General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground

[PolackTony]

It's crazy an organization that hasn't really killed anyone in almost 20 years was killing elected officials in the 80's. Aiuppa sure had a bloody reign.

To your point here. Bob Cooley has claimed that the FBI thought he was suicidal when he offered to wear a wire on Pat Marcy, as this was what happened to guys who were even thought to be informing -- public officials, at that, rather than a lowlife mobbed-up lawyer like Cooley. You noted in one of your earlier posts that despite the Feds knowing about outfit control of 1st Ward politics for decades, it wasn't until Cooley that they dropped the hammer on it. This was because until Cooley they didn't have a cooperating witness in the position to do the kind of damage that Cooley was able to do. Aiuppa was allegedly the kind of boss who would not only order a hit on a high-ranking union official for disparaging Italians in public but reportedly followed the attempted hit car himself so he could see it go down.

I've made this point before, but you're new to the forum here. The big Federal cases in that period really damaged the outfit's ability to use violence in anything like the scale that they had been accustomed to for, basically, 100 years, by smashing their apparatus of control in City politics and shutting down the flagrant corruption in the Cook County court system (Operation Greylord). Before Greylord, if you had the right, connected, attorney, you could buy a judge for $10k and get a murder charge tossed. Mafia corruption in Chicago was as flagrant as it was because, to a great degree, the mob was able to enforce silence with brutal violence. Once this was taken from them, it irrevocably transformed and weakened the organization. The 80s and 90s were a series of huge blows against Chicago LCN. When they were in the position to really go after the organization, the Feds just hammered it over and over.

[Snakes]

It's crazy an organization that hasn't really killed anyone in almost 20 years was killing elected officials in the 80's. Aiuppa sure had a bloody reign.

To your point here. Bob Cooley has claimed that the FBI thought he was suicidal when he offered to wear a wire on Pat Marcy, as this was what happened to guys who were even thought to be informing -- public officials, at that, rather than a lowlife mobbed-up lawyer like Cooley. You noted in one of your earlier posts that despite the Feds knowing about outfit control of 1st Ward politics for decades, it wasn't until Cooley that they dropped the hammer on it. This was because until Cooley they didn't have a cooperating witness in the position to do the kind of damage that Cooley was able to do. Aiuppa was allegedly the kind of boss who would not only order a hit on a high-ranking union official for disparaging Italians in public but reportedly followed the attempted hit car himself so he could see it go down.

I've made this point before, but you're new to the forum here. The big Federal cases in that period really damaged the outfit's ability to use violence in anything like the scale that they had been accustomed to for, basically, 100 years, by smashing their apparatus of control in City politics and shutting down the flagrant corruption in the Cook County court system (Operation Greylord). Before Greylord, if you had the right, connected, attorney, you could buy a judge for $10k and get a murder charge tossed. Mafia corruption in Chicago was as flagrant as it was because, to a great degree, the mob was able to enforce silence with brutal violence. Once this was taken from them, it irrevocably transformed and weakened the organization. The 80s and 90s were a series of huge blows against Chicago LCN. When they were in the position to really go after the organization, the Feds just hammered it over and over.

This isn't even taking into consideration the myriad of cases that were never even considered for prosecution because of corrupt law enforcement that squashed it before it even got to that point. You see so many murder cases in normal departments that were/are botched simply because of incompetence, think about how easy it would have been for these cases to cases to have been "botched" with local LEO on the take.

[Cosmik_Debris]

It's crazy an organization that hasn't really killed anyone in almost 20 years was killing elected officials in the 80's. Aiuppa sure had a bloody reign.

To your point here. Bob Cooley has claimed that the FBI thought he was suicidal when he offered to wear a wire on Pat Marcy, as this was what happened to guys who were even thought to be informing -- public officials, at that, rather than a lowlife mobbed-up lawyer like Cooley. You noted in one of your earlier posts that despite the Feds knowing about outfit control of 1st Ward politics for decades, it wasn't until Cooley that they dropped the hammer on it. This was because until Cooley they didn't have a cooperating witness in the position to do the kind of damage that Cooley was able to do. Aiuppa was allegedly the kind of boss who would not only order a hit on a high-ranking union official for disparaging Italians in public but reportedly followed the attempted hit car himself so he could see it go down.

I've made this point before, but you're new to the forum here. The big Federal cases in that period really damaged the outfit's ability to use violence in anything like the scale that they had been accustomed to for, basically, 100 years, by smashing their apparatus of control in City politics and shutting down the flagrant corruption in the Cook County court system (Operation Greylord). Before Greylord, if you had the right, connected, attorney, you could buy a judge for $10k and get a murder charge tossed. Mafia corruption in Chicago was as flagrant as it was because, to a great degree, the mob was able to enforce silence with brutal violence. Once this was taken from them, it irrevocably transformed and weakened the organization. The 80s and 90s were a series of huge blows against Chicago LCN. When they were in the position to really go after the organization, the Feds just hammered it over and over.

Great post and spot on. It blows my mind how entrenched into the political/governmental/judicial system they were able to get and for such a long period. It’s almost hard to fathom.

Reading and trying to put together the pieces of the current Outfit is fun and all, but it seems to me Iike a glorified street crew with a cool name and a rich history. Obviously it was a different time, but I don’t think anyone out there today has the brainpower that guys like Capone/Ricca/Accardo/Hump/Alex/Guzik had to get their claws in legit society the way they were able to and stay there for so long.

These really were guys that could’ve/would’ve/should’ve been Fortune 500 CEO’s. These guys understood the wards, the politics, the city/state as good as high priced consultants today with a lot of degrees hanging on their walls. And most of them didn’t make it to 8th grade. Not to mention business and organizational building.

That’s what has always put the Outfit in a different category for me.

[PolackTony]

It's crazy an organization that hasn't really killed anyone in almost 20 years was killing elected officials in the 80's. Aiuppa sure had a bloody reign.

To your point here. Bob Cooley has claimed that the FBI thought he was suicidal when he offered to wear a wire on Pat Marcy, as this was what happened to guys who were even thought to be informing -- public officials, at that, rather than a lowlife mobbed-up lawyer like Cooley. You noted in one of your earlier posts that despite the Feds knowing about outfit control of 1st Ward politics for decades, it wasn't until Cooley that they dropped the hammer on it. This was because until Cooley they didn't have a cooperating witness in the position to do the kind of damage that Cooley was able to do. Aiuppa was allegedly the kind of boss who would not only order a hit on a high-ranking union official for disparaging Italians in public but reportedly followed the attempted hit car himself so he could see it go down.

I've made this point before, but you're new to the forum here. The big Federal cases in that period really damaged the outfit's ability to use violence in anything like the scale that they had been accustomed to for, basically, 100 years, by smashing their apparatus of control in City politics and shutting down the flagrant corruption in the Cook County court system (Operation Greylord). Before Greylord, if you had the right, connected, attorney, you could buy a judge for $10k and get a murder charge tossed. Mafia corruption in Chicago was as flagrant as it was because, to a great degree, the mob was able to enforce silence with brutal violence. Once this was taken from them, it irrevocably transformed and weakened the organization. The 80s and 90s were a series of huge blows against Chicago LCN. When they were in the position to really go after the organization, the Feds just hammered it over and over.

This isn't even taking into consideration the myriad of cases that were never even considered for prosecution because of corrupt law enforcement that squashed it before it even got to that point. You see so many murder cases in normal departments that were/are botched simply because of incompetence, think about how easy it would have been for these cases to cases to have been "botched" with local LEO on the take.

100%. I didn’t bring up the control over elements within local LE but this was also a big factor that, perhaps outside of a handful of suburban towns, is no longer a thing. For sure, many cases simply got “botched” or covered up. In the rare local cases that made it to court, judges could be bought, witnesses intimidated (if any even dared come forward), and juries targeted. Obviously LCN had its hooks into local LE in other cities as well, but I’d venture to say that as with political corruption, Chicago took the cake again. We have many cases where active and former LEOs in both CPD and surburban departments were not even just on the take, but working explicitly as outfit associates, even officials. I mean, Bill fuckin Hanhardt for chrissakes lol. Again, this was another way that Chicago was like a Family in Sicily, in that in Sicily one also sees local police formally associated as affiliati. The aversion to contact with LE is different when the local cops belong to the organization, are relatives or from families that have had long connections with the mafia. And in Chicago, of course, there were plenty of mafiosi with relatives in the police departments.

[CabriniGreen]

It's crazy an organization that hasn't really killed anyone in almost 20 years was killing elected officials in the 80's. Aiuppa sure had a bloody reign.

To your point here. Bob Cooley has claimed that the FBI thought he was suicidal when he offered to wear a wire on Pat Marcy, as this was what happened to guys who were even thought to be informing -- public officials, at that, rather than a lowlife mobbed-up lawyer like Cooley. You noted in one of your earlier posts that despite the Feds knowing about outfit control of 1st Ward politics for decades, it wasn't until Cooley that they dropped the hammer on it. This was because until Cooley they didn't have a cooperating witness in the position to do the kind of damage that Cooley was able to do. Aiuppa was allegedly the kind of boss who would not only order a hit on a high-ranking union official for disparaging Italians in public but reportedly followed the attempted hit car himself so he could see it go down.

I've made this point before, but you're new to the forum here. The big Federal cases in that period really damaged the outfit's ability to use violence in anything like the scale that they had been accustomed to for, basically, 100 years, by smashing their apparatus of control in City politics and shutting down the flagrant corruption in the Cook County court system (Operation Greylord). Before Greylord, if you had the right, connected, attorney, you could buy a judge for $10k and get a murder charge tossed. Mafia corruption in Chicago was as flagrant as it was because, to a great degree, the mob was able to enforce silence with brutal violence. Once this was taken from them, it irrevocably transformed and weakened the organization. The 80s and 90s were a series of huge blows against Chicago LCN. When they were in the position to really go after the organization, the Feds just hammered it over and over.

This isn't even taking into consideration the myriad of cases that were never even considered for prosecution because of corrupt law enforcement that squashed it before it even got to that point. You see so many murder cases in normal departments that were/are botched simply because of incompetence, think about how easy it would have been for these cases to cases to have been "botched" with local LEO on the take.

100%. I didn’t bring up the control over elements within local LE but this was also a big factor that, perhaps outside of a handful of suburban towns, is no longer a thing. For sure, many cases simply got “botched” or covered up. In the rare local cases that made it to court, judges could be bought, witnesses intimidated (if any even dared come forward), and juries targeted. Obviously LCN had its hooks into local LE in other cities as well, but I’d venture to say that as with political corruption, Chicago took the cake again. We have many cases where active and former LEOs in both CPD and surburban departments were not even just on the take, but working explicitly as outfit associates, even officials. I mean, Bill fuckin Hanhardt for chrissakes lol. Again, this was another way that Chicago was like a Family in Sicily, in that in Sicily one also sees local police formally associated as affiliati. The aversion to contact with LE is different when the local cops belong to the organization, are relatives or from families that have had long connections with the mafia. And in Chicago, of course, there were plenty of mafiosi with relatives in the police departments.

Aldemanic privilege really created Chicago's own modern version of Feudalism.....

[Ivan]

These really were guys that could’ve/would’ve/should’ve been Fortune 500 CEO’s. These guys understood the wards, the politics, the city/state as good as high priced consultants today with a lot of degrees hanging on their walls. And most of them didn’t make it to 8th grade. Not to mention business and organizational building.

They predated both Italian-American assimilation, so they got street gangs instead of a more nurturing peer-group and adult authority figure environment, and tracking by ability in schools, standardized testing, and "meritocracy." If some of those guys had been born 50~100 years later they would have been put in "gifted" classes in elementary school and tracked toward getting MBAs. That's probably happening now to a fair few of their descendents, given the heritability of things like intelligence. In cities with "extinct" mob families like Cleveland you will find Italian-American lawyers with familiar surnames.

Then you hear about the high incidence of both subclinical and full-on psychopathy in things like business and you suspect that the same guys born 50~100 years later would have had their uh "natures" finding an outlet in things like corporate raiding instead of having 50 people whacked.

[funkster]

Isn't there an old mary ferrell doc from the early 60s that mentioned Pat Marcy driving Franky Ferraro to a meeting? Maybe it was Skids, but i don think so.

[PPPP]

It's crazy an organization that hasn't really killed anyone in almost 20 years was killing elected officials in the 80's. Aiuppa sure had a bloody reign.

Aiuppa was allegedly the kind of boss who would not only order a hit on a high-ranking union official for disparaging Italians in public but reportedly followed the attempted hit car himself so he could see it go down.

What is this story? I have never heard it before.

[PolackTony]

It's crazy an organization that hasn't really killed anyone in almost 20 years was killing elected officials in the 80's. Aiuppa sure had a bloody reign.

Aiuppa was allegedly the kind of boss who would not only order a hit on a high-ranking union official for disparaging Italians in public but reportedly followed the attempted hit car himself so he could see it go down.

What is this story? I have never heard it before.

It was in Frankie Calabrese Jr’s book, about his maternal uncle Ed Hanley.

Ed Hanley Jr was the brother of Frank Calabrese Sr’s first wife, Dolores Hanley, and rose from being a bartender to President of the Hotel Employees Restaurant Employees International Union and member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council. According to the DOJ, his leadership position in the Union was due to mob ties, and he was backed by Aiuppa for the spot.

Per Frank Jr, Hanley got drunk one night in a Loop bar and was overheard loudly making disparaging remarks about Italians and the outfit. Word of this outrage made it back to Aiuppa, who ordered a hit on Hanley. Supposedly, the hit team was tailing him outside of the old Division St baths and Aiuppa insisted on following behind in a different vehicle to watch it go down. They weren’t able to get Hanley in the position where they could move on him, however, and evidently the hit order eventually got rescinded.

After decades of being known as one of the most corrupt Union officials in the country (no small achievement), Hanley was eventually forced to step down from his position in HERE in the 90s after a court-appointed monitor uncovered various evidence of corruption and such in the Union and Hanley died of natural causes in 2000.

[Patrickgold]

It's crazy an organization that hasn't really killed anyone in almost 20 years was killing elected officials in the 80's. Aiuppa sure had a bloody reign.

Aiuppa was allegedly the kind of boss who would not only order a hit on a high-ranking union official for disparaging Italians in public but reportedly followed the attempted hit car himself so he could see it go down.

What is this story? I have never heard it before.

It was in Frankie Calabrese Jr’s book, about his maternal uncle Ed Hanley.

Ed Hanley Jr was the brother of Frank Calabrese Sr’s first wife, Dolores Hanley, and rose from being a bartender to President of the Hotel Employees Restaurant Employees International Union and member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council. According to the DOJ, his leadership position in the Union was due to mob ties, and he was backed by Aiuppa for the spot.

Per Frank Jr, Hanley got drunk one night in a Loop bar and was overheard loudly making disparaging remarks about Italians and the outfit. Word of this outrage made it back to Aiuppa, who ordered a hit on Hanley. Supposedly, the hit team was tailing him outside of the old Division St baths and Aiuppa insisted on following behind in a different vehicle to watch it go down. They weren’t able to get Hanley in the position where they could move on him, however, and evidently the hit order eventually got rescinded.

After decades of being known as one of the most corrupt Union officials in the country (no small achievement), Hanley was eventually forced to step down from his position in HERE in the 90s after a court-appointed monitor uncovered various evidence of corruption and such in the Union and Hanley died of natural causes in 2000.

I believe Hanley died in a car accident in Wisconsin. I believe he was hit by a drunk driver head on.

[PolackTony]

It's crazy an organization that hasn't really killed anyone in almost 20 years was killing elected officials in the 80's. Aiuppa sure had a bloody reign.

Aiuppa was allegedly the kind of boss who would not only order a hit on a high-ranking union official for disparaging Italians in public but reportedly followed the attempted hit car himself so he could see it go down.

What is this story? I have never heard it before.

It was in Frankie Calabrese Jr’s book, about his maternal uncle Ed Hanley.

Ed Hanley Jr was the brother of Frank Calabrese Sr’s first wife, Dolores Hanley, and rose from being a bartender to President of the Hotel Employees Restaurant Employees International Union and member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council. According to the DOJ, his leadership position in the Union was due to mob ties, and he was backed by Aiuppa for the spot.

Per Frank Jr, Hanley got drunk one night in a Loop bar and was overheard loudly making disparaging remarks about Italians and the outfit. Word of this outrage made it back to Aiuppa, who ordered a hit on Hanley. Supposedly, the hit team was tailing him outside of the old Division St baths and Aiuppa insisted on following behind in a different vehicle to watch it go down. They weren’t able to get Hanley in the position where they could move on him, however, and evidently the hit order eventually got rescinded.

After decades of being known as one of the most corrupt Union officials in the country (no small achievement), Hanley was eventually forced to step down from his position in HERE in the 90s after a court-appointed monitor uncovered various evidence of corruption and such in the Union and Hanley died of natural causes in 2000.

I believe Hanley died in a car accident in Wisconsin. I believe he was hit by a drunk driver head on.

You’re right, thanks. He was killed by a drunk driver in 2000 up in Land O’ Lakes WI.

[NorthBuffalo]

I would actually think the hit on Hanley was called off because he was such a force in the unions and perhaps too important at that time. He had a private jet at one point and was unionizing everything - he had to have been a spectacular earner and far more powerful than Hogan or some of the others in Chicago who ran unions. Hanley's hand-picked successor (Wilhelm) was an ivy league kid and ironically Bill DeBlasio's uncle.

[PolackTony]

I would actually think the hit on Hanley was called off because he was such a force in the unions and perhaps too important at that time. He had a private jet at one point and was unionizing everything - he had to have been a spectacular earner and far more powerful than Hogan or some of the others in Chicago who ran unions. Hanley's hand-picked successor (Wilhelm) was an ivy league kid and ironically Bill DeBlasio's uncle.

Hanley was indeed a very important person and a tremendous asset. That he was drunkenly talking shit in public, allegedly, was likely seen not just as an affront to the people who put him where he was, but I’d think it may have also been seen as a sign that he was weak or unstable and might flip. Think of Remo in Casino “why take the chance?”. Chicago’s leadership was not known for being very forgiving of mistakes, of course.

Frank Jr claimed that the team assigned to clip him failed to get him in the right time and place to take him out. My assumption, assuming that Jr’s account is factual, is that Aiuppa calmed down a bit and likely someone with clout in the Family probably interceded on Hanley’s behalf and got the hit called off.

[NorthBuffalo]

I would actually think the hit on Hanley was called off because he was such a force in the unions and perhaps too important at that time. He had a private jet at one point and was unionizing everything - he had to have been a spectacular earner and far more powerful than Hogan or some of the others in Chicago who ran unions. Hanley's hand-picked successor (Wilhelm) was an ivy league kid and ironically Bill DeBlasio's uncle.

Hanley was indeed a very important person and a tremendous asset. That he was drunkenly talking shit in public, allegedly, was likely seen not just as an affront to the people who put him where he was, but I’d think it may have also been seen as a sign that he was weak or unstable and might flip. Think of Remo in Casino “why take the chance?”. Chicago’s leadership was not known for being very forgiving of mistakes, of course.

Frank Jr claimed that the team assigned to clip him failed to get him in the right time and place to take him out. My assumption, assuming that Jr’s account is factual, is that Aiuppa calmed down a bit and likely someone with clout in the Family probably interceded on Hanley’s behalf and got the hit called off.

Hanley was in control of unions in Vegas, California and all over Atlantic City. I would assume he was putting money in a lot of pockets across the U.S. I wonder if Aiuppa was told to back off - I know he was a powerful guy - but Hanley was a national labor figure by the 1970s and probably very involved with what was going on with casino skims - they were not just skimming money, they were unionizing the employees to control them and loot the pensions - everyone from the bellhops to the blackjack dealers were unionized in Vegas. That was largely Hanley's doing.

[PolackTony]

I would actually think the hit on Hanley was called off because he was such a force in the unions and perhaps too important at that time. He had a private jet at one point and was unionizing everything - he had to have been a spectacular earner and far more powerful than Hogan or some of the others in Chicago who ran unions. Hanley's hand-picked successor (Wilhelm) was an ivy league kid and ironically Bill DeBlasio's uncle.

Hanley was indeed a very important person and a tremendous asset. That he was drunkenly talking shit in public, allegedly, was likely seen not just as an affront to the people who put him where he was, but I’d think it may have also been seen as a sign that he was weak or unstable and might flip. Think of Remo in Casino “why take the chance?”. Chicago’s leadership was not known for being very forgiving of mistakes, of course.

Frank Jr claimed that the team assigned to clip him failed to get him in the right time and place to take him out. My assumption, assuming that Jr’s account is factual, is that Aiuppa calmed down a bit and likely someone with clout in the Family probably interceded on Hanley’s behalf and got the hit called off.

Hanley was in control of unions in Vegas, California and all over Atlantic City. I would assume he was putting money in a lot of pockets across the U.S. I wonder if Aiuppa was told to back off - I know he was a powerful guy - but Hanley was a national labor figure by the 1970s and probably very involved with what was going on with casino skims - they were not just skimming money, they were unionizing the employees to control them and loot the pensions - everyone from the bellhops to the blackjack dealers were unionized in Vegas. That was largely Hanley's doing.

There is presumably more to the story than what we were told by Frankie Jr who was Hanley’s nephew but of course not a member and would’ve probably gotten the story second hand. We can assume that ordering a hit on an associate as important as Hanley would’ve been a big deal and there would’ve been sit downs and meetings about it, and we don’t know what those were or what went down. Again though, I would think that Hanley’s public conduct, apart from insulting the people who put him where he was, likely reflected very poorly on him to the point that he may well have been seen as a liability. As important as he was, this meant that he was also in the position to bring a lot of heat down on a lot of people if he did turn out to be a weak link.

Would be very interesting to know what exactly happened and how it shook out of course. Hopefully something surfaces, as it’s doubtful that anyone around today would be in the position to have first hand knowledge.