Confirmation of Chicago Consiglio 1969

[Snakes]

I don't think Nick testifidd thst Palermo succeeded Pilotto, but Palermo seemed to be acting capo when Pilotto went away.

[PolackTony]

I don't think Nick testifidd thst Palermo succeeded Pilotto, but Palermo seemed to be acting capo when Pilotto went away.

As I recall from Nick’s testimony, after he identified Palermo as a capo at the time of his ceremony, they asked him who was the capo before Palermo and he replied “Al Pilotto”. I don’t think that he went into any more detail than that, as it was just to establish for the jury the succession of capos for the period in question.

[PPPP]

Interesting this shows Catuara as a capo but not Pilotto.

We know for a fact that Al Pilotto succeeded Frankie LaPorte, based on both what Frank Bompensiero reported to the FBI (Nicky Calabrese also testified that Dom Palermo succeeded Pilotto as captain).

It's still unclear exactly what the deal was with Catuara. If he was a capo, it's pretty evident that he wasn't over the LaPorte crew.

Is the consensus then that it went La Porte, Pilotto, Palermo, Tocco then extinct?

Based on the info that we have, that’s what it looks like.

According to the Catura was a Capo truthers, where would Catura fit in? Would he be the Capo between Pilotto and Palermo?

Assuming that what Red said is accurate (and he told me the same thing), then he had a previously undiscussed crew that was between Chinatown and Chicago Heights. Guido Fidanzi, Billy Dauber, and maybe Sam Annerino worked under him. Jimmy the Bomber Belcastro might have been a previous capo. Maybe we could call it the "Oak Lawn crew."

Personally, that’s my exact suspicion. We may never know for sure, but that’s my guess too. It could have been like the Daddono/Amato crew that seems to have only had a handful of made guys so far as we know. After Catuara and some of his guys got clipped (which Wemette says happened because Catuara was told to stand down by “the bosses” and refused, so they issued a contract on him to Lombardo), the crew was evidently disbanded and anyone remaining was assigned to another captain.

"Stand down" in regards to what? Retire? Wasn't that the issue, he was told to retire or move over for someone else and he refused to do so?

[Antiliar]

"Stand down" perhaps in reference to the Chop Shop War. It seems that Catuara was stepping on toes in Chicago Heights (CH) territory. Assuming that Catuara's was almost all unmade guys, they were at a disadvantage compared to CH since CH had a lot of made members. Made members have protection that associates don't. Especially car thieves and auto mechanics. Scott Burnstein wrote a piece about it.

[PolackTony]

"Stand down" perhaps in reference to the Chop Shop War. It seems that Catuara was stepping on toes in Chicago Heights (CH) territory. Assuming that Catuara's was almost all unmade guys, they were at a disadvantage compared to CH since CH had a lot of made members. Made members have protection that associates don't. Especially car thieves and auto mechanics. Scott Burnstein wrote a piece about it.

Yes, if I recall that was the context that Wemette was referring to. Catuara may have lost a sit-down and/or the bosses ruled against him, and he was given orders to back off and disobeyed. That was my take when I spoke with Red about it at least.

[B.]

Are there known examples of Chicago demoting a captain who is still on the street?

[PolackTony]

Are there known examples of Chicago demoting a captain who is still on the street?

Not that I'm aware of offhand. Skid Caruso was apparently replaced by LaPietra in the late 70s and didn't die until 1983. But he was seemingly in ill health at the time, so it wasn't like he was busted down from his position, so far as we know (also, could be possible that LaPietra was technically acting in that position until Caruso died. We don't know that this was the case, as it wasn't something that Calabrese stated in his testimony, which is really the only firm source that we have, but I don't know that we can 100% rule it out).

[B.]

Yeah, I wouldn't include a guy stepping down due to ill health or legal trouble/prison.

Was thinking of the Genovese motto: "We don't break our captains, we kill them." Calabrese felt it was basically a rule that a guy who balked or made a mistake on a hit would get "flattened" (killed) and knew examples. Wouldn't be shocked if Chicago preferred to a kill a captain who made a mistake rather than demote him. If Catuara was a captain like the FBI and Wemette thought maybe he got that treatment.

[PPPP]

"Stand down" perhaps in reference to the Chop Shop War. It seems that Catuara was stepping on toes in Chicago Heights (CH) territory. Assuming that Catuara's was almost all unmade guys, they were at a disadvantage compared to CH since CH had a lot of made members. Made members have protection that associates don't. Especially car thieves and auto mechanics. Scott Burnstein wrote a piece about it.

Got ya. Makes sense. I believe I've read Scott's piece about it. Thanks.

[PolackTony]

Yeah, I wouldn't include a guy stepping down due to ill health or legal trouble/prison.

Was thinking of the Genovese motto: "We don't break our captains, we kill them." Calabrese felt it was basically a rule that a guy who balked or made a mistake on a hit would get "flattened" (killed) and knew examples. Wouldn't be shocked if Chicago preferred to a kill a captain who made a mistake rather than demote him. If Catuara was a captain like the FBI and Wemette thought maybe he got that treatment.

Yeah, I was thinking of the same Chin quote.

Chicago: "We don't break our captains, we flatten 'em".

I'd imagine that Chicago preferred stability and didn't put guys into these positions unless they'd really proven themselves, obviously. There was so little margin for error with them, lots of motivation to not fuck up or to have one of your men clipped if something goes wrong so that it doesn't go back to you. Look at that thing where Bompensiero reported in 1970 that LaPorte was aghast at Roselli producing a printed memo and giving it to him. He told Bomp that this could put him (LaPorte) into a bad position if caught with it, and insinuated that Roselli's life would now be in the hands of the Consiglio. And LaPorte was Roselli's capo. If Roselli was bugging out, the buck had to stop somewhere and I doubt that LaPorte was going to put himself in the position of having it stop with him playing trunk music. From what we know, it was a guy's capo that served as his sponsor when he was made, and I believe that the early 1970s CI ("Gianola") stated that sponsoring someone for membership was a very serious matter, as the sponsor would be held liable if the initiate fucked up down the line. That's true anywhere, but "held responsible" in Chicago could very easily mean two to the head in the back of a Buick.

[Antiliar]

Are there known examples of Chicago demoting a captain who is still on the street?

There are some possible examples in Chicago, but because they took place before the FBI got seriously involved. I'll also list some who lost their positions for other reasons.

- Gaspare Matranga was an early boss of the North Side crew who wasn't killed but transferred to Los Angeles. Did he transfer to avoid getting killed? Maybe. Nick Licata reportedly left the Detroit mob for L.A. to avoid getting clipped by Zerilli.

- James DeGeorge was another capo of the North Side crew. He moved to Wisconsin and was apparently demoted or shelved.

- Nick DeJohn was reportedly the capo before DeGeorge and ended up living in San Francisco. He may have been demoted and transferred to San Francisco. The transfer could have been a ruse like Bompensiero's promotion to consigliere.

- Tom Neglia may have been the capo between Matranga and DeJohn, and he of course was killed during the Chicago Pizza War. Interesting how problematic it was to run the North Side crew until Ross Prio took control.

- Charles Gioe was according to one source an underboss. He and Frank "Diamond" Maritote, who I think could have been a capo prior to Fiore Buccieri, may have been demoted or shelved. They didn't like their new circumstance and tried to muscle their way into generating an income and both were killed.

- Frank Nitto may have been the day-to-day boss operating under Paul Ricca and the consiglio and was told to turn himself in and take the rap for everyone else, or get tortured to death. He chose suicide.

It's possible that there are others. John Formusa could have been the first member to run the Gary, Indiana crew, then suddenly he's out and it appears his role is diminished. Was he demoted or shelved? Hard to say in his case since we currently don't know if he was ever an official capodecina. He may have been, and if so, then something happened that resulted in his diminished role. Another possibility is Vincent "the Don" Benevento. He may have briefly been a capo between Accardo and Capezio. According to Ted DeRose, his murder was connected to Nick DeJohn and the Chicago Pizza War.

[PolackTony]

Are there known examples of Chicago demoting a captain who is still on the street?

There are some possible examples in Chicago, but because they took place before the FBI got seriously involved. I'll also list some who lost their positions for other reasons.

- Gaspare Matranga was an early boss of the North Side crew who wasn't killed but transferred to Los Angeles. Did he transfer to avoid getting killed? Maybe. Nick Licata reportedly left the Detroit mob for L.A. to avoid getting clipped by Zerilli.

- James DeGeorge was another capo of the North Side crew. He moved to Wisconsin and was apparently demoted or shelved.

- Nick DeJohn was reportedly the capo before DeGeorge and ended up living in San Francisco. He may have been demoted and transferred to San Francisco. The transfer could have been a ruse like Bompensiero's promotion to consigliere.

- Tom Neglia may have been the capo between Matranga and DeJohn, and he of course was killed during the Chicago Pizza War. Interesting how problematic it was to run the North Side crew until Ross Prio took control.

- Charles Gioe was according to one source an underboss. He and Frank "Diamond" Maritote, who I think could have been a capo prior to Fiore Buccieri, may have been demoted or shelved. They didn't like their new circumstance and tried to muscle their way into generating an income and both were killed.

- Frank Nitto may have been the day-to-day boss operating under Paul Ricca and the consiglio and was told to turn himself in and take the rap for everyone else, or get tortured to death. He chose suicide.

It's possible that there are others. John Formusa could have been the first member to run the Gary, Indiana crew, then suddenly he's out and it appears his role is diminished. Was he demoted or shelved? Hard to say in his case since we currently don't know if he was ever an official capodecina. He may have been, and if so, then something happened that resulted in his diminished role. Another possibility is Vincent "the Don" Benevento. He may have briefly been a capo between Accardo and Capezio. According to Ted DeRose, his murder was connected to Nick DeJohn and the Chicago Pizza War.

Good summaries. These are useful examples for discussion and contemplation. As you note, we really don’t know enough about the organizational positions of these guys (though we can and do make educated guesses) or what factors were at play in the events that we know of as they were recorded to really draw solid conclusions about them (at least in respect to the question of how Chicago as a Family approached demoting a capo). My personal guess is that there may have been more crews operating in the Near North and Grand Ave neighborhoods in the past than the ones we know of later, so there could have been a lot at play that we don’t really know about when it comes to guys like Oneglia, Benevento, DeJohn, and DeGeorge, assuming for the sake of argument that they were all captains. My assumption is that some organizational restructuring would likely have resulted from the aftermath of the “Cheese War”, as it seems to have been a very bloody and significant period in Chicago’s history. While we don’t know that an organizational overhaul happened under Accardo’s tenure, I think it would’ve been exactly the sort of context where we might expect to see serious housecleaning and reorganization occur. It does seem that DeGeorge really was a capo who was demoted, so he might be our only example, though I don’t think we really have enough of a grip on what happened with him exactly. To me at least, it’s clear that DeGeorge wasn’t exiled or shelved, or at least not for long, as the FBI recorded that he was still present frequently at his home in Chicago in the 50s when he was ostensibly living in WI and was still maintaining relationships with LCN members.

Another interesting case might be Pinelli. Bompensiero tells us that Pinelli was still a capodecina c. 1965 (safe bet that he was captain of the Gary crew), around which time he became unable to continue performing his duties in that role and transferred to the LA Family. So he seems to be an example of a guy who was demoted from his position, but then in the process transferred rather than stay on as a soldier. No reason to believe that his transfer was due to duress or any acrimony with the Chicago admin, but was rather likely because it made more sense for him to be represented by his local organization. So even he doesn’t seem to be a really clear cut example of how Chicago might handle a demotion or a guy stepping down who was still an active member (I.e., not incarcerated or seriously ill).

[PolackTony]

As reported by the Sun-Times in connection to the 1959 Hearings. Pinelli reportedly put in charge of gambling in Gary while Formusa was still in charge of vice (operational, not organizational, but goes to suggest that whatever Formusa was he was still in the picture in the 50s); seems to suggest that Formusa was acting capo for Pinelli. In the late 50s the Feds had a lot of intel that Pinelli was frequently traveling to Gary and that his Villa Restaurant there was the command center for regional gambling, jukebox, and narcotics rackets. In 1964, Bompensiero reported that Pinelli had been a “rather important caporegime in the Chicago ‘Brugad’”, but that the publicity from the hearings forced him to have to step back from activity. We know that around 1965, Pinelli transferred to LA.

[PolackTony]

In 1964, an underworld informant met clandestinely with a Chicago Tribune reporter in a DuPage County Motel to discuss the inner workings of the Chicago “syndicate”. According to this informant, the “syndicate” was controlled by a “council” headed by Sam Giancana, and was composed of “cells” that answered to the “council”. Approximately once a month, the council held a meeting with Giancana presiding as “chairman”; these council meetings were held in various location, though the informant said that a Franklin Park lounge was used most frequently.

At the council meetings, representatives of all Chicago area cells make their reports. Besides settling mob disputes and deciding on punishment to be meted out to those who violate council law, new deals are discussed.

Representatives often draw in the council’s “bankroll” for funds to finance criminal projects demanding more money than the cell can raise.

As an example of one such “cell”, the informant gave the group headed by Teets Battaglia, which met every Saturday in the basement of Battaglia’s home in Oak Park. Like other “cells”, the Battaglia group “exercise control over a network of gambling joints, loan sharks, and prostitution rings”, as well as financing numerous legitimate business investments both in Chicagoland and as far afield as lucrative industrial developments in New Mexico and Las Vegas. The informant added that the Battaglia group was not strictly bounded by territory; while its gambling operations were primarily confined to the Westside and Western Suburbs, it had, as an example, investments in legitimate business enterprises that “blanketed” the city and suburbs.

The informant also explained that the Chicago “syndicate” had close ties and coordinated activities with other “syndicates” in cities such as NYC and Detroit; it was common that these other groups would spin-off operations or opportunities to Chicago and vice-versa. As an example, the informant stated that if NYC had a shipment of hijacked liquor that it wanted to get rid of out of town, it would contact the Chicago council, who would then delegate the work to one of its local “cells”, who would then use their network of extensive businesses and contacts to take control of the shipment and sell it locally. If Chicago needed a favor or had a “venture” opportunity for NYC or another group, it would do the same.

[B.]

The specificity of that description makes it apparent they are discussing an actual council and not just an assortment of leaders. They describe its role as a mediating body that can cast judgment and the bankroll could lend itself to what Bill B said about the consigliere being responsible for the war chest since we know the official consigliere and consiglio had the same/similar duties.

It seems to have been common knowledge that there was a ruling council / board / committee in Chicago, it's just most sources weren't in a position to know it was a formal consiglio as we understand it. Many times I've wanted to thank Frank Bompensiero haha but in this instance he really did tie some things together and reconcile different views of how Chicago's top leadership operated.