Digging into these things gives us some good insight into the operations of the Mafia in Chicago. And I agree that the Ranieri kidnapping and Jerfita brewery open up a whole set of associations. Rather than just based around the Near North Side, Taylor, and the south suburbs, we see them operating wherever Italians were concentrated in Chicago -- the South Side, the North West Side/Elmwood Park, Melrose Park. They clearly had a lot of manpower, and there were complicated relationships between the Capone-ite and non Capone-ite factions. It's clear also that they had plenty of close connections to non Sicilian Southerners, not only Esposito et al but also likely the Vincis.Villain wrote: ↑Thu Oct 22, 2020 10:31 am Damn man, you're the best. Thanks a lot for this info and to tell you the truth, I always thought that the Petittis were Sicilians. It is possible that Esposito wasnt the only made mainlander by the old Mafia in Chicago ate the time...
Also,back in the days I managed to connect many old time Mafiosi with the help of the Ranieri kidnapping case.
Good info on Jerfita and Ive never seen a photo of him so thanks again.
The bomb making arrests at Tony Caliendo's farm (I believe in then rural Leyden township just over the line from Melrose Park) also open up an interesting network. It's clear that the Montana Melrose Park gang was an extension of the Taylor St faction or possibly decina, and seems to have been composed primarily of Napuletani. Tony Caliendo was born in Scisciano Napoli, which seems pretty significant given that the Ariola/Ebolis of Melrose Park were also from Scisciano. Who knows of course if any of these Napuletani were already made under Esposito or not. While it's possible this could have been a formal decina with Esposito (and maybe Montana after him) as capodecina, or perhaps it was instead a situation like the later Outfit where a made member functioned as a "Boss" on the streets, with a crew of non inducted "soldiers", whether or not he was formally a capodecina in the Borgata.
Another question is what these guys were making bombs for. Were they Capone or anti Capone partisans? I believe Rocky DeGrazia was already operating in Melrose Park by 1930, and if so what relationship did the Montana boys have with him I wonder.
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