General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground

[PolackTony]

Bill Bonanno had conflicting info on Giancana in his last book. He says Giancana was Accardo's "sottocapo" who became boss when Accardo retired, but later uses him as an example of a capodecina who became boss to illustrate how it wasn't standard for an underboss to succeed a boss.

Something to consider too is it wasn't uncommon in various Families around the US for an admin member to have a decina reporting direct to him. Sources have described them as both a boss/underboss/consigliere and capodecina in some cases, indicating they were seen as holding both titles simultaneously.

In The Last Mafioso, Jimmy Fratianno and Johnny Rosselli were having a conversation and Giancana's name came up. Rosselli said that Sam was never under a skipper. He was a soldier direct to a boss like he was with Jack Dragna. He was Accardo's aide. (There are other parts of the conversation that conflict with known facts, so I'm not confident about the accuracy of the dialogue.) So assuming for sake of argument that this is correct, it could be that when Accardo was boss his underboss was Ferraro and Giancana was his top aide. There's some problems with this scenario, however. If Giancana was just an aide, why would he be operating out of Cicero with men like Leonard Caifano and possibly William Daddono? Why wouldn't he be physically with Accardo like Butch Blasi was with Giancana? (And Blasi was previously an aide to Accardo before he became Giancana's aide.) Another issue is that when Ferraro met with the Rockford leadership and his failure to timely intervene in the dispute between Marshall Caifano and Phil Alderisio can be seen as lack of experience, like someone who would have only recently been made underboss. I don't have the answers, just pointing out the possibilities.

Good points. My belief is still that Giancana was most likely Accardo’s sottocapo before becoming boss. As sottocapo he may have also been acting as capo for a crew, but that’s debatable. With Ferraro, it’s hard to say as I don’t think he succeeded Roti and we don’t know of another crew that he may have been captain of (not that there couldn’t have been more crews back then, but I don’t see any reason to assume that there was). As B has stated, in families that had consiglie, a soldier could sit on them. It’s possible that Ferraro was an important guy because he oversaw the Loop (maybe direct to the admin, maybe he was in Roti’s crew, who knows), and thus was included in the selection or election of Giancana as boss, despite being “just” a soldier.

[B.]

Good points all around.

You have DeRose saying he was surprised when Giancana became boss though he said it was because of personality and didn't mention rank/stature (if DeRose was in a position to know all of those details). Still an indication Giancana was not seen as the obvious choice for one reason or another.

[Ninored]

“Teeth were put into the rumors in 1936 when Mrs. Gus Winkler told the FBI that her husband had worked to clear Capone of the tax charges before his conviction. Gus Winkler had confidently advised Paul Ricca that Capone’s case could be fixed for a mere $100,000 back tax payment. However, before Winkler’s gambit could gain momentum, Frank Nitti and Louis Campagna showed up at the couple’s apartment. According to Winkler, the duo ordered her husband to back off. “They wanted Capone in jail,” she remembered. At the time of Al’s trial, Paul Ricca allegedly said to an associate, “Al was bad for business and it was better that he left the scene.” Insiders whispered that Capone’s own men had tipped the feds to the crucial financial records that sealed his fate.”

I'm currently reading Gus Russo's book and came across this section. Is it true that Ricca, Nitti and Campagna wanted Capone gone and refused to fix the tax case for him?

[Antiliar]

Have to be careful with Russo. He's not reliable.

[B.]

Nick DeJohn's name was mentioned in a 1965 conversation between New Orleans figures Nofio Pecora and Morris Heldman:



Can't figure how DeJohn's name was relevant in New Orleans almost 20 years after his murder.

DeJohn did go to Dallas in 1945 to mediate a dispute and issued orders related to Louisiana:



There was a significant early Palazzo Adriano colony in New Orleans too. New Orleans mayor Victor Schiro was a close associate of the NO Family whose family was from Contessa Entellina and born in Chicago. Contessa and Palazzo were closely intertwined Arbereshe comunes. Might have been strong ties between these colonies in Chicago and NO.

[PolackTony]

Nick DeJohn's name was mentioned in a 1965 conversation between New Orleans figures Nofio Pecora and Morris Heldman:



Can't figure how DeJohn's name was relevant in New Orleans almost 20 years after his murder.

DeJohn did go to Dallas in 1945 to mediate a dispute and issued orders related to Louisiana:



There was a significant early Palazzo Adriano colony in New Orleans too. New Orleans mayor Victor Schiro was a close associate of the NO Family whose family was from Contessa Entellina and born in Chicago. Contessa and Palazzo were closely intertwined Arbereshe comunes. Might have been strong ties between these colonies in Chicago and NO.

Great info. 20 years later, and some guys in NOLA were still talking about him.

[PolackTony]

Joe Diamante heads to NYC with his buddy Michele Merlo to watch the big fight. I'm sure that's all that they did while in New York.

[Tonyd621]

On a side note I was listening to convict Inc on YouTube and he said he spent some time with Tough Tony Calabrese. He said Tony bought all the chairs in his unit so ppl would have to sit where he wants them too. He often bragged about his mob ties and had articles and such about himself posted on his wall in his cell. He said the cancer he had killed him very quickly.
You think a guy who doesn't talk doesn't gloat. Shows how much I know

[PolackTony]

On a side note I was listening to convict Inc on YouTube and he said he spent some time with Tough Tony Calabrese. He said Tony bought all the chairs in his unit so ppl would have to sit where he wants them too. He often bragged about his mob ties and had articles and such about himself posted on his wall in his cell. He said the cancer he had killed him very quickly.
You think a guy who doesn't talk doesn't gloat. Shows how much I know

Tony Calabrese I believe was a very dangerous individual. Een with the kind of guys in the IL prison system, I don't doubt that Calabrese pulled a lot of respect.

[PolackTony]

1961 conversation between Mike Clemente and Joe Schipani regarding current issues in the Profaci family. Clemente states that the Commission was supposed to meet in Chicago:

[Waingro]

This guy is from Bridgeport. Any ideas on who he is talking about?
[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dIIi94UeBK0#]

[Waingro]

Don't know how to edit my own posts but it's at the 4:00-7:00 minute mark.

[Patrickgold]

Don't know how to edit my own posts but it's at the 4:00-7:00 minute mark.

This guy wrote a book called “The Art of Making Money”. He was a former SD who grew up in the Chicago homes projects at 31st and Halsted. It was a very good book. He was Outfit connected. To this day, he still claims he never figured out exactly who that guy was that taught him how to make fake money.

[PolackTony]

Don't know how to edit my own posts but it's at the 4:00-7:00 minute mark.

This guy wrote a book called “The Art of Making Money”. He was a former SD who grew up in the Chicago homes projects at 31st and Halsted. It was a very good book. He was Outfit connected. To this day, he still claims he never figured out exactly who that guy was that taught him how to make fake money.

Yeah, this dude was an SD. We know that the SDs at least had drug connections with Ronnie Jarrett. Doubt that this would’ve been the extent of their connections to the Outfit, given that other crews have had close ties to neighborhood street gangs and the SDs have long had a significant presence in the Bridgeport area.

[Antiliar]

Satan Disciples?