The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

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cavita
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Re: The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

Post by cavita »

PolackTony wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 4:38 pm
B. wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 3:54 pm 1967 info on Rockford member Phil Priola's involvement with Alfano's pizza. There's a clear reference to Pietro Alfano (moved to Oregon, Illinois) and it appears the FBI interviewed him, though I'm a bit confused over who owned which branches (Cavita could educate no doubt) but they all appear connected. Phil Priola was definitely an investor in the pizzeria.

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Great info here. Note that the 1993 FBI IOC report stated that Alfano was known to have had ties to the Rockford family prior to all the Pizza Connection stuff, so this provides the detail to flesh that out. As I’ve written above, it really does seem that Alfano actually returned to IL after serving time in Italy, and died there. His family retains many ties to other Sicilians in Rockford and Chicago, so his ties there went deep. When thinking about the Pizza Connection stuff, people probably assume that guys like Alfano and the other Cinisesi were being “sent” by Badalementi to these little towns. But their ties were obviously much more organic and were tightly connected to larger Cinisesi immigrants communities in Chicago and Detroit. It’s both more nuanced and more interesting than these guys simply being deployed or something just for the Pizza Connection trafficking stuff. The Cinisi mafia already had an installed network in IL and MI, so they used that existing network to bring heroin into the US under the radar of LE that was focused on the major cities.
Alfano was released from prison in 1995 and returned to Oregon, Illinois. Immediately the INS ordered his deportation but it took two years before that actually happened. In that time Alfano allegedly molested six children and they were looking for him in Sicily. In 1999 they reported that he was living in a small town outside Palermo but they decided not to extradite him.
I'll comment later on the Priola files regarding Alfano when I get time. I can fill in a lot of the redacted info.
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Re: The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

Post by cavita »

Additionally Alfano had a cousin, Pietro Alfano, that operated a pizzeria in Monmouth, Illinois and they interviewed him in 1984 after the news broke about the Pizza Connection arrests. The Monmouth Alfano claimed he knew nothing about his cousin's narcotics or Mafia involvement.
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Re: The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

Post by B. »

What got me is Pietro Alfano looks to have hooked up with elements of the Rockford Family almost immediately and even though both claimed it was a "chance" meeting that led Priola to invest in Alfano's business, Alfano was obviously pre-approved in the network and socialized in the same circles.
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Re: The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

Post by Patrickgold »

cavita wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 5:04 pm
PolackTony wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 4:38 pm
B. wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 3:54 pm 1967 info on Rockford member Phil Priola's involvement with Alfano's pizza. There's a clear reference to Pietro Alfano (moved to Oregon, Illinois) and it appears the FBI interviewed him, though I'm a bit confused over who owned which branches (Cavita could educate no doubt) but they all appear connected. Phil Priola was definitely an investor in the pizzeria.

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Great info here. Note that the 1993 FBI IOC report stated that Alfano was known to have had ties to the Rockford family prior to all the Pizza Connection stuff, so this provides the detail to flesh that out. As I’ve written above, it really does seem that Alfano actually returned to IL after serving time in Italy, and died there. His family retains many ties to other Sicilians in Rockford and Chicago, so his ties there went deep. When thinking about the Pizza Connection stuff, people probably assume that guys like Alfano and the other Cinisesi were being “sent” by Badalementi to these little towns. But their ties were obviously much more organic and were tightly connected to larger Cinisesi immigrants communities in Chicago and Detroit. It’s both more nuanced and more interesting than these guys simply being deployed or something just for the Pizza Connection trafficking stuff. The Cinisi mafia already had an installed network in IL and MI, so they used that existing network to bring heroin into the US under the radar of LE that was focused on the major cities.
Alfano was released from prison in 1995 and returned to Oregon, Illinois. Immediately the INS ordered his deportation but it took two years before that actually happened. In that time Alfano allegedly molested six children and they were looking for him in Sicily. In 1999 they reported that he was living in a small town outside Palermo but they decided not to extradite him.
I'll comment later on the Priola files regarding Alfano when I get time. I can fill in a lot of the redacted info.
He molested 6 children in Illinois? Was this in the news? Anymore details on this? I never heard that. Also, when and where did Alfano die?
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Re: The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

Post by B. »

Cavita -- not to sidetrack too much from the Chicago zips topic, but Priola's FBI file mentioned a redacted made member of the Rockford Family living in Pueblo, Colorado. Any idea who that would be? It said Priola was close to a Pueblo Family capodecina in addition to that but there seems to be a Rockford member who kept his membership with them but lived for a time in CO.
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Re: The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

Post by PolackTony »

cavita wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 5:04 pm Alfano was released from prison in 1995 and returned to Oregon, Illinois. Immediately the INS ordered his deportation but it took two years before that actually happened. In that time Alfano allegedly molested six children and they were looking for him in Sicily. In 1999 they reported that he was living in a small town outside Palermo but they decided not to extradite him.
I'll comment later on the Priola files regarding Alfano when I get time. I can fill in a lot of the redacted info.
Thanks for the info on Alfano. I was positive that he returned to IL, but didn’t know about the child molestation stuff. I also had seen info indicating that he actually died in IL, but maybe that was his cousin Pietro. IIRC, I thought it was the mafia Alfano, based on the kids’ names in the obit, but I’d have to go through my notes again. Do you have a death date for him?
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Re: The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

Post by CabriniGreen »

Maybe this woman explains it better than me...


This is all local to Italy, but could easily be applied abroad....


Migrated Mafia Groups

Mafia transplantation (Varese, 2006) and adaptation of traditional mafia-like groups in new territories are emerging theoretical issues in criminological research (Kleemans, 2013).
As concerns Italy, the presence of southern Italian mafias has been largely documented also in central and northern regions:


( I feel like I have to highlight this, as whenever I mention Sicilians, and criminal colonies in the early 70s, you start in with the 60s, 50s, 20s, even... like... I'm not talking about them..)




the presence of mafia groups in the north-west and their colo-nizing attitude has been reported at least since the 1970s, but this phenomenon has received significant attention in public discourse only in recent years,

when law enforcement operationssuch as ‘Crimine-Infinito’ in 2010 have shown the degree that mafia transplantation has reached in the area (Direzione Nazionale Antimafia, 2011).


While in some administrative re-gions of the north-west (as the cases of some municipalities of the Milan and Turin hinterland areas have shown) there have been also problem of political infiltration (Chiavari, 2011; Paoli,1994; Savatteri, 2012; Varese, 2006), the situation seems different in other parts of Italy, for instance in the north-east. The administrative region of Veneto, in particular, is considered as‘the area of the future’ for Italian mafias (Pennisi, 2012), especially as concerns the ’Ndran-gheta and some Camorra clans (Direzione Nazionale Antimafia, 2011).

However, it seems that the ’Ndrangheta in Veneto is not going to colonize and to invest money as it has done in Lombardia or Piemonte, but it is rather ‘delocalizing’ (which in economics indicates the transfer of industries in new areas which have competitive advantages compared to the main ones), while the main centre remains in the homeland Calabria.

The idea is to create wealth in northern Italy to converge in the south.

( Again, I feel like I gotta highlight this. I'm looking at this like an overarching strategy. Ciccio Gambino. Torreta. Operations in NY. Permanant pressence there. Zito taking money he made in the states and rigging elections in Torreta. Colony? Or strategy of delocation?
Caruanas- Cuntreras? Colony? Or delocation strategy?
I've felt these early 70s mafiosi were the progenitors of what's become contemporary strategy for the most ( currently)successful Italian criminal groups. It's a conversation..... what's the issue? Lol
)


Similarly, Camorra groups in Veneto have been reported to make profits from usury and extortion to send money to their homeland to help the families of convicted mafia members.

This is why mafia groups in some parts of Italy seem to be more interested in relationships with the professional and entrepreneurial world than with politics,and links to the latter exist to the point that they are functional to the achievement of other goals(Lavorgna et al., 2013; Pennisi, 2012).

The novelty of this phenomenon makes it difficult to estimate reliable numbers regarding the presence of mafias in the north-east. If in Lombardy aminimum of 500 ’Ndrangheta members was estimated (Direzione Nazionale Antimafia, 2011)it is likely than in Veneto, where mafias are delocalizing rather than colonizing, the numbers are inferior.

Note here.... a group engaged in trafficking, delocation, DOESNT NEED A LARGE GROUP, in the same way a more traditional mafia extortion, territorial control type of organization does.
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Re: The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

Post by cavita »

Patrickgold wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 5:16 pm
cavita wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 5:04 pm
PolackTony wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 4:38 pm
B. wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 3:54 pm 1967 info on Rockford member Phil Priola's involvement with Alfano's pizza. There's a clear reference to Pietro Alfano (moved to Oregon, Illinois) and it appears the FBI interviewed him, though I'm a bit confused over who owned which branches (Cavita could educate no doubt) but they all appear connected. Phil Priola was definitely an investor in the pizzeria.

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Great info here. Note that the 1993 FBI IOC report stated that Alfano was known to have had ties to the Rockford family prior to all the Pizza Connection stuff, so this provides the detail to flesh that out. As I’ve written above, it really does seem that Alfano actually returned to IL after serving time in Italy, and died there. His family retains many ties to other Sicilians in Rockford and Chicago, so his ties there went deep. When thinking about the Pizza Connection stuff, people probably assume that guys like Alfano and the other Cinisesi were being “sent” by Badalementi to these little towns. But their ties were obviously much more organic and were tightly connected to larger Cinisesi immigrants communities in Chicago and Detroit. It’s both more nuanced and more interesting than these guys simply being deployed or something just for the Pizza Connection trafficking stuff. The Cinisi mafia already had an installed network in IL and MI, so they used that existing network to bring heroin into the US under the radar of LE that was focused on the major cities.
Alfano was released from prison in 1995 and returned to Oregon, Illinois. Immediately the INS ordered his deportation but it took two years before that actually happened. In that time Alfano allegedly molested six children and they were looking for him in Sicily. In 1999 they reported that he was living in a small town outside Palermo but they decided not to extradite him.
I'll comment later on the Priola files regarding Alfano when I get time. I can fill in a lot of the redacted info.
He molested 6 children in Illinois? Was this in the news? Anymore details on this? I never heard that. Also, when and where did Alfano die?
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Re: The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

Post by cavita »

B. wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 3:54 pm 1967 info on Rockford member Phil Priola's involvement with Alfano's pizza. There's a clear reference to Pietro Alfano (moved to Oregon, Illinois) and it appears the FBI interviewed him, though I'm a bit confused over who owned which branches (Cavita could educate no doubt) but they all appear connected. Phil Priola was definitely an investor in the pizzeria.

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Here is my best research and guesses at the redacted info:

CG T-3 stated that he had heard that PHIL PRIOLA is in some way involved in the operation of the Alfano’s Pizza chain and has frequently been in the company of [PETER ALFANO] who recently moved to Oregon, Illinois, where he is opening a pizza parlor.

Detective [REDACTED] stated that it was his understanding that [PETER ALFANO] came from Chicago to Rockford and is a partner of PHIL PRIOLA. He said that it is his understanding that [PETER ALFANO] has sold the pizza restaurant at 212 East State Street, Rockford, to [VITO GABRIELE] of South Beloit, son of [PIETRO GABRIELE].

Detective [REDACTED] said that he had interviewed the owners of JOE and SAM’S Pizzeria in Belvidere and determined that the owners are [GIUSEPPE CUCINELLA] and [SALVATORE VITALE] who reside in Room 302 at the Chandler Hotel, Rockford, Illinois. He said that these individuals speak English very poorly and he had difficulty conducting the interview, but determined that [CUCINELLA] was born [ABOUT 1946] at Fiumicino, Italy, and entered the United States in February 1964. [VITALE] was born at Cinisi, Palermo, Sicily on [REDACTED] and came to the United States from Salvi Badalamenti, 137, Fiumicino, Italy. He entered the United States November 20, 1966, via Air France and his address at time of entry was Box 26, Ringoes, New Jersey.

On January 19, 1967, [PETER ALFANO] was contacted at his place of business, Alfano’s Pizza Restaurant, 801 South Fourth Street, Oregon, Illinois.
He stated that his name in Italian is [PIETRO ALFANO] and before coming to the United States he had been an independent dealer in cheese at Palermo, Sicily. He made available Italian Passport Number [REDACTED], which reflects that he was born at Cinisi, Palermo, Sicily, on [NOVEMBER 22, 1935] and has brown hair and brown eyes. He is married to [CRISTINA TRUPIANO] and has two children, a girl, age five, and a boy, age seven months, and residence is via [REDACTED] Palermo, Italy. He arrived in New York on January 3, 1967 via Al Italia Airlines.

[ALFANO] stated that he came to the United States originally on April 1, 1964 and had gone to work for one [PIETRO ALFANO] at Alfano’s Pizzeria in Ottawa, Illinois. This [PIETRO ALFANO] had a father, [PROCOPIO ALFANO] who lived and had a pizzeria in Spring Valley, Illinois. The [ALFANO] in Ottawa also operated an Alfano Pizzeria in Seneca, Illinois in which the interviewee was employed.

He said that after learning the business from these [ALFANOS], he moved to Belvidere, Illinois in June 1965 and opened a pizza restaurant there which he operated for 13 or 14 months.

He said the [PIETRO ALFANO] in Ottawa came to the United States about 18 years ago and for a period of about 3 ½ years he owned a pizza restaurant in Rochelle, Illinois which he never personally managed and which he eventually sold to an Italian, name unknown, who operated it under the name Alfano’s Pizza until recently when he closed it and left town. In June 1965 he returned to Italy with his wife and sold his restaurant business to (SALVATORE VITALE) who comes from the same town in Sicily and is supposed to marry (ALFANO’S) wife’s sister, [REDACTED] partner in the purchase of the restaurant from the interviewee who was the interviewee’s uncle, who came to the United States 10 or 12 years ago and was employed in Chicago by the Salerno Biscuit Company. This is the [SAM] and [JOE] currently operating the Belvidere Pizzeria.

He was asked about the [REDACTED] who was interviewed by Detective [REDACTED] and he said that [REDACTED] must have been confused by his inability to understand Italian. He said that the [REDACTED] in Belvidere is [REDACTED], a brother of [REDACTED] who is visiting in Belvidere on a tourist visa and will soon be returning to Italy.

[ALFANO] stated that Maria’s Pizza in Belvidere is operated by [LORENZO PALAZZOLO] an uncle, and [SANTINA PALAZZOLO], a cousin by marriage. [ALFANO] said that when he had owned the restaurant currently operated by [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] had been his partner but because of a disagreement decided to move across the street.

[ALFANO] said that his father, [REDACTED], came to the United States about one year ago. At this time [ALFANO] opened the place in Rockford, at 212 East State Street and his father ran it and continues to run it. He said that his father is unhappy in this country and is returning to Italy probably in one week and the restaurant is being sold to “some Sicilian from Beloit, Wisconsin,” whose name is unknown to [ALFANO].

He (PIETRO ALFANO) said that he met PHIL PRIOLA under the following circumstances. He said while operating his restaurant in Belvidere, he did business with a juke box company “Lundberg Music Co.” from Cherry Valley, Illinois. He indicated an intent to open a place in Rockford. The serviceman [PAT C. GUCCIARDO] from the juke box company suggested he contact the GUCCIARDO’S at the Twinspot Tavern in Rockford, who were cousins of his. He accidentally met PHIL PRIOLA in the Twinspot, told him of his plans to open a business in Rockford and PRIOLA suggested that he might be able to help him.

PRIOLA made the arrangements for renting the building at 212 East State Street and paid for the repairs and decoration of the restaurant, about $1,400. He paid PRIOLA this money back but PRIOLA charged him no interest and in fact was merely buying PRIOLA out because the business did not make out and he did not want PRIOLA to be hurt financially because he had done [ALFANO] a favor. He said PRIOLA was in the restaurant frequently and in fact sometimes helped with the cooking.

When he was questioned about how he paid PRIOLA back when the restaurant was losing money he said that he did this using the profits from his restaurant in Belvidere.

He said he is not related to PRIOLA, had never met or heard of PRIOLA prior to the accidental meeting at the Twinspot and that he himself was not now, nor had he ever been a member of the Mafia.

He was asked if PRIOLA was helping in any way in the current sale of his business and he replied that PRIOLA was not.

Alfono Pizza Restaurants

On May 15, 1968, [REDACTED] Jackson-Keye Realtors, 325 East State Street, Rockford, Illinois, said he has no personal knowledge of PHIL PRIOLA and a review of the records of his agency fails to reflect any transactions with PRIOLA.

On June 5, 1968, [WILLIAM SPENCER,] Chief Deputy, Ogle County Sheriff’s Department, Oregon, Illinois, advised that [REDACTED] Oregon, Illinois, had recently advised him that while in Alfono’s Pizza Restaurant, Oregon, Illinois, he had observed four individuals enter and engage the owner in conversation. He said his impression, based on their appearance, was that they were hoodlums.

On June 5, 1968, photographs of the members of the Rockford La Cosa Nostra Family, along with photographs of numerous other hoodlums of Italian extraction, were exhibited to [REDACTED]. He was unable to effect any identification.

On June 5, 1968, [PIETRO “PETER” ALFANO] owner, Alfano’s Pizza, Rochelle, Illinois, was contacted at the restaurant and he advised that he had purchased the restaurant from [FRANK ALFANO] the former owner who is currently operating the tavern in the building adjacent. (THIS PIETRO ALFANO IS NOT THE SAME AS THE OREGON PIETRO ALFANO)

It has previously been reported that [PIETRO “PETER” ALFANO] Owner, Alfono’s Pizza, Rochelle, Illinois, made available his Alien Registration card reflecting his number as [REDACTED] reflecting arrival in Chicago, Illinois, on August 5, 1967. He also made available for examination a Selective Service Number (SSN) [REDACTED] issued by Local Board 215, Rockford, Illinois.

[ALFANO,] when interviewed said he was employed by the Winnebago Cabinet Company, Rockford, Illinois, and that this company had signed a statement indicating they would employ him, thus enabling him to obtain an Immigration visa to this country. He said he had been in the United States earlier in 1967 and had made this arrangement at the time of his earlier visit.
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Re: The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

Post by cavita »

B. wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 6:20 pm Cavita -- not to sidetrack too much from the Chicago zips topic, but Priola's FBI file mentioned a redacted made member of the Rockford Family living in Pueblo, Colorado. Any idea who that would be? It said Priola was close to a Pueblo Family capodecina in addition to that but there seems to be a Rockford member who kept his membership with them but lived for a time in CO.
My understanding in reading Priola's file is that the only Pueblo person mentioned was capo Joseph "Scotty" Spinuzzi and that there was no Rockford family member that moved there unless I'm missing something.
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Re: The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

Post by PolackTony »

CabriniGreen wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 2:06 am Maybe this woman explains it better than me...


This is all local to Italy, but could easily be applied abroad....


Migrated Mafia Groups

Mafia transplantation (Varese, 2006) and adaptation of traditional mafia-like groups in new territories are emerging theoretical issues in criminological research (Kleemans, 2013).
As concerns Italy, the presence of southern Italian mafias has been largely documented also in central and northern regions:


( I feel like I have to highlight this, as whenever I mention Sicilians, and criminal colonies in the early 70s, you start in with the 60s, 50s, 20s, even... like... I'm not talking about them..)




the presence of mafia groups in the north-west and their colo-nizing attitude has been reported at least since the 1970s, but this phenomenon has received significant attention in public discourse only in recent years,

when law enforcement operationssuch as ‘Crimine-Infinito’ in 2010 have shown the degree that mafia transplantation has reached in the area (Direzione Nazionale Antimafia, 2011).


While in some administrative re-gions of the north-west (as the cases of some municipalities of the Milan and Turin hinterland areas have shown) there have been also problem of political infiltration (Chiavari, 2011; Paoli,1994; Savatteri, 2012; Varese, 2006), the situation seems different in other parts of Italy, for instance in the north-east. The administrative region of Veneto, in particular, is considered as‘the area of the future’ for Italian mafias (Pennisi, 2012), especially as concerns the ’Ndran-gheta and some Camorra clans (Direzione Nazionale Antimafia, 2011).

However, it seems that the ’Ndrangheta in Veneto is not going to colonize and to invest money as it has done in Lombardia or Piemonte, but it is rather ‘delocalizing’ (which in economics indicates the transfer of industries in new areas which have competitive advantages compared to the main ones), while the main centre remains in the homeland Calabria.

The idea is to create wealth in northern Italy to converge in the south.

( Again, I feel like I gotta highlight this. I'm looking at this like an overarching strategy. Ciccio Gambino. Torreta. Operations in NY. Permanant pressence there. Zito taking money he made in the states and rigging elections in Torreta. Colony? Or strategy of delocation?
Caruanas- Cuntreras? Colony? Or delocation strategy?
I've felt these early 70s mafiosi were the progenitors of what's become contemporary strategy for the most ( currently)successful Italian criminal groups. It's a conversation..... what's the issue? Lol
)


Similarly, Camorra groups in Veneto have been reported to make profits from usury and extortion to send money to their homeland to help the families of convicted mafia members.

This is why mafia groups in some parts of Italy seem to be more interested in relationships with the professional and entrepreneurial world than with politics,and links to the latter exist to the point that they are functional to the achievement of other goals(Lavorgna et al., 2013; Pennisi, 2012).

The novelty of this phenomenon makes it difficult to estimate reliable numbers regarding the presence of mafias in the north-east. If in Lombardy aminimum of 500 ’Ndrangheta members was estimated (Direzione Nazionale Antimafia, 2011)it is likely than in Veneto, where mafias are delocalizing rather than colonizing, the numbers are inferior.

Note here.... a group engaged in trafficking, delocation, DOESNT NEED A LARGE GROUP, in the same way a more traditional mafia extortion, territorial control type of organization does.
Agreed that a group engaged primarily in trafficking, that isn’t as concerned with controlling or dominating territory, doesn’t need to have large numbers of people present in a locality.

There’s a major difference between the sort of phenomenon we’re looking at here and the mafia colonization of Northern Italy (or Germany, etc). Namely, the mafia was already in the US; mafia-affiliated migrants weren’t thus entering “virgin territory” and transplanting the mafia, they were engaging, at various levels, with the local mafia in different US cities. What was happening here was a different dynamic than mafia colonization back in Europe.

I’m not sure how intentional or strategic some of this was either. Maybe some stuff was. But I think a lot of it was more organic. Tons of migrants were leaving Sicily and the South during the “2nd Wave” and mainly settling in cities in the US that already had pre-existing colonies of their paesani. Some of these migrants were connected to the mafia in their place of origin, but I don’t know that they were like, “deployed”, to specific US cities, but rather, followed the same chain migration routes looking for new opportunities as their non-criminal paesani.

Look at the Cinisesi Pizza Connection guys in the Midwest. They weren’t like “sent” by Badalamenti specifically to open front operations for heroin importation; at least I don’t see it that way. Alfano, as we’ve seen here, was in Rockford for years before that stuff started and had close connections with the Outfit there already. These Cinisesi were part of a larger network of Cinisi migrants, HQ’d in Chicago and Detroit, that fanned out and opened up businesses in towns across MI, IL, and WI. I think that Badalamenti realized he could use this existing, organically unfolding, network as a base through which heroin could enter the US under LE radar (they didn’t use pizzerias owned by the numerous Cinisesi living in Chicago and Detroit, which I don’t think was incidental). The Cinisi migrant community in Northern IL predated and had long outlasted the Pizza Connection stuff.

Also consider guys like Catalano and Ragusa. I don’t think that they were directed by the mafia in Ciminna and Bagheria to settle in Queens, join the Bonanno family, and engage in heroin trafficking to Chicago. Beyond the mafia-connected people, their paesani in the US were arriving primarily to NYC and Chicago, so their criminal careers in the US reflected that broader migrant settlement dynamic.

In terms of ties to place vs delocalization, I think it’s again important to stress that the dynamic in the US was different than mafia colonization in Europe. In Chicago, the new immigrants from Sicily, Bari, Calabria, and Campania, re-Italianized the Chicago Italian community. Apart from opening up tons of important business (what would Grand Ave have been to me as a kid without D’Amato’s, Bari Deli, Bella Notte, etc?), they also rescued the old paesani societies from decay and oblivion. The new migrants completely jumped into Chicago-Italian life — business, politics, cultural institutions. Understanding the “zips” as embedded within this larger dynamic is important, I think, as their activities and ties to the local mafia families in IL were fully part of this re-Italianization of local community life.
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Re: The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

Post by cavita »

A couple pages about the Sicilians in Rockford from the 1971 Illinois Institute of Technology's report on crime in Illinois.
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Re: The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

Post by B. »

cavita wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 10:09 am
B. wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 6:20 pm Cavita -- not to sidetrack too much from the Chicago zips topic, but Priola's FBI file mentioned a redacted made member of the Rockford Family living in Pueblo, Colorado. Any idea who that would be? It said Priola was close to a Pueblo Family capodecina in addition to that but there seems to be a Rockford member who kept his membership with them but lived for a time in CO.
My understanding in reading Priola's file is that the only Pueblo person mentioned was capo Joseph "Scotty" Spinuzzi and that there was no Rockford family member that moved there unless I'm missing something.
Sorry, I said Pueblo but it was actually Denver. It must be a surname that starts with an A or B based as it's at the top of this alphabetical list:

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Re: The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

Post by cavita »

B. wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 3:23 pm
cavita wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 10:09 am
B. wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 6:20 pm Cavita -- not to sidetrack too much from the Chicago zips topic, but Priola's FBI file mentioned a redacted made member of the Rockford Family living in Pueblo, Colorado. Any idea who that would be? It said Priola was close to a Pueblo Family capodecina in addition to that but there seems to be a Rockford member who kept his membership with them but lived for a time in CO.
My understanding in reading Priola's file is that the only Pueblo person mentioned was capo Joseph "Scotty" Spinuzzi and that there was no Rockford family member that moved there unless I'm missing something.
Sorry, I said Pueblo but it was actually Denver. It must be a surname that starts with an A or B based as it's at the top of this alphabetical list:

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Ah, yes, This was Anthony Basile who was a made Rockford LCN member who moved to Denver around 1967/1968. He was born in Rochester, New York to Filippo Basile and Antonina Alfano of San Giuseppe Iato, Sicily. Basile died in Denver on July 4, 1977.
B.
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Re: The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

Post by B. »

Great info -- I assumed it would be one of the Agrigento guys. Didn't know of San Giuseppe Jato ties to Rochester (there was a colony near Utica though) or Denver. Sounds like he kept his membership in Rockford which is interesting but there seems to have been a close relationship between Colorado and Rockford just from the few references that came from informants. I know you said the Triolos of Rockford moved there too.
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