Early 1970s Chicago member informant

[PolackTony]

Another claim to note from this informant -- he states that Torrio brought Ricca to Chicago after meeting him in NY.

[PolackTony]

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 alive by the 1920s but not necessarily an adult involved with the mafia. 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 wasn't personally involved. 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.

In the statement from 11/03/1971 the informant seems to refer to Sicily as the "old country". Maybe he just meant this in the sense of the origin of the Mafia, but I agree that reading it one gets the impression that the informant was himself of Sicilian background.

[B.]

I edited my post, as it's clear he was active in the 1920s or 1930s in bootlegging for the Sicilians, seemingly the Gennas. It seems he was a younger relative of made members who worked for that faction.

So we are looking at someone who might be over 60-years-old at the time he is informing in 1971 if he was active that early.

Another indication he was with the Genna faction is that he says the bootleg distilleries were divided geographically between the Gennas, Ted Newberry, and Joe Soltis. He seems to have a Genna-centric view of that period.

Another thing to consider is that he might mention himself in his own information (i.e. in FBI reports from Greg Scarpa, they would list him with other attendees at a family meeting). It's possible the informant is one of the names he mentions attending a wake, for example.

In the statement from 11/03/1971 the informant seems to refer to Sicily as the "old country". Maybe he just meant this in the sense of the origin of the Mafia, but I agree that reading it one gets the impression that the informant was himself of Sicilian background.

Good observation.

[B.]

https://archive.org/details/paul-ricca- ... 7/mode/2up

Looking at this page again, it might not be the last name that was changed, as it only says the redacted Sicilian changed his "name" and it wouldn't be known to relatives back in Sicil/Italy. I interpreted this to mean surname, as it was common and insignificant for Sicilians to Americanize their first names. Looking at the report again, though, we can't say for sure which it refers to.

The use of "his" before it mentions the older Sicilians makes it clear there is a relation to the redacted names.

[Villain]

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.

I remember reading this but didnt pay any attention to it so thanks B.

As Polack already said, the first guys that popped up to me are the Gennero/Annerino/Annoreno brothers with one of them being killed in 1931, since they were one of the clans who turned their backs at the Aiello/Mafia faction and joined Capone. But the problem is that the other Genero brother was also killed later in 1935, meaning he didnt die because of old age.

The loan sharking team that the informant refers to, might be the Buccieri crew and two guys with similar names that i can think of from that period are the Annoreno brothers, Steve and Tony, since they were active during the early 70s but im not sure if they had any blood relations to some of the old guys.

Another individual who was killed in 1931 was Salvatore Loverde who in turn was a important individual aka one time Chicago "representate" but again,Im not sure if he had any brother or relative as "sidekick" and I dont think that he ever changed his surname. Later there was one Frank Loverde who was probably second or third generation and was still active decades later but again,I dont think there was any relation to the old Mafia boss.

Regarding the emigration thing...recently i found out that both the Sicilian and Mainlander criminals had individuals constantly coming to the US since the late 1890's. At first many of them arrived in New York and were later scattered all around the country while doing business deals and hits and in the end they ended up in Chicago as constant guests. Many of them used different aliases during their travels, and even during their stay in Chicago.

Another interesting thing to note is that both the Mafia and Mainlanders (probably the Camorra) had business relations since the early 1900's or even earlier than that. Some of the Mainlander clans even intermarried with the Sicilians, such as the Vincis, Spingolas etc.

Regarding the Fischettis, the info might be a little bit off since we know that many informers were known for making mistakes, not on purpose but instead some of them had a lot of time in their heads and was natural for them to make some errors. The Fischettis bros, Charlie and Rocco, arrived in Chicago around the same time when Capone became a made guy and was instantly bumped to a capo with the power to make his own crew members. That was around the year of 1928 when Lombardo was killed and the conflict between Capone and Aiello erupted, meaning theres not enough time space for the Fischettis to make close alliance with Aiello. Also they were not Capones cousins but they were probably two of the first guys that were made by Capone himself.

[B.]

Good info.

- The informant uses the word "soldier" at one point, saying because Tony Spilotro is young he will have to settle for "soldier" status for a while before being promoted. You don't see that often with Chicago, so thought it was worth mentioning.

- Looks like we can rule out the informant's father as one of the older mafia members he talks about. In one report, the informant says his father is still alive and not involved with the mafia, but there is a redacted portion that could indicate his father has relatives who were in the mafia. I'm thinking the informant had uncles who were members.

[PolackTony]

Good info.

- The informant uses the word "soldier" at one point, saying because Tony Spilotro is young he will have to settle for "soldier" status for a while before being promoted. You don't see that often with Chicago, so thought it was worth mentioning.

- Looks like we can rule out the informant's father as one of the older mafia members he talks about. In one report, the informant says his father is still alive and not involved with the mafia, but there is a redacted portion that could indicate his father has relatives who were in the mafia. I'm thinking the informant had uncles who were members.

I noticed the comment about Spilotro being a "soldier" and I agree that it's worth pointing out, as the quotation marks indicate that this term was attributable to the informant himself.

Another point to think about when it comes to figuring out who this guy's relatives may have been -- I don't see any reason to assume that they necessarily all had to have the same surname (unless I'm missing something in the actual reports). So let's say for the sake of argument that the guy killed in 1931 was actually Johnny Genero. His relative who remained active for years afterwards and died of natural causes could've then been someone with a different last name but with blood ties from back in Termini Imerese.

[PolackTony]

Another insight afforded by this informant's emic (i.e. "Insider's") perspective is that he uses "outfit" to refer to New York LCN also. The tendency, of course, as been to treat "outfit" as a proper name, using "The Outfit" without any qualifiers as referring the Chicago family. This points to another way that discussions on the US LCN assume a sort of extraordinary or marginal status for Chicago vis-a-vis the American Mafia more broadly. Of course we all know that the other Midwestern families also referred to themselves as "outfits". But again we see that "outfit" in Chicago is just a preferred synonym for the "Mafia", the "family", the "Life", "our people" -- all terms that other informants variabke invoke when referring to Chicago LCN. As this informant makes clear, "La Cosa Nostra" was recognized as a synonym for "the Outfit", just not in common use in Chicago. Rather than mark any fundamental, definitional distinction between the NYC and Chicago mob, here we get the perspective of a Chicago member who can casually refer to a Chicago guy as having "outfit connections in New York", just as we might refer to someone as a member of the "Chicago LCN". Same thing, different labels, slightly different perspectives from two parallel streams of Mafia evolution in the US.

[Villain]

Another claim to note from this informant -- he states that Torrio brought Ricca to Chicago after meeting him in NY.

Well that clears it up.

[Villain]

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?

Buccieri also had interests on the North Side aka Lake County. The North Side faction under Prio was the prime group that oversaw the Bolita racket but there other groups who were involved in it, probably under the jurisdiction of the Northsiders through their prime connection which was Eto. Same situations occurred regarding different schemes when one group owned the racket while others were simply given the green light to get involved.

[scagghiuni]

- 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.

interesting they referred to the organization as the mafia, it seems in sicily it had never happened

[Snakes]

Pretty sure this is the same informant that I summarized info on last year. B (understandably, as there is a lot) said he didn't want to go through all the individual Outfit information but I searched and found my old posts and I'll share them here, in case anyone is interested and doesn't want to dig through all the pages:

Chuck Nicoletti and Sam Battaglia were apparently investing in real estate in Arizona by the early 1960s and had taken an interest in the area. Battaglia, along with Sam Giancana, decided to send an unnamed individual to Arizona as this individual was attracting a lot of attention in the Chicago area and it was thought he could be of better use elsewhere. Joey Aiuppa was also named as someone who had investments in Arizona and he and Nicoletti were doing well financially in the state, particularly in the area of land speculation and construction of condos. Nicoletti was also mentioned as having interests in land around the Miami, FL area.

When Accardo and Ricca tabbed Giancana to run the day-to-day affairs of the family in 1956/57, Giancana placed Rocco Pranno in charge of Stone Park and Northlake, IL.

Chuck Nicoletti was another Outfit member noted as being "on the rise" in the late 1950s. Much of his operations centered on the west side of Chicago and he had interests in gambling and prostitution, sometimes partnering with Joey Aiuppa, who operated out of Cicero. During this time period (1958/59), Sam Battaglia was known as the overall boss of the "west side." Nicoletti was under Battaglia.

Originally, Battaglia's territory did not include the western suburbs but there was displeasure resulting from how they were being run, so around 1959, Battaglia was given authority by Giancana to run them all. This included Stone Park (Pranno), Melrose Park (Rocco DeGrazio), and various operations being ran by Nick Palermo and Joe Amabile. This was ostensibly because the Outfit was not making enough money in these territories. Battaglia relocated to Melrose Park and bought a farm in Elgin, IL. He brought with him Rocco Salvatore to aid him in running the territory.

When Battaglia began encountering legal problems in the late sixties, Nicoletti was tabbed with higher responsibilities. Nicoletti often worked closely with Joey Aiuppa. Once Battaglia, Amabile, and Palermo were imprisoned in 1967, Joseph Battaglia, Sam's brother, was thought to be next in line to run the territory. However, Joseph wanted nothing to do with this, so Nicoletti took over the territory along with Aiuppa.

By the time Battaglia went to prison, nobody was interested in becoming the "top man" because of the heat the position generated. Nicoletti and Aiuppa were noted as the only important Outfit figures who had not been touched by government prosecution, so in this particular informant's opinion, they were the apparent top bosses, deferring to Ricca and Accardo.

Informant noted that Rocco Salvatore had essentially been shelved after Battaglia's imprisonment. Informant noted that this had as much to do with Nicolett's dislike of Salvatore as it did with Battaglia's imprisonment.

A different informant opined that after Ricca and Accardo, Jack Cerone was the most powerful Outfit boss, despite his recent imprisonment at Leavenworth. Apparently, Cerone avoided contact with New York LCN members imprisoned with him at Leavenworth. Phil Alderisio was recently transferred from Leavenworth to Marion, IL because of his involvement leading an inmate strike. Alderisio was also apparently the only top Outfit member to continue to associate with and develop contacts with the New York families.

Prior to his imprisonment, Frank DeLegge, Jr. appeared to be the only person admitted to the new Accardo residence in River Forest, where he was allowed to do plumbing work on the residence. He was also married to one of Nick Palermo's daughters. Another one of Palermo's daughters was married to Accardo's son.

William Daddano was noted as having a hard time in prison at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta, GA. This is because he is suffering from physical ailments which keep him separated from the general prison population. As a result, many of the inmates he interacts with are rats, homosexuals, or are inmates of some other classification that requires their separation from the general population.

Accardo and Ricca were described as millionaires "many times over" and were concerned only with keeping their wealth and status. As a result, they left the daily management of the Outfit to men such as Giancana and Battaglia and only offered consultation and advice. This was to route government scrutiny away from them and promote that they were "retired" from Outfit affairs.

Giancana and Battaglia were both described as aggressive and ruthless, making lots of money for the Outfit. So much, in fact, that one informant stated that the Outfit did not know what to do with it all (this probably resulted in much of the real estate transactions alluded to earlier). Fiore Buccieri was described as running all of the Bolita and Puerto Rican games on behalf of the Outfit. He was aided in this area by Turk Torello, his principal subordinate. Willie Messino was considered to be one of the top juice loan racketeers, continually working on expanding his operations. Aiuppa and Nicoletti were identified as running the west side and west suburbs, with Aiuppa concentrating on gambling and vice and Nicoletti tasked with numbers operations. Nicoletti and Aiuppa were described as always having been "close," with Nicoletti the more aggressive of the two.

The Greeks in Chicago have a strong hold on restaurant and tavern business in Chicago. Gus Alex, for obvious reasons, is considered to be the main point of contact with them.

Nicoletti, Cerone, and Aiuppa were described as "risk takers" when it came to money-making opportunities. Accardo, Ricca, and Buccieri were described as more conservative. If one of the former wished to pursue a particularly "risky" venture, they would inform Accardo and Ricca but would assume responsibility should the scheme go under or prove unfruitful.

Ralph Pierce noted as boss of the South Side. Ross Prio and Lenny Patrick run the North Side. Cerone (despite his imprisonment) still has control of various interests on the west side and western suburbs. Joe Amato (who seemingly tried to retire his entire Outfit career) was said to be running McHenry County, despite expressing a desire to step back in recent years. With Daddano in prison, Nicoletti presumed to be supervising DuPage County and other western suburbs in his absence. Aiuppa and Nicoletti were noted as always having "worked well together," and essentially controlled the Outfit's interests due to the imprisonment of many top members.

Accardo, Ricca, and Buccieri were specifically cited as being opposed to drugs, although many younger members are becoming involved in the trade. The bosses due not discourage them from engaging in the drug trade but offer no help should they become tripped up as a result.

Franklin Park was noted as "belonging" to Guido DeChiaro. DeChiaro was described as having more direct access with Ricca and Accardo than any other Outfit member and commanded a lot of respect from his peers.

Francis Curry ran the Joliet, IL and Will County areas for more than 30 years. At some point, he reached an agreement with Frank LaPorte, who ran the Chicago Heights area, for Laporte to also take over operations in Joliet and Will County on behalf of the Outfit. Curry ostensibly still retains a great amount of money and political power, having influenced mayoral elections for years.

By 1970, gambling, juice, and prostitution funds had decreased dramatically from recent years (probably due in no small part to the many imprisonments of top Outfit members). Most of the "old-timers" will not condone drugs and are mostly investing their money in land and real estate developments.

By July, 1971, there still appeared to be no Outfit leader interested in taking the "top spot." Nicoletti was described by one informant as being a top choice and is currently supervising Melrose Park for the Outfit. He is also involved in real estate development and legitimate enterprises and invests Outfit money in these ventures. Along with Aiuppa, Nicoletti described as "definitely" controlling the west suburbs, with Nicoletti operating out of Melrose Park and Aiuppa concentrating more on the Cicero-Berwyn area.

Ross Prio was noted to still be the top man on the North Side but does not report to Nicoletti or Aiuppa. Joe DiVarco was described as his number two man. Ricca and Accardo still described as "leaders" of the organization with "no one" possessing more authority than either one of them.

Sam Battaglia's son died in 1971 and his funeral was attended by several Outfit members. Several younger men were seen parking cars and doing favors for "elder" Outfit members attending the services. Rocco Potenza was noted as the doorman. Others observed in attendance were Nicoletti, Chuck English, Joe DiVarco, Pat Marcy, Frank Buccieri, although informant noted that "very few of importance" were not in attendance. Ricca could not attend due to a hospitalization. Accardo and Fiore Buccieri attended and the entire room rose upon their respective arrivals. This was due to their status as "elder statesmen" of the Outfit, a status shared by perhaps only a half-dozen other individuals, including Aiuppa, Battaglia, LaPorte, and Prio. Ricca would have accorded the same had he been able to attend. Nicoletti was not considered at this time to be an Outfit "elder statesmen" but was believed to reach this level after a few more years. Turk Torello was noted to have followed Buccieri "wherever he went." Buccieri, probably due to his own poor health, left early to return to his Lake Geneva residence.

Tony Spilotro was noted as being the "man to watch" in the Outfit. He was considered "smoother" and "more dangerous" than Turk Torello but lacked the age and experience to assume any type of current leadership role.

Aiuppa described as still running the Melrose Park-Cicero-Berwyn area and was described as being very wealthy. Although he mostly stays in the Cicero-Berwyn area he still travels to Melrose Park frequently to speak with Chuck Nicoletti and the Melrose Park Chief of Police, Dominic Cimino, who was hand-picked by Nicoletti and Aiuppa.

Phil Alderisio died in prison on October 6, 1971 and, just as in the case of Sam Battaglia's son, Outfit members were expected to attend. Once again, Rocco Potenza acted as the doorman for the services. Aiuppa, Ricca, Accardo, Joey Glimco, Tony Spilotro, Nicoletti, Joe Gagliano, Sam English, Louis Briatta, Pat Marcy, Leo Manfredi, Sam DeStefano, and Vincent Inserro, among many others, were all noted as attending. Spilotro was observed to be dressed "like a sissy," described as wearing a "fancy suit with flared trousers and a suit coat with a belt across the back." Spilotro was noted as running around the funeral home and speaking with several different Outfit members.

Alderisio was described as a "millionaire" and there was expected to be a big fight between the Outfit and Alderisio's heirs over the money. In situations such as these, the Outfit normally regards a deceased member's earnings as "theirs" and that Alderisio's widow would be lucky to get anything.

[Snakes]

Continued:

Phil Alderisio described as "crazy, but a money maker." Before his imprisonment, Alderisio was close with Chuck Nicoletti and together they were a dangerous and feared pairing. Sam Battaglia, as well as Accardo and Ricca, strongly backed them. Alderisio started becoming more and more involved in "scam" operations and made a lot of money for the Outfit in these operations. Around this time, Nicoletti worked with Alderisio less and less and started becoming more involved with legitimate businesses like grocery stores and automobile dealerships.

Sam Cesario was mentioned as having the potential for holding a higher position but always seemed to "louse it up" in some fashion.

Joe Spadavecchio described as being close with Jack Cerone. He was mostly involved in "juice" but acted almost like a banker for the Outfit in that he always knew who and where to get money from. Informant mentioned he avoided running into financial problems with Spadavecchio, presumably because of his closeness with Cerone. Spadavecchio was often seen with Johnny "The Bug" Varelli at the latter's brother-in-law's hot dog stand which Outfit members used to drop money.

Nicoletti and his number 2 man and driver, George Dicks, supervised gambling and juice in the Racine/Taylor Street during the late 1960s.

Willie Daddano invested a lot of money in legitimate real estate holdings and they are supporting his family while he is away in prison. "Years ago," Daddano had handled Outfit activity in Cicero with the approval of Joey Aiuppa. However, his bosses were not satisfied with the job he was doing and allowed Buccieri to come in and take over "juice" operations in Cicero. This was probably about the time when Daddano moved to McHenry County and Buccieri split Cicero with Aiuppa. It also seems that Buccieri handled "juice" in Cicero while Aiuppa was more involved with gambling and vice.

Turk Torello is once again described as Buccieri's right hand man. Turk was also noted to be a licensed pilot. He had also installed a two-way radio in Daddano's car that had the ability to monitor police frequencies.

Rocco Salvatore against described as shelved with "no status."

Buccieri, Torello, and Joe Ferriola had set up several business ventures together. One of them was a laundromat with two-way mirrors that they would use to hold meetings. The Buccieri group had business interests spread throughout the area, and even into Indiana. Jimmy Catuara was partnered with Buccieri's group in these interests and supervised them for Buccieri. The extent of these business ventures is not known but included at least one housing development. These deals would have had to have been made with the permission of Frank LaPorte, who had final say in Outfit matters extending from southern Cook County as far as Gary, Indiana. LaPorte was described as an "old-timer" with "plenty of money" that would like to retire but was "not allowed." Also included in this group were Aiuppa, Ross Prio, and Gus Alex. As a result, they attempted to stay as inactive as possible.

Outfit leadership at this time (Fall, 1971) still have Accardo and Ricca at the very top but nobody specifically mentioned as being next in line.

Tony Spilotro was desribed as both "ambitious," "tough," and "cocky." He was also known a "killer." He was a protege of Phil Alderisio and even with him dead, Spilotro still remains an important Outfit member. Spilotro, who had invested a lot of money in Alderisio's ventures, was allegedly concerned about locating this money. Again, Spilotro was described as "young" and he may have to settle for a lower position as a result.

Leo Manfredi is another individual described as making a lot of legitimate investments. Manfredi was particularly interested in the area of Des Plaines, IL.

Alderisio's widow and son are in difficult financial straits. Although they inherit some of his legitimate interests, the Outfit will try to make a claim on these interests and squeeze or force them into signing it over. Alderisio's girlfriend also mentioned as being in same position. There is allegedly someone who knows what belongs to Alderisio but they might "get hurt" as this person is not seen as a trusted individual.

Additionally, Alderisio's girlfriend had taken up with Sam Cesario while Alderisio was in prison and after the latter's death she informed Cesario of the location of money, jewels, and a safety deposit box. Alderisio's former girlfriend was approached by some men from Nicoletti's group who demanded to know the location of these items. She turned over a significant amount but the men came back for more. This time, they were rebuffed by Cesario, who was later killed, presumably for refusing to hand over the remaining valuables.

There is a mostly redacted section where Alderisio apparently had some type of interaction with other inmates and was becoming "too closely associated" with them. This could either be the "striking" inmates referred to in the previous posts or New York LCN members. Either way, it looks like Sam Battaglia instructed him to lessen or cut his ties with these individuals.

Alderisio had apparently suffered a severe heart attack prior to his death and had been told by doctors to "take it easy." Despite this, he began running after breakfast the day of his and suffered another heart attack, this one fatal. Informant thinks someone may have given him some amphetamines but the autopsy revealed nothing.

Despite earlier claims to the contrary, one informant described Alderisio as leaving "plenty" of money behind for his wife and son. However, there were still several other business interests yet to be settled, one of which being in Las Vegas. The individual handling this property had apparently met with some Outfit people and left the meeting "shaking." With Alderisio gone, this individual is looking to Spilotro for assistance (Spilotro seemed to already have some pull in Vegas).

Another individual (possibly the same one as mentioned in the paragraph above but not certain) will probably inherit Alderisio's enemies. Although he had several, because of his stature and reputation they were fearful of Alderisio. Now that he is gone, these people will presumably not show the same amount of fear to this individual.

There is some mention of Outfit members and how they were made although much of the information is redacted. Sponsorship into the Outfit, at least to this informant, was a "serious matter," as the sponsor also became accountable for future conduct of the member. The new member was introduced to other members, declaring him now to be a member of "the family." There is an interesting bit about where the informant detailed how he was made. After working with his sponsor "for some time," his sponsor eventually felt comfortable vouching for him and began introducing him to others as a "member of the family." At this point, the informant was considered to be "made." The time period for these anecdotes is unknown.

Chris Cardi was described as one of Willie Messino's main enforcers. Noted as "very dangerous" and a "killer." Cardi had received ten years in a narcotics case and the informant mentioned that if the judge knew how many people he had killed he would have given him more.

Again, it is mentioned that the Outfit had "no use" for drugs and Giancana was mentioned as specifically disliking them. Americo DePietto, an Outfit member involved in drugs, was run out of an unspecified locale when Giancana arrived because of his reputation as a "dope pusher." Giancana did the same with another individual on a separate occasion, having him removed from the premises because of his involvement with drugs.

Because Cardi was sentenced for drugs, he will get no help from the Outfit in his current legal troubles. Despite Aiuppa being a "good friend" of Messino, Cardi should expect no help from him in this area.

Another theory as to the murder of Cesario involved Frank "Skid" Caruso. Cesario was supposedly running gambling games in territory belonging to Caruso and had refused to kick up to Caruso. Despite being warned several times to stay out of Skid's territory, Cesario did not heed these warnings and was killed as a result.

Cesario's funeral was not attended by "anyone of importance" within the Outfit, which typically means that they had done something to displease the organization. Cesario had a closed casket funeral and was said to have had "half his head blown off" by the shotgun blast.

Accardo, Ricca, Aiuppa, Battaglia, Buccieri, LaPorte, and Prio were again mentioned as "elder statesmen" of the Outfit because of their elderly status and years of success. Nicoletti was on the next rung down with Gus Alex mentioned as being the most powerful non-Italian of the Outfit.

The informant named the following as "important" Outfit members:

Jack Cerone
Spilotro
Turk Torello
Sam DeStefano
Ferriola
Joe Gagliano
Messino
Daddano
Skid Caruso
Joe DiVarco
Joe Fusco
Jimmy Catuara
Chuckie and Sam English
Jim DeGeorge
Marshall Caifano

Joe Spadavecchio mentioned as "hurting" to recent incarceration of Jack Cerone. The two were very close and Cerone was alleged to have sponsored Spadavecchio into the Outfit. Joe Spa is now involved in sportsbooks on the "northwest side."

Joe Gagliano died in December of 1971 and again, an appearance was made by most important Outfit figures. Buccieri was too ill to attend the wake and was expected to be the next one to die (he would last another year and a half).

Vincent Inserro was seen at the wake and apparently had "very little going for him," although he had saved up enough money to get by. Rocco Potenza was also noted to be "very sick," possibly suffering from cancer like Buccieri.

By early 1972, the Outfit had seemingly lost a dramatic amount of income from gambling and juice. The Outfit is also suffering from a lack of leadership and nobody wants the job because they want to avoid being "ripped off" by the FBI like the last four bosses (Giancana, Battaglia, Cerone, Alderisio).

Informant believes that Nicoletti is probably first in line to be boss as he was Alderisio's former partner. According to the informant, Alderisio was the previous boss and Nicoletti would inherit his title and retain the most influence. However, Nicoletti has always tried to keep a low profile. This was compared to Frank Ferraro, who acted as underboss for Giancana for years without being "recognized as such." (Note: this was the only time "underboss" was mentioned in the entirety of these reports.)

Sam Lewis (Luzi) recently died.

Opinions were given on several current and former top members of the Outfit, including:

Joey Aiuppa: described as not being capable of handling the boss position
Accardo and Ricca: described as "non-violent;" refrain from unnecessary hits; were instrumental in keeping the Outfit alive to this point
Ross Prio: respected; could have succeeded as a legitimate businessman
Buccieri: health prevents him from taking a larger role in Outfit affairs
Caifano: once senior to both Battaglia and Alderisio (current position not detailed, although I believe he was in prison at this time)
Potenza: recovering from stroke; semi-invalided as a result

Old "Capone gang" members are no longer being supported by the Outfit and some are "destitute" as a result.

Informant (possibly either Frank Bompiensiero or Jimmy Fratianno) met Frank LaPorte in San Diego, CA. LaPorte told informant that Accardo and Ricca were still running the Outfit and that he had lunch with both before leaving Chicago. Informant asked LaPorte about the rumor that he had been replaced as "capo" and LaPorte denied this and stated he is still a "capo" in the Outfit.

Cardi was again mentioned and it was stated that several Outfit members wanted him killed for being involved in narcotics. According to informant, this was the opposite of New York where younger members have gained control and are "very much involved" in narcotics.

Gus Alex recently indicated that he wanted to leave the Outfit and retire to Florida. Alex was told to stay in Chicago by Ricca because of his "brains" and contacts in the Loop area. Alex allegedly avoids gambling and leaves that area to Ralph Pierce, who handles gambling problems for Alex in not only the South Side, but the Loop and near North Side as well. Alex controls the "Greek mafia." "Several years ago," Alex helped spearhead the initiative to take control of all parking garages in the Loop. Alex used his position in the Outfit to squeeze the previous stakeholders out. Greek Mafia was described as being involved in several profitable restaurants. Nicoletti supposedly "answers to" Alex but at the same time does not come into the Loop area and tell Alex and his associates "what to do." According to informant, Nicoletti's position seems to be that of controlling a younger group of men who are involved in many different ventures, including narcotics.

[Villain]

I remember these. Thanks Snakes

"During this time period (1958/59), Sam Battaglia was known as the overall boss of the "west side." - territorial boss

[Antiliar]

Hopefully the informant's later information is more reliable than his earlier info. As others pointed out, the Fischettis were not cousins of the Capones, and they certainly did not work with Joe Aiello. He said that Bugs Moran's lawyer son removed his father's body from an unmarked grave at Leavenworth. Bugs Moran's son was a foundry equipment salesman, not a lawyer. Bugs Moran's grave is still at Leavenworth cemetery. It's hard to tell if it was originally unmarked or just worn down with age. I also question the info that Torrio brought Ricca to Chicago from New York. It's possible, but I doubt it. There's no evidence that Ricca was ever associated with Torrio, and the earliest confirmable connection between Ricca and Al Capone was in 1926.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/730/george-c.-moran
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169 ... orge-moran

I can add that two of the redacted names are Joe Ferriola (92-1373) and Pat Marcy (92-1805). 92-2325 is Joe Battaglia.