Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

Discuss all mafia families in the U.S., Canada, Italy, and everywhere else in the world.

Moderator: Capos

Post Reply
User avatar
PolackTony
Filthy Few
Posts: 5843
Joined: Thu May 28, 2020 10:54 am
Location: NYC/Chicago

Re: Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

Post by PolackTony »

PolackTony wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 6:27 pm In 1921, the Tribune noted that Tony Mops was the secretary of Chicago member and Taylor St bigshot Diamond Joe Esposito; later articles would describe Mops as Esposito's "lieutenant", as well as Esposito's brother-in-law, though I wasn't able to verify a marriage connection between their families myself. Esposito was 20 years Mops's senior and his wife, Carmella Marchese, was born in Chicago to parents from San Fili, Cosenza (her mother was a Cesario, and thus it's possible that she was related to later Chicago member Sam Cesario, whose parents were also Cosentini).
As noted above, Giuseppe "Diamond Joe" Esposito's wife was Carmela Concetta Marchese, born in 1895 in Chicago to Francesco Marchese and Angelina Cesario of San Fili, Cosenza, Calabria (San Fili borders towns like Marano Principato and Rende, important in both Chicago and Kenosha). Their eldest son, born in 1915 in Chicago, was Joseph Esposito, aka "Joe Esty", who was a close associate of Giancana and Frank Bompensiero ("Esty", as has been discussed previously, relocated from Chicago to the San Diego/Tijuana area, where he was alleged to have been one of Giancana's primary liaisons for connections in Mexico after Giancana fled the US in 1966).

Now, Angelina Cesario's father was Antonio Cesario, who died in Chicago in 1930. He had a paternal first cousin, Giovanni Cesario, who also immigrated to Chicago; both families lived in the Taylor St Patch. Giovanni was married to Anna Concetta Asta, and one of their sons was Francesco Cesario, who died in Chicago in 1926. Francesco was married to Maria Francesca Pasarelli, also of San Fili; they had a large family, and one of their kids, born in 1903 in Chicago, was Francis William Cesario, who later went by the name "Frank Chesrow". Chesrow, as we can see, was a relative of Diamond Joe by marriage.

As an adult, Chesrow was noted as personally close to Tony Accardo; indeed, an informant told the FBI that Frank Chesrow baptized one of Accardo's kids (not sure which one). Apart from being Accardo's cumpà, Chesrow was also one of the most influential Italians in Chicago. He was a pharmacist, with a degree from Valparaiso University and a chain of local drugstores in Chicago. One of his brothers, Eugene Chesrow, Sr, was a physician and longtime administrator of Oak Forest Memorial Hospital in the suburbs (son Eugene Chesrow, Jr, was later a noted conservationist in Chicago). Frank Chesrow served in the Army Medical Corps in Italy in WW2, where he dealt with sanitation issues and a typhoid outbreak, earning a Bronze Star, and was then placed with the general staff of the Allied Forces and involved in the reorganization and training of the Italian Army. Chesrow left the Army in 1946 with the rank of Colonel and 19 decorations, returning to Chicago where he soon dove into politics. In 1948, he was elected as a Trustee of the Chicago Sanitary District (later renamed the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago) on the Democratic ticket, and in the 1950s and 1960s Chesrow served as the President and Chairman of the Board of the Sanitary District. While to those not familiar with Chicago politics, this may not seem like a big deal, it was, in fact, one of the most politically influential positions in the state of Illinois (a bloody gang war in the 1990s in my neighborhood was supposedly fueled by rival factions who were "getting out the vote" for rival candidates for the Water Reclamation District, to show how tense the stakes were). The Sanitary District controlled lots of jobs, and this gave the head of the Sanitary District one of the largest patronage armies, along with the City of Chicago and Cook County governments, in IL. This meant 'a lot of clout, so it's unsurprising that the FBI had wiretaps of Chesrow meeting with the outfit's 1st Ward political machine, including Pat Marcy, in the '60s to discuss problems in the Sanitary District around potential scandals and electoral opposition. The FBI during this time also received reports that Mayor Richard J Daley (aka "Hizzoner", aka "Old Man Daley") was staying in a vacation home owned by Chesrow during summer visits to Michigan. Later, from 1970 through 1986, Frank Chesrow was a Cook County Commissioner until he retired from politics.

Chesrow was also highly active for many decades Chicago's robust Italian social and charitable institutions community, along with his brothers Eugene sr and Albert Chesrow. The FBI was told in the 1960s that Frank Chesrow was a leader in the "Sicilian Fraternal Society", presumably the IANU ("Unione Siciliana"), though I haven't been able to verify exactly what position Chesrow had in the organization. For many years, Chesrow was involved in numerous social and charitable events and institutions in the Italian community and was one of its most respected figures.

As noted above, Frank Chesrow was recorded meeting with Pat Marcy, and the names of Frank and his brother Eugene "Doc" Chesrow were picked up a number of times on FBI wiretaps of the outfit's 1st Ward operation. It was also reported that Chicago member John D'Arco was a business partner of Chesrow's in real estate and drug stores. In 1953, Eugene Chesrow flew to LA with then-boss Tony Accardo and a Skokie-based automobile dealer named Mike Mancuso (later notes in FBI documents state that Mancuso was actually Accardo and that Chesrow was an alias for Giancana, but that doesn't fit how the event was discussed in the LA press at the time). The three were met in LA by Frank Ferraro and captain Tony Pinelli, at which point they were detained and questioned by the local police. In the early 1960s, the FBI was attempting to ascertain whether the Chesrows were uncles of Ferraro, as they had been told by a source. This was not true, as the Chesrows were Calabrese and Ferraro Agrigento. I don't see any intermarriages in their families either, but we can at least presume that there were personal connections.
"Hey, hey, hey — this is America, baby! Survival of the fittest.”
B.
Men Of Mayhem
Posts: 10692
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 10:18 pm
Contact:

Re: Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

Post by B. »

So what we know about Esposito in context with the organization is he was a made member before Merlo died and very close to Merlo, his son was on record with Frank LaPorte, and his marital relative was Accardo's compare.

There's a void of inside info between Esposito's identification as a member and his murder. Wouldn't be shocked if he was a capodecina before he was killed, especially given some significant guys came up around him and his relatives stayed close to some of the top leaders.
User avatar
PolackTony
Filthy Few
Posts: 5843
Joined: Thu May 28, 2020 10:54 am
Location: NYC/Chicago

Re: Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

Post by PolackTony »

B. wrote: Mon Jan 23, 2023 2:56 pm So what we know about Esposito in context with the organization is he was a made member before Merlo died and very close to Merlo, his son was on record with Frank LaPorte, and his marital relative was Accardo's compare.

There's a void of inside info between Esposito's identification as a member and his murder. Wouldn't be shocked if he was a capodecina before he was killed, especially given some significant guys came up around him and his relatives stayed close to some of the top leaders.
Yes, that's an accurate summary of what we know about him with respect to Diamond Joe and the organization. Obviously, other questions regarding his business and political activities and the broader Acerres' and Campanian/Mainlander criminal networks (including the Colosimo/Torrio/Capone group as well as the Taddeo and Montana groups in Melrose Park) need to continue being explored also.

We don't know if Esposito was a capodecina, or if he even had some role on the Consiglio, though I think it's obviously a strong bet that he had a rank above soldier during the 1920s. Wouldn't be a surprise if, aside from his formal position, he was a de facto "representative" for the Mainlanders. We also don't know what his formal relationship was with the Gennas, Amatuna, Tropea. Was there one decina on Taylor St? Or were there multiple crews in that area? If the latter, were defined primarily by paesan' affiliation (a "Marsalese" crew, a "Napolitan'" crew)? Lots that we can't even really theorize without further evidence. Maybe Jimmy Light broke it all down for Nicky C in prison (joking, as Calabrese testified that Marcello told him a lot about the history of the organization when they were locked up together).
"Hey, hey, hey — this is America, baby! Survival of the fittest.”
User avatar
PolackTony
Filthy Few
Posts: 5843
Joined: Thu May 28, 2020 10:54 am
Location: NYC/Chicago

Re: Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

Post by PolackTony »

Rereading some of Jose Fosco's ANP material, and was reminded that Joe made some interesting claims about ancestry in his "Mafia Report" in May 2020. It's worth posting a clip from Fosco here at length, as Fosco makes the very interesting claim that the families of Ricca, Capone, and Tony Iorii were connected to each other back in Italy:

Image


Now, Fosco notes correctly that the Iorris were Abruzzesi, while Ricca and Capone were obviously Napolitani. Capone and Nitto were both from the comune of Angri, in what today is near the border with the modern "Metropolitan City" (province) of Napoli. Angri was at the center of a dense crescent of towns stretching from Castellammare di Stabia to the city of Salerno itself, an area which was recorded as having a heavy Camorra presence in the decades around 1900, and which contributed a number of members to both the early 20th century Brooklyn Camorra and, in later years, to the NYC mafia Families. Further, Angri is only about 10 miles from Ottaviano, the hometown of "Paul Ricca" (Felice DeLucia) at the base of Monte Vesuvio.

Thus, while I've never been able to substantiate any direct familial links between Capone and Ricca, the possibility of some sort of connection doesn't seem far-fetched, and they, at the least, would absolutely have seen each other as Napolitan' paesani. Capone was also claimed in the past to have been a cousin of the Fischetti brothers (whose parents were from Avellino province) and NYC/NJ mobster Dominick Tetta, aka "Tommy Tato" (whose family may also have been Avellines', though that hasn't yet been confirmed). While, again, I've seen no links myself, they were at least all "Napolitani" from Campania.

Since the Ioriis were from the province of L'Aquila in today's Abruzzo region (prior to 1948, it was called by the plural Abruzzi, as it was subdivided into three districts, which correspond today to the provinces of Chieti, Pescara/Teramo, and L'Aquila), it gets harder to imagine that there were ties going back to Italy. Fosco asserts, however, that these ties were due to the fact that the Ioriis were a noble family with a baronage in L'Aquila and strong ties to Napoli, and that Tony Iorii's father was a hero of the Risorgimento under Garibaldi. As it turns out, that latter part does seem to be true.

Antonio "Tony" Iorii was born in 1897 in Prezza, a village in the Appenine highlands of L'Aquila; at the time, L'Aquila was in the administrative division of "Abruzzo Ulterior II", bordering the old Terra di Lavoro province of Campania that I've discussed recently. Although several documents and the Kenosha papers stated that Tony was born in Boston, this is incorrect; he arrived in Boston in 1904 with his parents and several siblings. Tony's parents were Alfonso Iorii and Cristina Moretti, both of Prezza. Fosco claimed that the Ioriis were a baronial family. While I have not yet been able to confirm their specific title, they were landowners, so the claim could certainly be correct. On their 1904 passenger manifest at Boston, Alfonso was identified as a "propietario", meaning "owner" but often designating a "landlord" (the meaning of which wasn't originally "the guy that rents you your apartment", but an actual lord with a noble title). When Alfonso's parents Fabiano Iorii, of Prezza, and Nunzia Rossi, of the neighboring village of Raiano, married in 1843, Fabiano was also listed as a "propietario".

The Ioriis apparently lived in Boston for a short time but relocated to Chicago by 1905 at the earliest or 1910 at the latest. In 1918, the Tribune reported that Alfonso Iorii, then 73, committed suicide with a shot to the chest, after having professed his anguish at not being able to once again take up arms in the defense of his homeland following the German invasion of Italy. The Ioriis lived at 913 S Halsted, near the corner of Taylor, at the bustling heart of what was emerging as the largest and most important of several inner-city Italian colonies in Chicago. Per the Tribune, he was known as "Professore Jorii" (the "J" spelling is just an orthographic variation and has the same pronunciation in Italian as "Iorii") and was famed in Chicago's Italian community as an intellectual and fervent patriot. It was stated that Alfonso had been one of the original "Redshirt" volunteers for Garibaldi, a claim which would seem to be impossible as Alfonso was born in 1845 and thus was a child when the first "Redshirt" company was formed. He likely might've, however, participated in the Third War of Italian Independence in 1866 against Austria and the final Italian capture of Rome from Napoleon III in 1870. While I haven't been able to verify that Alfonso Iorii was specifically a celebrated General as Fosco claims, the fact that he was educated and from a landholding family would almost certainly mean that he was an officer of some sort.

The Tribune also reported that after Italian independence, Alfonso Iorii went on to become a Professor of Literature at the University of Naples, hence his moniker in Chicago. Thus, it would seem that the Ioriis, apart from Alfonso's participation in the military, indeed had close connections to Napoli.

Later in 1918, tony's eldest brother Cesare Iorii, born in 1879 in Prezza, who was interviewed by the Tribune when Alfonso died, also passed away, though I've been unable to ascertain whether this was from natural causes or not. As I've noted before, sister Assunta Iorii, born in 1890 in Prezza, married Felice Nappi in Chicago in 1910. Felice was from Nola, Terra di Lavoro (and thus some documents state that he was from Caserta, which was then the provincial capital of Terra di Lavoro, though Nola is today in Napoli), also the hometown of Unione Sicilian bigshot, personal physician to Tony D'Andrea, and Frank Nitto's father-in-law, Dr. Gaetano Ronga. Their children included Chicago members Ralph and Romero Nappi, as well as Grace Nappi, who married Chicago member Armando Fosco and was thus the step-moth of Joe Fosco.

While we don't know Tony Iorii's specific rank within the Chicago Family, Fosco has claimed that Iorii was a very important guy, with Capone and Ricca granting him control of a large territory spanning the Illinois/Wisconsin border between Lake and Kenosha Counties. In 1931, Tony Iorii was naturalized as a US citizen and was living at August and Hamlin, in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the Westside (an area closely connected to Jackie Cerone, Jim DeGeorge, and Joe Gagliano). That same year, however, Tony's wife Loretta, nee Wells (they had married in 1918 in Lake County, IN, a popular marriage destination for couples from neighboring Chicago) was noted in the Kenosha papers as having attended a social function in Kenosha, indicating that Iorii was connected to Kenosha by that time at the latest. The local papers would later state that Tony Iorii relocated to Kenosha in 1936. On his WW2 draft card, Tony Iorii was living in Kenosha and stated that he was the owner of a "farming and vending machine" company. In the early 1950s, Iorii relocated to Sarasota FL. Tony Iorii died of a heart attack at 61 years old in 1958 in Kenosha while on a trip visiting friends and family in Kenosha, with his death making the local papers. Apart from a 1939 pinch for speeding and another where he was accused of setting flame to some buildings on his farm property, Tony Iorii never made the papers in Kenosha with any connection to criminal activity. He was, however, noted as being highly active civically with the local American Legion.

It's possible that Tony Iorii could've been an early capodecina and that Kenosha could've had a formal Chicago crew, the way that we know Gary did., but it's also possible that Iorii was a highly-respected soldier who was given rights to activities in a large territory without the formal rank fo captain (a la Whitey Besase in Toledo for the Detroit outfit). We don't have enough info to say. It is interesting to note that the first known Kenosha-based members of the Milwaukee outfit were made under Frank Balistreri 5 years after Iorii's death, suggesting that Chicago may have ceded control of Kenosha to Milwaukee after Iorii passed (and, again, we really don't know).
"Hey, hey, hey — this is America, baby! Survival of the fittest.”
User avatar
Antiliar
Full Patched
Posts: 4371
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 12:08 pm
Contact:

Re: Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

Post by Antiliar »

Tony once again knocks it out of the park. Great writeup. I have my own write-up on him, but I didn't look into Iorii's father.
User avatar
Eline2015
Sergeant Of Arms
Posts: 757
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2015 9:34 am

Re: Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

Post by Eline2015 »

PolackTony wrote: Mon Jan 23, 2023 3:11 pm
B. wrote: Mon Jan 23, 2023 2:56 pm So what we know about Esposito in context with the organization is he was a made member before Merlo died and very close to Merlo, his son was on record with Frank LaPorte, and his marital relative was Accardo's compare.

There's a void of inside info between Esposito's identification as a member and his murder. Wouldn't be shocked if he was a capodecina before he was killed, especially given some significant guys came up around him and his relatives stayed close to some of the top leaders.
Yes, that's an accurate summary of what we know about him with respect to Diamond Joe and the organization. Obviously, other questions regarding his business and political activities and the broader Acerres' and Campanian/Mainlander criminal networks (including the Colosimo/Torrio/Capone group as well as the Taddeo and Montana groups in Melrose Park) need to continue being explored also.

We don't know if Esposito was a capodecina, or if he even had some role on the Consiglio, though I think it's obviously a strong bet that he had a rank above soldier during the 1920s. Wouldn't be a surprise if, aside from his formal position, he was a de facto "representative" for the Mainlanders. We also don't know what his formal relationship was with the Gennas, Amatuna, Tropea. Was there one decina on Taylor St? Or were there multiple crews in that area? If the latter, were defined primarily by paesan' affiliation (a "Marsalese" crew, a "Napolitan'" crew)? Lots that we can't even really theorize without further evidence. Maybe Jimmy Light broke it all down for Nicky C in prison (joking, as Calabrese testified that Marcello told him a lot about the history of the organization when they were locked up together).
Tony, please, write you magic stuff about origins of Fischetti bros
User avatar
PolackTony
Filthy Few
Posts: 5843
Joined: Thu May 28, 2020 10:54 am
Location: NYC/Chicago

Re: Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

Post by PolackTony »

PolackTony wrote: Donato Cerone was born about 1901 in Muro Lucano, Potenza, to Giovanni Cerone and Maria Antonia Gallella. In 1911, Donato, who had been living with relatives in Muro Lucano, joined the rest of his family in Chicago. Donato's younger brothers, Frank "Skippy" Cerone (born 1913 in Chicago) and James "Tar Baby" Cerone (born 1919 in Chicago) were later Chicago members. Eldest brother Luigi Cerone (born 1887 in Muro Lucano) was the great-grandfather of reputed current Chicago member Jason Nitti. The Cerone brothers' father Giovanni was also the first cousin of the Giovanni Cerone who was the father of Jack Cerone Sr; Jack Cerone was thus their second cousin.
As funkster and Snakes have documented, Grace Stramaglio’s property company has owned a number of properties in the Grand Ave Patch today. Grace Cerone is the widow of Richard Stramaglio, who died in 2018 (his brother Victor “Vickie” Stramaglio Jr, who died in in 2019, was a big construction contractor as well as a foreman for the City Department of Transportation; their dad Vito “Vitucci” Stramaglio was from Modugno, Bari, and their mother Lucia Aquino from Potenza province).

Grace Cerone’s dad was Anthony Rocco Cerone, born in Chicago to Luigi Cerone and Maria Grazia Muliere, born of Muro Lucano, Potenza. This was not the same Luigi Cerone above, however, though the shared given name suggests that they were likely cousins. Like the Stramaglios and the other branches of the Cerone clan, they settled in the Grand Ave Patch.

Another Luigi Cerone was born in Muro Lucano and settled by Grand Ave; his parents were Francesco Cerone and Maria Donata Remollino. This Luigi married Anna DeMarco in Chicago and their oldest kid was Frank “Bud” Cerone, a longtime CPD detective. Bud Cerone’s wife was Katherine Neglia, daughter of murdered Chicago capodecina Gaetano “Black Tom” O’Neglia. Given that both Giovanni Cerone and Francesco Cerone named their firstborn sons Luigi, I think it’s a good bet that they were brothers, thus making Bud Cerone a cousin of Jackie, Jimmy, and Skip Cerone.

That there was likely a marital link between O’Neglia and the Cerones could be very significant. While we’ve perhaps assumed that O’Neglia was killed for siding with Vincenzo Benevento in his apparent war against Accardo in the ‘40s for the boss position of the Family, we don’t know for a fact what the factional lines actually were, and who killed who.
"Hey, hey, hey — this is America, baby! Survival of the fittest.”
User avatar
PolackTony
Filthy Few
Posts: 5843
Joined: Thu May 28, 2020 10:54 am
Location: NYC/Chicago

Re: Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

Post by PolackTony »

In 1964, Augie Maniaci identified Chicago union leader Joseph “Little Joe” Aiello as a Chicago member, also claiming that he was a “cousin” of the infamous Joe Aiello. Maniaci further reported that Aiello had attended the 1954 funeral for Giancana’s wife, Angelina DeTolve (born in Chicago to parents from Potenza province, her brother was Tony DeTolve, who Giancana considered putting in as 1st Ward Alderman - forcing John D’Arco to step down - and then ordered to pull out of the race).

Later FBI reports identified Little Joe Aiello as the President of the Società San Giuseppe di Bagheria of Chicago in 1967. He was also the Business Agent and Vice-President of LIUNA Local 1 (Vince Solano’s local).
Antiliar wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 12:02 am Aiello, Joseph A. AKA “Little Joe” (Nov 8, 1901, Bagheria, Palermo, Sicily-Aug 14, 1979, Chicago, IL) (1924: 2948 W. Harrison St, Chicago; 1942: 2848 N. Melvina Ave., Chicago, IL; 1962: 632 N. Hamlin Ave., Chicago, IL); Father: Orazio Aiello; Wife: Frances. Business Agent for Local 1.
These are the correct birth and death dates, but Little Joe Aiello’s parents were Antonino and Rosa Aiello. He arrived in Chicago in 1922 and was naturalized in 1928 and at that time lived at Hamlin and Division in Humboldt Park (the Joe Aiello who became a Madison member also lived in this neighborhood, and in the 1930s Jim DeGeorge would live close by). I believe that his father died in Bagheria, as his mother and siblings came to Chicago but not his father.

Little Joe’s older sister Maddalena “Lillian” Bucci, whom he listed on his WW2 Draft Card as his relative, had married a guy from Rome named Agostino Bucci — he died in 1918, and the family emigrated to Chicago after.

Little Joe’s older brother Cosimo Aiello, who was born in 1896 in Bagheria, came to Chicago but returned to Italy. He lived in Frascati, Rome where he was a professor. Cosimo Aiello died in Italy in 1976.

Orazio Aiello and Maria DiSalvo were the parents of Madison’s “Pizza Joe” Aiello (very likely a Chicago member before transferring to Madison); there have been some errors on the ancestry.com family trees (as usual), as both Joe Aiellos were born in 1901 in Bagheria. Little Joe Aiello’s wife was Mary Schaffer, while Frances Puccio (parents from Marineo and Cefalà Diana) was Pizza Joe’s first wife in Chicago (he divorced her and remarried Maria Enea in Madison).

Funny enough, but Frances Prestigiacomo, the daughter of Joe “Manson Lamps” Aiello’s erstwhile partner and likely betrayer Pasquale “Patsy Presto” Prestigiacomo, married yet another Joe Aiello: Joseph V Aiello, who was born in 1915 in Chicago to Giuseppe Aiello and Francesca Terranova of San Giuseppe Jato (he died in 1981 in Chicago). Even if he wasn’t Bagherese, it’s like the Prestigiacomos just couldn’t stay away from an Aiello.

Little Joe Aiello’s 1979 obit. Note that he was stated to have been on the Council of the Società San Giuseppe di Bagheria, of which he had formerly been the President.

Image
"Hey, hey, hey — this is America, baby! Survival of the fittest.”
B.
Men Of Mayhem
Posts: 10692
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 10:18 pm
Contact:

Re: Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

Post by B. »

So Maniaci was able to confirm that Little Joe Aiello, Sam Aiello, and Joe Priola were sleeper members in Chicago nobody would have otherwise named. Any others?
User avatar
JCB1977
Filthy Few
Posts: 5585
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 6:25 am

Re: Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

Post by JCB1977 »

PolackTony wrote: Wed Dec 28, 2022 3:02 pm
B. wrote: Tue Dec 27, 2022 9:53 pm Here's an interesting guy:

- Joseph Romano of Youngstown was described as the Sicilian facton's leader before surviving a 1960 shotgun attack then moved to Chicago. He spent time in Sharon PA after that where he associated with "members" previously involved with Sal Marino who by then was in San Jose.

- It looks like this is a Joseph Romano born in Altavilla Milicia in 1900 and living in Youngstown circa 1950 but died in Chicago in 1969. His wife was the sister of Angelo LaMantia of Chicago, who in turn was married to the sister of Milwaukee member Vito Aiello. The Aiellos' mother was the sister of Milwaukee boss Vito Guardalabene and their father Isidoro Aiello was a likely Milwaukee member.

Anyone familiar with Romano or seen other references to him? He appears to have been a Pittsburgh member but was obviously tied in with the Milwaukee and Chicago Families. He apparently spent the last 9 years of his life in Chicago.
Agreed that he's an interesting case.

Haven't seen any other mention of Joe "Stoneface" Romano apart from the same Youngstown FBI files that we discussed recently, which don't mention anything beyond what you've summarized here. Hopefully, JCB knows more about him.

Given that he was Miliciotto, totally unsurprising that Romano would have close connections to Chicago still later in life. Angelo LaMantia is another guy that I suspect was a possible Chicago member under Aiello who then transferred to Milwaukee (we know from Gavin that he was named as one of the guys allegedly running Milwaukee's Racine interests in the early 30s, IIRC).
Joseph "Stoneface" Romano was very close to Charles "Cadillac Charlie" Cavallaro in Youngstown. Back in the 1960's, there was a war between the Calabrian faction in Youngstown headed by Dominic Mallamo and Paul Romeo and the Sicilians and Neapolitans. Romano was shot in his front yard on June 4, 1960 which was about 2 years prior to the Cavallaro bombing death. By the time this happened, Sal Marino was already in California. Marino's key lieutenants in Sharon-Farrell PA were John Scardina and his brother, Philip, also very close to John LaRocca. They assumed control of Marino's rackets which at the time, was undr New Kensington and Kelly Mannarino. The daily take in the late 50's and early 60's from numbers was $2k per day where John Scardina delivered to Kelly Mannarino weekly on Sundays.
"I figure I’m gonna have to do about 6000 years before I get accepted into heaven. And 6000 years is nothing in eternity terms. I can do that standing on my head. It’s like a couple of days here."

-Pauly Walnuts, RIP
User avatar
JCB1977
Filthy Few
Posts: 5585
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 6:25 am

Re: Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

Post by JCB1977 »

Image

Image
"I figure I’m gonna have to do about 6000 years before I get accepted into heaven. And 6000 years is nothing in eternity terms. I can do that standing on my head. It’s like a couple of days here."

-Pauly Walnuts, RIP
User avatar
JCB1977
Filthy Few
Posts: 5585
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 6:25 am

Re: Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

Post by JCB1977 »

1946 Detroit, MI Border Crossing for Joe Romano and wife Angela.


Image
"I figure I’m gonna have to do about 6000 years before I get accepted into heaven. And 6000 years is nothing in eternity terms. I can do that standing on my head. It’s like a couple of days here."

-Pauly Walnuts, RIP
User avatar
JCB1977
Filthy Few
Posts: 5585
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 6:25 am

Re: Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

Post by JCB1977 »

JCB1977 wrote: Sun Feb 26, 2023 9:50 am
PolackTony wrote: Wed Dec 28, 2022 3:02 pm
B. wrote: Tue Dec 27, 2022 9:53 pm Here's an interesting guy:

- Joseph Romano of Youngstown was described as the Sicilian facton's leader before surviving a 1960 shotgun attack then moved to Chicago. He spent time in Sharon PA after that where he associated with "members" previously involved with Sal Marino who by then was in San Jose.

- It looks like this is a Joseph Romano born in Altavilla Milicia in 1900 and living in Youngstown circa 1950 but died in Chicago in 1969. His wife was the sister of Angelo LaMantia of Chicago, who in turn was married to the sister of Milwaukee member Vito Aiello. The Aiellos' mother was the sister of Milwaukee boss Vito Guardalabene and their father Isidoro Aiello was a likely Milwaukee member.

Anyone familiar with Romano or seen other references to him? He appears to have been a Pittsburgh member but was obviously tied in with the Milwaukee and Chicago Families. He apparently spent the last 9 years of his life in Chicago.
Agreed that he's an interesting case.

Haven't seen any other mention of Joe "Stoneface" Romano apart from the same Youngstown FBI files that we discussed recently, which don't mention anything beyond what you've summarized here. Hopefully, JCB knows more about him.

Given that he was Miliciotto, totally unsurprising that Romano would have close connections to Chicago still later in life. Angelo LaMantia is another guy that I suspect was a possible Chicago member under Aiello who then transferred to Milwaukee (we know from Gavin that he was named as one of the guys allegedly running Milwaukee's Racine interests in the early 30s, IIRC).
Joseph "Stoneface" Romano was very close to Charles "Cadillac Charlie" Cavallaro in Youngstown. Back in the 1960's, there was a war between the Calabrian faction in Youngstown headed by Dominic Mallamo and Paul Romeo and the Sicilians and Neapolitans. Romano was shot in his front yard on June 4, 1960 which was about 2 years prior to the Cavallaro bombing death. By the time this happened, Sal Marino was already in California. Marino's key lieutenants in Sharon-Farrell PA were John Scardina and his brother, Philip, also very close to John LaRocca. They assumed control of Marino's rackets which at the time, was undr New Kensington and Kelly Mannarino. The daily take in the late 50's and early 60's from numbers was $2k per day where John Scardina delivered to Kelly Mannarino weekly on Sundays. It was reported that Billy Naples, a Neapolitan, was responsible for the Romano attack and in turn, it was reported that Romano engineered the car bombing death of Billy Naples.
"I figure I’m gonna have to do about 6000 years before I get accepted into heaven. And 6000 years is nothing in eternity terms. I can do that standing on my head. It’s like a couple of days here."

-Pauly Walnuts, RIP
User avatar
JCB1977
Filthy Few
Posts: 5585
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 6:25 am

Re: Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

Post by JCB1977 »

June 4, 1960 The Daily Times

Image
"I figure I’m gonna have to do about 6000 years before I get accepted into heaven. And 6000 years is nothing in eternity terms. I can do that standing on my head. It’s like a couple of days here."

-Pauly Walnuts, RIP
User avatar
JCB1977
Filthy Few
Posts: 5585
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 6:25 am

Re: Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

Post by JCB1977 »

June 12, 1960 Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Image

Image

Image

Image
"I figure I’m gonna have to do about 6000 years before I get accepted into heaven. And 6000 years is nothing in eternity terms. I can do that standing on my head. It’s like a couple of days here."

-Pauly Walnuts, RIP
Post Reply