General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground

[Antiliar]

Who sponsored Infelise in 83? LaPietra right? Calabrese didnt mention Ferriola...so it was probably LaPietea who inherited Torello position by also having some jurisdiction over the Ferriola crew right?

Skids Caruso retired due to his poor health and LaPietra split off from Torello and switched to Chinatown. LaPietra didn't get along with Torello. After Torello died, Ferriola took over his crew. According to Nick Calabrese, LaPietra sponsored Infelice although Infelice was in Ferriola's crew. To Calabrese, Ferriola just headed the Wild Bunch. But according to Scarpelli, Ferriola was capo of the Taylor Street/Cicero crew that previously belonged to Torello. Ferriola probably didn't go to the ceremony because of his health, and with LaPietra formerly being in the same crew as Ferriola he was allowed to stand in for him. Nobody from Grand Avenue was there during the ceremony.

Felise's ceremony was in 83 and Ferriolas health was quite good at the time.

I don't know when Ferriola's health started to decline, but it was first reported in February 1985 that he was dying from cancer. So he could have had health problems for many years.

This is what Jerry Scarpelli said in 1988. Ferriola had a crew in Cicero and James LaPietra had a crew in Chinatown and the same time. Scarpelli even thought that Ferriola may have been the underboss, so was unaware that DiFronzo was.

FBI File Su Joseph Ferriola - Scarpelli crews.jpg

[Antiliar]

I take a lot of information from that memo with a grain of salt. Certainly worth considering but I'd definitely look for corroboration before stating anything listed there as fact.

I agree that we should corroborate as much as we can, but we shouldn't dismiss everything out of hand either. All documents need to be looked over with a critical eye and we shouldn't assume anything. Even the corroboration could be false.

[Villain]

Who sponsored Infelise in 83? LaPietra right? Calabrese didnt mention Ferriola...so it was probably LaPietea who inherited Torello position by also having some jurisdiction over the Ferriola crew right?

Skids Caruso retired due to his poor health and LaPietra split off from Torello and switched to Chinatown. LaPietra didn't get along with Torello. After Torello died, Ferriola took over his crew. According to Nick Calabrese, LaPietra sponsored Infelice although Infelice was in Ferriola's crew. To Calabrese, Ferriola just headed the Wild Bunch. But according to Scarpelli, Ferriola was capo of the Taylor Street/Cicero crew that previously belonged to Torello. Ferriola probably didn't go to the ceremony because of his health, and with LaPietra formerly being in the same crew as Ferriola he was allowed to stand in for him. Nobody from Grand Avenue was there during the ceremony.

Felise's ceremony was in 83 and Ferriolas health was quite good at the time.

I don't know when Ferriola's health started to decline, but it was first reported in February 1985 that he was dying from cancer. So he could have had health problems for many years.

This is what Jerry Scarpelli said in 1988. Ferriola had a crew in Cicero and James LaPietra had a crew in Chinatown and the same time. Scarpelli even thought that Ferriola may have been the underboss, so was unaware that DiFronzo was.

FBI File Su Joseph Ferriola - Scarpelli crews.jpg

Thanks and yeah i agree that after Torellos death his crew split in two groups but we still have some evidences regarding close connections between those same groups and the best "product" of that was later Monteleone.

Regarding Ferriolas status....theres no question that he was a capo but his expansion around all southern suburbs rises some eyebrows, especially when it comes down to confusions such as he being boss or underboss, meaning it is possible that he had jurisdiction over more than one crew or controlled operations beyond the borders of his own areas, such as the North Side (Lake County) and Chicago Heights.

Im quite aware that the so-called territorial or group boss position began to dimish during the 1980s but Ferriola is still quite questionable for me personally...

[Snakes]

Because we are on the topic, this is my timeline for Outfit capos/bosses:

1974: Turk Torello, Dominic DiBella, Al Pilotto, Joey Lombardo

1976: DiBella dies, succeeded by Vincent Solano

1979: Turk Torello dies, succeeded by either Joe Ferriola or Angelo LaPietra. Going with the "Ferriola was not a capo narrative," I think that territorially Turk was succeeded by Ferriola but position-wise, he was succeeded by LaPietra, who had just recently taken over for Skid Caruso on the South Side. If we go by the "Ferriola was promoted to capo" narrative, then Ferriola succeeds Torello as capo, and LaPietra is also bumped to capo and given the South Side. Something I have not yet discussed was perhaps LaPietra was given the South Side to placate him for the Outfit promoting Ferriola to succeed Turk? This would explain why LaPietra was not at the Last Supper (although he certainly could have been absent for other reasons) as he was not a capo until after Turk died, when the Outfit promoted both men.

1979-1983: Sam Carlisi and John DiFronzo are made capos

1982: Al Pilotto imprisoned, succeeded on an acting basis by Dominick Palermo. I have also seen the FBI definitively state he was succeeded by Frank Zizzo but I will go with Palermo here because of his presence at the 1983 making ceremony. Joey Lombardo is also imprisoned this year and succeeded on an acting basis by Louis Eboli.

1983: Outfit making ceremony. Capos present were LaPietra, Solano, Carlisi, DiFronzo, and Palermo (acting). Joe Ferriola is not present and his #1 guy (Infelise) was sponsored by LaPietra. This is what makes Nick's statement interesting in my mind. I *will,* however, say that if Ferriola was not a capo before, that he definitely became one sometime between the making ceremony and 1986. I will also add that I don't think Tocco immediately succeeded to boss of the Heights but either worked under or with Palermo for a year or two and then either became the sole boss or split the territory with Palermo. I have seen evidence of both, although Tocco seemed to have a leadership role during the Spilotro burial so "gun-to-my-head," I'd say that Tocco eventually became the sole boss of the Heights.

1986: Big shake-up as the leadership is imprisoned. Trying to definitively figure it out past this point makes my head hurt but it could be assumed the capos during the late 80s were as follows:

MP: Marcello
EP: Magnafichi or Andriacchi (although I think DiFronzo still ran EP in much the same way Cerone did in the mid to late seventies)
Cicero: Ferriola (dies in 1989, succeeded by Infelise)
South Side: James LaPietra (acting)
Grand Avenue: Eboli (acting for Lombardo, dies in 1987, probably succeeded by Centracchio)
North Side: Solano
Heights: Tocco solely or Tocco/Palermo split

[Villain]

Because we are on the topic, this is my timeline for Outfit capos/bosses:

1974: Turk Torello, Dominic DiBella, Al Pilotto, Joey Lombardo

1976: DiBella dies, succeeded by Vincent Solano

1979: Turk Torello dies, succeeded by either Joe Ferriola or Angelo LaPietra. Going with the "Ferriola was not a capo narrative," I think that territorially Turk was succeeded by Ferriola but position-wise, he was succeeded by LaPietra, who had just recently taken over for Skid Caruso on the South Side. If we go by the "Ferriola was promoted to capo" narrative, then Ferriola succeeds Torello as capo, and LaPietra is also bumped to capo and given the South Side. Something I have not yet discussed was perhaps LaPietra was given the South Side to placate him for the Outfit promoting Ferriola to succeed Turk? This would explain why LaPietra was not at the Last Supper (although he certainly could have been absent for other reasons) as he was not a capo until after Turk died, when the Outfit promoted both men.

1979-1983: Sam Carlisi and John DiFronzo are made capos

1982: Al Pilotto imprisoned, succeeded on an acting basis by Dominick Palermo. I have also seen the FBI definitively state he was succeeded by Frank Zizzo but I will go with Palermo here because of his presence at the 1983 making ceremony. Joey Lombardo is also imprisoned this year and succeeded on an acting basis by Louis Eboli.

1983: Outfit making ceremony. Capos present were LaPietra, Solano, Carlisi, DiFronzo, and Palermo (acting). Joe Ferriola is not present and his #1 guy (Infelise) was sponsored by LaPietra. This is what makes Nick's statement interesting in my mind. I *will,* however, say that if Ferriola was not a capo before, that he definitely became one sometime between the making ceremony and 1986. I will also add that I don't think Tocco immediately succeeded to boss of the Heights but either worked under or with Palermo for a year or two and then either became the sole boss or split the territory with Palermo. I have seen evidence of both, although Tocco seemed to have a leadership role during the Spilotro burial so "gun-to-my-head," I'd say that Tocco eventually became the sole boss of the Heights.

1986: Big shake-up as the leadership is imprisoned. Trying to definitively figure it out past this point makes my head hurt but it could be assumed the capos during the late 80s were as follows:

MP: Marcello
EP: Magnafichi or Andriacchi (although I think DiFronzo still ran EP in much the same way Cerone did in the mid to late seventies)
Cicero: Ferriola (dies in 1989, succeeded by Infelise)
South Side: James LaPietra (acting)
Grand Avenue: Eboli (acting for Lombardo, dies in 1987, probably succeeded by Centracchio)
North Side: Solano
Heights: Tocco solely or Tocco/Palermo split

Nicely explained and i agree.

By the mid 1980s both DiVarco and Arnold were out of the picture, which means that Solanos position as group boss was finished although it seems that he was still in direct line with Accardo and Aiupoa, the same way as his late predecessors Prio and DiBella.

When Lombardo went to jail, as you already said, Eboli was probably acting by being in partnership with Centracchio who in turn succeeded him.

Marcello, Magnafichi, Tocco and Jimmy LaPietra were all "young" capos.

The one question nobody answers is....from the late 70s until the late 80s, Ferriolas crew entered numerous areas around Chicago which were previously operated by different crews and on top.of that, we have one capo (Tocco) being affraid of being killed by Ferriola allegedly because of some problem, not because of some aggressive take over....and by the mid 90s we have Ferriolas/Spanos crew in alliance with the Monteleone crew, taking over the Chi Heights area and northwest Indiana....what the hell hapened?

[Villain]

In addition, if Ferriola had serious health issues for more than several years before his death in 1989, that obviously didnt stop him in attending high level meetings with the Outfit's leadership according to 1986 surveillance photos

[Snakes]

In addition, if Ferriola had serious health issues for more than several years before his death in 1989, that obviously didnt stop him in attending high level meetings with the Outfit's leadership according to 1986 surveillance photos

I can understand what Antiliar is saying, though. Heart shit can knock you out for a period of time, say after surgery, and then a couple months later you can be up and walking around. So it is difficult to say without more information what Ferriola's activity level was on a consistent basis, at least until 1988/89 where Scarpelli said he wasn't really meeting with anyone and made everyone go through Infelise.

[Villain]

In addition, if Ferriola had serious health issues for more than several years before his death in 1989, that obviously didnt stop him in attending high level meetings with the Outfit's leadership according to 1986 surveillance photos

I can understand what Antiliar is saying, though. Heart shit can knock you out for a period of time, say after surgery, and then a couple months later you can be up and walking around. So it is difficult to say without more information what Ferriola's activity level was on a consistent basis, at least until 1988/89 where Scarpelli said he wasn't really meeting with anyone and made everyone go through Infelise.

Ive seen similar example when Jimmy Ammirato, Chicago Heights group boss, began to relinquish his position during the mid 50s with LaPorte being his "voice" on the streets. During those days Ammirato had LaPorte, John Roberto and Pinelli beneath him and when he died in 57?, LaPorte succeeded his position

[Antiliar]

Because we are on the topic, this is my timeline for Outfit capos/bosses:

1974: Turk Torello, Dominic DiBella, Al Pilotto, Joey Lombardo

I would add Skid Caruso (Chinatown), Black Joe Amato (McHenry County/Northwest suburbs), and Anthony Ortenzi (Parts of Melrose Park/Cicero)

[PolackTony]

Because we are on the topic, this is my timeline for Outfit capos/bosses:

1974: Turk Torello, Dominic DiBella, Al Pilotto, Joey Lombardo

I would add Skid Caruso (Chinatown), Black Joe Amato (McHenry County/Northwest suburbs), and Anthony Ortenzi (Parts of Melrose Park/Cicero)

Bucky Ortenzi in ‘74 was capo for the Aiuppa/MP/Cicero crew, which subsequently passed to Carlisi, then? I’ve wondered if Ortenzi was a capo or just acting for Aiuppa.

[Snakes]

Because we are on the topic, this is my timeline for Outfit capos/bosses:

1974: Turk Torello, Dominic DiBella, Al Pilotto, Joey Lombardo

I would add Skid Caruso (Chinatown), Black Joe Amato (McHenry County/Northwest suburbs), and Anthony Ortenzi (Parts of Melrose Park/Cicero)

I think Skid had a crew but I'm not sure if he was considered a capo because he never seemed on the same level as the other capos. Ortenzi appeared to just be a caretaker and a point man for Aiuppa -- I'm not sure if it was necessary to have a capo in Melrose Park when Aiuppa was right next door. Amato, however, I'm not sure about, although I think a strong argument exists for him being a capo.

[PolackTony]

Because we are on the topic, this is my timeline for Outfit capos/bosses:

1974: Turk Torello, Dominic DiBella, Al Pilotto, Joey Lombardo

I would add Skid Caruso (Chinatown), Black Joe Amato (McHenry County/Northwest suburbs), and Anthony Ortenzi (Parts of Melrose Park/Cicero)

I think Skid had a crew but I'm not sure if he was considered a capo because he never seemed on the same level as the other capos. Ortenzi appeared to just be a caretaker and a point man for Aiuppa -- I'm not sure if it was necessary to have a capo in Melrose Park when Aiuppa was right next door. Amato, however, I'm not sure about, although I think a strong argument exists for him being a capo.

In the interval between Ferraro’s death and LaPietra, it’s unclear to me what the status of the Chinatown crew was exactly. I think it’s equally plausible that Caruso had been a lieutenant or crew boss under Ferraro and then was either promoted to capo, and was just a weaker and more marginal capo, or stayed on in some acting capacity. It seems that during this period the Southside crew lost considerable stature, as they had other crews — Buccieri, Alderisio, Catuara — moving in on their territory, so either way Caruso doesn’t strike me as a strong leader. My working opinion at the moment is that the Southside faction of the Outfit started to fall apart after Ferraro, and it wasn’t until LaPietra that the ship was righted again.

My impression is that Amato was a capo. The fact that he was present at the “Last Supper” table is certainly strong evidence that he still held this title, at least formally, as late as ‘76. By this time, however, he had declined and soon thereafter his territory in the burbs was taken over by the Buccieri crew. I recall seeing documents stating that Amato had for years been trying to retire or shelve himself but the admin wasn’t letting him go (I assume that his territory was just too lucrative).

[Antiliar]

Because we are on the topic, this is my timeline for Outfit capos/bosses:

1974: Turk Torello, Dominic DiBella, Al Pilotto, Joey Lombardo

I would add Skid Caruso (Chinatown), Black Joe Amato (McHenry County/Northwest suburbs), and Anthony Ortenzi (Parts of Melrose Park/Cicero)

I think Skid had a crew but I'm not sure if he was considered a capo because he never seemed on the same level as the other capos. Ortenzi appeared to just be a caretaker and a point man for Aiuppa -- I'm not sure if it was necessary to have a capo in Melrose Park when Aiuppa was right next door. Amato, however, I'm not sure about, although I think a strong argument exists for him being a capo.

The Fbi is pretty clear that Skids Caruso was a capo, and Nick Calabrese said Amato was a capo. I forgot if the FBI files clearly stated that Ortenzi was a capo or if it was implied. The files make it clear that he was more than just a messenger. He was also a decision-maker.

Returning to Caruso, he was a weak capo with little pull or influence, and was sick for years before he retired. His crew was small, and he depended on Anthony Maenza and Jimmy Catuara, but Catuara was stepping on too many toes. But despite all that, Caruso still had the title until he retired.

[Snakes]

Skid just always seemed like a second-rate capo, if he was one. He was never mentioned in the same breath as the other capos so I always just considered him as having a Frank Calabrese-style crew and just operated on a lower level than guys like Buccieri and Prio and LaPorte.

[PolackTony]

Skid just always seemed like a second-rate capo, if he was one. He was never mentioned in the same breath as the other capos so I always just considered him as having a Frank Calabrese-style crew and just operated on a lower level than guys like Buccieri and Prio and LaPorte.

Yeah he was definitely on a lower level. He had guys pirating in his territory and, IIRC, was not mentioned as one of capos sitting on the “board of directors” that one of the 60s era CI’s attested to. It’s possible that Alex may have served as acting/provisional/ de facto representative for the Loop/Southside on the BOD after Ferraro died, or even Buccieri/Torello represented Caruso as a weaker capo (a la what may have been the case with the Pranno/Amabile crew).