Paul DiCaro - Chicago Outfit

[TonyBombassolo]

Been reading a lot of FBI and justia documents about Paul DiCaro and his hijacking in the 1970's with guys like David Willis, Ronald Brown, and Anthony Gallichio.

What I have so far is that Paul DiCaro is the nephew of Charles “Specs” DiCaro. Are either of them related to Martha DiCaro who was murdered by Rocky Lamantia? From a timeline perspective I have:

09/24/1970 - DiCaro learns that the Orange Blossom Jewelry store has received a shipment of diamonds. He enlists Richard Mara and Ronald Brown to help him rob them. They rob owners Alfred and Lucille Reseff of their jewelry but are foiled by a burglar alarm before they can breach the safe.

This is the exact same Ronald Brown who would testify against both DiCaro for the Halstead Foods robbery, and the same Ronald Brown who would testify against Ronald Jarrett for the 12/15/1977 robbery of the exact same Orange Blossom jewelry store. The same Ronald Brown who would (on the stand) claim amnesia, and still get his earlier testimony admitted.

06/14/1973 – DiCaro gives Anthony Gallichio and Richard Mara the order to kill Ronald Brown. Gallichio has to be below DiCaro at this point to accept an order. Gallichio is the brother-in-law I believe of Jimmy Inendino.

06/16/1973 – While Anthony Gallichio drives, Richard Mara shoots Ronald Brown five times at point blank range but fails to kill him. Mara will later testify for the government that DiCaro had ordered and planned the murder because he feared that Brown was cooperating with the police.

01/19/1978 – DiCaro, David Willis, Michael Gurgone, Ronald Brown, and Joseph Rodriguez (Joe Zito? Joe McDonald?) and Luanne Walz rob Halstead Foods Inc. together. Willis would later testify in court as to the events, but when the government called Ronald Brown to the witness stand, he submitted that he did not remember the events. Brown was found to be falsely claiming amnesia; However, the government was still allowed to use his prior testimony accusing the others. DiCaro is convicted both of RICO and Hobbs Act. He would eventually be acquitted on appeal of the RICO violation.


My questions are.

1. Which crew was Paul DiCaro a part of? Chinatown/26th street? You have Gallichio who is related to Inendino being involved. We even know Inendino got one of the tips and brought in Mara.
2. Were Paul DiCaro or Charles "Specs" DiCaro related to Martha DiCaro?
3. Why was the government so fucking hard up to bust this robbery crew, and how does the testimony of Mara/Willis/Brown even stand up? As a juror I would have been hard-pressed to believe the FBI/PD on this one, given the documents.
4. How were these robbery tips coming in regarding stuff like the Orange Blossom? Did the tip come into the Outfit and the Outfit put together a team with their muscle supervising? For some reason I suspect Irwin Weiner's involvement when it comes to jewels. We know Inendino had given Mara tips back in 1976 so clearly Jimmy I was funneling info, but my recollection is all of those tips regarded the Orscheln Bros trucking and I suspect those tips came from the St. Louis guys.

[PolackTony]

I’m pretty sure that all of those DiCaros are related at some level, as they all trace their genealogy back to Termini Imerese. I will look through what I have in my files for the specific link to Martha.

Great questions and topic, BTW.

[Snakes]

Martha was Charles's granddaughter. Not sure of Paul's exact relation -- maybe a nephew. Charles also had a son named Paul who had a son named Paul, Jr. but they weren't the same Paul DiCaro that was involved in the 1970s robbery ring.

Rocco LaMantia getting away with Martha's murder tells me that Specs wasn't a made guy and probably had no pull by 1980. He was under Ralph Pierce on the South Side and was probably put on the shelf or forgotten after Pierce died.

[SolarSolano]

Martha was the granddaughter of Charles Specs DiCarlo - she was not a chinatown resident, she lived in Cicero. Her father was Paul DiCaro - son of Specs.

There is an excellent book on this case by Jeff Cohen - The Case in Canaryville - very excellent book.

[PolackTony]

Martha was Charles's granddaughter. Not sure of Paul's exact relation -- maybe a nephew. Charles also had a son named Paul who had a son named Paul, Jr. but they weren't the same Paul DiCaro that was involved in the 1970s robbery ring.

Rocco LaMantia getting away with Martha's murder tells me that Specs wasn't a made guy and probably had no pull by 1980. He was under Ralph Pierce on the South Side and was probably put on the shelf or forgotten after Pierce died.

Based on my files/records, Martha Agnes DiCaro was born in Chicago 1959 to Paul Joseph DiCaro and Mavis Henry (a 'Medigan from Iowa). This Paul DiCaro (born 1928) was the son of Charles Benjamin "Specs" DiCaro and Martha Rizzo and as Snakes notes was not the same Paul DiCaro as the one OP was asking about. Specs DiCaro (born 1912) and his brother Joseph "Spider" DiCaro (born 1916) were born in Chicago to Francesco Paolo "Paul" Di Caro and Carolina Spicuzza. Carolina was from Termini Imerese, where she was married to Francesco. Francesco's naturalization documents give his place of birth as "Palermo", but I think it's very likely that he was actually born in Caltanissetta (1880) to Agostino Di Caro and Maria Frangele. When Francesco arrived in the US in 1902 at Boston, he gave his last residence at Termini.

Martha was the granddaughter of Charles Specs DiCarlo - she was not a chinatown resident, she lived in Cicero. Her father was Paul DiCaro - son of Specs.

Yup.

Martha was raised in Chinatown, where all these DiCaros lived, and then moved to Cicero though she retained her personal relationship to Rocco LaMantia from the old neighborhood, obviously.


The Paul DiCaro that OP was asking about was the nephew of Specs and Spider, however. He was born 1941 in Chicago to Emanuel DiCaro (younger brother of Specs and Spider) and Jennie Bertucci. If Paul wasn't made, it certainly wasn't from lack of pedigree. Given that both Specs and Spider were still alive when Martha was killed, I wonder how far the DiCaros must've fallen off by this point.

[SolarSolano]

Martha was Charles's granddaughter. Not sure of Paul's exact relation -- maybe a nephew. Charles also had a son named Paul who had a son named Paul, Jr. but they weren't the same Paul DiCaro that was involved in the 1970s robbery ring.

Rocco LaMantia getting away with Martha's murder tells me that Specs wasn't a made guy and probably had no pull by 1980. He was under Ralph Pierce on the South Side and was probably put on the shelf or forgotten after Pierce died.

I tend to agree - I would also add that Specs son and grandchildren testified against Rocky, as did the niece of Charles and Louis Parrilli. Charles 'Specs" DiCaro also gave an interview to police. No reprisals or much of anything. Very odd.

Martha's father moved to Cicero literally to get away from Rocky - he was beating her. Specs had confronted Rocky previously per his police interview for beating on her.

[TonyBombassolo]

Snakes the evidence I think supports your conclusion as well especially about Specs' pull at the time of the murder. If he had real pull Rocco would have disappeared. Shorty himself surely wasn't invincible, informants indicated to the FBI that he was really worried Angelo was going to clip him after Jimmy the Bomber got his in 1978 due to Shorty and Jimmy being close. Still, Specs was a well-known cartage thief and clearly Paul follows in his footsteps, there are a half-dozen robberies the FBI uses to RICO him. Specs might have still been active but only through Paul? I don't know.

There are a couple really odd aspects of this.

How does Paul DiCaro rank ahead of someone Inendino is related to, we don't even know what crew Paul is in. Was Paul's father in the Outfit?
How does Rocco LaMantia not disappear period? All the heat that case brought, the cost it would have taken to fix etc. etc.

[TonyBombassolo]

There is an excellent book on this case by Jeff Cohen - The Case in Canaryville - very excellent book.

waiting on this one to arrive right now, glad to hear its a good one

[Snakes]

Snakes the evidence I think supports your conclusion as well especially about Specs' pull at the time of the murder. If he had real pull Rocco would have disappeared. Shorty himself surely wasn't invincible, informants indicated to the FBI that he was really worried Angelo was going to clip him after Jimmy the Bomber got his in 1978 due to Shorty and Jimmy being close. Still, Specs was a well-known cartage thief and clearly Paul follows in his footsteps, there are a half-dozen robberies the FBI uses to RICO him. Specs might have still been active but only through Paul? I don't know.

There are a couple really odd aspects of this.

How does Paul DiCaro rank ahead of someone Inendino is related to, we don't even know what crew Paul is in. Was Paul's father in the Outfit?
How does Rocco LaMantia not disappear period? All the heat that case brought, the cost it would have taken to fix etc. etc.

My guess is that LaMantia being one of LaPietra's key guys went a long way towards the Outfit letting this go without reprisal and allowing the case to be fixed, especially if LaPietra vouched for him to the higher ups.

[PolackTony]

Martha was Charles's granddaughter. Not sure of Paul's exact relation -- maybe a nephew. Charles also had a son named Paul who had a son named Paul, Jr. but they weren't the same Paul DiCaro that was involved in the 1970s robbery ring.

Rocco LaMantia getting away with Martha's murder tells me that Specs wasn't a made guy and probably had no pull by 1980. He was under Ralph Pierce on the South Side and was probably put on the shelf or forgotten after Pierce died.

Based on my files/records, Martha Agnes DiCaro was born in Chicago 1959 to Paul Joseph DiCaro and Mavis Henry (a 'Medigan from Iowa). This Paul DiCaro (born 1928) was the son of Charles Benjamin "Specs" DiCaro and Martha Rizzo and as Snakes notes was not the same Paul DiCaro as the one OP was asking about. Specs DiCaro (born 1912) and his brother Joseph "Spider" DiCaro (born 1916) were born in Chicago to Francesco Paolo "Paul" Di Caro and Carolina Spicuzza. Carolina was from Termini Imerese, where she was married to Francesco. Francesco's naturalization documents give his place of birth as "Palermo", but I think it's very likely that he was actually born in Caltanissetta (1880) to Agostino Di Caro and Maria Frangele. When Francesco arrived in the US in 1902 at Boston, he gave his last residence at Termini.

Martha was the granddaughter of Charles Specs DiCarlo - she was not a chinatown resident, she lived in Cicero. Her father was Paul DiCaro - son of Specs.

Yup.

Martha was raised in Chinatown, where all these DiCaros lived, and then moved to Cicero though she retained her personal relationship to Rocco LaMantia from the old neighborhood, obviously.


The Paul DiCaro that OP was asking about was the nephew of Specs and Spider, however. He was born 1941 in Chicago to Emanuel DiCaro (younger brother of Specs and Spider) and Jennie Bertucci. If Paul wasn't made, it certainly wasn't from lack of pedigree. Given that both Specs and Spider were still alive when Martha was killed, I wonder how far the DiCaros must've fallen off by this point.

Another layer is that these families were possibly interrelated or connected at some level prior to Rocky and Martha, beyond just the Chinatown/Bridgeport neighborhood and Outfit connections. The LaMantias were also from Termini and there were DiCaros and Lamantias from Palermo province intermarried in Chicago, though I wasn't able to establish a direct link to any of the figures under discussion here.

[TonyBombassolo]

One thing is for sure, the Mafia and their members sure changed criminal law in the United States forever.

DiCaro's case went to the SC.
Mara's case where he refused to submit his handwriting went to the SC.
Infelice's case is quoted in the other decision vs DiCaro.

These are all available if anyone wants to read them.

DiCaro 1985 decision about 1970's acts -
(This decision quotes a decision vs Rocky Infelice as a precedent, specifically the same one DiCaro is facing "although witness suffered memory lapse at trial, defendant "was not deprived of the right to test the knowledgeability and credibility of [the witness], and thus he was not deprived of his sixth amendment rights")

https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4 ... ul-dicaro/

DiCaro 1988 decision about his 1983 actions
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/ap ... 59/451393/

US v Mara (Mara was a co-conspirator of DiCaro, there are documented examples of Mara bringing DiCaro into work with Butch Petrocelli. Mara would go on to testify against his fellow criminals in court)
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme- ... 10/19.html


Thats an incredible amount of national legal precedent being set against an incredibly small subset of criminals.

[TonyBombassolo]

Also, who is Joe Rodriguez aka Joe Zito? He worked with both Ronnie Jarrett and Paul DiCaro. Everything I have found indicates he worked with the crew and was killed in a Chicago alley in April 1978. The only person who fits that bill however is Johnny McDonald April 14, 1978.

Here is the Paul DiCaro book which documents DiCaro working with Gerald T. Shallow who is another incredible POS that I am still digging into.

https://books.google.com/books?id=c7hsX ... &q&f=false

[Snakes]

Martha was Charles's granddaughter. Not sure of Paul's exact relation -- maybe a nephew. Charles also had a son named Paul who had a son named Paul, Jr. but they weren't the same Paul DiCaro that was involved in the 1970s robbery ring.

Rocco LaMantia getting away with Martha's murder tells me that Specs wasn't a made guy and probably had no pull by 1980. He was under Ralph Pierce on the South Side and was probably put on the shelf or forgotten after Pierce died.

Based on my files/records, Martha Agnes DiCaro was born in Chicago 1959 to Paul Joseph DiCaro and Mavis Henry (a 'Medigan from Iowa). This Paul DiCaro (born 1928) was the son of Charles Benjamin "Specs" DiCaro and Martha Rizzo and as Snakes notes was not the same Paul DiCaro as the one OP was asking about. Specs DiCaro (born 1912) and his brother Joseph "Spider" DiCaro (born 1916) were born in Chicago to Francesco Paolo "Paul" Di Caro and Carolina Spicuzza. Carolina was from Termini Imerese, where she was married to Francesco. Francesco's naturalization documents give his place of birth as "Palermo", but I think it's very likely that he was actually born in Caltanissetta (1880) to Agostino Di Caro and Maria Frangele. When Francesco arrived in the US in 1902 at Boston, he gave his last residence at Termini.

Martha was the granddaughter of Charles Specs DiCarlo - she was not a chinatown resident, she lived in Cicero. Her father was Paul DiCaro - son of Specs.

Yup.

Martha was raised in Chinatown, where all these DiCaros lived, and then moved to Cicero though she retained her personal relationship to Rocco LaMantia from the old neighborhood, obviously.


The Paul DiCaro that OP was asking about was the nephew of Specs and Spider, however. He was born 1941 in Chicago to Emanuel DiCaro (younger brother of Specs and Spider) and Jennie Bertucci. If Paul wasn't made, it certainly wasn't from lack of pedigree. Given that both Specs and Spider were still alive when Martha was killed, I wonder how far the DiCaros must've fallen off by this point.

Another layer is that these families were possibly interrelated or connected at some level prior to Rocky and Martha, beyond just the Chinatown/Bridgeport neighborhood and Outfit connections. The LaMantias were also from Termini and there were DiCaros and Lamantias from Palermo province intermarried in Chicago, though I wasn't able to establish a direct link to any of the figures under discussion here.

I'm not sure that these ancestral ties meant much to Outfit guys in the 70s. They had never been sticklers for tradition in structure or in making guys so two guys being from the same part of Sicily or Italy probably didn't mean as much either. Neighborhood ties were probably much more important at this time, not to mention who you knew or reported to. DiCaro had been around for a long time and may have just knew when he had to suck on it and take it.

[PolackTony]

Martha was Charles's granddaughter. Not sure of Paul's exact relation -- maybe a nephew. Charles also had a son named Paul who had a son named Paul, Jr. but they weren't the same Paul DiCaro that was involved in the 1970s robbery ring.

Rocco LaMantia getting away with Martha's murder tells me that Specs wasn't a made guy and probably had no pull by 1980. He was under Ralph Pierce on the South Side and was probably put on the shelf or forgotten after Pierce died.

Based on my files/records, Martha Agnes DiCaro was born in Chicago 1959 to Paul Joseph DiCaro and Mavis Henry (a 'Medigan from Iowa). This Paul DiCaro (born 1928) was the son of Charles Benjamin "Specs" DiCaro and Martha Rizzo and as Snakes notes was not the same Paul DiCaro as the one OP was asking about. Specs DiCaro (born 1912) and his brother Joseph "Spider" DiCaro (born 1916) were born in Chicago to Francesco Paolo "Paul" Di Caro and Carolina Spicuzza. Carolina was from Termini Imerese, where she was married to Francesco. Francesco's naturalization documents give his place of birth as "Palermo", but I think it's very likely that he was actually born in Caltanissetta (1880) to Agostino Di Caro and Maria Frangele. When Francesco arrived in the US in 1902 at Boston, he gave his last residence at Termini.

Martha was the granddaughter of Charles Specs DiCarlo - she was not a chinatown resident, she lived in Cicero. Her father was Paul DiCaro - son of Specs.

Yup.

Martha was raised in Chinatown, where all these DiCaros lived, and then moved to Cicero though she retained her personal relationship to Rocco LaMantia from the old neighborhood, obviously.


The Paul DiCaro that OP was asking about was the nephew of Specs and Spider, however. He was born 1941 in Chicago to Emanuel DiCaro (younger brother of Specs and Spider) and Jennie Bertucci. If Paul wasn't made, it certainly wasn't from lack of pedigree. Given that both Specs and Spider were still alive when Martha was killed, I wonder how far the DiCaros must've fallen off by this point.

Another layer is that these families were possibly interrelated or connected at some level prior to Rocky and Martha, beyond just the Chinatown/Bridgeport neighborhood and Outfit connections. The LaMantias were also from Termini and there were DiCaros and Lamantias from Palermo province intermarried in Chicago, though I wasn't able to establish a direct link to any of the figures under discussion here.

I'm not sure that these ancestral ties meant much to Outfit guys in the 70s. They had never been sticklers for tradition in structure or in making guys so two guys being from the same part of Sicily or Italy probably didn't mean as much either. Neighborhood ties were probably much more important at this time, not to mention who you knew or reported to. DiCaro had been around for a long time and may have just knew when he had to suck on it and take it.

Sure, but neighborhood ties were at least partly derived -- in origin -- from regional/familial/compaesani ties. Even in my generation, Italian kids that I grew up with were quite cognizant as to whether they were Sicilian, Calabres', Napolitan', Bares', etc. At the least, the LaMantia and DiCaro families would've almost certainly considered themselves compaesani, given that all of these guys grew up around their older relatives who were direct from Sicily and specifically Termini. They were very likely close to each other long before Rocky Lamantia and Martha DiCaro hooked up.

[PolackTony]

How does Paul DiCaro rank ahead of someone Inendino is related to, we don't even know what crew Paul is in. Was Paul's father in the Outfit?

Paul's father was Emanuel DiCaro, younger brother of Specs and Spider. So far as I can recall, I haven't ever seen his name mentioned as a connected guy, let alone made.