The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

[PolackTony]

Another thing to note — Addison Pugliese “zip” Ottavio Volpe, serving a life sentence for the Schwarzkopf robbery/murder, was married to Renee Fecarotta Russo, of Mob Wives: Chicago “fame”.

[PolackTony]

The Butera family has come up several times in other threads, as one of several Sicilian families who have operated likely mobbed-up grocery store chains around Chicagoland (including also the Gambinos/Ingraffias [perhaps the Greco family had some links here too?]):
viewtopic.php?p=150027#p150027

The current Butera brothers are the sons of Giovanni Butera (founder of Butera Finer Foods) and Giuseppina Giannola, both from Cinisi. Vito Salamone is, of course, also from Cinisi (as well as the parents of Leonard Gianola). Giovanni Butera’s brother-in-law was a Filippo Salamone of Cinisi, married to Giuseppina Gianola’s sister Francesca. Among there three children were a “Joe” and Vito Salamone, so Filippo and Francesca were the parents of the Vito and Giuseppe “Joseph” Salamone that we know from the Emerald Casino scandal. The Salamones and Buteras are thus cousins.

From Filippo Salamone’s 2010 obituary published in the Tribune:

“In 1965 local thugs stole every last one of his cows. With family financial assistance, he took his wife and children to America and arrived in November of 1966.”

The above story from Filippo’s obit stuck out to me. The time period in question is, of course, following the Cianculli bombing and “First Mafia War” in Palermo, when many Palermitani mafiosi fled Sicily overseas or went into hiding due to the intense LE action brought down by the war. While I don’t see any reason to suspect any direct link, Antonio Salamone was of course the capomandamento of San Giuseppe Jato who fled Sicily for Brazil in 1965. Another point possibly worth noting is that Vito Salamone, I strongly suspect, was tied to the broader network of Chicago “zips” with probable links to Frank Rappa’s narcotics operations. Rappa was of course from Borgetto, which fell under the SGJ (and later Camporeale) mandamento.

Additionally, Filippo Salamone also had a brother named Vito who settled in Wyandotte, Michigan; noteworthy given the strong connections between the Detroit family and the Terrasini/Cinisi area. It may be significant that this Vito had a daughter who married a Joseph Vitale. The Salamones seem to have had connections to Vitales and Randazzos in Chicago and Cinisi and there have been Vitales and Randazzos among the Detroit mafia, of course. It’s worth noting that Giuseppe Vitale, Vincenzo Randazzo, and Salvatore Salamone were among the defendants in the 1985 Pizza Connection case, though I don’t know if they were all from Cinisi.

To go back to the grocery business, also from Filippo Salamone’s obit:

“He later worked for Kropp Forge in Chicago. There he befriended the president of the company. In the early 1970s, that friendship allowed him to place countless friends looking for work at Kropp Forge. Outside of helping his friends, his greatest pleasure was working at his Family grocery stores, Fair Share Foods. He was instrumental in taking the risk: to borrow money from his family with only three years in the United States.”

It would be interesting to see if any other connected guys or family members were employeed at Kropp Forge manufacturing. When the whole Emerald Casino fiasco unfolded in the early 2000s, it was noted in the Tribune that Joseph Salamone operated a grocery store in Oak Park, which was clearly the recently shuttered Roosevelt Rd location of Fair Share Foods. The article here mentions that the Salamones had cousins already operating a grocery store in Chicago back in the ‘60s, almost certainly a reference to the Buteras:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.oakpar ... -44-years/

One more thing likely connecting Vito Salamone to the network of Addison/Bloomingdale/Elmwood Park “zips” is that he seems to have owned a property jointly with an Antonio Lappo. As noted previously, the Lappos are most likely Pugliesi; a Francesco Lappo was the licensee for Café Cappuccino, and a Tomasso Lappo was among those pinched in the 1990s busts of Pugliesi and
Sicilian gambling operators in the West Burbs. I’ll also note again that Vito Salamone and Camillo Gigliotti are FB buddies.

[cavita]

The Butera family has come up several times in other threads, as one of several Sicilian families who have operated likely mobbed-up grocery store chains around Chicagoland (including also the Gambinos/Ingraffias [perhaps the Greco family had some links here too?]):
viewtopic.php?p=150027#p150027

The current Butera brothers are the sons of Giovanni Butera (founder of Butera Finer Foods) and Giuseppina Giannola, both from Cinisi. Vito Salamone is, of course, also from Cinisi (as well as the parents of Leonard Gianola). Giovanni Butera’s brother-in-law was a Filippo Salamone of Cinisi, married to Giuseppina Gianola’s sister Francesca. Among there three children were a “Joe” and Vito Salamone, so Filippo and Francesca were the parents of the Vito and Giuseppe “Joseph” Salamone that we know from the Emerald Casino scandal. The Salamones and Buteras are thus cousins.

From Filippo Salamone’s 2010 obituary published in the Tribune:

“In 1965 local thugs stole every last one of his cows. With family financial assistance, he took his wife and children to America and arrived in November of 1966.”

The above story from Filippo’s obit stuck out to me. The time period in question is, of course, following the Cianculli bombing and “First Mafia War” in Palermo, when many Palermitani mafiosi fled Sicily overseas or went into hiding due to the intense LE action brought down by the war. While I don’t see any reason to suspect any direct link, Antonio Salamone was of course the capomandamento of San Giuseppe Jato who fled Sicily for Brazil in 1965. Another point possibly worth noting is that Vito Salamone, I strongly suspect, was tied to the broader network of Chicago “zips” with probable links to Frank Rappa’s narcotics operations. Rappa was of course from Borgetto, which fell under the SGJ (and later Camporeale) mandamento.

Additionally, Filippo Salamone also had a brother named Vito who settled in Wyandotte, Michigan; noteworthy given the strong connections between the Detroit family and the Terrasini/Cinisi area. It may be significant that this Vito had a daughter who married a Joseph Vitale. The Salamones seem to have had connections to Vitales and Randazzos in Chicago and Cinisi and there have been Vitales and Randazzos among the Detroit mafia, of course. It’s worth noting that Giuseppe Vitale, Vincenzo Randazzo, and Salvatore Salamone were among the defendants in the 1985 Pizza Connection case, though I don’t know if they were all from Cinisi.

To go back to the grocery business, also from Filippo Salamone’s obit:

“He later worked for Kropp Forge in Chicago. There he befriended the president of the company. In the early 1970s, that friendship allowed him to place countless friends looking for work at Kropp Forge. Outside of helping his friends, his greatest pleasure was working at his Family grocery stores, Fair Share Foods. He was instrumental in taking the risk: to borrow money from his family with only three years in the United States.”

It would be interesting to see if any other connected guys or family members were employeed at Kropp Forge manufacturing. When the whole Emerald Casino fiasco unfolded in the early 2000s, it was noted in the Tribune that Joseph Salamone operated a grocery store in Oak Park, which was clearly the recently shuttered Roosevelt Rd location of Fair Share Foods. The article here mentions that the Salamones had cousins already operating a grocery store in Chicago back in the ‘60s, almost certainly a reference to the Buteras:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.oakpar ... -44-years/

One more thing likely connecting Vito Salamone to the network of Addison/Bloomingdale/Elmwood Park “zips” is that he seems to have owned a property jointly with an Antonio Lappo. As noted previously, the Lappos are most likely Pugliesi; a Francesco Lappo was the licensee for Café Cappuccino, and a Tomasso Lappo was among those pinched in the 1990s busts of Pugliesi and
Sicilian gambling operators in the West Burbs. I’ll also note again that Vito Salamone and Camillo Gigliotti are FB buddies.

These are all brilliant observations and I love to see the potential connections. Thanks for all the legwork on this.

[PolackTony]

The Butera family has come up several times in other threads, as one of several Sicilian families who have operated likely mobbed-up grocery store chains around Chicagoland (including also the Gambinos/Ingraffias [perhaps the Greco family had some links here too?]):
viewtopic.php?p=150027#p150027

The current Butera brothers are the sons of Giovanni Butera (founder of Butera Finer Foods) and Giuseppina Giannola, both from Cinisi. Vito Salamone is, of course, also from Cinisi (as well as the parents of Leonard Gianola). Giovanni Butera’s brother-in-law was a Filippo Salamone of Cinisi, married to Giuseppina Gianola’s sister Francesca. Among there three children were a “Joe” and Vito Salamone, so Filippo and Francesca were the parents of the Vito and Giuseppe “Joseph” Salamone that we know from the Emerald Casino scandal. The Salamones and Buteras are thus cousins.

From Filippo Salamone’s 2010 obituary published in the Tribune:

“In 1965 local thugs stole every last one of his cows. With family financial assistance, he took his wife and children to America and arrived in November of 1966.”

The above story from Filippo’s obit stuck out to me. The time period in question is, of course, following the Cianculli bombing and “First Mafia War” in Palermo, when many Palermitani mafiosi fled Sicily overseas or went into hiding due to the intense LE action brought down by the war. While I don’t see any reason to suspect any direct link, Antonio Salamone was of course the capomandamento of San Giuseppe Jato who fled Sicily for Brazil in 1965. Another point possibly worth noting is that Vito Salamone, I strongly suspect, was tied to the broader network of Chicago “zips” with probable links to Frank Rappa’s narcotics operations. Rappa was of course from Borgetto, which fell under the SGJ (and later Camporeale) mandamento.

Additionally, Filippo Salamone also had a brother named Vito who settled in Wyandotte, Michigan; noteworthy given the strong connections between the Detroit family and the Terrasini/Cinisi area. It may be significant that this Vito had a daughter who married a Joseph Vitale. The Salamones seem to have had connections to Vitales and Randazzos in Chicago and Cinisi and there have been Vitales and Randazzos among the Detroit mafia, of course. It’s worth noting that Giuseppe Vitale, Vincenzo Randazzo, and Salvatore Salamone were among the defendants in the 1985 Pizza Connection case, though I don’t know if they were all from Cinisi.

To go back to the grocery business, also from Filippo Salamone’s obit:

“He later worked for Kropp Forge in Chicago. There he befriended the president of the company. In the early 1970s, that friendship allowed him to place countless friends looking for work at Kropp Forge. Outside of helping his friends, his greatest pleasure was working at his Family grocery stores, Fair Share Foods. He was instrumental in taking the risk: to borrow money from his family with only three years in the United States.”

It would be interesting to see if any other connected guys or family members were employeed at Kropp Forge manufacturing. When the whole Emerald Casino fiasco unfolded in the early 2000s, it was noted in the Tribune that Joseph Salamone operated a grocery store in Oak Park, which was clearly the recently shuttered Roosevelt Rd location of Fair Share Foods. The article here mentions that the Salamones had cousins already operating a grocery store in Chicago back in the ‘60s, almost certainly a reference to the Buteras:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.oakpar ... -44-years/

One more thing likely connecting Vito Salamone to the network of Addison/Bloomingdale/Elmwood Park “zips” is that he seems to have owned a property jointly with an Antonio Lappo. As noted previously, the Lappos are most likely Pugliesi; a Francesco Lappo was the licensee for Café Cappuccino, and a Tomasso Lappo was among those pinched in the 1990s busts of Pugliesi and
Sicilian gambling operators in the West Burbs. I’ll also note again that Vito Salamone and Camillo Gigliotti are FB buddies.

These are all brilliant observations and I love to see the potential connections. Thanks for all the legwork on this.

Coming from you, that’s quite a compliment; thanks for the kind words.

I’m aware that there were/are Salamones in Rockford, but I believe that they were from Aragona?

[cavita]

The Butera family has come up several times in other threads, as one of several Sicilian families who have operated likely mobbed-up grocery store chains around Chicagoland (including also the Gambinos/Ingraffias [perhaps the Greco family had some links here too?]):
viewtopic.php?p=150027#p150027

The current Butera brothers are the sons of Giovanni Butera (founder of Butera Finer Foods) and Giuseppina Giannola, both from Cinisi. Vito Salamone is, of course, also from Cinisi (as well as the parents of Leonard Gianola). Giovanni Butera’s brother-in-law was a Filippo Salamone of Cinisi, married to Giuseppina Gianola’s sister Francesca. Among there three children were a “Joe” and Vito Salamone, so Filippo and Francesca were the parents of the Vito and Giuseppe “Joseph” Salamone that we know from the Emerald Casino scandal. The Salamones and Buteras are thus cousins.

From Filippo Salamone’s 2010 obituary published in the Tribune:

“In 1965 local thugs stole every last one of his cows. With family financial assistance, he took his wife and children to America and arrived in November of 1966.”

The above story from Filippo’s obit stuck out to me. The time period in question is, of course, following the Cianculli bombing and “First Mafia War” in Palermo, when many Palermitani mafiosi fled Sicily overseas or went into hiding due to the intense LE action brought down by the war. While I don’t see any reason to suspect any direct link, Antonio Salamone was of course the capomandamento of San Giuseppe Jato who fled Sicily for Brazil in 1965. Another point possibly worth noting is that Vito Salamone, I strongly suspect, was tied to the broader network of Chicago “zips” with probable links to Frank Rappa’s narcotics operations. Rappa was of course from Borgetto, which fell under the SGJ (and later Camporeale) mandamento.

Additionally, Filippo Salamone also had a brother named Vito who settled in Wyandotte, Michigan; noteworthy given the strong connections between the Detroit family and the Terrasini/Cinisi area. It may be significant that this Vito had a daughter who married a Joseph Vitale. The Salamones seem to have had connections to Vitales and Randazzos in Chicago and Cinisi and there have been Vitales and Randazzos among the Detroit mafia, of course. It’s worth noting that Giuseppe Vitale, Vincenzo Randazzo, and Salvatore Salamone were among the defendants in the 1985 Pizza Connection case, though I don’t know if they were all from Cinisi.

To go back to the grocery business, also from Filippo Salamone’s obit:

“He later worked for Kropp Forge in Chicago. There he befriended the president of the company. In the early 1970s, that friendship allowed him to place countless friends looking for work at Kropp Forge. Outside of helping his friends, his greatest pleasure was working at his Family grocery stores, Fair Share Foods. He was instrumental in taking the risk: to borrow money from his family with only three years in the United States.”

It would be interesting to see if any other connected guys or family members were employeed at Kropp Forge manufacturing. When the whole Emerald Casino fiasco unfolded in the early 2000s, it was noted in the Tribune that Joseph Salamone operated a grocery store in Oak Park, which was clearly the recently shuttered Roosevelt Rd location of Fair Share Foods. The article here mentions that the Salamones had cousins already operating a grocery store in Chicago back in the ‘60s, almost certainly a reference to the Buteras:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.oakpar ... -44-years/

One more thing likely connecting Vito Salamone to the network of Addison/Bloomingdale/Elmwood Park “zips” is that he seems to have owned a property jointly with an Antonio Lappo. As noted previously, the Lappos are most likely Pugliesi; a Francesco Lappo was the licensee for Café Cappuccino, and a Tomasso Lappo was among those pinched in the 1990s busts of Pugliesi and
Sicilian gambling operators in the West Burbs. I’ll also note again that Vito Salamone and Camillo Gigliotti are FB buddies.

These are all brilliant observations and I love to see the potential connections. Thanks for all the legwork on this.

Coming from you, that’s quite a compliment; thanks for the kind words.

I’m aware that there were/are Salamones in Rockford, but I believe that they were from Aragona?

That's correct, every Salamone from Rockford traces their ancestry to Aragona.

[SantoClaus]

I met a guy whose claimed his family was hooked up in Chicago, the last name is Romano and they are from Bari, I think their names are Tanio and Carlos. The guy’s brother told me the same thing about an uncle they have in Bari, don’t know if that would imply SCU.

The guy’s last name is Sblendorio he was born in Italy and moved to Canada, pretty sure Hamilton. Seems like the guy has a ton of cop friends which I found weird if his family is hooked up.

I ended up punching out a cop for him, when I working security at his cousins club, the cop just ‘got made’, wasn’t on duty, and came in and assaulted some small kid that was partying. He came in with another cop that punched a women that evening, guy was security at that bar prior to getting his cop job. Then the guy comes to a club where all his buddies work, so he can prove to the cops that his is the type of guy they want, one that will attack a smaller weaker person for no reason.

Anyways, I’m not friends with Sblendorio, it was something that I wanted to do and I got a great chance to do it and not get charged lol

[funkster]

I met a guy whose claimed his family was hooked up in Chicago, the last name is Romano and they are from Bari, I think their names are Tanio and Carlos. The guy’s brother told me the same thing about an uncle they have in Bari, don’t know if that would imply SCU.

The guy’s last name is Sblendorio he was born in Italy and moved to Canada, pretty sure Hamilton. Seems like the guy has a ton of cop friends which I found weird if his family is hooked up.

I ended up punching out a cop for him, when I working security at his cousins club, the cop just ‘got made’, wasn’t on duty, and came in and assaulted some small kid that was partying. He came in with another cop that punched a women that evening, guy was security at that bar prior to getting his cop job. Then the guy comes to a club where all his buddies work, so he can prove to the cops that his is the type of guy they want, one that will attack a smaller weaker person for no reason.

Anyways, I’m not friends with Sblendorio, it was something that I wanted to do and I got a great chance to do it and not get charged lol

Where you at?

Nice work Tony, first I've heard any connection with the Buteras and Salamone. I wonder if this is part of the connection that Fosco mentioned in his comments?

[MegaMikejr]

https://pin.it/4XZBmjC

[SantoClaus]

I met a guy whose claimed his family was hooked up in Chicago, the last name is Romano and they are from Bari, I think their names are Tanio and Carlos. The guy’s brother told me the same thing about an uncle they have in Bari, don’t know if that would imply SCU.

The guy’s last name is Sblendorio he was born in Italy and moved to Canada, pretty sure Hamilton. Seems like the guy has a ton of cop friends which I found weird if his family is hooked up.

I ended up punching out a cop for him, when I working security at his cousins club, the cop just ‘got made’, wasn’t on duty, and came in and assaulted some small kid that was partying. He came in with another cop that punched a women that evening, guy was security at that bar prior to getting his cop job. Then the guy comes to a club where all his buddies work, so he can prove to the cops that his is the type of guy they want, one that will attack a smaller weaker person for no reason.

Anyways, I’m not friends with Sblendorio, it was something that I wanted to do and I got a great chance to do it and not get charged lol

Where you at?

Nice work Tony, first I've heard any connection with the Buteras and Salamone. I wonder if this is part of the connection that Fosco mentioned in his comments?

Europe, I’m from Germany .
Looking to travel, I liked Chicago, it’s a Masonic City, they advertise it in their graffiti.

[PolackTony]

https://pin.it/4XZBmjC

Thanks. Is there a source for any of this? Who did this map, someone in Italy?

[PolackTony]

I met a guy whose claimed his family was hooked up in Chicago, the last name is Romano and they are from Bari, I think their names are Tanio and Carlos. The guy’s brother told me the same thing about an uncle they have in Bari, don’t know if that would imply SCU.

The guy’s last name is Sblendorio he was born in Italy and moved to Canada, pretty sure Hamilton. Seems like the guy has a ton of cop friends which I found weird if his family is hooked up.

I ended up punching out a cop for him, when I working security at his cousins club, the cop just ‘got made’, wasn’t on duty, and came in and assaulted some small kid that was partying. He came in with another cop that punched a women that evening, guy was security at that bar prior to getting his cop job. Then the guy comes to a club where all his buddies work, so he can prove to the cops that his is the type of guy they want, one that will attack a smaller weaker person for no reason.

Anyways, I’m not friends with Sblendorio, it was something that I wanted to do and I got a great chance to do it and not get charged lol

Thanks for the info, I haven’t come across those particular names in Chicago. As discussed in this thread, my belief is that the Outfit has had some close links to Pugliese OC, likely specifically to SCU clans in Bari and Taranto. It is notable that two of the highest ranking members of the Outfit in the 90s and early 2000s — Johnny DiFronzo and Joe Lombardo — were both Barese, while Marco D’Amico, whose mother was from Foggia, seems to have been a key liaison or lynchpin for some of the Italians operating in Chicago over the years.

My understanding is that LE in Italy put a major dent into the SCU a while back, but that a 2nd Gen SCU is currently resurgent in Puglia. I don’t know how organized these new clans are, and who knows if there is anyone with links to Chicago around still (particularly considering the decline in LCN activity in Chicago over the last 20 years).

[SantoClaus]

I met a guy whose claimed his family was hooked up in Chicago, the last name is Romano and they are from Bari, I think their names are Tanio and Carlos. The guy’s brother told me the same thing about an uncle they have in Bari, don’t know if that would imply SCU.

The guy’s last name is Sblendorio he was born in Italy and moved to Canada, pretty sure Hamilton. Seems like the guy has a ton of cop friends which I found weird if his family is hooked up.

I ended up punching out a cop for him, when I working security at his cousins club, the cop just ‘got made’, wasn’t on duty, and came in and assaulted some small kid that was partying. He came in with another cop that punched a women that evening, guy was security at that bar prior to getting his cop job. Then the guy comes to a club where all his buddies work, so he can prove to the cops that his is the type of guy they want, one that will attack a smaller weaker person for no reason.

Anyways, I’m not friends with Sblendorio, it was something that I wanted to do and I got a great chance to do it and not get charged lol

Thanks for the info, I haven’t come across those particular names in Chicago. As discussed in this thread, my belief is that the Outfit has had some close links to Pugliese OC, likely specifically to SCU clans in Bari and Taranto. It is notable that two of the highest ranking members of the Outfit in the 90s and early 2000s — Johnny DiFronzo and Joe Lombardo — were both Barese, while Marco D’Amico, whose mother was from Foggia, seems to have been a key liaison or lynchpin for some of the Italians operating in Chicago over the years.

My understanding is that LE in Italy put a major dent into the SCU a while back, but that a 2nd Gen SCU is currently resurgent in Puglia. I don’t know how organized these new clans are, and who knows if there is anyone with links to Chicago around still (particularly considering the decline in LCN activity in Chicago over the last 20 years).

No problem, if I can find a pic of the guy I’ll posted it, maybe it can help.

[SantoClaus]

This could be them, the one guy’s father in-law in Hamilton, pretty sure he is Aburruzo, says that Sicilians are pakis!

391347F1-F057-40D7-8416-F5DE4A7D380E.jpeg

C1B4AA6C-221C-467E-912A-7EAD302993B1.jpeg

That’s some of the family members is Bari, the women on the left in the white, is his mother, I guess those Cristianos zia.

3FF45B03-C921-407D-A8FB-2265E2D6598B.jpeg

Here is the Sblendorio guy, his cousin and uncle are apparently gangsters in Chicago. He’s got another cousin, Tony Cristiano is Hamilton, the rumour was that this Cristiano’s sister was having an affair with some black dude and thought that the kid she was pregnant with was gonna turn out black.

Gianni, loved to brag about his HA connections and his undercover cop buddies that owe him lots of favours. I wish I knew how they played into the war in Hamilton, I don’t think most people know about them, or what there like.

I never knew real gangster approved of blacks with the women in ‘their’ family, is that how it is in Chicago? It’s definitely not like that in Italia or around Europe from my experiences.

[Villain]

I bet the girl in the orange dress in the first pic is Sicilian 100% lol

[Cduggan]

She's got a great rack