Confirmation of Chicago Consiglio 1969

[B.]

In 1969 Jimmy Fratianno went into business with Phil Alderisio. Frank Bompensiero attended a meeting between both of them and formally introduced them as members afterward as they hadn't officially met before.

After this meeting Alderisio updated Bomp on Chicago and stated Sam Giancana had been taken down as boss and was now a soldier. The Family was being run by Ricca and Accardo who presided over the "Consignu" [ph] along with captains. Bomp explained this was a "Commissione of the Family". They had yet to choose a new boss. Alderisio had been a soldier who was previously direct with Giancana and now occasionally attended the consiglio meetings. Alderisio also claimed to be a candidate for boss. Fratianno also pled his case about the failed transfer.





This confirms Ricca and Accardo sat on a consiglio that governed the Family, just like the consiglio found around the country and in Sicily.

[chin_gigante]

Great find

[HairyKnuckles]

I think the "Commisione" in this case would basically mean a committee temporarily governing the Family.

[B.]

It's referring to the "Consignu" [ph], a variation on consiglio or the FBI's best attempt to transcribe it.

Some of us already figured they had one based on other evidence going back to the 1950s/60s but now we know they used traditional language for it in Chicago as late as 1969.

Consiglio thread:

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=6598

[HairyKnuckles]

B, I did not read the thread in detail but "consiglio" could be another word for administration that some informants chose to use. The traditional administration consisted of the boss, the consigliere and the Family´s captains. If you have Bill Bonanno´s "The Last Testament" at hand, he describes this in the book.

[Snakes]

A "commission" or "consiglio" in Chicago was always assumed or hinted at, but good to see confirmation of it here. I had always assumed it was composed of the boss, the underboss (if one was appointed), the capos (but seemingly only the senior ones), and any senior members that still held authority (like Accardo or Ricca, in this instance).

Also interesting to see that Alderisio and Caifano reported direct to Giancana. They were two guys who never seemed bound by geographical assignments. Although Chicago crews were never restricted to operating only within their home territories, Alderisio and Caifano seemed especially spread out all over. Not sure if them being direct was always the case (we know that Caifano was later subordinate to Lombardo), but it's an interesting find to me.

[thekiduknow]

B, I did not read the thread in detail but "consiglio" could be another word for administration that some informants chose to use. The traditional administration consisted of the boss, the consigliere and the Family´s captains. If you have Bill Bonanno´s "The Last Testament" at hand, he describes this in the book.

If I understand it correctly, the consiglio focused more on purely LCN matters rather than operations ran by the family, which would be more of a panel/committee we see later.

Pretty sure on the DeCavalcante tapes, it’s mentioned that captains are also part of the admin as well.

[PolackTony]

Really, really excellent find here.

We know that informants before Giancana left town, and after Aiuppa took over, told the FBI that Chicago had a “board of directors” or “ruling committee”. As we’ve discussed on the forum before, this body was tasked not just with advising the boss, but in managing issues related to the family’s membership (mediating disputes between members, approving hits on members), duties that align with the consigli that B has identified in other families. I think it’s clear that this body was not a temporary or provisional body formed in Giancana’s absence. In the 1970s, an informant told the FBI that Aiuppa, as boss, served “under” the “board”, suggesting that the council was seen as check against the tendency towards tyranny on the part of the boss. Indeed, two earlier sources stated that Giancana was creating an issue in that he was no longer consulting “collective meetings” of the “governing board” of the family for his actions. I’ve suspected that this dynamic may have led to Giancana’s exile, whether as a precipitating or aggravating factor. It also might explain why Fratianno’s transfer to Chicago was never made official, if Giancana personally approved it but never had it approved by the council; a strong assumption would be that things like transfers and opening the books for new members would have to be approached by the council, given that we have other intel stating that the body was in charge of issues relating to the membership.

Other info from an informant in ‘69 states that Accardo and Ricca had come out of retirement to manage the family as acting bosses in Giancana’s absence, but that they were not able to yet appoint a new official boss, as Giancana was still technically official. The info here seems to contradict this. Given that I’m not sure who the other informant was and Bomp is reporting this as directly told to him by Alderisio, I think that this likely ranks higher on the hierarchy of sources. So we have a direct source confirming that by ‘69 Giancana was no longer official. Still unclear to me if Battaglia was acting or official here, during his brief tenure.

This file also confirms that Alderisio and Caifano, at this time at least, were not members of the Battaglia crew, and that Alderisio did not succeed Battaglia as capo (both having been long held assumptions that, as so often with Chicago, were our best guesses in the absence of inside intel).

Regarding “consignu”, I believe that “Consiglio” in Sicilianu is “Cunsigghiu”. Bomp otherwise doesn’t use the term when discussing his own family, so I think we can assume that Alderisio told him that the body in Chicago was called Consiglio. Also, if Consiglio/Commissione here was just referring to the typical family administration, why did Bomp not say that his own family was run by a “Commissione”?

[Snakes]

Really, really excellent find here.

We know that informants before Giancana left town, and after Aiuppa took over, told the FBI that Chicago had a “board of directors” or “ruling committee”. As we’ve discussed on the forum before, this body was tasked not just with advising the boss, but in managing issues related to the family’s membership (mediating disputes between members, approving hits on members), duties that align with the consigli that B has identified in other families. I think it’s clear that this body was not a temporary or provisional body formed in Giancana’s absence. In the 1970s, an informant told the FBI that Aiuppa, as boss, served “under” the “board”, suggesting that the council was seen as check against the tendency towards tyranny on the part of the boss. Indeed, two earlier sources stated that Giancana was creating an issue in that he was no longer consulting “collective meetings” of the “governing board” of the family for his actions. I’ve suspected that this dynamic may have led to Giancana’s exile, whether as a precipitating or aggravating factor. It also might explain why Fratianno’s transfer to Chicago was never made official, if Giancana personally approved it but never had it approved by the council; a strong assumption would be that things like transfers and opening the books for new members would have to be approached by the council, given that we have other intel stating that the body was in charge of issues relating to the membership.

Other info from an informant in ‘69 states that Accardo and Ricca had come out of retirement to manage the family as acting bosses in Giancana’s absence, but that they were not able to yet appoint a new official boss, as Giancana was still technically official. The info here seems to contradict this. Given that I’m not sure who the other informant was and Bomp is reporting this as directly told to him by Alderisio, I think that this likely ranks higher on the hierarchy of sources. So we have a direct source confirming that by ‘69 Giancana was no longer official. Still unclear to me if Battaglia was acting or official here, during his brief tenure.

This file also confirms that Alderisio and Caifano, at this time at least, were not members of the Battaglia crew, and that Alderisio did not succeed Battaglia as capo (both having been long held assumptions that, as so often with Chicago, were our best guesses in the absence of inside intel).

Regarding “consignu”, I believe that “Consiglio” in Sicilianu is “Cunsigghiu”. Bomp otherwise doesn’t use the term when discussing his own family, so I think we can assume that Alderisio told him that the body in Chicago was called Consiglio. Also, if Consiglio/Commissione here was just referring to the typical family administration, why did Bomp not say that his own family was run by a “Commissione”?

There is another file from around 71 or 72 that says the family has had "no official boss since Giancana," so it can be assumed that everyone between he and Aiuppa were acting.

The consiglio also probably intersects with some of the intel we have received on "elder statesmen" in the sixties and seventies. They were probably committee/consilgio members.

There seems to be less mention of a committee/consiglio as time went on, so I'm not sure if it was something that became less formal by the 80s or not. This may be because as the organization shrunk, the need for some type of governing board became less necessary, especially by the 90s, when you had more top guys in prison than on the street.

[PolackTony]

Really, really excellent find here.

We know that informants before Giancana left town, and after Aiuppa took over, told the FBI that Chicago had a “board of directors” or “ruling committee”. As we’ve discussed on the forum before, this body was tasked not just with advising the boss, but in managing issues related to the family’s membership (mediating disputes between members, approving hits on members), duties that align with the consigli that B has identified in other families. I think it’s clear that this body was not a temporary or provisional body formed in Giancana’s absence. In the 1970s, an informant told the FBI that Aiuppa, as boss, served “under” the “board”, suggesting that the council was seen as check against the tendency towards tyranny on the part of the boss. Indeed, two earlier sources stated that Giancana was creating an issue in that he was no longer consulting “collective meetings” of the “governing board” of the family for his actions. I’ve suspected that this dynamic may have led to Giancana’s exile, whether as a precipitating or aggravating factor. It also might explain why Fratianno’s transfer to Chicago was never made official, if Giancana personally approved it but never had it approved by the council; a strong assumption would be that things like transfers and opening the books for new members would have to be approached by the council, given that we have other intel stating that the body was in charge of issues relating to the membership.

Other info from an informant in ‘69 states that Accardo and Ricca had come out of retirement to manage the family as acting bosses in Giancana’s absence, but that they were not able to yet appoint a new official boss, as Giancana was still technically official. The info here seems to contradict this. Given that I’m not sure who the other informant was and Bomp is reporting this as directly told to him by Alderisio, I think that this likely ranks higher on the hierarchy of sources. So we have a direct source confirming that by ‘69 Giancana was no longer official. Still unclear to me if Battaglia was acting or official here, during his brief tenure.

This file also confirms that Alderisio and Caifano, at this time at least, were not members of the Battaglia crew, and that Alderisio did not succeed Battaglia as capo (both having been long held assumptions that, as so often with Chicago, were our best guesses in the absence of inside intel).

Regarding “consignu”, I believe that “Consiglio” in Sicilianu is “Cunsigghiu”. Bomp otherwise doesn’t use the term when discussing his own family, so I think we can assume that Alderisio told him that the body in Chicago was called Consiglio. Also, if Consiglio/Commissione here was just referring to the typical family administration, why did Bomp not say that his own family was run by a “Commissione”?

There is another file from around 71 or 72 that says the family has had "no official boss since Giancana," so it can be assumed that everyone between he and Aiuppa were acting.

The consiglio also probably intersects with some of the intel we have received on "elder statesmen" in the sixties and seventies. They were probably committee/consilgio members.

There seems to be less mention of a committee/consiglio as time went on, so I'm not sure if it was something that became less formal by the 80s or not. This may be because as the organization shrunk, the need for some type of governing board became less necessary, especially by the 90s, when you had more top guys in prison than on the street.

Agreed on all points.

[B.]

B, I did not read the thread in detail but "consiglio" could be another word for administration that some informants chose to use. The traditional administration consisted of the boss, the consigliere and the Family´s captains. If you have Bill Bonanno´s "The Last Testament" at hand, he describes this in the book.

You'd have to read the thread in detail but we have many sources around the US and in Sicily who make it clear there was a separate governing body within traditional mafia Families called a consiglio (and other local variations) that could include not only admin and captains but also respected soldiers. It was a formal body made up of specific people and it often include more than the admin/captains, typically numbering 5.

In Chicago's case, Accardo and Ricca were technically "just" members / retired leaders but sat on this body like we see in other cities.

[Antiliar]

Great find on the use of the word "consignu." I agree with Tony that's a term Bomp never uses in other FBI docs, which supports its authenticity. I'm more skeptical of some of the other details in the report. As Snakes pointed out, there's more documentation for Giancana retaining the title. There is precedence for some bosses being shelved or demoted to soldier, such as Frank Costello. Some bosses lose their title when they get lengthy or lifelong prison sentences while others like Peter Gotti and Carmine Persico retain it. Its worth looking into the technicalities of the different applications. At any rate, I don't think the totality of the evidence supports Giancana getting knocked down to soldier.

I also don't see for support that Alderisio and Caifano were direct to Giancana except perhaps in an operational sense. There's documentation that they were both under Battaglia, that Alderisio became the acting head of the crew when Teets became acting boss, and Caifano remained in the same crew under the next leader in the line of succession, Joe Lombardo. It reminds me what Roselli allegedly told Fratianno in The Last Mafioso: "All bosses like to have a crew of workers directly under them. Marshall Caifano, Philly Alderisio, Obie Frabotta, Jackie Cerone, seven, eight guys now work directly under Sam." It's true that they were all under Sam since he was the boss, but they weren't under him in the same sense. Cerone was the Elmwood Park caporegime, and he had four people he was technically under during that time period (c1964): Frank Ferraro, Giancana, Accardo and Ricca. Caifano, Alderisio and Frabotta were all in Battaglia's crew. Maybe when the conversation between Alderisio and Bomp took place around 1968, with Battaglia in prison they both reported to the consignu - although we also have evidence that Cerone replaced Battaglia as the acting boss, but there was probably a time gap between them.

In this report from 1967, Giancana is said to still "rule the family in absentia": https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... 0battaglia

In this doc from 1968, the CI (probably Bomp) said that Fratianno met Alderisio through Louis Dragna. In the book, however, Fratianno said he first met Alderisio and Caifano together in Las Vegas in the early 1950s, and there's no mention of Dragna being involved. After that, when Fratianno kills Russian Louie in 1953, Alderisio was there although he wasn't yet a made member. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... 0fratianno

Here, CG T-12 said that Fratianno transferred to Chicago when Jack Dragna was still the L.A. boss, and it was agreeable to both families. In reality he transferred when Frank Desimone was boss and Desimone didn't approve: https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... 0fratianno

Here Bomp says that Roselli helped arrange with Giancana to transfer Fratianno, but according to Fratianno all Roselli did was recommend Fratianno. Roselli didn't have the authority to transfer anyone, but Giancana did (with approval from the previous boss - which he never obtained): https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... 0fratianno

Interesting that in The Last Mafioso we never read about Roselli being furious with him over a loan. They always got along in every meeting in the book. Is it because Fratianno was only telling self-serving stories, or because Ovid Demaris had too much material to work with already?
https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... 0fratianno

Here the story is that Roselli arranged the transfer with Desimone and Giancana without anyone else knowing about it. In the book Desimone clearly doesn't approve: https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... 0fratianno

Nick Licata explained that there's a formal transfer process and it isn't allowed to be done secretly: https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... 0fratianno

Interesting in this lawsuit against Demaris and the publisher for apparently printing untrue "facts" claimed by Fratianno is the exhibit of notes taken by Demaris of his conversations with Fratianno. We can see how Demaris altered Fratianno's words to turn them into dialogue in the book: https://books.google.com/books?id=gEBc0 ... io&f=false

Fratianno claimed in the book that journalist Aggie Underwood worked with Mickey Cohen to scam $1 million and she sued for libel. She said she hadn't even met Cohen in 1948: https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/04/22 ... 356763600/

So the lesson here is that we can't take any source, whether it's a biography, autobiography, of FBI documents, at face value.

[B.]

What this also indicates:

- The FBI was justified in calling Accardo and Ricca consiglieri on certain lists. They listed the Detroit and San Jose consiglio members the same way. Calderone described consiglio members in Sicily as "consiglieri" even when Sicilian Families didn't have an official consigliere on the admin and we know the function of the consiglio was similar to the duties of a lone consigliere. It's also obvious why people who would sit on a consiglio could be regarded as consiglieri (i.e. if you sit on a council you're a councillor).

- Neither Accardo or Ricca appear to have been "the" consigliere, rather they were senior consiglieri on the Family council. Lends itself to the 1969 chart saying Alderisio may have been "acting" in a consigliere capacity given he sat occasionally on the consiglio (that info could have come from this Bomp report for all we know). Fratianno also said he was told by Roselli that Accardo was acting in a "consigliere" role. Whether they actively called Accardo, Ricca, Prio, etc. "consiglieri" in Chicago, them sitting on the consiglio adds weight to that description.

While the FBI didn't pay much attention to the consiglio and had a hard time putting it in chart form, they were using accurate language and there was some basis for these charts:




I know previously people have been dismissive of the above charts and believe the FBI editorialized but it clearly had basis.

[Antiliar]

Agreed. They just weren't consiglieri in the sense of one elected by the borgata or picked by the boss. They were senior statesmen who held final authority, but they also take votes and make decisions as a group. I've seen sources where they switch calling Accardo boss and consigliere when Aiuppa was the day-to-day.

[B.]

- This is from 1969 so Giancana may have lost his title more recently than 1967.

- No question to me proper protocol wasn't followed when Fratianno tried to transfer and it was ultimately rejected after a period of confusion. Fratianno insisted it went through and that's the main discrepancy.

- For Fratianno and Alderisio meeting previously, they had met but hadn't been formally introduced as amico nostra. Bomp provided the formal introduction on this occasion.

- I'm not particularly interested in who Alderisio or Caifano reported to, but it's def being referred to here in an organizational rather than operational sense. It was brought up in context with what "capo" Fratianno reported to and Alderisio told Bomp the only soldiers assigned to Giancana and not a captain were him and Caifano. Doesn't mean they were direct with Giancana the entire time he was boss but this is evidence the formal arrangement existed at some point.

- With regard to sources, in this case we have one of the most reliable member informants of the era (Bomp) receiving info direct from Alderisio. The "chain of custody" goes Alderisio>Bomp>FBI in a very short period which makes this info of higher value than most of what's available. Accepting random FBI reports at face value without knowing the source and "chain of custody" of the info is less reliable but this particular report/source is about as good as it gets (often we don't know who the informant was or who told him the info).