General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground

[moneyman]

On a recent podcast episode of "Police Off The Cuff" former undercover ATF agent Lou Valoze was interviewed. Around the 30 minute mark he talks about an undercover operation he was involved with where a Chicago Outfit member (he most likely means associate) was also involved in the Outlaw motorcycle gang. The target of the investigation ran a jewelery store selling stolen items and drugs, he ended up getting busted in a sting operation at a hotel near O'Hare Airport and ended up getting 60 years. I did some research and I think he is talking about Mark Polchan, who was associated with Sarno.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct- ... story.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Up3CVjCNC4&t=2164s

[Snakes]

On a recent podcast episode of "Police Off The Cuff" former undercover ATF agent Lou Valoze was interviewed. Around the 30 minute mark he talks about an undercover operation he was involved with where a Chicago Outfit member (he most likely means associate) was also involved in the Outlaw motorcycle gang. The target of the investigation ran a jewelery store selling stolen items and drugs, he ended up getting busted in a sting operation at a hotel near O'Hare Airport and ended up getting 60 years. I did some research and I think he is talking about Mark Polchan, who was associated with Sarno.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct- ... story.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Up3CVjCNC4&t=2164s

I'm not sure if that was Polchan as his jewelry store was in Cicero. Polchan recently had his sentence reduced; I think he gets out in 2034.

[Snakes]

On the subject of running women, Operation Safebet was a major investigation into Outfit houses of prostitution during the 1980s. Victor Spilotro was the biggest fish caught, but Rocky Infelise and John Monteleone (and by extension, presumably Joe Aiuppa and Joe Ferriola) were among the names who received a piece of at least 20 northwest suburban brothels and strip clubs throughout the 80s. Customers' credit cards would be charged for services under legitimate sounding businesses when they were actually used at the clubs to pay for sex.

[PolackTony]

On the subject of running women, Operation Safebet was a major investigation into Outfit houses of prostitution during the 1980s. Victor Spilotro was the biggest fish caught, but Rocky Infelise and John Monteleone (and by extension, presumably Joe Aiuppa and Joe Ferriola) were among the names who received a piece of at least 20 northwest suburban brothels and strip clubs throughout the 80s. Customers' credit cards would be charged for services under legitimate sounding businesses when they were actually used at the clubs to pay for sex.

Given this and the info that Antiliar posted, one gets the impression that prostitution was like narcotics -- it was seen as a dirty business, maybe guys would try to distance themselves from it while still taking money from it. I wonder how many actual made guys were directly involved in operating it, meaning after they were made, as opposed to taking a cut and maybe investing in it, as with drugs. I'm sure that it happened, but the comments from Humphreys that Antiliar referenced would make it seem that it was considered dishonorable even in Chicago. Even if they mainly had associates actually running the operations, they were obviously still sanctioning it and making money off of it.

[Coloboy]

Was definitely a major outfit racket going way back. Hell, wasn't that Jim Colosimo's main source of revenue?

I remember reading that, in addition to taking over major gambling operations and services, one of the things that launched Joe B. into the upper echelons of the outfit was converting all the brothels into call girl services in the 30's.

[PolackTony]

Continuing with the theme of Chicago, the Commission, and national LCN politics, from a 1964 conversation between Tommy Ryan and Mike Genovese:

[PolackTony]

Was definitely a major outfit racket going way back. Hell, wasn't that Jim Colosimo's main source of revenue?

I remember reading that, in addition to taking over major gambling operations and services, one of the things that launched Joe B. into the upper echelons of the outfit was converting all the brothels into call girl services in the 30's.

Sure, but at least so far as we know, Colosimo wasn't a member of the mafia. Prostitution was a major activity of the Camorra going back to Italy, and the attitude towards prostitution was a major cultural difference between the Camorra and the mafia.

Given that Merlo and his father lived in Colosimo's red-light district in the early 1900s (and Merlo clearly had a relationship to Colosimo, given that one banquet picture showing him seated with Colosimo and Torrio), and that Rockford guys of Sambucesi ancestry were actively involved in prostitution there, I do wonder what the relationship of the mafia to prostitution already was back in those days. Whether they directly profited from it or not, it seems to me that guys like Merlo and D'Andrea had no compunction about working with mainlander pimps.

It would be easy to say that Chicago was more tolerant of prostitution because Capone was a Camorrist' pimp before he was inducted into the mafia, but that doesn't seem adequate to me as the overwhelmingly Sicilian Rockford Outfit seems to have been heavily involved in prostitution, as well as the Sicilian-centric Chicago Northside crew.

[B.]

Colorado member Joe Salardino had ties to the Frattos:

[PolackTony]

Good info. I wonder if the Frattos’ connections to Denver were part of the context of Alderisio’s extortion case there?

[Patrickgold]

Colorado member Joe Salardino had ties to the Frattos:

Interesting that it says that the Smaldones are not members of La Cosa Nostra. Did they ever become members? It seems like the real LCN was only in Puebla. But since the FBI listed them as bosses in the 80s they must have been made at some point it would seem.

[funkster]

On the subject of running women, Operation Safebet was a major investigation into Outfit houses of prostitution during the 1980s. Victor Spilotro was the biggest fish caught, but Rocky Infelise and John Monteleone (and by extension, presumably Joe Aiuppa and Joe Ferriola) were among the names who received a piece of at least 20 northwest suburban brothels and strip clubs throughout the 80s. Customers' credit cards would be charged for services under legitimate sounding businesses when they were actually used at the clubs to pay for sex.

Given this and the info that Antiliar posted, one gets the impression that prostitution was like narcotics -- it was seen as a dirty business, maybe guys would try to distance themselves from it while still taking money from it. I wonder how many actual made guys were directly involved in operating it, meaning after they were made, as opposed to taking a cut and maybe investing in it, as with drugs. I'm sure that it happened, but the comments from Humphreys that Antiliar referenced would make it seem that it was considered dishonorable even in Chicago. Even if they mainly had associates actually running the operations, they were obviously still sanctioning it and making money off of it.

Given Aiuppa's early Cicero days, I have no doubt he was perfectly fine receiving prostitution money.

[B.]

Interesting that it says that the Smaldones are not members of La Cosa Nostra. Did they ever become members? It seems like the real LCN was only in Puebla. But since the FBI listed them as bosses in the 80s they must have been made at some point it would seem.

Pretty sure they were made but it may have happened later than we assume. The Smaldones have gotten the most hype in Colorado because they had extensive criminal operations in Denver but the leadership was usually in the Pueblo/Trinidad Sicilian faction. The FBI was never able to penetrate the Colorado Family so there's a lot of guesswork from the outside.

There's a good book based on taped interviews one of the Smaldone sons did with his father but there is little to nothing about the organization, just general info. Clyde Smaldone did tell his son he used to travel around the country meeting a lot of people -- I'm sure that included Chicago.

[Patrickgold]

Interesting that it says that the Smaldones are not members of La Cosa Nostra. Did they ever become members? It seems like the real LCN was only in Puebla. But since the FBI listed them as bosses in the 80s they must have been made at some point it would seem.

Pretty sure they were made but it may have happened later than we assume. The Smaldones have gotten the most hype in Colorado because they had extensive criminal operations in Denver but the leadership was usually in the Pueblo/Trinidad Sicilian faction. The FBI was never able to penetrate the Colorado Family so there's a lot of guesswork from the outside.

There's a good book based on taped interviews one of the Smaldone sons did with his father but there is little to nothing about the organization, just general info. Clyde Smaldone did tell his son he used to travel around the country meeting a lot of people -- I'm sure that included Chicago.

Yes, I read that book and it was excellent. Very little is written about the Pueblo faction. I believe the last known boss of Pueblo died in the mid 70s. I remember Kenji Gallo said he was introduced to Paul Villano in the mid 90s and he said he was told he was the boss of Colorado, so they were definitely recognized as a family going into the 90s.I wonder who made them. I believe they were very close to Kansas City because of their geography

[B.]

They were close to the Bonannos and Jim Colletti was an ex-Bonanno member. Very close to the KC and STL Families too. A lot we don't know about them, especially with the info about the Northern Italian Senator in Wyoming they might have made.

Would bet the house they were a very small Family who selectively made members in the various towns in their jurisdiction without a huge concentration of "soldiers". There were members in Pueblo, Trinidad, Canon City, Denver, and possibly Rock Springs WY. Like we see with most small Families, other Families dealt mostly with the leadership.

I think in the Chicago origins thread we found the Palazzo Adriano element in the Chicago Family was connected to the one in Colorado. Would bet that's true for Burgio/Villafranca too as Cavita said the Rockford mafia had connections to Colorado via Villafranca.

[Antiliar]

Interesting that it says that the Smaldones are not members of La Cosa Nostra. Did they ever become members? It seems like the real LCN was only in Puebla. But since the FBI listed them as bosses in the 80s they must have been made at some point it would seem.

Scotty Spinuzzi, according to the CI, made Clarence Michael "Chauncey" Smaldone a capo before going to prison. So if his brothers Clyde and Eugene weren't members already, he probably made them. Paul Villano was made later and supposedly Eugene's grandson, also named Eugene Smaldone, is the last surviving member.

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... D%20member

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... h=smaldone

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150 ... l-smaldone

https://www.denverpost.com/2006/11/03/d ... her-hoods/