Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

[TonyBombassolo]

Well, we know that Lawrence Mangano tried to kill Ricca but Ricca hit first. We also know Vincent Mangano was already a NY rep for the Unione Siciliana at the Hotel Statler conference 12/05/1928 and would become one of the heads of the five families of NY. There were also rumors that Larry Mangano was trying to corrupt Antonio Lombardo right before his murder. Imagine a world where Larry Mangano is in charge of Chicago and Vincent Mangano is in charge of NYC. My belief is that this is what the Mangano's envisioned.

It seems to me that the Sicilians were making their moves in every major city in the US (specifically ports) and the Unione Siciliana was their political organization. I don't think it was any coincidence Francesco Ioele and Antonio Lombardo were both murdered shortly after they allowed the Unione to accept non-Sicilian members. It was the only justification for Ioele being National President as a non-Sicilian. So Ioele gets murdered 07/01/1928 and Lombardo is killed a mere 2 months later 09/07/1928. After that the Sicilians hold the Statler conference in Cleveland.

We know Giuseppe Aiello had a hard-on for the Unione Chicago seat and it took Capone getting arrested in Philadelphia after the AC meeting (mostly run by Sicilians) for Aiello to finally become President in Chicago. I don't think its coincidence that the Sicilians summon Capone to a meeting right after the Chicago president of Unione Siciliana (Giunta) and two well-known Sicilian assassins (Anselmi and Scalise) are murdered publicly.

Bergreen alludes Capone was ordered to go to jail, but no one else seems to know about it. The minute Capone gets sick of jail its curtains for Aiello.

Filippo "Phil" D'Andrea is eventually put in charge in 1934 and even Ricca pays dues until he goes to jail. I don't think the Sicilians wanted a major war in Chicago where non-Sicilian Italians already had control. I think they got Capone out of there and decided to work with Ricca rather than a costly war.

[TonyBombassolo]

There is also the theory that Ricca's Napoli connection to the Cammora is why the Outfit was always close with the Genovese NY mob. And Ricca was also connected to Lucchese through Sam Louis.

[PolackTony]

Frank T "Skid" Caruso was born 1911 in Chicago to Pietro Caruso and Francesca D'Andrea of Termini Imerese. Skid married Catherine Roti, born 1911 in Chicago to Bruno Roti Sr and Marianna Bertucci of Simbario, Vibo Valentia, Calabria. Skid Caruso was thus the brother-in-law of both Fred and Bruno Roti Jr.

[PolackTony]

Charles Benjamin and Joseph DiCaro were born in Chicago to Francesco Paolo Di Caro (born in either Caltanissetta or Palermo province) and Carolina Spicuzza of Termini Imerese.

Joseph Frank LaMantia was born 1934 in Chicago to Joseph LaMantia Sr and Antonia/Antoinette Marano. Joseph Sr was born in Pittsburgh to Antonino La Mantia and Maria/Margaret (possibly nee Giunta) of Termini Imerese; the family settled in Chicago -- where there were other La Mantias from Termini -- shortly after. Antoinette was born in Ricigliano, Salerno, Campania (her mother Rosa was a Marzano).

[TonyBombassolo]

Hmm seeing those DiCaro / LaMantia names a few of the women's names stand out also.

I wonder if Giunta is related to Hop Toad or if Francesca D'Andrea is related to Antonio D'Andrea who was murdered 05/11/1921 and also if Marianna Bertucci is related to Frank Bertucci who is charged with Jarrett in the late 1970's burglaries.

[PolackTony]

Hmm seeing those DiCaro / LaMantia names a few of the women's names stand out also.

I wonder if Giunta is related to Hop Toad or if Francesca D'Andrea is related to Antonio D'Andrea who was murdered 05/11/1921 and also if Marianna Bertucci is related to Frank Bertucci who is charged with Jarrett in the late 1970's burglaries.

The Bertuccis are all part of the same family, which came from Simbario, Vibo Valentia (same as the Rotis, Spinas, Andreacchis, etc.).

Giuseppe "Hop Toad" Giunta was from Cinisi, so not likely that there would be any connection to Antonino LaMantia's wife from Termini. Antonino D'Andrea was from Valleldolmo. While not as far from Termini as Cinisi, I don't see anything linking these D'Andreas.

[TonyBombassolo]

Great info

[Antiliar]

Well, we know that Lawrence Mangano tried to kill Ricca but Ricca hit first. We also know Vincent Mangano was already a NY rep for the Unione Siciliana at the Hotel Statler conference 12/05/1928 and would become one of the heads of the five families of NY. There were also rumors that Larry Mangano was trying to corrupt Antonio Lombardo right before his murder. Imagine a world where Larry Mangano is in charge of Chicago and Vincent Mangano is in charge of NYC. My belief is that this is what the Mangano's envisioned.

It seems to me that the Sicilians were making their moves in every major city in the US (specifically ports) and the Unione Siciliana was their political organization. I don't think it was any coincidence Francesco Ioele and Antonio Lombardo were both murdered shortly after they allowed the Unione to accept non-Sicilian members. It was the only justification for Ioele being National President as a non-Sicilian. So Ioele gets murdered 07/01/1928 and Lombardo is killed a mere 2 months later 09/07/1928. After that the Sicilians hold the Statler conference in Cleveland.

We know Giuseppe Aiello had a hard-on for the Unione Chicago seat and it took Capone getting arrested in Philadelphia after the AC meeting (mostly run by Sicilians) for Aiello to finally become President in Chicago. I don't think its coincidence that the Sicilians summon Capone to a meeting right after the Chicago president of Unione Siciliana (Giunta) and two well-known Sicilian assassins (Anselmi and Scalise) are murdered publicly.

Bergreen alludes Capone was ordered to go to jail, but no one else seems to know about it. The minute Capone gets sick of jail its curtains for Aiello.

Filippo "Phil" D'Andrea is eventually put in charge in 1934 and even Ricca pays dues until he goes to jail. I don't think the Sicilians wanted a major war in Chicago where non-Sicilian Italians already had control. I think they got Capone out of there and decided to work with Ricca rather than a costly war.

What is your source for Lawrence Mangano trying to kill Ricca? Vincent Mangano had no connection to the Unione Siciliana. The Unione Siciliana was headquartered in Chicago and changed its name to the Italo-American National Union (IANU) in 1925. All the national presidents were in Chicago, and Frankie Yale had nothing to do with the organization. Anthony D'Andrea was the national president until he was killed in 1921, and he was succeeded by Judge Bernard Barasa. The IANU only existed in the Midwest, in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. There were no chapters in New York. Lawrence Bergreen's biography of Capone is full of misinformation, so I wouldn't recommend it.

[TonyBombassolo]

What is your source for Lawrence Mangano trying to kill Ricca?

https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs ... ghs-part-3

Just one of multiple sites saying and I quote

"Mangano and his crew made their move against the mob's acting boss, Paul Ricca, but Ricca moved first and gunned down 3 August 1944 Mangano and his partner Mike Pantillo. 3 August 1944 the boss "dago" Lawrence Mangano and his bodyguard "Big" Mike Pantillo get machine gunned possibly was Accardo behind the hit because he becomes fast the most important boss. With Mangano and Pantillo was Pantillo’s girlfriend Rita Reyes. Mangano’s body was at the morgue indentified by weeping tavern singer Anne Hagedorn. When Mangano was killed he was riding in a car owned by Ralph Cavaliera. In the Mangano murder were also questioned Dominic Nuccio, Dominick DiBella and Dominic Brancato"

Vincent Mangano had no connection to the Unione Siciliana.

Just a couple of the many sources for such information on the Statler conference here clearly showing Mangano at the Statler.

http://www.writersofwrongs.com/2016/12/ ... eland.html
https://themobmuseum.org/blog/hoodlums-at-the-statler/

The Unione Siciliana was headquartered in Chicago and changed its name to the Italo-American National Union (IANU) in 1925. All the national presidents were in Chicago, and Frankie Yale had nothing to do with the organization. Anthony D'Andrea was the national president until he was killed in 1921, and he was succeeded by Judge Bernard Barasa. The IANU only existed in the Midwest, in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. There were no chapters in New York. Lawrence Bergreen's biography of Capone is full of misinformation, so I wouldn't recommend it.

http://crimemagazine.com/part-ii-chicag ... -slaughter

Here is Allan May's writeup about the Unione saying and I quote in part 2:

"Later that evening, Frank Uale (pronounced and sometimes spelled Yale), at onetime Capone's New York City mentor and recognized as the national head of the Unione Siciliana, called Schofield's and placed a $2,000 flower order (some references say it was Angelo Genna who placed the call). The order was to be picked up at the shop the following morning."

http://www.crimemagazine.com/part-iv-ch ... -slaughter

Part 4 of Allan May's writeup saying and I quote:

''The exploitation of the Unione Siciliana, a benevolent association, for the advancement of the Capone organization was not peculiar to Chicago. In New York, Frank Costello, Lucky Luciano and other gangsters became powerful in Unione Siciliana activities, as did gangsters in many of the other large American municipalities.''

[Antiliar]

Puparo was a nice guy, but he made his share of mistakes. Allan May also makes his share of mistakes. I didn't say that Vincent Mangano was not at the 1928 Statler Hotel meeting, he clearly was there. I didn't address this in my previous comment, but I can tell you that it wasn't a national meeting of the Unione Siciliana. I get into the IANU a bit in my article on Anthony D'Andrea in this issue: http://informer-journal.blogspot.com/20 ... ndrea.html

I can tell you that my information on the IANU is accurate because a former president of the organization sent me a bunch of material giving the history of the organization. I also have documents from the National Archives in College Park, Washington DC and Chicago. When I went to New York I went to the Municipal Archives and went over all the business and charitable groups in the city going back, I think to the 1800s. I also have copies of newspapers and insurance cards published by the IANU. Allan May pretty much stuck with books and archives of the Chicago Tribune. The newspapers couldn't even spell Italian names right half the time in the 1920s. They frequently conflated the Mafia with the IANU, and the confusion spread.

[TonyBombassolo]

Well, you had asked for my sources, this is me providing them.

The tribune got plenty wrong (hello Jake Lingle) but the Statler arrests speak for themselves. If it wasn't a Unione meeting why is Hop-toad, a lowbie nobody, meeting with people like Mangano who would go on to found the Gambino family? Profaci is there too so are half the leaders of the countries families, and they are ALL Sicilians. The fact Capone gets summoned to AC the moment he whacks Hop-toad and Anselmi and Scalise...the facts speak pretty loudly to me that the Sicilians were grabbing for the whole thing.

I'm open to your theories but I'd need more evidence to support them before I could get behind them.

[PolackTony]

There’s a number of inaccuracies and unsupported assumptions in the above info. I expect that Antiliar can provide a more thorough response there. I’ll note in the meantime that there is no evidence that there was any connection, personal or familial, between Vincenzo and Lorenzo Mangano apart from the coincidence of sharing a surname. There is certainly nothing to suggest that they formed anything like a bloc or faction within the mafia. They weren’t even from anywhere near the same area of Sicily, as Lorenzo was from Messina while Vincenzo was from Palermo.

Antiliar has a great post that he did here on the forum regarding what he dubs the “Cheese War” in the 1940s (as control over the Grande Cheese Co in WI was a point of contention). Lorenzo Mangano’s killing may have been related to this conflict, but it doesn’t appear that he was likely to even have been one of the main ringleaders. Northside faction mafiosi such as Vincenzo Benevento and Gaetano O’Neglia seem to have more likely been at the heart of it.

In general, I don’t think that this conflict (or the earlier ones in the 20s/30s) are best explained as one of “Sicilians vs Mainlanders”. These were conflicts between factions within the mafia. In the 40s, Accardo was himself of Sicilian background, of course; Prio and the “three Doms” were Sicilians who all seemed to have decided to stay loyal to the Ricca/Accardo admin. The earlier Capone/Aiello conflict was a local front of the broader conflict between Masseria/Maranzano. In these conflicts the mainlanders took sides with one faction of the mafia against another. In Chicago, Capone and his allies — Sicilian and Mainlander — wound up taking over the mafia and Aiello was the last major challenge to that bloc. After the Capone bloc solidified its control and Capone was recognized officially as rappresentante of the Chicago family, he and Ricca retained important Sicilian members and supporters such as Phil D’Andrea, DeGeorge, Pinelli, Fusco, Bacino, etc.

[PolackTony]

Well, you had asked for my sources, this is me providing them.

The tribune got plenty wrong (hello Jake Lingle) but the Statler arrests speak for themselves. If it wasn't a Unione meeting why is Hop-toad, a lowbie nobody, meeting with people like Mangano who would go on to found the Gambino family? Profaci is there too so are half the leaders of the countries families, and they are ALL Sicilians. The fact Capone gets summoned to AC the moment he whacks Hop-toad and Anselmi and Scalise...the facts speak pretty loudly to me that the Sicilians were grabbing for the whole thing.

I'm open to your theories but I'd need more evidence to support them before I could get behind them.

It wasn’t a meeting of what was then renamed the IANU. It was a meeting of the national mafia organization.

This is far from the first time these matters have been discussed on this forum. Much of this has been discussed and debated in depth in several other topics, so there’s not need to rehash all of that here. I’d suggest spending some time digging into prior topics on Chicago (there are many here) and then posting questions or critiques that you might have within the relevant topic.

[Antiliar]

PolackTony, you seem to have covered everything. I'll add that the 1928 meeting was probably what Nick Gentile called a General Assembly, or something close to it. These usually took place to deal with conflicts between borgatas. Pasqualino Lolordo, if I recall correctly, was the Chicago Mafia boss. Giunta was probably a high ranking member at the time.

[TonyBombassolo]

It wasn’t a meeting of what was then renamed the IANU. It was a meeting of the national mafia organization.
[/quote]

As someone who wasn't at the Statler, I am open to any theories on what appears to be an odd event. The theory that Aiello (rumored to be connected to the Bonnano's) phoned in the tip to police surely adds an even further touch of subterfuge, if true.

I agree the Unione appears to be more of the political wing, so I can understand the theory you present. The Unione people all appear to have reported directly to higher ups in the actual Mafia. However, if the Statler Conference was a national mafia meeting, why would Giunta, a dancing fop, be there, but not Accardo or another Sicilian representative from the Outfit? Sam Oliveri is there and Capone and his crew had just killed his brother.

AFAIK the Chicago Outfit was 100% separate and NOT on equal footing with the Sicilian Mafia until after Castellammarese War and the creation of the commission, so I can understand the position of the Statler meeting being an LCN function, but it doesn't explain the attendees.

Regarding the Mangano's, I 100% agree there is no hard proof they were related, but (if the theory Mangano was gunning for Ricca is true, of course) you would have another case of Sicilians trying to take over a major city just like they did in other port cities around the US. I don't mean to imply everything that went on in Chicago was mostly Sicilians vs. Mainlanders, my apologies if that's how it came out. That said, the facts speak very clearly that the Sicilian criminal families were solidifying their power across the country, and they also did this in Chicago. The only difference was, in Chicago, the Sicilians never got complete control until Ricca died. In Buffalo, NYC, and other places they took over completely.

This, to me, seems identical to what we saw in Italy with Riina as well. Just my observation.