don't see any NY informant refering to Watts as a Boss or leader like the Chicago informants refer to Alex.


Pogo

I agree. Alex came from a family which had long time Outfit connections, he controlled his own crew, controlled his own areas and climbed the ladder and became a boss in his own right. Nothing like that Watts dude or Rockman.

Alexs father Nick used to be very close with Colosimo, Max Guzik and his sons, followed by Nicks business partners Roti Sr and Sam Hunt....all legendary Outfit heavyweights

[Villain]

All of the talks about Ricca or Diamond Joe were already explanied but it seems that some people dont want to listen and i dont know why....so again, the mainlanders took over and shaped the organization in their own view, and the Sicilians were beneath them and the new commission had no other choice but to accept and bring them in as they were or in their own fashion. Case closed

[Villain]

Im feeling a little bit of negative energy around here, which is quite understandable, but still lets have few laughs...

The Chicago team:

Antiliar - Phil Jackson (the best coach in the world and possibly the universe)

Snakes - Michael Jordan (always portrays the rarest and impossible types of moves)

Confederate - Scottie Pippen (the best assistant and forward in the country and the world)

Pete - Steve Kerr (always makes a bullseye all the way from the other end of the court)

Frank - Luc Longley (always turns the first jump ball on the needed side)

Villain - Dennis Rodman (main guy for both defensive and offensive rebounds)

Pogo the Clown - Tex Winter (close associate of Chicago and legendary and respected advisor all around the country and possibly the world)