General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground

[Antiliar]

Thanks for the correction. I was thinking Rovito, but I couldn't associate the "Monte" with it. Tuscany does seem too far north.

In one FBI file Buccieri was asked about Sambo. It seemed that he really didn't like him, more like couldn't stand him. From what I recall, Sambo wasn't too well liked.

I compiled this list because I trying to come up with names (preferably big names) of people from Bari in Chicago during the 1920s/30s. A group of mobsters from Bari left Chicago for Los Angeles. Capezio was arrested with the group, but not sure he was really associated with them.

Fascinating stuff. I'd be interested in documentation on Trivies and Richies and anything similar. I notice a lot of Muro Lucano and Termini folks too.

[PolackTony]

Thanks for the correction. I was thinking Rovito, but I couldn't associate the "Monte" with it. Tuscany does seem too far north.

In one FBI file Buccieri was asked about Sambo. It seemed that he really didn't like him, more like couldn't stand him. From what I recall, Sambo wasn't too well liked.

I compiled this list because I trying to come up with names (preferably big names) of people from Bari in Chicago during the 1920s/30s. A group of mobsters from Bari left Chicago for Los Angeles. Capezio was arrested with the group, but not sure he was really associated with them.

Fascinating stuff. I'd be interested in documentation on Trivies and Richies and anything similar. I notice a lot of Muro Lucano and Termini folks too.

Yeah, Sambo clearly wasn’t well regarded, lol.

That’s very interesting about the group of Baresi from Chicago that early who relocated to LA. You probably already know this, but Capezio was from Muro Lucano (as was Smokes Aloiso’s parents and, as you already noted, Cerone’s. Interesting to note as all of these guys were from the Grand Ave Patch also). I haven’t seen any Pugliesi guys that early myself, they don’t seem to have become well represented until the next generation (DiFronzo, Lombardo, D’Amico, etc.), as many of their families came later in the 1920s to Chicago. I’d love to know more about what you found out there.

The nickname thing allows us to get a glimpse into how people in these communities back then, when comuni and compaesani ties were so important, saw the importance of different groups of settlers. I believe in one of the interviews the FBI did with Sam DeCavalcante’s brother he referred to the Riberesi in Elizabeth, NJ as “Ribbies”, and we know how important the Riberesi were/are in Peterstown.

As you know well, Termini is a fascinating one, as they go back to the early years of the Chicago mafia with the Moricis and others (as well as some of the early members of the Milwaukee family). Offhand, Giovanni Barcia and the Mesi brothers also had Termini ancestry (on one side of the family at least), and there were more who I can’t think of right now.

[B.]

Probably shared it before but this was an incomplete list I made of Chicago guys (not sure if all were made members) with Termini heritage.

Giuseppe Annoreno
Frank "Skids" Caruso
Joseph Fusco
Frank Quatrochi
Filippo "Phil" Speciale
Joseph "Black Joe" Amato
Charles DiCaro (maternal side, father from Caltanissetta)
Joseph DiCaro " "
John Formosa
Joseph "Shorty" LaMantia
Samuel Marcello
James Marcello
Michael Marcello

- Sam Marcello's mother (James' grandmother) was an Annoreno.
- Early Chicago / Milwaukee member Joe Caminiti's mother was a LaMantia from Termini Imerese.

[Villain]

Thanks for these guys, great stuff.

@B, there was one Joe "Specs" DiCaro and also Joe "Spider" DiCaro...one was with the South Side faction under Alex and Pierce, while the other possibly belonged to the Chi Heights faction in C City. The newspapers from those days said there was no blood relation between the two....

[B.]

Good to know -- I know nothing about either one. I think the one I listed is the brother of Charles above him.

In Sicily, Termini is near Caccamo and they are part of the same mandamento. I would guess the DiCaro connected to Chicago Heights / Cal City is from Termini since Chicago Heights was run by the Caccamesi. Makes you wonder if others from Termini were members of the early Chicago Heights borgata given that close connection.

[Villain]

Good to know -- I know nothing about either one. I think the one I listed is the brother of Charles above him.

In Sicily, Termini is near Caccamo and they are part of the same mandamento. I would guess the DiCaro connected to Chicago Heights / Cal City is from Termini since Chicago Heights was run by the Caccamesi. Makes you wonder if others from Termini were members of the early Chicago Heights borgata given that close connection.

Thats right, Charles and Joe were brothers. Charles started as driver for Pierce and later possibly landed in some of the South crews as made guy. As for Joe, he also belonged to them and was probably involved in the dope trade.

Sam Teets Battaglia had a cousin in the Chi Heights faction also from Termini, which again show us the long connection between the two factions.

[Villain]

Good to know -- I know nothing about either one. I think the one I listed is the brother of Charles above him.

In Sicily, Termini is near Caccamo and they are part of the same mandamento. I would guess the DiCaro connected to Chicago Heights / Cal City is from Termini since Chicago Heights was run by the Caccamesi. Makes you wonder if others from Termini were members of the early Chicago Heights borgata given that close connection.

Thats right, Charles and Joe were brothers. Charles started as driver for Pierce and later possibly landed in some of the South crews as made guy. As for Joe, he also belonged to them and was probably involved in the dope trade.

Sam Teets Battaglia had a cousin in the Chi Heights faction also from Termini, which again show us the long connection between the two factions.

.....meaning the Northwest and Heights factions.

[B.]

Do you Chicago guys have any info on the Percontis?

From the Gallo thread:

- Possible SF member Anthony Perconti was originally from Chicago, where he was involved in mafia activity. His brother Joseph was murdered in Chicago in 1929 and the FBI reported that another brother and sister-in-law were also murdered there. Anthony subsequently left Chicago for Pueblo, Colorado for a period before settling in San Francisco. The Percontis appear to be from Agrigento, hence the Pueblo connection.

They're from Bivona, which forms a triangle with Ribera and Sambuca, both important towns in Chicago mafia history.

[PolackTony]

Do you Chicago guys have any info on the Percontis?

From the Gallo thread:

- Possible SF member Anthony Perconti was originally from Chicago, where he was involved in mafia activity. His brother Joseph was murdered in Chicago in 1929 and the FBI reported that another brother and sister-in-law were also murdered there. Anthony subsequently left Chicago for Pueblo, Colorado for a period before settling in San Francisco. The Percontis appear to be from Agrigento, hence the Pueblo connection.

They're from Bivona, which forms a triangle with Ribera and Sambuca, both important towns in Chicago mafia history.

Yes, I was able to find Giuseppe Perconti's arrival at Ellis Island in 1909 bound for Chicago, stating - as you have already noted - that he was from Bivona. He listed his brother Paolo Perconti in Chicago as his US destination. There were also Percontis in Chicago from Sciacca, but I haven't seen any mafia-related connections to any other Percontis.

Giuseppe Perconti was killed April 1929 in Joliet and the police apprehended Vincent Olmetti (from Ceccano, Frosinone, Lazio), who the Tribune described as a bootlegger, for the crime. Tony Perconti had been a saloon owner in Joliet, and both brothers had been wanted by the police for questioning for their alleged participation in the Billy Ranieri kidnapping/extortion case in 1928, which received a lot of press and resulted in several murders (including Olimpio Scalzitti, maternal grandfather of Richard Cain, Man of Mystery). The Percontis being linked to the Ranieri episode indicates that they were plugged into a network of Sicilians and Mainlanders connected to the mafia, operating around Taylor St and the NW Side, while the Percontis themselves clearly operated in the South Suburbs and NW Indy.

viewtopic.php?p=171134#p171134

Joseph Perconti was alleged by police to have been the wheelman in the Ranieri kidnapping, while Tony was sought for questioning in 1928 and went on the lam (another article had Tony as the driver). He was later apprehended in 1931 by the police and held in custody, but it doesn't seem that he was ever charged with anything. In 1930, elder brother Paolo Perconti was slain in Gary, IN. At the time, he was described as a vicious bootlegger and president of the Gary Unione Siciliana chapter by the Tribune. After Paul's death, the Tribune alleged that his wife Santina Perconti took control of his "gang", with the aide of "lieutenant" Tony Greco and was hell-bent on revenge against her husband's killers before she herself and Greco were murdered in 1931. In 1932, Joseph Perconti's alleged slayer Vincent Olmetti was killed in Joliet in a hail of gunfire.

I don't want to take the Tribune's description of Paolo Perconti's "gang" too literally, but I wonder if he was a capodecina or high-ranking member of the NW Indy crew before his murder, given that he also was the head of the local Unione Siciliana. Given that I've previously speculated that the guys involved in the Ranieri thing may have been aligned with the anti-Capone/Lolordo/LoVerde faction of the Chicago family (with guys like Fat Tony Jerfita), perhaps the Perconti killings had something to do with that conflict? A Unione bigshot and bootlegger murdered in 1930 certainly gives that impression. Maybe these guys were Aiello partisans. Also would explain why Tony would get the F outta Dodge after his brothers were killed.

When exactly did Pinelli take over that area?


EDIT: I take back my above statement that there weren't any other Percontis with mafia connections in Chicago. Mildred Perconti was the wife of Ernest Sansone.

[Snakes]

To clarify Joe Amato's position at the time of the Last Supper photo: he was described by Nick C as a capo but "wasn't doing too much" at the time and believed to be "semi-retired." This jives with his files at the time which describe minimal activity. It could be assumed that regardless of whether or not he was an active capo, he was a respected Outfit elder and was close to Accardo. I don't recall if he had any specific interactions with DiBella but they had both held leadership positions and DiBella had a home in McHenry County (if I remember correctly) so it shouldn't be a surprise that Amato would be present.

[B.]

Thanks for all the info, Tony.

My main interest in Chicago is that small but powerful group of guys from Agrigento, so always into any bits and pieces that shed more light on them.

[Villain]

When exactly did Pinelli take over that area?

1952.

It is possible that previously or from the early 1930s onward, the Northwest Indana area was overseen by guys like Sam Costello, Joe Gianni, the Micellis etc. When Costello got eliminated, other guys entered the scene such as John Formosa and Jack Doyle. When the Doyle situation blew up, thats when Accardo, Giancana and Ferraro brought Pinelli from LA as the new capo for the crew. Previously Pinelli also had interests around the Near North, Grand and possibly Taylor St.

[B.]

Both of Pinelli's sons married the daughters of high-ranking Riberesi (Phil Amari and Jim DeGeorge) so wouldn't surprise me if the Percontis or other Agrigentini were connected to him.

[PolackTony]

Thanks for all the info, Tony.

My main interest in Chicago is that small but powerful group of guys from Agrigento, so always into any bits and pieces that shed more light on them.

I agree, especially considering the importance of Agrigentesi in other families like the DeCavs, Rockford, KC, Pueblo, and the various ties some of them had to Chicago. I’ll keep an eye out for any other interesting info along those lines. I hadn’t paid much attention to the Percontis apart from noting the connection to the Ranieri events, so thanks for sharing. Paolo at least seems to possibly have been a big deal before he was killed.

[PolackTony]

When exactly did Pinelli take over that area?

1952.

It is possible that previously or from the early 1930s onward, the Northwest Indana area was overseen by guys like Sam Costello, Joe Gianni, the Micellis etc. When Costello got eliminated, other guys entered the scene such as John Formosa and Jack Doyle. When the Doyle situation blew up, thats when Accardo, Giancana and Ferraro brought Pinelli from LA as the new capo for the crew. Previously Pinelli also had interests around the Near North, Grand and possibly Taylor St.

Thanks. If there really was a formal decina that Pinelli took over as capo, there likely were others before him. Not an area that I know much about. Given that he had been in the Chicago area for decades, one wonders if Paolo Perconti had previously been affiliated with the old Gary or Heights families, or if he was with the Chicago family and moved operations down to Gary later.