General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground

[PolackTony]

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.

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.

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.

The

[PolackTony]

Mazzones alias was "West Side" Frankie Pope

Good to know! You mean Ernie or Fred Mazzone?

[PolackTony]

I would also like to ask regarding few names, or if all of these guys were Sicilians or not...all of the following names are from the 1920s-1930s era and i also think that all belonged to the old Mafia and some later joined the Capone mob...

Joseph Almanza (Cicero)

Henry and Joseph Vazzano (Local 2 and W Grand)

James Markese (Wheeling Ill)

John Rinella (Melrose Park)

Nick Maggio (Melrose Park)

Joseph Almanza was named in the Tribune in 1930 as an alleged leader of a ring of Sicilian alcohol peddlers under Capone, whom federal officials were pushing to deport. Almanza is not a common surname in Sicily, and it seems pretty clear that he was Giuseppe Almanza of Pantelleria, Trapani (actually a small island between Sicily proper and Tunisia). Prior to arriving in the US in 1923, Almanza had been living with his wife (who was from Castelvetrano) in Campobello di Mazara. I don't have any info for him following 1930, so perhaps he was deported. Two of his accomplices were named as Joseph Argento and Girolamo Compesi.

Henry Vazzano was born 1911 in Chicago to Giuseppe and Rosario (possibly nee Daniele) Vazzano, of Ventimiglia di Sicilian, Palermo. The family lived in the Little Sicily area of the Near North Side. Henry wound up marrying Margaret Neglia, daughter of Gaetano Oneglia and Vita Castelluzzo of Ciminna, Palermo. Oneglia (who appears in different documents as Tony, Thomas, and Guy) was of course a capo or top lieutenant in the North Side crew who was killed in 1943. Henry Vazzano died in Chicago and the 60s and was outlived by his father Joseph who died in the 70s.

James Markese is hard, as there were several different James Marcheses in Chicago. I note that in 1929 there was a James Marchese who owned a bar at Diversey and Clark, don't know if it's the guy you're looking at. Did Marchese stay in Chicago, and do you know when he died? There were a couple of James Marcheses with ancestry going back to Potenza, but there was also a Vincenzo Marchese born around 1899 in Marineo, Palermo. The latter grew up on the South Side in the Canaryville/Fuller Park area and died in the 70s in Cicero.

John Rinella was born 1902 in Chicago to Antonino Rinella and Rosina Zuccaro of Termini Imerese. He was killed in December 1932 in a roadhouse he operated in rural Leyden Township, just over the line from Melrose Park and very close to Tony Caliendo's bomb farm. At the time of his death the Tribune described him as a Rocco DeGrazia operative, and the Roger Touhy gang was suspected in his murder (the article notes they were suspected also in Joe Provenzano's murder and a series of killings of other Melrose Park members of DeGrazia's crew).

Nicholas Joseph Maggio was another victim in this series of hits. He was born 1897 in Melrose Park to Giuseppe Maggio of Trivigno, Potenza and Rosina Briglio of Brindis de la Montagna, Potenza. His cousin Paul Maggio was a lieutenant in the Melrose Park PD. In December 1932 Nick was killed along with Anthony Persico of Melrose Park on the far North West Side near Irving Park and Cumberland. The Tribune attributed these killings to the Touhy gang.

[PolackTony]

So a big question here is whether the rash of murders around Melrose Park and North West Side in 1932 was part of the Touhy-Outfit war, or the conflict between the Capone-ite vs anti Capone factions of the Mafia. Given the area, its certainly a strong possibility that the Touhy gang was putting serious heat on the Italians. In that case, perhaps the Jerfita and Montana groups were siding with the Capone faction against the Touhy gang. One thing that doesn't fit was Jerfita partner Fred Pettiti's murder on Taylor St, which points far more to an internal Mafia war as opposed to the Touhy gang.

[Villain]

Mazzones alias was "West Side" Frankie Pope

Good to know! You mean Ernie or Fred Mazzone?

Ernest.

[Villain]

I would also like to ask regarding few names, or if all of these guys were Sicilians or not...all of the following names are from the 1920s-1930s era and i also think that all belonged to the old Mafia and some later joined the Capone mob...

Joseph Almanza (Cicero)

Henry and Joseph Vazzano (Local 2 and W Grand)

James Markese (Wheeling Ill)

John Rinella (Melrose Park)

Nick Maggio (Melrose Park)

Joseph Almanza was named in the Tribune in 1930 as an alleged leader of a ring of Sicilian alcohol peddlers under Capone, whom federal officials were pushing to deport. Almanza is not a common surname in Sicily, and it seems pretty clear that he was Giuseppe Almanza of Pantelleria, Trapani (actually a small island between Sicily proper and Tunisia). Prior to arriving in the US in 1923, Almanza had been living with his wife (who was from Castelvetrano) in Campobello di Mazara. I don't have any info for him following 1930, so perhaps he was deported. Two of his accomplices were named as Joseph Argento and Girolamo Compesi.

Henry Vazzano was born 1911 in Chicago to Giuseppe and Rosario (possibly nee Daniele) Vazzano, of Ventimiglia di Sicilian, Palermo. The family lived in the Little Sicily area of the Near North Side. Henry wound up marrying Margaret Neglia, daughter of Gaetano Oneglia and Vita Castelluzzo of Ciminna, Palermo. Oneglia (who appears in different documents as Tony, Thomas, and Guy) was of course a capo or top lieutenant in the North Side crew who was killed in 1943. Henry Vazzano died in Chicago and the 60s and was outlived by his father Joseph who died in the 70s.

James Markese is hard, as there were several different James Marcheses in Chicago. I note that in 1929 there was a James Marchese who owned a bar at Diversey and Clark, don't know if it's the guy you're looking at. Did Marchese stay in Chicago, and do you know when he died? There were a couple of James Marcheses with ancestry going back to Potenza, but there was also a Vincenzo Marchese born around 1899 in Marineo, Palermo. The latter grew up on the South Side in the Canaryville/Fuller Park area and died in the 70s in Cicero.

John Rinella was born 1902 in Chicago to Antonino Rinella and Rosina Zuccaro of Termini Imerese. He was killed in December 1932 in a roadhouse he operated in rural Leyden Township, just over the line from Melrose Park and very close to Tony Caliendo's bomb farm. At the time of his death the Tribune described him as a Rocco DeGrazia operative, and the Roger Touhy gang was suspected in his murder (the article notes they were suspected also in Joe Provenzano's murder and a series of killings of other Melrose Park members of DeGrazia's crew).

Nicholas Joseph Maggio was another victim in this series of hits. He was born 1897 in Melrose Park to Giuseppe Maggio of Trivigno, Potenza and Rosina Briglio of Brindis de la Montagna, Potenza. His cousin Paul Maggio was a lieutenant in the Melrose Park PD. In December 1932 Nick was killed along with Anthony Persico of Melrose Park on the far North West Side near Irving Park and Cumberland. The Tribune attributed these killings to the Touhy gang.

Another precious info, thanks a lot.

One of the Vazzanos later ended up under Prio, while during the McClellan hearings, Markese and the Dotes were labelled as Pinelli's guys in Chicago who took care of his interests while he resided in California.

[Villain]

So a big question here is whether the rash of murders around Melrose Park and North West Side in 1932 was part of the Touhy-Outfit war, or the conflict between the Capone-ite vs anti Capone factions of the Mafia. Given the area, its certainly a strong possibility that the Touhy gang was putting serious heat on the Italians. In that case, perhaps the Jerfita and Montana groups were siding with the Capone faction against the Touhy gang. One thing that doesn't fit was Jerfita partner Fred Pettiti's murder on Taylor St, which points far more to an internal Mafia war as opposed to the Touhy gang.

Some sources say that besides controlling parts of the west side and all western suburbs, some of DeGrazia's crew members began heading north, which allegedly was the main reason for the conflict with the Touhy gang.

As for the Liberto, Provenzano and Petitti hits, I believe they were Mafia related. Possibly even the Jerfita one....

[PolackTony]

So a big question here is whether the rash of murders around Melrose Park and North West Side in 1932 was part of the Touhy-Outfit war, or the conflict between the Capone-ite vs anti Capone factions of the Mafia. Given the area, its certainly a strong possibility that the Touhy gang was putting serious heat on the Italians. In that case, perhaps the Jerfita and Montana groups were siding with the Capone faction against the Touhy gang. One thing that doesn't fit was Jerfita partner Fred Pettiti's murder on Taylor St, which points far more to an internal Mafia war as opposed to the Touhy gang.

Some sources say that besides controlling parts of the west side and all western suburbs, some of DeGrazia's crew members began heading north, which allegedly was the main reason for the conflict with the Touhy gang.

As for the Liberto, Provenzano and Petitti hits, I believe they were Mafia related. Possibly even the Jerfita one....

The Outfit had a lot going on at this time, as they were still pacifying the remain anti Capone faction while also fighting the Touhys for control in the North West. So it's possible that some of these hits were from one conflict and some from another. But the fact that they all happened so close to each other in time stands out.

[Villain]

So a big question here is whether the rash of murders around Melrose Park and North West Side in 1932 was part of the Touhy-Outfit war, or the conflict between the Capone-ite vs anti Capone factions of the Mafia. Given the area, its certainly a strong possibility that the Touhy gang was putting serious heat on the Italians. In that case, perhaps the Jerfita and Montana groups were siding with the Capone faction against the Touhy gang. One thing that doesn't fit was Jerfita partner Fred Pettiti's murder on Taylor St, which points far more to an internal Mafia war as opposed to the Touhy gang.

Some sources say that besides controlling parts of the west side and all western suburbs, some of DeGrazia's crew members began heading north, which allegedly was the main reason for the conflict with the Touhy gang.

As for the Liberto, Provenzano and Petitti hits, I believe they were Mafia related. Possibly even the Jerfita one....

The Outfit had a lot going on at this time, as they were still pacifying the remain anti Capone faction while also fighting the Touhys for control in the North West. So it's possible that some of these hits were from one conflict and some from another. But the fact that they all happened so close to each other in time stands out.

I agree, lots of stuff were hapenning at the time

[Villain]

Few interesting cases regarding the old time Outfit and amphetamines...

From March 1968 and January 1969...








And the second one is from November 1967...

[PolackTony]

Few interesting cases regarding the old time Outfit and amphetamines...

From March 1968 and January 1969...








And the second one is from November 1967...

Thanks, interesting cases. You may have already been thinking about this, but when Fred Mazzone was busted for selling drugs out of his bar on N Clark in the 50s, it was amphetamine pills.

[Villain]

Thanks, interesting cases. You may have already been thinking about this, but when Fred Mazzone was busted for selling drugs out of his bar on N Clark in the 50s, it was amphetamine pills.

I either missed it or completely forgot about it, anyways thanks a lot. The old guys sold everything. Don Borrelli was even a 13th Ward candidate lol as for Augie Circella, i think he was Alex and Ferraros guy in the Loop

[Villain]

Some additional info on Augie Circella and his infamous older brother Nick...

[Villain]

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.

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.

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.

Theres no question that some of these clans were either under the Mafia or their "associates" the Capone Mob, but theres also a great possibility that some were independent to an extent. For example, if they bought booze from Esposito, Lombardo and Aiello and they were located on the west or north side, than there probably wasnt any problem...or if they were on the South Side and if they bought their booze from Capone, everything was cool, and im talking about the time period before Capone was made.

Your theory on Esposito is quite plausible but we only have Gentile's info that Esposito was a member and thats it. He doesnt mention if he was a capo or anything like that BUT if we follow some of the events we might raise more suspicion. For example, besides Yale's and DAquila's 1928 eliminations in New York, two other quite important hits that occurred in Chcago that same year were the executions of Lombardo and Esposito. That same year Capone was allegedly made, AND WAS INSTANTLY bumped to a capo with a special privilege to make his own people (by that year many of Espositos guys were already killed). We all know that Lolordo took Lombardo's place, and so the question is whether Capone took Esposito's place? If so, next question would be, was Esposito previously a capo or they simply "invented" a new position for Capone only?

Before being made, Capone already had the Loop, Near South Side and whole South. He also had parts of the North/West with the help of the so-called Circus gang aka Capezio/Heeney/Maddox, and also had interests around the West Side with the help of some of Esposito's "soldiers" such as Ricca and Volpe. Lombardo was the boss, Aiello was the number two guy and Esposito was probably their top rep for the west side. Roselli met Capone through Esposito remember?!

So after Esposito's demise, Capone received the keys to the heart of the West Side and became a made guy aka capodecina with Ricca being his closest associate. After that, Joe Montana was seen greeting Capone from few of his arrivals from out of town meaning the Montanas were probably with Capone and previously under Esposito. The Mazzones were allegedly connected to Frank Rio according to Bioff, who in turn said that Ernest Mazzone aka West Side Frankie Pope once drove him and Browne to a meeting with Rio. Almost a year before Rio's natural death, Mazzone was killed. After the murders of Tropea, Esposito and Ferrara, it is possible that Mangano decided to join in that same time and im telling you this since some sources connect Mazzone to Mangano, instead of Rio but besides that both bosses were mainly from the west side.

[Villain]

...in addition, according to one old time Camorra extortion letter, the mainlanders allegedly had many of their members located in Argentina and as I previously said in one of my posts, Tony Mops Volpe was allegedly born in Argentina, and later in 1955 Nick Circella voluntarily went to Argentina, instead of being deported to his native Italy.