Early 1970s Chicago member informant

[B.]

Thanks to Antiliar for sharing Paul Ricca's FBI files:
https://archive.org/details/paul-ricca- ... 5/mode/2up

Of particular interest to me is the member informant from 1971 in the above set of files. His perspective bridges a gap between the old Sicilian-centric mafia in Chicago and what has come to be called the "outfit". He affirms some of the nontraditional aspects in Chicago (verbal-only "inductions" and Accardo/Ricca being "statesmen") while continuing to refer to the Chicago outfit as a "Mafia" organization with roots in earlier Chicago "Mafia" groups. The informant himself appears to be of Sicilian heritage with deep roots in the mafia.

Below is my take based on the info he provided, but feel free to make any corrections if anyone's interpretations of his info differs. For example, based on the hundreds (thousands?) of similar FBI reports I've seen over the years, I believe the informant is referring to his relatives when he discusses two specific old time mafia figures who came over from Sicily and joined the Chicago family. Hard to imagine in what other context this info would be mentioned and where his knowledge would have come from if there wasn't a personal connection/relation.

Anyway, here are my notes:

- It appears two of the informant's older relatives were Chicago mafia members born in Sicily and one of them became an important member. At least one of these men changed his surname, which the informant says would not be familiar to his relatives in Sicily.

- These two relatives were involved in bootlegging and had significant influence over a mafia organization that later merged with the Capone gang. One of these relatives was murdered gangland-style around 1931, while the other relative continued operating on a smaller scale under the supervision of a redacted name. The surviving relative stayed a part of the mafia in an inactive capacity until he died.

- The bodyguard of the member who was killed in 1931 was also killed, though it's not made clear if he was killed at the same time as the informant's presumed relative.

- The informant also refers to two other redacted names who were still active as of 1971. He said they were born in Sicily and at least one of them was involved in the juice/loansharking racket. Would seem to be referring to guys connected to him (informant) or his older relatives in some way.

- Says the Genna brothers brought their relatives over from Sicily for help with their bootlegging businesses, and the informant presumed these relatives were "probably" members of the Sicilian mafia as they readily understood what was expected of them under the Gennas. That he specifically mentions the Gennas suggests to me that the informant and/or his relatives were connected to the Genna faction in some way.

- He says membership is limited to Italian or Sicilian ancestry and a member must be sponsored by another member and approved by others. Similar to what he said about the Gennas, he said in the 1920s / 1930s once a member achieved a certain status and wanted to increase his power he brought over relatives from overseas. He says however that most members were recruited locally. This is an interesting segment, as I'd never considered the possibility that someone being inducted/promoted would lead them to encourage relatives to emigrate, but that makes complete sense that a mafioso's new status would lead him to bring trusted mafia relatives to the US to fortify his position and also aide them through his influence.

- Says Joe Aiello was assisted by one of the Fischetti brothers, who was Al Capone's cousin. Has this been mentioned by other sources? Like with Diamond Joe Esposito being a made member of the Chicago family by the early 1920s, this could be an indication not simply of business collaboration but maybe a sign that the groups (or parts of them) were formally affiliated with each other already pre-1930.

- Says he knew the term "La Cosa Nostra" but says the old members referred to the organization as the "Mafia". Informant continues to refer to the contemporary Chicago family as the "Mafia" throughout his cooperation and calls its members "Mafia members", including current members as of 1971. He uses the words "Mafia", "outfit", and "family" interchangeably, similar to Milwaukee CI Augie Maniaci.

- He says upon arrival into the country, the informant's aforementioned relatives were both sponsored for membership by a redacted name. He says the induction was "handled" by the sponsor by simply introducing the proposed members to other mafia members as members of the family. Not sure the timeframe he's referring to, but might very well be suggesting as early as the 1920s even Sicilian members in Chicago had foregone the traditional making ceremony. If we believe Joe Bonanno, the NYC Schiro family had already begun to lapse on induction rules by the late 1920s, so anything is possible. Similar to Aiello's close alliance with the Moran gang, it could be a sign that Americanization had already influenced the induction process under the 1920s Sicilian leadership.

- The informant says he (the informant) was able to gain a redacted member's trust and as a result this member vouched for him and began introducing the informant as a made member of the family. The informant makes another reference that implies his own membership when discussing the obligation to attend wakes of Chicago members. So this informant is not simply related to Sicilian-born Chicago members, but is a second-generation member himself with Sicilian heritage.

- He said as of 1971 Paul Ricca was the only remaining Chicago leader who dated back to the Capone era. That said, he seems unaware of how powerful Ricca was earlier on within the Chicago hierarchy, which could indicate the informant was not yet a made member during the 1930s/40s.

There is too much misc. info on contemporary figures to post it all and the above is what's most interesting to me. The informant knew many of the top players in Chicago up through the early 1970s and has knowledge of the Gennas going back to the 1920s. I'm sure some of the Chicago experts on the board can give better analysis of his info and whether it's accurate, but he is clearly a knowledgeable source who has more than a passing knowledge of Chicago and its history.

His info indicates that Chicago figures with ties to the earlier Sicilian faction(s) continued to view themselves and their peers in Chicago as the mafia, which naturally is how other families viewed them as well. Reminds me of another second-generation member, Joe Costello, referring to his "caporegime" on tape with Giancana. These second-generation members of Sicilian heritage may have recognized more continuity with the earlier Sicilian mafia factions given they had relatives who were members back then. It's like I've said before about Phil Bacino -- there is no way a guy like that saw membership in the "outfit" as distinct from his earlier mafia membership, which he shared with a brother in Sicily and friends/relatives in New Jersey.

We have quite a bit of identifying info about this informant, too, so maybe a master "rat catcher" like Ed can narrow it down: Sicilian heritage, family may have changed their surname, second-generation member, an important relative was murdered in 1931. He seems to have specific knowledge of the Genna group but also mentions Joe Aiello. If he or his relatives were connected to the Gennas it would make Trapanese heritage likely, as their faction included men from several different Trapani villages.

--

At the end of this set of files is a brief piece of info from CI Frank Bompensiero:

- Frank Bompensiero says he told Frank LaPorte in 1972 that he heard a rumor in Kansas City about LaPorte being replaced as "LCN Capo", but LaPorte said this was wrong and he was still an "LCN Capo" in Chicago.

- We know Bompensiero had ties to Kansas City through Willie Cammisano, who lived in San Diego for a time and was close to the LA leadership there. Would be great to see what his contact and/or travel to Kansas City was like in the early 1970s and if it was as informative as the late 1960s St. Louis visit, where he received a detailed run-down on the St. Louis family and traveled to Chicago where he and Tony Giardano met with members there. If he received gossip about Chicago while visiting KC members, he likely received good knowledge on KC itself as well.

Most of the info from Bompensiero that's been available so far in NARA files is from 1968-1969, so this is a promising sign that he maintained ties to the midwest in the 1970s and was continuing to update the FBI. Would be great to see what all he may have said about Chicago during the 1970s.

[cavita]

Thanks to Antiliar for sharing Paul Ricca's FBI files:
https://archive.org/details/paul-ricca- ... 5/mode/2up

Of particular interest to me is the member informant from 1971 in the above set of files. His perspective bridges a gap between the old Sicilian-centric mafia in Chicago and what has come to be called the "outfit". He affirms some of the nontraditional aspects in Chicago (verbal-only "inductions" and Accardo/Ricca being "statesmen") while continuing to refer to the Chicago outfit as a "Mafia" organization with roots in earlier Chicago "Mafia" groups. The informant himself appears to be of Sicilian heritage with deep roots in the mafia.

Below is my take based on the info he provided, but feel free to make any corrections if anyone's interpretations of his info differs. For example, based on the hundreds (thousands?) of similar FBI reports I've seen over the years, I believe the informant is referring to his relatives when he discusses two specific old time mafia figures who came over from Sicily and joined the Chicago family. Hard to imagine in what other context this info would be mentioned and where his knowledge would have come from if there wasn't a personal connection/relation.

Anyway, here are my notes:

- It appears two of the informant's older relatives were Chicago mafia members born in Sicily and one of them became an important member. At least one of these men changed his surname, which the informant says would not be familiar to his relatives in Sicily.

- These two relatives were involved in bootlegging and had significant influence over a mafia organization that later merged with the Capone gang. One of these relatives was murdered gangland-style around 1931, while the other relative continued operating on a smaller scale under the supervision of a redacted name. The surviving relative stayed a part of the mafia in an inactive capacity until he died.

- The bodyguard of the member who was killed in 1931 was also killed, though it's not made clear if he was killed at the same time as the informant's presumed relative.

- The informant also refers to two other redacted names who were still active as of 1971. He said they were born in Sicily and at least one of them was involved in the juice/loansharking racket. Would seem to be referring to guys connected to him (informant) or his older relatives in some way.

- Says the Genna brothers brought their relatives over from Sicily for help with their bootlegging businesses, and the informant presumed these relatives were "probably" members of the Sicilian mafia as they readily understood what was expected of them under the Gennas. That he specifically mentions the Gennas suggests to me that the informant and/or his relatives were connected to the Genna faction in some way.

- He says membership is limited to Italian or Sicilian ancestry and a member must be sponsored by another member and approved by others. Similar to what he said about the Gennas, he said in the 1920s / 1930s once a member achieved a certain status and wanted to increase his power he brought over relatives from overseas. He says however that most members were recruited locally. This is an interesting segment, as I'd never considered the possibility that someone being inducted/promoted would lead them to encourage relatives to emigrate, but that makes complete sense that a mafioso's new status would lead him to bring trusted mafia relatives to the US to fortify his position and also aide them through his influence.

- Says Joe Aiello was assisted by one of the Fischetti brothers, who was Al Capone's cousin. Has this been mentioned by other sources? Like with Diamond Joe Esposito being a made member of the Chicago family by the early 1920s, this could be an indication not simply of business collaboration but maybe a sign that the groups (or parts of them) were formally affiliated with each other already pre-1930.

- Says he knew the term "La Cosa Nostra" but says the old members referred to the organization as the "Mafia". Informant continues to refer to the contemporary Chicago family as the "Mafia" throughout his cooperation and calls its members "Mafia members", including current members as of 1971. He uses the words "Mafia", "outfit", and "family" interchangeably, similar to Milwaukee CI Augie Maniaci.

- He says upon arrival into the country, the informant's aforementioned relatives were both sponsored for membership by a redacted name. He says the induction was "handled" by the sponsor by simply introducing the proposed members to other mafia members as members of the family. Not sure the timeframe he's referring to, but might very well be suggesting as early as the 1920s even Sicilian members in Chicago had foregone the traditional making ceremony. If we believe Joe Bonanno, the NYC Schiro family had already begun to lapse on induction rules by the late 1920s, so anything is possible. Similar to Aiello's close alliance with the Moran gang, it could be a sign that Americanization had already influenced the induction process under the 1920s Sicilian leadership.

- The informant says he (the informant) was able to gain a redacted member's trust and as a result this member vouched for him and began introducing the informant as a made member of the family. The informant makes another reference that implies his own membership when discussing the obligation to attend wakes of Chicago members. So this informant is not simply related to Sicilian-born Chicago members, but is a second-generation member himself with Sicilian heritage.

- He said as of 1971 Paul Ricca was the only remaining Chicago leader who dated back to the Capone era. That said, he seems unaware of how powerful Ricca was earlier on within the Chicago hierarchy, which could indicate the informant was not yet a made member during the 1930s/40s.

There is too much misc. info on contemporary figures to post it all and the above is what's most interesting to me. The informant knew many of the top players in Chicago up through the early 1970s and appears to have had a personal connection to the Genna faction going back to the 1920s. I'm sure some of the Chicago experts on the board can give better analysis of his info and whether it's accurate, but he is clearly a knowledgeable source who has more than a passing knowledge of Chicago and its history.

His info indicates that Chicago figures with ties to the earlier Sicilian faction(s) continued to view themselves and their peers in Chicago as the mafia, which naturally is how other families viewed them as well. Reminds me of another second-generation member, Joe Costello, referring to his "caporegime" on tape with Giancana. These second-generation members of Sicilian heritage may have recognized more continuity with the earlier Sicilian mafia factions given they had relatives who were members back then. It's like I've said before about Phil Bacino -- there is no way a guy like that saw membership in the "outfit" as distinct from his earlier mafia membership, which he shared with a brother in Sicily and friends/relatives in New Jersey.

We have quite a bit of identifying info about this informant, too, so maybe a master "rat catcher" like Ed can narrow it down: Sicilian heritage, family may have changed their surname, second-generation member, an important relative was murdered in 1931. He seems to have specific knowledge of the Genna group but also mentions Joe Aiello. If he or his relatives were connected to the Gennas it would make Trapanese heritage likely, as their faction included men from several different Trapani villages.

--

At the end of this set of files is a brief piece of info from CI Frank Bompensiero:

- Frank Bompensiero says he told Frank LaPorte in 1972 that he heard a rumor in Kansas City about LaPorte being replaced as "LCN Capo", but LaPorte said this was wrong and he was still an "LCN Capo" in Chicago.

- We know Bompensiero had ties to Kansas City through Willie Cammisano, who lived in San Diego for a time and was close to the LA leadership there. Would be great to see what his contact and/or travel to Kansas City was like in the early 1970s and if it was as informative as the late 1960s St. Louis visit, where he received a detailed run-down on the St. Louis family and traveled to Chicago where he and Tony Giardano met with members there. If he received gossip about Chicago while visiting KC members, he likely received good knowledge on KC itself as well.

Most of the info from Bompensiero that's been available so far in NARA files is from 1968-1969, so this is a promising sign that he maintained ties to the midwest in the 1970s and was continuing to update the FBI. Would be great to see what all he may have said about Chicago during the 1970s.

Though I don't know if these two were killed at the same time, but Pasquale Tardi and Frank Candela were both killed on January 6, 1931.

[B.]

Thanks for the info -- I'm hoping one of the Chicago experts like Villain, Snakes, or Antiliar can easily narrow it down.

This is why it's good to look at these things a couple of times -- the informant doesn't say the guy was killed in 1931, only says he was "shot down". I would assume that means murdered, but Jimmy Genna was shot and survived in 1931, with one of his companions (bodyguard?) dying at the time. Because the doc is redacted it's difficult to say for sure.

I'm not so sure the redacted names would be the Gennas themselves, though. Their surname isn't redacted in other places it is used, so unless they would only redact them when referring to them individually but not redact them when referring to them as a group, I don't think it's them. They were all confirmed dead by this time so not sure why they'd even redact them individually.

[cavita]

I read the actual page and it said the important member was shot and killed in 1930 which would lead me to believe it was Joe Aiello?

[B.]

Maybe he is referring to two people or he's not sure about the year. I'm looking at page 108 where he says one of the two Sicilian-born Chicago members was "shot down" around the "end of prohibition" in 1931, and seems to suggest the other one continued on in the family but became inactive.

I might have gotten the important member part from the page you're referring to. I'm not sure if it'd be Aiello, since he is mentioned unredacted on other pages and his death was known to the FBI.

There were so many darn murders (and shootings, if we expand the lens) in Chicago during this period, it might not be as easy as I was hoping.

[cavita]

Let's see- there was a Pietro Porto alias Pasquale Caruso who was killed January 9, 1931 and a John Annerino alias Genero who was killed March 21, 1931. The redacted name is relatively short and I don't know if it's referring to his first name or last name which is unfortunate.

[Frank]

As a side note hasnt it been established that the Fischettis were not related to Capone. So is this where it originated or does it reopen that they were his cousins

[PolackTony]

Let's see- there was a Pietro Porto alias Pasquale Caruso who was killed January 9, 1931 and a John Annerino alias Genero who was killed March 21, 1931. The redacted name is relatively short and I don't know if it's referring to his first name or last name which is unfortunate.

What's interesting is that John Genero was initially shot and recovered in 1930 and then shot again and killed in 1931. His brother Giuseppe "Peppy" Genero was of course killed in 1935. As we've gone over before, the Generos were Annerinos/Annorenos from Termini Imerese, and a number of other connected guys appear in later years with variants of this surname (Annoreno, Annerino, Iannarino, "Reno", etc.) and several of the lines of descent of these guys clearly go back to Termini. Tentatively I'm thinking this could be related to the informant's account on several points -- possible relatives being brought over from Sicily, shooting and death in the right year/s, guys who continued on in the Life later but with a different version of the surname. I dunno, worth looking into I guess?

[B.]

Good suggestions.

My first thought was the name change would make it easy, but Chicago had a number of members who changed or Americanized their names. He says the relatives in Sicily wouldn't recognize the name, so it's probably not as simple as a minor change in spelling.

He suggests the immigrants would have been wise to the mafia in Sicily before arriving to Chicago and becoming members, so we can assume the hometown is in western Sicily. I still have a hunch that his references to the Gennas aren't a coincidence, but the Gennas were notorious at the time so it wouldn't be that surprising if a second-generation Sicilian member knew of them regardless.

I wonder too if the reference to a couple of Sicilian-born Chicago members who were still alive and active as of 1971 was referring to relatives of the informant or what the connection is.

This is somebody who was at wakes for high-ranking members like Felix Alderisio and others, so he should be on the FBI's radar. The simple fact that he identified himself as a member to the FBI would suggest he is on their membership lists during this period.

[Snakes]

Good suggestions.

My first thought was the name change would make it easy, but Chicago had a number of members who changed or Americanized their names. He says the relatives in Sicily wouldn't recognize the name, so it's probably not as simple as a minor change in spelling.

He suggests the immigrants would have been wise to the mafia in Sicily before arriving to Chicago and becoming members, so we can assume the hometown is in western Sicily. I still have a hunch that his references to the Gennas aren't a coincidence, but the Gennas were notorious at the time so it wouldn't be that surprising if a second-generation Sicilian member knew of them regardless.

I wonder too if the reference to a couple of Sicilian-born Chicago members who were still alive and active as of 1971 was referring to relatives of the informant or what the connection is.

This is somebody who was at wakes for high-ranking members like Felix Alderisio and others, so he should be on the FBI's radar. The simple fact that he identified himself as a member to the FBI would suggest he is on their membership lists during this period.

I thought it may have been Rocco Pranno. This was shortly after Ed's expose implicating Pranno as a CI. I could be wrong. I know Pranno is mentioned specifically but the FBI did that to make it look like they weren't the informant. Then again, I don't know of Pranno having any connection to old-school Outfit guys like the Gennas, etc.

[Snakes]

Guido DeChiaro was a guy with some connections to the old school and was also close to Ricca.

[PolackTony]

Guido DeChiaro was a guy with some connections to the old school and was also close to Ricca.

If B. is right and the informant is a 2nd generation Sicilian then it can't be Pranno or DeChiaro. Pranno's parents were from Cosenza and Salerno. DeChiaro I'm not 100% sure but I believe was born in Acerra, Napoli.

[PolackTony]

Guido DeChiaro was a guy with some connections to the old school and was also close to Ricca.

If B. is right and the informant is a 2nd generation Sicilian then it can't be Pranno or DeChiaro. Pranno's parents were from Cosenza and Salerno. DeChiaro I'm not 100% sure but I believe was born in Acerra, Napoli.

Just to confirm, DeChiaro indeed was from Acerra. Born in 1904 as Gaetano DeChiaro. Wife was Maria Annunziata Ariola (older sister of Anna Ariola (Eboli) and Sam Ariola.

[PolackTony]

As a side note to the main conversation, this 1971 informant also states that Fifi Buccieri was Outfit overseer for Puerto Rican rackets and bolita. Needless to say, Puerto Ricans were not numerous in any of the well-known Buccieri/Torello territories, but rather strongly concentrated in the territory of the Northside and EP/Grand Crews. This statement may hint at something that I do recall Ken Eto claiming somewhere though, that he had some links to the LaPietras (if I'm not mixing something up). Eto was of course tasked with overseeing bolita for the Northside, but perhaps Buccieri and Prio/DiBella had some deal worked out and split it?

[B.]

Wasn't Pranno in prison? This informant was free to attend wakes and see members around Chicago so can't be him

- I get the impression from his info that he was active by the 1920s. The way he recalls the 1920s/1930s sounds like someone who knew those people and had a general idea of what they were up to, but was not yet a member. This would make sense if he was the son/nephew/younger relative of the older Sicilian members he mentions.

- Along with having specific knowledge on two seemingly random old Sicilian members, both of whom appear to be long dead, another indication that the informant is of Sicilian heritage is that he specifies that a made member in Chicago has to be Sicilian or Italian. Given the heavy Americanization of the Chicago family, it seems like only a Sicilian would still make the distinction "Sicilian or Italian" in 1971. Even in NYC, we see high-ranking witnesses like Sammy Gravano and Joe Massino call the Sicilian factions simply "Italians", but Michael DiLeonardo has Sicilian heritage and calls them Sicilians. I think this informant is like DiLeonardo in that regard.

- What stands out the most is that he knows how the early Sicilian members would bring their compaesani and relatives from Sicily to work for them in the US once they gained influence. This is something we as mafia researchers know from looking at so many records, documents, manifests, etc. At this point, we take the mafia's mutant form of chain migration for granted, but it's not something you see informants comment on. This informant probably doesn't know terms like "chain migration" or "compaesani", he just naturally knows how it worked and explains it perfectly. This is another indication that he's a Sicilian who grew up in a mafia environment.

- He doesn't say it, but we could infer that the two old Sicilian members he knew were brought over by one of the Sicilian factions to reinforce their power, as he says the Gennas and others did. He thought some of the Sicilians who came over could already be made members in Sicily, but when he talks about the two old Sicilian members he points out that they were made in Chicago and he even knows who proposed them for membership. This knowledge of how they were made and who sponsored them is another sign that he has a relation or close personal connection to these men.