Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

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Pietro SanFilippo born September 10, 1885 in Renella, Italy to unknown parents and by 1920 he was living in Rockford when he was arrested for theft in Madison, Wisconsin. Throughout the 1920s SanFilippo was arrested numerous times on alcohol charges. SanFilippo was noted in the 1930 Wickersham Report as having liquor interests in Green County, Wisconsin and Chicago and he was said to be related to Charles SanFilippo, head of the Unione Siciliano in Chicago. In 1931 SanFilippo was sentenced to a year and a day in Leavenworth regarding the huge liquor conspiracy trial in Rockford. After serving his term, SanFilippo moved to California in 1934 and died February 3, 1958 in San Diego.

Renella in Tuscany?

Is there a Renella, Sicily? His papers from Leavenworth just said he was born in Renella, Sicily.

Ah, ok. There is a comune Arenella in Siracusa province, but in this case I’d think it’s more likely that it’s referring to a sector called Renella on the beach in Sciacca.

Interesting that you had a document stating "Renella". Lennert had Pietro SanFilippo as born 1884 in San Giuseppe Jato. The Pietro SanFilippo who I have that seems to match him married Antonina Licari of SGJ (parents Girolamo Licari and Vincenza Terrasi) in 1910 in Milwaukee and they later moved to Madison. Per their marriage record, his parents were Antonino SanFilippo and Rosa Corrao. Pietro and Antonina's sons Anthony (named after Pietro's father) and Jerome (named after Antonina's father Girolamo), born 1911 and 1913, respectively, in Milwaukee, per Lennert were also Rockford hoodlums who later moved to CA. On his WW1 draft card, Pietro was living in Madison, and working as a grocer with a relative there. While his death record has his birth year as 1884, I note that his actual tombstone in SD does state 1885.

Now, here's something else that's quite interesting. As noted, Pietro SanFilippo initially settled in Milwaukee and his mother was a Corrao. Frank Bompensiero's first wife, Thelma SanFilippo, who died in 1955, was born in Wisconsin in 1911 and her mother was a Corrao. I'm pretty sure that her parents were Lorenzo SanFilippo and Filippa Corrao of Santa Flavia, who arrived in NYC in 1905 bound for Milwaukee. They both later moved to SD, where they died. Thelma married Frank Bomp in 1929 in SD. He, of course, was born 1905 in Milwaukee to Giuseppe Bompensiero of Porticello and Anna Maria Tagliavia of neigboring Santa Flavia(Giuseppe Bompensiero actually died as an American citizen in Santa Flavia in 1925).

Now, the Rockford-associated Pietro Corrao SanFilippo may match a Pietro SanFilippo from Santa Flavia, who filed his petition for naturalization in Milwaukee in 1908 (gave his birth year as 1886). That guy said that he arrived in NYC in 1903, which matches a Pietro SanFilippo from Santa Flavia who arrived in 1903 bound for Buffalo. The only records for a Pietro/Peter SanFilippo in WI seem to be for the same individual, but even if this were a different guy, the SanFilippo and Corrao surnames in WI are strongly linked to Santa Flavia/Porticello, so my assumption would be that Pietro Corrao SanFilippo was from there as well. Not sure if Lennert actually confirmed that he was from SGJ, apart from his wife Antonina Licari being from there.

Yes same SanFilippo. I have hardly done any research on him because he moved from Rockford early and was a non-factor. I listed Renella because that's the earliest document I had that gave any hint as to his birthplace but it seemed very unlikely to me he was from there.
I love this site because we all come together to share research and it leads to other avenues and connections. It makes sense he was from the SGI/Santa Flavia area as those are the people he hung around with- Licari, LoMonaco, Sunzeri, etc.
Also, his son Anthony was killed in a grocery robbery in SD in the 40s or 50s if I remember right. I also have some other info I'll look into tonight.
Thanks everyone for your contributions!

Thank you, man! Lennert and some other sources online seem to think that SanFilippo was a Rockford member. What’s your take on that?

Also, anyone think it’s possible that SanFilippo was a member in SD?

I would lean towards him being an early member especially knowing now he was from the SGI area and very active. Augie Maniaci lived in Rockford in the mid 1930s and gave the FBI some info on those early years but never mentioned SanFilippo probably because he left Rockford for San Diego around 1935 before Maniaci had any info on him. As for his status in San Diego that's a good question. Antonio "Tony Carlino" Catalano had moved out there about the same time and he and SanFilippo has associations in Rockford so, who knows?

[PolackTony]

Longtime Las Vegas restauranteur and Chicago associate Joseph Daniel "Joe Pig" Pignatello was born in Chicago in 1926 to Giuseppe Pignatiello and Vincenza "Jennie" Forlenza of Contursi Terme, Salerno, Campania (near Oliveto Citra). The Pignatiellos arrived in NYC in 1914 and by 1917 at the latest were living near Paulina and 69th St in the West Englewood neighborhood on the Southside of Chicago. West Englewood had a strong concentration of Salernitani and already in 1891 was the site of the Festa della Madonna diel Carmine, begun by settlers from Oliveto Citra. Migrants from Contursi and Senerchia joined the Olivetani in the early decades of the 20th century.

Joe Pig graduated from Harper HS in 1944, joined the Navy, and subsequently moved to Vegas in 1946. His first mention in the Chicago papers was as a "hoodlum" and "mob courier" implicated in the 1961 investigation of the disappearance of 300 cars from the Sterling-Harris Ford agency that centered on Leo Rugendorf, Teets Battaglia, and Alderisio. in the 1960s, FBI files had Joe Pig as Giancana's bodyguard and chauffeur. Given that Joe Pig didn't grow up by Taylor St or Cicero and left Chicago at a young age, it's unclear to me exactly how he became so close to Giancana 20 years later. Possible that the Salernitani in West Englewood had close ties to their paesani around Taylor St, Melrose Park, etc., which may be part of how Joe Pig was connected.

Joe Pig died in Nevada in 2001.

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Pietro SanFilippo born September 10, 1885 in Renella, Italy to unknown parents and by 1920 he was living in Rockford when he was arrested for theft in Madison, Wisconsin. Throughout the 1920s SanFilippo was arrested numerous times on alcohol charges. SanFilippo was noted in the 1930 Wickersham Report as having liquor interests in Green County, Wisconsin and Chicago and he was said to be related to Charles SanFilippo, head of the Unione Siciliano in Chicago. In 1931 SanFilippo was sentenced to a year and a day in Leavenworth regarding the huge liquor conspiracy trial in Rockford. After serving his term, SanFilippo moved to California in 1934 and died February 3, 1958 in San Diego.

Renella in Tuscany?

Is there a Renella, Sicily? His papers from Leavenworth just said he was born in Renella, Sicily.

Ah, ok. There is a comune Arenella in Siracusa province, but in this case I’d think it’s more likely that it’s referring to a sector called Renella on the beach in Sciacca.

Interesting that you had a document stating "Renella". Lennert had Pietro SanFilippo as born 1884 in San Giuseppe Jato. The Pietro SanFilippo who I have that seems to match him married Antonina Licari of SGJ (parents Girolamo Licari and Vincenza Terrasi) in 1910 in Milwaukee and they later moved to Madison. Per their marriage record, his parents were Antonino SanFilippo and Rosa Corrao. Pietro and Antonina's sons Anthony (named after Pietro's father) and Jerome (named after Antonina's father Girolamo), born 1911 and 1913, respectively, in Milwaukee, per Lennert were also Rockford hoodlums who later moved to CA. On his WW1 draft card, Pietro was living in Madison, and working as a grocer with a relative there. While his death record has his birth year as 1884, I note that his actual tombstone in SD does state 1885.

Now, here's something else that's quite interesting. As noted, Pietro SanFilippo initially settled in Milwaukee and his mother was a Corrao. Frank Bompensiero's first wife, Thelma SanFilippo, who died in 1955, was born in Wisconsin in 1911 and her mother was a Corrao. I'm pretty sure that her parents were Lorenzo SanFilippo and Filippa Corrao of Santa Flavia, who arrived in NYC in 1905 bound for Milwaukee. They both later moved to SD, where they died. Thelma married Frank Bomp in 1929 in SD. He, of course, was born 1905 in Milwaukee to Giuseppe Bompensiero of Porticello and Anna Maria Tagliavia of neigboring Santa Flavia(Giuseppe Bompensiero actually died as an American citizen in Santa Flavia in 1925).

Now, the Rockford-associated Pietro Corrao SanFilippo may match a Pietro SanFilippo from Santa Flavia, who filed his petition for naturalization in Milwaukee in 1908 (gave his birth year as 1886). That guy said that he arrived in NYC in 1903, which matches a Pietro SanFilippo from Santa Flavia who arrived in 1903 bound for Buffalo. The only records for a Pietro/Peter SanFilippo in WI seem to be for the same individual, but even if this were a different guy, the SanFilippo and Corrao surnames in WI are strongly linked to Santa Flavia/Porticello, so my assumption would be that Pietro Corrao SanFilippo was from there as well. Not sure if Lennert actually confirmed that he was from SGJ, apart from his wife Antonina Licari being from there.

Yes same SanFilippo. I have hardly done any research on him because he moved from Rockford early and was a non-factor. I listed Renella because that's the earliest document I had that gave any hint as to his birthplace but it seemed very unlikely to me he was from there.
I love this site because we all come together to share research and it leads to other avenues and connections. It makes sense he was from the SGI/Santa Flavia area as those are the people he hung around with- Licari, LoMonaco, Sunzeri, etc.
Also, his son Anthony was killed in a grocery robbery in SD in the 40s or 50s if I remember right. I also have some other info I'll look into tonight.
Thanks everyone for your contributions!

Thank you, man! Lennert and some other sources online seem to think that SanFilippo was a Rockford member. What’s your take on that?

Also, anyone think it’s possible that SanFilippo was a member in SD?

Found the following- take a look at some of the names.

Filippa SanFilippo died December 26, 1948 in San Diego. She had lived there since 1904. Survived by four daughters- Mrs. Ann Patella, Mrs. Santa Bompensiero, Mrs. Rose D’Amato, Mrs. Jennie Cordillone and Mrs. Esther Mahlin; three sons- Frank, Andrew and Matt; a sister Miss Rose Corrao; three brothers- Sam Frank and Joe Corrao, all of San Diego.

Antonina SanFilippo, 68, died May 4, 1953 in San Diego and had been a resident since 1917. Survived by husband Mariano; daughters- Mrs. Anna Balestrieri, Mrs. Rose Alioto, Mrs. Joanne Cresci, Mrs. Roselyn Mercurio, Mrs. Esther Navarra, Mrs. Antoinette Zolezzi, Marianna and Anita SanFilippo- two sisters- Mrs. Antoinette Cannizzaro and Mrs. Anna SanFIlippo; a brother John Carino and two sisters and a brother in Milwaukee.

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Charles LaFranka was born February 4, 1913 in Fort Dodge, Iowa to Giuseppe LaFranca and Grazia Sciortino of Siculiana, Sicily. Over the years LaFranka was arrested for robbery, rape, assault, resisting arrest, gambling, keeper of a house of prostitution. Around 1958 he moved to Chicago and was a bartender for various taverns, one being Club Alabam on Rush Street. LaFranka was found strangled and beaten in the trunk of his car in Elgin, Illinois on January 16, 1965.

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Frank J. Maragi was born January 19, 1906 in Rockford, Illinois to Francesco and Serena Maragi of Cassano Magnago, Italy. He married Jean Zacharia on August 17, 1939 in Rockford, Illinois and she was the sister of Anthony Zacharia, Rockford LCN associate. Maragi was listed in police reports from 1946 that he was part of a syndicate that controlled gambling in the Rockford area. He died January 14, 1970 in Rockford and he was related through marriage to Joe Civello, Dallas, Texas LCN boss.

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Nick Misuraca was born 1910 in Rockford, Illinois to Giuseppe Misuraca and Francesca Donze of Camporeale, Sicily. In 1931 he was arrested for being involved in a “clearing house” for underage girls and for car theft. In 1933 he was charged in robberies to area businesses with Joe “Blackie” Calderotta and Phil Cannella. Just after posting bond on August 30, 1933 Misuraca was shot to death and his body dumped off Meridian and Montague Roads about three miles south of Rockford.

[PolackTony]

Charles LaFranka was born February 4, 1913 in Fort Dodge, Iowa to Giuseppe LaFranca and Grazia Sciortino of Siculiana, Sicily. Over the years LaFranka was arrested for robbery, rape, assault, resisting arrest, gambling, keeper of a house of prostitution. Around 1958 he moved to Chicago and was a bartender for various taverns, one being Club Alabam on Rush Street. LaFranka was found strangled and beaten in the trunk of his car in Elgin, Illinois on January 16, 1965.

The LaFranka brothers were an interesting group. Joseph and Salvatore LaFranka were also both connected to Denver, from what I understand.

Any evidence that Charles LaFranka was a member? Given that he was a Rockford guy, what was the exact nature of his relationship to the Northside crew before his death, and do you have an idea of what led to his murder? I wonder who exactly greenlit his murder, whether Chicago, Rockford, or both. I believe that you've stated before that Knobby Gullotta was a suspect in the LaFranka hit?

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Charles LaFranka was born February 4, 1913 in Fort Dodge, Iowa to Giuseppe LaFranca and Grazia Sciortino of Siculiana, Sicily. Over the years LaFranka was arrested for robbery, rape, assault, resisting arrest, gambling, keeper of a house of prostitution. Around 1958 he moved to Chicago and was a bartender for various taverns, one being Club Alabam on Rush Street. LaFranka was found strangled and beaten in the trunk of his car in Elgin, Illinois on January 16, 1965.

The LaFranka brothers were an interesting group. Joseph and Salvatore LaFranka were also both connected to Denver, from what I understand.

Any evidence that Charles LaFranka was a member? Given that he was a Rockford guy, what was the exact nature of his relationship to the Northside crew before his death, and do you have an idea of what led to his murder? I wonder who exactly greenlit his murder, whether Chicago, Rockford, or both. I believe that you've stated before that Knobby Gullotta was a suspect in the LaFranka hit?

I am unsure if he was a member but he definitely had the background and was involved in a lot of different crimes. I got the impression he left Rockford because he was in trouble there but that's not proven. There were indications he had moved back to Rockford in late 1964 after quitting his job in Chicago. One associate of his stated there were dozens of reasons he could have been hit but the most likely to him was that LaFranka had recently made a big score of some sort in Kansas City. I don't know if the hit came on Rockford's side exclusively or as a favor to Chicago but yes, Augie Maniaci stated that soon after LaFranka's murder the Rockford LCN made new members of Sebastian Gulotta, Frank Correnti and Joe Maggio. I'm of the belief that LaFranka's girlfriend Donna Ott set him up because she had worked in Gulotta's restaurant and received a new Pontiac right after LaFranka's death and she made a trip to Florida. I also believe Gulotta and Correnti did the actual killing and that Maggio drove the tail car that followed the men and picked them up from Elgin and drove them back.

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Charles LaFranka was born February 4, 1913 in Fort Dodge, Iowa to Giuseppe LaFranca and Grazia Sciortino of Siculiana, Sicily. Over the years LaFranka was arrested for robbery, rape, assault, resisting arrest, gambling, keeper of a house of prostitution. Around 1958 he moved to Chicago and was a bartender for various taverns, one being Club Alabam on Rush Street. LaFranka was found strangled and beaten in the trunk of his car in Elgin, Illinois on January 16, 1965.

The LaFranka brothers were an interesting group. Joseph and Salvatore LaFranka were also both connected to Denver, from what I understand.

Also, as far as Denver and Rockford go, FBI files stated Rockford member Phil Priola lined up a job at a Vegas casino for his nephew through a Denver area capo who I believe was Joe "The Ram" Salardino. Additionally, Rockford member Joe Maggio had visited some executive of a carpet company out there and tried to extort/threaten him with another individual who I believe was Sebastian Gulotta. The unidentified individual stated, "Don't you know who we are, we're the Outfit. We'll break both your legs." Maggio also married his wife out there in 1959 and I know Salvatore "Ted Ross" LaFranka moved out there in the 1950s. Brother Joe LaFranka was involved in some house siding/home loan schemes out there too.

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Salvatore Oliveri born January 17, 1895 in Corleone, Sicily to Salvatore Matteo Oliveri and an unnamed woman who wasn’t married to Salvatore. Oliveri married Vincenza Marino in Chicago, Illinois on September 28, 1919. In 1928 Oliveri attended the Hotel Statler mafia meeting in Cleveland. According to Augie Maniaci he stated Oliveri was on the lam from the Calumet City Cheese War when he arrived in Rockford and was allowed to muscle in on a funeral home business with the blessing of Rockford LCN boss Tony Musso. Maniaci was mistaken and he probably meant the Capone/Aiello War as the Calumet Cheese War was in the 1940s. Oliveri was listed as a Rockford LCN member even into the 1960s but he seemed to be retired as nothing was ever reported about criminal activities after he arrived in Rockford and he was co-owner of the Gasparini-Oliveri Funeral Home. Oliveri died November 4, 1969 in Rockford.

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James “Jimmy the Greek” Pollos was born October 25, 1893 in Greece and immigrated to Rockford in 1909. Pollos was involved early on in the illicit alcohol business in Rockford taking an arrest in 1933 but gambling was his real calling. Pollos was charged many times with gambling from the 1940s through the 1970s and was called before the Grand Jury in 1968 in their liquor and gambling inquiry. In 1970 he was arrested in connection to a gambling ring whose bets were transported to Arlington Park Racetrack in Chicago on a six day a week bus trip from Rockford. Pollos served as a bookmaker for the Rockford LCN who served the small Greek population in Rockford before he died in Rockford on November 20, 1973.

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William “Big Bill” D’Agostin was born May 5, 1885 in Ferentino, Frosinone, Italy to Mr. and Mrs. Francesco D’Agostin and by 1908 he was living in Rockford where he opened a grocery business. In 1912 he married Barbara Paluzzi and soon after D’Agostin started racking up arrests- weapons charges, rape of a minor and bootlegging charges. In 1921 he was refused citizenship due to poor moral character and in 1930 he was arrested in a sweeping liquor conspiracy trial and his bond was provided by Filippo Vella, suspected early Rockford LCN member. D’Agostin was represented in court by Chicago attorney Leo Klein and he was sentenced to two years in Leavenworth. According to the Wickersham Report on bootlegging in the 1930’s, D’Agostin carried a deputy sheriff’s star and was good friends with Chief of Police, A.E. Bargren going so far as to take personal trips with him to the baths in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The report also stated D’Agostin was hooked up with a liquor ring in Monroe, Wisconsin. In 1949 D’Agostin retired from his distributing company and moved to El Monte, California. D’Agostin died December 2, 1959 in Loma Linda, California.

[B.]

Makes sense Rockford was in contact with Salardino given I just posted about his Chicago connections. Good to know Rockford called itself "the outfit" but not a surprise.

Didn't realize Sam Oliveri left Chicago because of the Benevento conflict. Cesare Manzella also left Chicago and was living in Springfield by 1948 before he returned to Sicily, wonder if that was due to similar issues. Most of Manzella's compaesani were killed so he might well have fled. There was also the younger zip Pietro Amato from Cinisi who lived in Chicago before he went back to Sicily but don't know what role he played with the Chicago Family -- he's in the FBN book.

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Makes sense Rockford was in contact with Salardino given I just posted about his Chicago connections. Good to know Rockford called itself "the outfit" but not a surprise.

Didn't realize Sam Oliveri left Chicago because of the Benevento conflict. Cesare Manzella also left Chicago and was living in Springfield by 1948 before he returned to Sicily, wonder if that was due to similar issues. Most of Manzella's compaesani were killed so he might well have fled. There was also the younger zip Pietro Amato from Cinisi who lived in Chicago before he went back to Sicily but don't know what role he played with the Chicago Family -- he's in the FBN book.

Here's the reference to Denver/Pueblo

[B.]

Might be the first time I've seen someone confirmed as a capodecina in Pueblo, so much is unknown about their exact set-up. Great find.