Jewish Outfit Informer

[Ed]

Here is my article about the Jewish Outfit informer "CG 6690." He was active beginning in 1963 and provided some of the most important and detailed Intel about the Chicago Mafia going back to the Capone-era. The informant was noteworthy for presenting himself as an Italian mobster throughout his criminal career despite being Jewish. Not everything he told federal investigators was accurate but for the most part, my article includes everything he revealed.

I dug up everything I could about the informer but he remains a mystery to me still. If anyone discovers any missing biographical information, I will gladly add it to the article.

Thanks to Rick for an FBI file and research assistance. Posters Villain and Lennert also contributed their expertise for which I'm grateful.

https://mafiahistory.us/rattrap/infderose.html

[Villain]

I had to grab a glass of scotch and light a cigar while reading this and i have to say that this is one of the best work you've ever done Ed. I didnt know DeRose went all the way back so again, thanks a lot. Also cheers to both Rick and Lennert

Some additional info regarding Skally, Fiorito and Brodkin when they got pinched...

Fiorito was called by one of the Outfit’s attorneys known as Mike Brodkin who in turn took Fiorito to have a chat with the boss himself Sam Giancana regarding the problem. According to one wiretapped conversation between Brodkin and Murray Humphreys, during the meeting Giancana authorized Fiorito to take care of the Skally problem, or in other words, Fiorito received the "contract”. So on January 5, 1960, 50-year old Skally was called by Fiorito, who in turn assured him that he, meaning Fiorito, already had the case “fixed” and so they decided to have a chat regarding the problem. Skally came to Fiorito’s house, picked him up and drove off to River Forest, where they parked their car at some parking lot to have the alleged chat. As he sat on the passenger seat, Fiorito started acting a little bit nervous and got noticed by Skally, who in turn immediately felt suspicious. Suddenly, Fiorito pulled out a revolver and the two men started struggling in the car, but somehow Fiorito managed to place the gun over the top of Skally’s head and pulled the trigger, thus instantly killing his victim.

[cavita]

Fabulously written article and I must say I appreciate all your hard work and research. A real pleasure to read!

[PolackTony]

This was really great Ed, thanks.

You already ruled out DePietto as a likely candidate for "CG 6690". So far as I can tell, DePietto's parents were Vincenzo De Pietto and Evelina Petrone of Pietrelcina, Benevento. I believe that a 6 year old DePietto appears in the 1920 census as "Emmerick DePietto", the family lived on Fanchon Pl in the vicinity of Broadway Junction on the border of Bushwick and Cypress Hills, Brooklyn.

[Southshore88]

Amazing insight and research Ed!

[Ed]

Hey guys,

thanks for the positive remarks. This forum provides me with the best reader feedback for my articles.

It's funny. I like to think I know most of the historical Outfit players by name or reputation, but this guy wasn't on my radar at all, until I stumbled on him.

Villain, I'll have more to say about Skally in a future article.

[aleksandrored]

This article is amazing, thanks man.

[Antiliar]

Ed,

I'm glad you came through with the article. Great job as always.

[PolackTony]

Interesting that DeRose claimed that one of the topics discussed at Apalachin was that Chicago specially had too many members made for political or business reasons who weren't killers. As Chicago was more selective about who they made, my impression has always been that the proclivity to perform heavy work was a really critical criterion for induction. Of course even bosses/capos were known to have participated directly in murders. I wonder if this was referring to guys like Marcy and Marzullo. Even though DeRose claimed this was specifically regarding members of LCN, I also wonder if part of the issue was the highly trusted roles of many non-Italians in Chicago (though of course a lot of them were also stone cold killers). DeRose has contradictions and inconsistencies in his testimony of course, so I'm not sure what to make of this specific claim. Is there any other evidence that this was an issue?

[Villain]

Villain, I'll have more to say about Skally in a future article.

Cool and as i already told you before, I never wouldve guessed Teddy DeRose...not in a million years lol

It is also interesting to note that DeRose also confirmed Manganos loyalty towards the old Northsiders aka rebels, but the most interesting info is that he also added Belcastro to that same group which simply adds to the theory that Belcastro was possibly with Mangano. After their deaths, the crew was probably absorbed by Campagna/Giancana/Caifano

[PolackTony]

Villain, I'll have more to say about Skally in a future article.

Cool and as i already told you before, I never wouldve guessed Teddy DeRose...not in a million years lol

It is also interesting to note that DeRose also confirmed Manganos loyalty towards the old Northsiders aka rebels, but the most interesting info is that he also added Belcastro to that same group which simply adds to the theory that Belcastro was possibly with Mangano. After their deaths, the crew was probably absorbed by Campagna/Giancana/Caifano

Villain it's your contention that BelCastro went from the Southside to Taylor St at least partly due to his association with Mangano, right?

If Belcastro was part of this uprising, its notable that he was the only non-Sicilian that may have taken part. I suppose if so that this could be due to his ties to Mangano, but I also wonder if BelCastro had any longer standing ties to the Sicilian family?

[Villain]

Villain, I'll have more to say about Skally in a future article.

Cool and as i already told you before, I never wouldve guessed Teddy DeRose...not in a million years lol

It is also interesting to note that DeRose also confirmed Manganos loyalty towards the old Northsiders aka rebels, but the most interesting info is that he also added Belcastro to that same group which simply adds to the theory that Belcastro was possibly with Mangano. After their deaths, the crew was probably absorbed by Campagna/Giancana/Caifano

Villain it's your contention that BelCastro went from the Southside to Taylor St at least partly due to his association with Mangano, right?

If Belcastro was part of this uprising, its notable that he was the only non-Sicilian that may have taken part. I suppose if so that this could be due to his ties to Mangano, but I also wonder if BelCastro had any longer standing ties to the Sicilian family?

Yes and those are some interesting questions...

Belcastro first started as an alleged "black hand" extortionist and later as enforcer aka bomber for political figures and mobsters, and i highly suspect that he was probably connected to some old time political Sicilians (similar as Diamond Joe), possibly the ones who were in alliance with the Capone mob such as Phil DAndrea, Capones boss of the south mob with the Rotis and remnants of the Generos and Vincis being beneath him.

Again, Belcastro started to grow when he began operating around the old 20th ward (Chinatown, South Side etc) and his brother-in-law Fanelli was also there but he was from Taylor St. According to one newspaper story, besides being located around the North/West, Mangano also had interests in the 20th ward, one quite interesting info which very much corresponds with the letter written to the goverment by Mike Heitler before he was killed. In his letter, Heitler mentioned Mangano, Fanelli and Belcastro as his close associates, and Heitler himself came from the west side and they were the ones who took over his districts. (the letter was published in the Chi tribune)

After his assassination attempt, Belcastro completely transferred on the west side and lived on Taylor St and during the mid and late 30s, we can see that most of his ops were located around that same area. I also believe that he never relinquished some of his old interests around Chinatown and if he was related to Harry Belcastro who i strongly believe used to work for him, then he also had interests in Cicero.

Shortly before his massive heart attack, one day the cops questioned Belcastro if he was kidnapped that same or the day before, since they received intel that Belcastro was gone by being taken for a ride. He obviously denied everything.

I believe that Belcastro had a lot of pressure over his head which quickly deteriorated his health, and i think the pressure was created after the murder of Mangano since he/Belcastro was probably in the middle and the one who inherited his large crew, but died young after a year at the age of 48 or 49 i dont remember.

After Belcastros death, Campagna/Giancana/Caifano inherited their numerous areas and some crew members. During the late 40s and early 50s, Manganos former lieutenant Frank Laino transferred his loyalty to the new west side admin. I also believe that some Giancana old loyalists such as Daddono, the English bros, Gianola, Blasi etc. some inherited and formed their own the crews, and some joined those same or other groups after the demise of Manganos/Belcastros large crew.

[Ed]

Interesting that DeRose claimed that one of the topics discussed at Apalachin was that Chicago specially had too many members made for political or business reasons who weren't killers. As Chicago was more selective about who they made, my impression has always been that the proclivity to perform heavy work was a really critical criterion for induction. Of course even bosses/capos were known to have participated directly in murders. I wonder if this was referring to guys like Marcy and Marzullo. Even though DeRose claimed this was specifically regarding members of LCN, I also wonder if part of the issue was the highly trusted roles of many non-Italians in Chicago (though of course a lot of them were also stone cold killers). DeRose has contradictions and inconsistencies in his testimony of course, so I'm not sure what to make of this specific claim. Is there any other evidence that this was an issue?

I was really curious who gave Angelica that information. Angelica had connections to the Genovese Crime Family so likely someone from there.

Moreover, Vito Genovese had more input into the agenda at Apalachin than any other boss. Genovese wasn't the most traditional LCN boss so I'm wondering why this became such an important item. Why call out Chicago specifically? What was the geo-political reason for that? Was Genovese trying to put Chicago on the defensive for some other larger reason?

After Apalachin, Chicago reintroduced or reemphasized the traditional Sicilian induction ceremony and ritual among the membership. I wonder if that was partly a reaction to the other bosses allegedly calling out the Outfit for who they made?

(Mind you, Chicago made Gus Alex, a non-Italian, part of their administration in the 1970s. If they were deliberately trying to become less-Americanized and more in line with the other LCN families, they probably wouldn't have done that.)

[Villain]

Lots of changes occurred during the early 70s for the Outfit...the old Capone guard was almost completely gone and so almost all of the high level non-Italians were dead, retired, imprisoned etc., while Alex was the only guy still alive and well, who still had a lot of power and juice and was still feared by many members. Some of the younger guys never even met him, meaning thats how "shadowy" and cautious this guy was. There were other guys like Patrick and later The German, but Patrick answered to Alex and was also direct with Marcello and Carlisi, while the German was huge in the Grand Av crew. Alex and Patrick were already up in the Mob when guys like Carlisi were still low level bookies.

It is possible that the Outfit tried to change some stuff during the late 70s (i think that opposite of the closure, later the opening of the books had some type of national influence), like their inductions and some official spots, again mainly because most of the top non-Italians were gone except for Alex who in turn remained as member of the top admin, the main connection guy and also some type of "consigliere". Carlisi wasnt the only boss who asked for Jeep Daddinos life, since Alex was another one. As Ed already wrote in his article, DeRose said that after the inductions, the non-Italians entered the room...and i personally think that it is quite possible that some of those newly made guys were told that they were going to be in Alex's or Humphreys' or Kruse's or Pierce's or Curry's crew for example.

I remember during the mid or late 80s, Lenny Patrick told one of his Italian non-made crew members to stay away from made guys. This never happened previously during the 30s, 40s, 50s or 60s, meaning they all worked together. Theres one quite funny senate hearing in which federal agent Roemer first labelled Les Kruse as "capo" of Lake County, but later corrected himself that Kruse was non-Italian and he wasnt able to become a "capo", and in the end he gave his final statement that Kruse had the same stature as Italian capo lol.

[Villain]

Another interesting thing to note is DeRoses statement regarding Marshall Caifano and Sam Battaglia being inducted "shortly after Giancana was brought into the 'the life.'"

I always thought that Battaglia was made before Giancana (possibly by Al Capone), according to some sources including a wiretapped convo between Battaglia and Humphreys...the Hump was in the Outfit before Giancana so I think he knew what was he talking about...