General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground

[PolackTony]

I was doing some researching into my other major area of interest - golf when I found something was interesting and was curious if any of the Chicago posters or residents had any insight into this. I've been a golf nut, having played on my HS and college teams as well as having caddied at 3 different top 100 clubs in the US when I was in grad school as well as having been lucky enough to play a number of other exclusive clubs over the past 10-15 years.

I was looking into the top clubs in Illinois/greater Chicago and randomly came across an article from 2016 - the founder and owner of Black Sheep Golf Club is Vincent Solano Jr. - when I came across that name, I instantly did a double take and was curious if anyone knows if he is the son of Vincent Solano from the Outfit? Would certainly be interesting and be yet another example of a successful Outfit member who had their children stay out of the outfit and become a successful businessman.

Here's the article for reference: https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/c ... story.html

Also, I know that this isn't a golf forum, but I've always found it interesting that Greater Chicago has always had such a (relatively) high amount of men only golf clubs (i.e. Butler National, Bob O'Link, Black Sheep and Old Elm). To the best of my knowledge, they have 4 men only clubs while there are estimated to only be another 5-6 men only clubs in the entire US.

Yes, that is definitely the Outfit Solano's son and namesake. The elder Solano was also an avid golfer.

Didn't members of The Outfit own or control a country club they all were members at?

The Tam O'Shanter in Niles. President was this guy George May who caught a gambling case when the Tam was raided by LE who found a bunch of slot machines. A waitress who worked at the Tam was interviewed by the FBI in the 60s and basically stated that the outfit was allowed to run the club and use it for private meetings and that employees were instructed to keep out press and investigators.

[PolackTony]

In 1964, Brooklyn-born Chicago narcotics overseer and extortionist Americo "New York Pete" DePietto was convicted as the alleged leader of a $10 million a year heroin trafficking ring in Chicago and sentenced to 20 years in Federal prison. Federal investigators alleged that the ring was supplied from France via NYC and was responsible for supplying as much as 80% of Chicago's huge heroin market, as well as customers in St Louis, Cleveland, and Columbus. DePietto's lieutenants were alleged to have been Joseph Battiato and his brother Michael Battiato aka "Mike DeMaro/Demarco", Frank Carioscia (brother of Mike Carioscia, who was also busted around this time with Armando Pennacchio for a heroin operation allegedly linked to DePietto and the Battiatos), Angelo Passini, and our old friend Teddy DeRose. Joe Battiato and Carioscia were busted carrying weight quantities of heroin, while Federal narcotics agents used an extensive surveillance operation to link the members of the ring together. The DePietto ring was allegedly supplying a black narcotics syndicate on the Southside (a number of whom were indicted in the case), apparently under the infamous Nolan Mack, who was shot to death by Federal agents during a high-speed chase in 1963. Narcotics agents claimed that DePietto was the "chief supervisor of the crime syndicate's narcotics operation in the Midwest" who answered directly to Sam Giancana (a Trib article from the 70s put it more poetically, referring to DePietto as a "Mafia heroin baron"). As of 1960, the DePietto-Battiato ring was stated to have been based out of the North Avenue Steakhouse in Melrose Park, which was alleged to have been under the de facto ownership of Giancana and burned down in the early 60s, with DePietto and Rocky Infelise seen inspecting the ruins afterward (in this same period the ostensible owner Tom Letchos was hit with perjury charges for lying on the stand during Accardo's 1960 tax trial); several other businesses associated with DePietto mysteriously burned down during the early 60s as well (e.g., The Guest House on Mannheim Rd, which burned down in 1962). During the same period as his big dope trial, DePietto was also on trial for assaulting two Federal agents during his arrest, as well as for the extortion of Denver attorney Robert Sunshine with Philly Alderisio (DePietto was acquitted while Alderisio was, of course, convicted), and was reported as a prime target of Federal investigation into "syndicate" arsons and bombings related to extortion of businesses in Chicagoland. In 1965, DePietto was forced to appear twice in the Federal grand jury targeting Giancana, and in 1966 he was again on trial for a stolen money order case with Infelise, Frank Santucci, and Cowboy Mirro. DePietto was released from prison in 1973, and by the next year made the papers again with his buddy Infelise for being named among the many outfit mobsters with Teamsters-supplied jobs at McCormick Place. After being fired, DePietto and Infelise and their fellow dope-dealing pals Specs DiCaro and Mario Garelli (along with outfit member Rocky Potenza) sued the Federal government.

Joseph and Michael Battiato were born in Chicago to Vito Battiato and Vita D'Agostino, who had recently arrived in Chicago from Nicosia, Enna (Vito was originally from Regalbuto, Enna). It may or may not be a coincidence that fellow Southside outfit dope trafficker Jimmy Cordovano was also Nicosiano, as was Lucchese captain/narcotics kingpin John Ormento (who was alleged during this period to have been connected to the Chicago narcotics operations; Cordovano and other Chicago heroin guys were stated to have been supplied by Lucchese member Frank Borelli who was apparently under Carmine LoCascio and had close ties to Chicago). Mike Battiato had a long criminal past, with bootlegging violations in IL and IN going back to the 1930s and a conviction as an accessory to a 1941 armed robbery/murder at a Southside social club. In 1976, Mike Battiato was again convicted along with his wife Audrey and sentenced to 8 years for heroin trafficking with Frank Pedote, who at that time was described as a "syndicate narcotics dealer"; Mike Battiato died two years later in Leavenworth (Joe Battiato had already died in Chicago in 1971).

Passini was born in 1927 in Kankakee County to parents from Emiglia-Romagna and later lived on the Far Southside of Chicago and Grundy County (then apparently under the control of the Macaluso brothers, cousins of the Heights Castellis).

DeRose was already in hot water after having been busted in 1960 with Carlo Fiorito for selling heroin to undercover Federal agents who had infiltrated Chicago's dope networks and flipped their associate William Skally. Skally was murdered in 1960, presumably for having introduced the agents to Fiorito and DeRose (no one was ever charged for the Skally murder, of course). Fiorito and DeRose were convicted in 1961 and received 20 and 10 years in prison, respectively. In 1962, however, the convictions were reversed on appeal. In 1964, it was reported that DeRose had been indicted for his role in the DePietto operation, but granted a separate trial due to poor health. As Ed Valin noted in his excellent Rat Trap write-up of DeRose, he began giving info as a CI to the FBI immediately after the DePietto ring was busted in 1963. In 1965, DeRose was sentenced to 5 years probation in a retrial of the 1960 case (Fiorito got two years), and the result of his charges with the DePietto ring doesn't seem to have been reported.

In 1959, DeRose had allegedly told undercover agents that his heroin was supplied by a "Jake" who owned a motel, which the FBN strongly suspected to have been Jakob "Jake" Klein, a notorious Chicago-NYC heroin trafficker with apparent links to both the Chicago and Genovese Families (and possibly the Luccheses). The FBN had reported in 1958 that Klein was a part-owner of the Flamingo Motel in suburban Wheeling, which in the early 1960s the FBI reported was actually under the de facto ownership of Giancana. Subsequent investigations were unable, however, to positively tie Klein to the Fiorito and DeRose case. Klein had been involved in the Chicago narcotics trade going back at least to the late 30s when he was busted for selling heroin. In 1951 and 1957, the FBN linked Klein to the Serritella/Chiarelli heroin ring in Chicago. In 1958, the FB reported that Klein was surveilled meeting with John Mugavero, a reputed heroin supplier from NYC, at the Sheridan Bar on the Northside of Chicago; that same year, the FBN also suspected that Klein was tied to the John Ormento drug ring busted in NYC. It had previously been an informant to the FBN that Klein was purchasing kilogram quantities of heroin from John Mugavero in NYC. So far as I can tell, this should be John Mogavero, born in 1913 in NYC. His father was named Rosario Mogavero and was from Caltavuturo, Palermo; possibility that he had some relation to Genovese member Rosario "Saro" Mogavero, whose father Salvatore Mogavero was from neighboring Cerda. In 1933, John Mogavero was incarcerated at Sing Sing for a hold-up; in 1940 he was at Dannemora. In 1941, he was free and living at 9th Ave and 63rd St between Boro Park and Dyker Heights in Brooklyn. In 1944 he was incarcerated at Alcatraz for stealing from an interstate shipment (so, likely truck hijacking). Have no idea otherwise who this John Mogavero was affiliated with.

Frank Pedote was born in 1918 in Chicago to James Pedote (born in Chicago to parents from Calvello, Potenza) and Caroline Brosch. At the time of his 1976 bust with Mike Battiato, investigators alleged that Pedote had been heavily involved in trafficking heroin from Mexico to Chicago for 15 years. in 1980, Frank Pedote was busted as part of a "syndicate" arson ring that was alleged to have been contracted by a Danish company to burn down a building in Copenhagen for insurance fraud. The ringleader was said to have been Avi Cohen, who had previously managed Tony Spilotro's jewelry store in Vegas, and Pedote was noted as a convicted narcotics trafficker and reputed "syndicate fence" for stolen merch. Interestingly, it was also reported that one of the men involved in the Copenhagen arson was Anthony Carlone, alleged to have been the "top syndicate figure in Minneapolis" (that's not a phrase I see every day). Frank's son Edward Pedote was also alleged to have been a part of the arson ring; in 1985 (a year after his father Frank died in Chicago), Edward Pedote was busted for a narcotics, guns, explosives, and counterfeiting ring along with Grand Ave crew associates Mikey Swiatek, Danny Bamboulas, and Emil Crovedi. At the time, Edward Pedote was a Chicago jeweler and a member of the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners of suburban Hillside (makes sense, as he presumably knew a lot about crime and fire).

[Antiliar]

I know DePietto is often ID'd as a made member, but I don't think he was. If the narcotics conviction held Rocky Infelice back, then it should have held DePietto back. I could see a five-year (or similar waiting period) rule in place before once could be considered for induction. I think there was at least a five-year gap between Cordavano's involvement in narcotics and the time he was made (a 1963 wiretap suggests he was very recently made at that time).

[PolackTony]

I know DePietto is often ID'd as a made member, but I don't think he was. If the narcotics conviction held Rocky Infelice back, then it should have held DePietto back. I could see a five-year (or similar waiting period) rule in place before once could be considered for induction. I think there was at least a five-year gap between Cordavano's involvement in narcotics and the time he was made (a 1963 wiretap suggests he was very recently made at that time).

Yeah, I don’t think that DePietto was ever made. If it happened, it obviously would’ve happened after he was released in 1972 but he was never ID’d as a member from that point on so far as I know.

After DePietto was busted by the FBN, the FBI apparently received intel that he was going to be hit, and attempted to interview him in detention by notifying him of plans on his life. DePietto replied “you can’t live forever”. In early 1964, however, a CI told the FBI that there was no hit contract on DePietto and that he had no reason to fear for his life, but that his name had been taken out of the running for membership (DePietto bonded out on the drug charges and was later seized in July 1964 after the Feds got reports that he was planning on fleeing the country). The DePietto operation was a big deal, as it was a major heroin ring and the papers were reporting that the FBN claimed it was directly under Giancana. On top of the drug bust, this kind of publicity would have really put a bad mark on DePietto’s standing, for sure. A CI told the FBI that the press reports were false and that Giancana had no part of DePietto’s heroin operation. Hard to imagine that Giancana wasn’t at least aware of it, however, as FBN surveillance operations did establish that DePietto and the Battiatos were using the North Ave Steakhouse as their base of operations and a CI told the FBI that Giancana was the shadow owner of the place and used it frequently during that time for meeting. Guys like Battaglia, DiVarco, and other outfit members were seen frequenting the place.

That DePietto at least had some good standing when he was released in ‘72 is indicated by the fact that he immediately was given a job via an outfit-controlled Teamsters local at McCormick Place. But again, nothing that I’ve seen indicates that he was ever made after that, and he drops out of the papers following the 1975 lawsuit. He died in 1990.

Jimmy Cordovano is always an interesting case because, probationary period or not, the guy continued dealing dope after he was made. In 1964, he was busted (arrested in his car on the way to Strongy Ferraro’s funeral) for heading an NYC-supplied heroin ring with Spider DiCaro, Sam Rancatore, and Sam Garofalo. The ring was claimed to have been supplying Ramza Mack, who was the brother of Nolan Mack who was one of the main partners of the DePietto operation, underscoring that these guys were all part of the same narcotics network. Cordovano owned a trucking firm and was involved in gambling, juice, and hijacking operations during this period so he doesn’t seem to have been hard up for money either.

[PolackTony]

Coli gets a year, pissed he's not getting probation.


https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/cri ... story.html

Coli sentenced to 19 months.

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wi ... e-92143312

[Johnny1and1]

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

Not sure if LoVerde is related. They live(d) in Crown Point / Cedar Lake. Son is in large real estate development.

If someone thinks this is connected, or of any interest to anyone, I have some further areas some on here might wish to look at.

[funkster]

Interesting story.

For those interested, the new season of the Unsolved Mysteries reboot on netflix has an episode about a guy Rick Rizzolo had a feud with in Vegas. Seems like the family might be trying to find someone to blame other than admit their father was a coke head, but a lot of talk about Rizzolo in it.

[PolackTony]

A couple of months ago, I discussed Chicago heroin trafficker Joe LoPiccolo (who was also connected to NYC and Detroit). Here’s another interesting LoPiccolo.

In November of 1929, Giuseppe LoPiccolo, a produce dealer residing in East Chicago, IN, was killed in a hail of buckshot and bullets in nearby Calumet City, IL. It was reported in the IN papers that LoPiccolo was considered one of the leading bootleggers in the Calumet region spanning the IL/IN border near the far SE Side of Chicago. LoPiccolo was at a card game at the house of a friend, a Czech Cal City bootlegger named Andrew Bandura, when he received a series of urgent phone calls, left Bandura’s house, and was then killed outside the home. At the card game were also the former sheriff of Lake County, IN; a Detective Sergeant of the Hammond, IN, PD; two commanders of the Michigan Central Railroad police, and a couple of non-Italian bootleggers. Also present, according to the Hammond detective, were several men from Gary that he was not familiar with. Investigators in Chicago and the Calumet region believed that LoPiccolo’s killing was linked to recent Federal busts of a Calumet-area bootlegging ring.

Giuseppe LoPiccolo was born in 1899 in Pioppo, a small village equidistant between Monreale and Partinico (recall that the later Chicago Joe LoPiccolo’s dad was from Monreale, while Gambino member Giuseppe LoPiccolo seems to have been from Partinico by way of Detroit). His wife, 19 at the time of his killing, was Lucia Natale, apparently from Santa Caterina Villarmosa.

In July of 1929, Chicago-based Federal agents apprehended Chicago Heights fugitive Joseph Giannoni, who was found hiding in Gary with a cache of weapons. Giannoni — alleged to have been a leader of the “Capone gang” in the Heights — had fled the Heights following the November 1928 murder of Caccamese saloon-keeper Giuseppe Martino and Federal investigators believed that Giannoni was responsible for the Martino murder. It was additionally reported that three Federal agents who had been assigned to investigate Giannoni’s links to bootlegging activities in the Chicago and Calumet areas had gone missing under mysterious circumstances, and it was believed that they had been murdered when previously attempting to apprehend Giannoni. The Martino hit, and a couple of other murders at the time, were thought to have been due to fallout from bootlegging raids in 1928 that led to 81 men (including Giannoni) being hit with bootlegging charges.

[Patrickgold]

Has there been any evidence that Chrissy Spina is made? I know I have seen him listed as second in command to Vena on some charts but was wondering if there has been anything solid saying he was a made guy. Hangouts heavily off Cumberland Ave and Lawrence. Recently opened a club up in that area. Seen him a lot recently which I find interesting since he lives in the Grand and Ogden area.

[PolackTony]

Has there been any evidence that Chrissy Spina is made? I know I have seen him listed as second in command to Vena on some charts but was wondering if there has been anything solid saying he was a made guy. Hangouts heavily off Cumberland Ave and Lawrence. Recently opened a club up in that area. Seen him a lot recently which I find interesting since he lives in the Grand and Ogden area.

I have never seen anything indicating that Spina is made, but who really knows. Maybe Snakes has come across something.

Last I checked, he actually lived in a condo in River North, though I don't know if he really lives there full-time and he does own a bunch of property in the Patch.

What's the name of his new club? Last I saw, the Aberdeen Tap was still open but I have no clue if he actually still owns that place.

[Patrickgold]

Lisa’s Club Cabaret. Basically it seems the entire grand ave and remnants of the elmwood park crew hangs out there now. Small place but nice

[Snakes]

I haven't seen anything confirming Spina is made, but it wouldn't surprise me.

[Nicholas]

Interesting story.

For those interested, the new season of the Unsolved Mysteries reboot on netflix has an episode about a guy Rick Rizzolo had a feud with in Vegas. Seems like the family might be trying to find someone to blame other than admit their father was a coke head, but a lot of talk about Rizzolo in it.

What ever happened to Rick Rizzolo?

[Patrickgold]

Interesting story.

For those interested, the new season of the Unsolved Mysteries reboot on netflix has an episode about a guy Rick Rizzolo had a feud with in Vegas. Seems like the family might be trying to find someone to blame other than admit their father was a coke head, but a lot of talk about Rizzolo in it.

What ever happened to Rick Rizzolo?

Last I heard he was living in Orange County but that was a while ago

[funkster]

Lisa’s Club Cabaret. Basically it seems the entire grand ave and remnants of the elmwood park crew hangs out there now. Small place but nice

Is it a social club or a bar?