Early 1970s Chicago member informant

[B.]

Another two names that should be looked at:

Charles and Sam English

- Sicilian heritage (Santa Caterina Villarmosa, Caltanissetta)
- Name changed from Inglisa, would be unrecognizable to Sicilian relatives
- Both old enough to have experienced the end of prohibition period

Older Chicago figure Joe LaMonica was also from Santa Caterina Villarmosa and records show the LaMonica and Inglisa named are interrelated, but not sure if or how the English brothers specifially connect to Joe LaMonica.

Villarmosa isn't what we'd think of as mafia central, but the mafia in Caltanissetta existed since the early 1800s and mafiosi from the province formed the Pittston family by the early 1900s. Stefano LaTorre's son's description of his father bringing relatives/friends to Pittston from Sicily actually sounds a lot like this informant's description of Chicago mafia members bringing their relatives from Sicily.

There were a number of members from neighboring villages in Enna, too. I believe these villages were historically part of Caltanissetta, too, but what's important is they are right next to Villarmosa, so there could be more connections between these guys

Villarosa (Enna)
Filippo Gnolfo (murdered 1930)
Anthony Gruttadaura
Salvatore Gruttadaura
- The Gruttadauras were related to Anthony Pinelli from nearby Calascibetta.

Calascibetta (Enna)
Gaetano "Tommy" Morgano
Anthony Pinelli

Gnolfo is an interesting one because he was close to the Gennas.

I don't know enough about the English brothers' background to comment further, only that they have a few points in common with the informant and there could be more connections between these figures from the Caltanissetta / Enna border.

[Antiliar]

Yes, it's pretty well-established that Leo Manfredi was a made member. I believe he was in Aiuppa's crew.

I think we're going to have to make a Battaglia family tree to help sort out these relationships. We've discovered that there's more intermarriage among members and their families than previously thought. Nothing like Detroit, of course, but enough so that it merits greater examination.

Just on top of my head (so excuse me if I make a mistake):

"Diamond Joe" Esposito - sister married DeLaurentis, Frank DeLaurentis was grandfather of Solly D DeLaurentis (whose baptismal godfather was Frank "Diamond" Maritote).

Frank Buccieri's mother was a Cesario, so there was speculation that he was related to Sam Cesario.

Anthony D'Andrea's brother Louis was the father of Phil D'Andrea, and labor boss Anthony C. D'Andrea was also related.

The Rotis, Carusos and their relatives around Chinatown.

Jim DeGeorge I seem to recall his child married a child of Phil Bacino (or some Bacino relative).

There were early Mafia leaders named DiGiovanni. Related to Nick DeJohn? DeJohn was a cousin of Vincent Benevento, who was brother-in-law of a former Genna gangster.

Guido DeChiaro related to Louis Eboli and Sam Ariola.

Al Capone's sister married John Maritote, brother of Frank Maritote.

Huge family tree of Battaglias connected to Costellos, connected to Jimmy Emery, Frank LaPorte, Luzi, and others.

Tortoriello connected to Pacelli, etc. (getting tired now...)

Al Tornabene and Black Sam Carlisi and others.

Tony Accardo to Nick Palermo.

Ross Prio and the Priolos/Priolas.

Early member Calogero LoBue was related to Giuseppe Morello.
Jack Cerone connected to Willie Potatoes Daddono.

[Antiliar]

Another two names that should be looked at:

Charles and Sam English

- Sicilian heritage (Santa Caterina Villarmosa, Caltanissetta)
- Name changed from Inglisa, would be unrecognizable to Sicilian relatives
- Both old enough to have experienced the end of prohibition period

Older Chicago figure Joe LaMonica was also from Santa Caterina Villarmosa and records show the LaMonica and Inglisa named are interrelated, but not sure if or how the English brothers specifially connect to Joe LaMonica.

Villarmosa isn't what we'd think of as mafia central, but the mafia in Caltanissetta existed since the early 1800s and mafiosi from the province formed the Pittston family by the early 1900s. Stefano LaTorre's son's description of his father bringing relatives/friends to Pittston from Sicily actually sounds a lot like this informant's description of Chicago mafia members bringing their relatives from Sicily.

I don't know if you already mentioned Chuck Nicoletti, but his father was from Santa Caterina Villarmosa. Plus he's a known informant.

[B.]

Another two names that should be looked at:

Charles and Sam English

- Sicilian heritage (Santa Caterina Villarmosa, Caltanissetta)
- Name changed from Inglisa, would be unrecognizable to Sicilian relatives
- Both old enough to have experienced the end of prohibition period

Older Chicago figure Joe LaMonica was also from Santa Caterina Villarmosa and records show the LaMonica and Inglisa named are interrelated, but not sure if or how the English brothers specifially connect to Joe LaMonica.

Villarmosa isn't what we'd think of as mafia central, but the mafia in Caltanissetta existed since the early 1800s and mafiosi from the province formed the Pittston family by the early 1900s. Stefano LaTorre's son's description of his father bringing relatives/friends to Pittston from Sicily actually sounds a lot like this informant's description of Chicago mafia members bringing their relatives from Sicily.

I don't know if you already mentioned Chuck Nicoletti, but his father was from Santa Caterina Villarmosa. Plus he's a known informant.

I didn't mention him, but that is great info.

I mentioned earlier that the informant seems particularly close to Nicoletti, both socially and maybe in organizational matters. Were the English brothers close to Nicoletti?

Sometimes this can point to the informant actually being the guy he claims to be close to, an attempt by the FBI to hide his identity, though I didn't necessarily get that impression from this informant's mentions of Nicoletti.

Chuck English was very close to Giancana, so that would fit the informant.

[Antiliar]

I wasn't trying to convey the idea that Nicoletti was the informant you were looking for, only that he was an informant. (It's past my bedtime, LOL.)

I think English was technically a member of Willie Daddono's crew, which Nicoletti took over (except for McHenry County, which went to N*** Joe Amato). So in the early 1970s he was under Nicoletti. After that he either went to Grand Avenue when Lombardo took over or to Cicero under Ferriola. English became involved with C-notes, getting them to sell drugs for him since he was shut off from other sources of income. Rocky Infelise called his death a great distraction at the time of the Hal Smith murder.

[PolackTony]

Yes, it's pretty well-established that Leo Manfredi was a made member. I believe he was in Aiuppa's crew.

I think we're going to have to make a Battaglia family tree to help sort out these relationships. We've discovered that there's more intermarriage among members and their families than previously thought. Nothing like Detroit, of course, but enough so that it merits greater examination.

Just on top of my head (so excuse me if I make a mistake):

"Diamond Joe" Esposito - sister married DeLaurentis, Frank DeLaurentis was grandfather of Solly D DeLaurentis (whose baptismal godfather was Frank "Diamond" Maritote).

Frank Buccieri's mother was a Cesario, so there was speculation that he was related to Sam Cesario.

Anthony D'Andrea's brother Louis was the father of Phil D'Andrea, and labor boss Anthony C. D'Andrea was also related.

The Rotis, Carusos and their relatives around Chinatown.

Jim DeGeorge I seem to recall his child married a child of Phil Bacino (or some Bacino relative).

There were early Mafia leaders named DiGiovanni. Related to Nick DeJohn? DeJohn was a cousin of Vincent Benevento, who was brother-in-law of a former Genna gangster.

Guido DeChiaro related to Louis Eboli and Sam Ariola.

Al Capone's sister married John Maritote, brother of Frank Maritote.

Huge family tree of Battaglias connected to Costellos, connected to Jimmy Emery, Frank LaPorte, Luzi, and others.

Tortoriello connected to Pacelli, etc. (getting tired now...)

Al Tornabene and Black Sam Carlisi and others.

Tony Accardo to Nick Palermo.

Ross Prio and the Priolos/Priolas.

Early member Calogero LoBue was related to Giuseppe Morello.
Jack Cerone connected to Willie Potatoes Daddono.

Good starting list. We can add the Louise DeGeorge/Pinelli marriage. Also the Simbario-derived Spina/Roti/Tassione/Bertucci clan that spanned Grand Ave and Chinatown. Another one I wonder about was if Caesar DiVarco had any relation to Saint Inserro. Guido DeChiaro was relayed to Ariola and Eboli by marriage, he married one of Sam's sisters Maria. In another thread I had some info on some of the other Di Giovannis.

As both Antiliar and B. brought up the LoBues, Salvatore and Vincenzo Castelli's sister Giovanna married a Tony LoBue also from Caccamo.

[PolackTony]

I wasn't trying to convey the idea that Nicoletti was the informant you were looking for, only that he was an informant. (It's past my bedtime, LOL.)

I think English was technically a member of Willie Daddono's crew, which Nicoletti took over (except for McHenry County, which went to N*** Joe Amato). So in the early 1970s he was under Nicoletti. After that he either went to Grand Avenue when Lombardo took over or to Cicero under Ferriola. English became involved with C-notes, getting them to sell drugs for him since he was shut off from other sources of income. Rocky Infelise called his death a great distraction at the time of the Hal Smith murder.

Not to diverge too much on a tangent. But where did you get the info that Chuckie English was supplying the C-Notes? I recall a while back seeing some info that before his death English had been supplying the Huron & Hoyne Latin Kings (who were bitter enemies of the C-Notes engaged in a decades-long street war).

[Antiliar]

I wasn't trying to convey the idea that Nicoletti was the informant you were looking for, only that he was an informant. (It's past my bedtime, LOL.)

I think English was technically a member of Willie Daddono's crew, which Nicoletti took over (except for McHenry County, which went to N*** Joe Amato). So in the early 1970s he was under Nicoletti. After that he either went to Grand Avenue when Lombardo took over or to Cicero under Ferriola. English became involved with C-notes, getting them to sell drugs for him since he was shut off from other sources of income. Rocky Infelise called his death a great distraction at the time of the Hal Smith murder.

Not to diverge too much on a tangent. But where did you get the info that Chuckie English was supplying the C-Notes? I recall a while back seeing some info that before his death English had been supplying the Huron & Hoyne Latin Kings (who were bitter enemies of the C-Notes engaged in a decades-long street war).

The Salas brothers were ex-C-Notes who joined the Latin Kings. That's who I was referring to.

[JVerilla]

I'll be sure to look into this stuff. It seems quite interesting from what ive seen

[Villain]

The second thing is that there was also one Frank Battaglia (possibly born in 1906) who was also allegedly connected to the Battaglia clan and was killed in 1932 allegedly on Nitto's orders. During the late 1910's and early 1920's there was one Louis Battaglia who was a precinct captain in the 19th Ward for Tony D'Andrea.

I'm not 100% certain but I think that the Frank Battaglia who was killed in 1932 was actually from Bari. The Louis Battaglia that you mention I'm not sure about. If he was precinct captain for D'Andrea then maybe this indicates as well that he was a "man of honor".

Thanks again. Even back then i was suspicious regarding Frank being related to the Battaglia clan and maybe i made a mistake.

In 1921 Louis Battaglia barely survived a bomb blast together with Pete Fosco, Pete Granata and one Victor Tortoriello. Most of us know who Fosco and Granata were, but besides Louis I also wonder if that Tortoriello fella was related to Mugsy Tortoriello?

Mugsy Tortoriello WAS the son of Victor Tortoriello, but was he the same one who was injured in the bomb blast? I'm not certain. He lived at 708 S. Ashland at the time of the bombing, and there was a matching 1920 census, so it appears to be the same guy. There was a Vito Tortoriello who died in 1928 and was married to Maria and the father of Anthony, Frank and James, and Mrs. Rose Altieri, Mrs. Joseph Serritella, and Mrs. Joseph Franco. (In looking at the obituaries I notice connections between the Tortoriellos, Serritellas, and Pacellis.) There was a Victor A. Tortoriello who died in 1960 and was married to Emma and previously to Mary. He was the father of James and Louise Viti.

Louis Battaglia died in 1953 and was married to Mary Dugo. His siblings were Philip, Joseph, and Rose Rubino. On his World War I draft card it says he was born on August 29, 1887, but on his Word War II draft card it says August 29, 1877 (1877 is a closer match to other records). He came from Termini Imerese. Would need his death certificate to trace other relatives.

Salvatore (Sam) Battaglia Sr., the father of Teetz and Joe, died in 1962.

Thanks for the additional info Anti. It is interesting that this throws even more weight over the information that Mugsy Tortoriello was connected to the old Taylor St guys. That "Mrs Rose Altieri"...any connections to Joe Altieri (the informants friend)? Also ill see if I can find some more info on Louis...

[Villain]

Huge family tree of Battaglias connected to Costellos, connected to Jimmy Emery, Frank LaPorte, Luzi, and others.

Sam Battaglia had a cousin in the Chicago Heights area with he same surname according to one MF file.

[Villain]

Another suspect that popped up in my mind is Leonard Gianola/Gianolla...he was closely connected to Giancana, Cesario, Nicoletti and the rest of the guys. Was involved in loan sharking and I also think (not 100% sure) he had long time Mafia ties through the former Mangano organization. Many sources labeled Gianola as former 42 but again im not quite sure about that. So if guys like Gianola, the English bros and Daddono were previously with the Mangano crew, then its quite possible that one of them met Giancana during the mid or late 1940's (like the informant said).

[Ed]

Another two names that should be looked at:

Charles and Sam English

- Sicilian heritage (Santa Caterina Villarmosa, Caltanissetta)
- Name changed from Inglisa, would be unrecognizable to Sicilian relatives
- Both old enough to have experienced the end of prohibition period

I don't know enough about the English brothers' background to comment further, only that they have a few points in common with the informant and there could be more connections between these figures from the Caltanissetta / Enna border.

The English brothers were childhood or longtime friends of Giancana. The informant only got close to Giancana in the late 1940s. Also, the brothers appear to have had stormy marriages which works against my impression that the informant and his wife got along.

[Villain]

Another two names that should be looked at:

Charles and Sam English

- Sicilian heritage (Santa Caterina Villarmosa, Caltanissetta)
- Name changed from Inglisa, would be unrecognizable to Sicilian relatives
- Both old enough to have experienced the end of prohibition period

I don't know enough about the English brothers' background to comment further, only that they have a few points in common with the informant and there could be more connections between these figures from the Caltanissetta / Enna border.

The English brothers were childhood or longtime friends of Giancana. The informant only got close to Giancana in the late 1940s. Also, the brothers appear to have had stormy marriages which works against my impression that the informant and his wife got along.

You are right about that, meaning the informant obviously had strong marriage but im not 100% sure if the English bros knew Giancana during the 1930s or before he went to jail in 1939. I know that Chuck Giancana said that his brother allegedly knew these guys since childhood but I doubt that he really knew them since then.

I dont believe that all of these fellas started in the Campagna/Nitto crew, but instead its possible they started in a different West Side crew, with different people and later things changed. So it is possible some of these guy met later or during the 1940s when Giancana was out of prison and was already a made guy who was able to bring new candidates.

For example many Mob historians say that Battaglia was also a childhood friend of Giancana mainly because of the Taylor St and Near West Side area in which they used to lurk around, but I dont think that during the early 30s Battaglia ever heard of Giancana. According to one convo between Humphreys and Battaglia, the Hump said that Giancana wasnt around when he (Humphreys) and Battaglia knew the inner workings of the organization, and thats why i dont believe in the statement made by another informant regarding Battaglia being made with or after Giancana. Thats why some guys thought that Battaglia shouldve become the boss in 57 instead of Giancana.

[Ed]

Another two names that should be looked at:

Charles and Sam English

- Sicilian heritage (Santa Caterina Villarmosa, Caltanissetta)
- Name changed from Inglisa, would be unrecognizable to Sicilian relatives
- Both old enough to have experienced the end of prohibition period

I don't know enough about the English brothers' background to comment further, only that they have a few points in common with the informant and there could be more connections between these figures from the Caltanissetta / Enna border.

The English brothers were childhood or longtime friends of Giancana. The informant only got close to Giancana in the late 1940s. Also, the brothers appear to have had stormy marriages which works against my impression that the informant and his wife got along.

You are right about that, meaning the informant obviously had strong marriage but im not 100% sure if the English bros knew Giancana during the 1930s or before he went to jail in 1939. I know that Chuck Giancana said that his brother allegedly knew these guys since childhood but I doubt that he really knew them since then.

I dont believe that all of these fellas started in the Campagna/Nitto crew, but instead its possible they started in a different West Side crew, with different people and later things changed. So it is possible they met during the 1940s when Giancana was out of prison and was already a made guy who was able to bring new candidates.

For example many Mob historians say that Battaglia was also a childhood friend of Giancana mainly because of the Taylor St and Near West Side area in which they used to lurk around, but I dont think that during the early 30s Battaglia ever heard of Giancana. According to one convo between Humphreys and Battaglia, the Hump said that Giancana wasnt around when he (Humphreys) and Battaglia knew the inner workings of the organization, and thats why i dont believe in the statement made by another informant regarding Battaglia being made with or after Giancana. Thats why some guys thought that Battaglia shouldve become the boss in 57 instead of Giancana.

thanks Villain. If the brothers weren't childhood friends, that could put them back into consideration, although I still don't like them for it. Charles English did chitchat a little bit with agents in the mid-1960s and they did assign him a symbol code (CG 6962). Based on the available FBI files, he didn't reveal anything significant at all. But maybe he changed his mind in the 1970s.

Also, I recall looking into Sam English FBI file and don't remember seeing anything that looks like it came from this informant. Need to review again.

Some of the declassified FBI files show which FBI agents investigated which Outfit members. That is avenue to pursue. For example, Frank Ford managed Guido DiChiaro in the 1970s (not saying he's the informant) What other members were assigned to Ford?