Rockford LCN Associate/Possible Member Passes Away

[cavita]

Just got word that Rockford LCN associate/possible member Joe “Pep” Fiorenza passed away on January 17th.

Pep was born October 22, 1945 in Rockford, Illinois to Gaetano “Ike” Fiorenza and Anna Buda. Anna was born in Milwaukee, the daughter of Giuseppe Buda and Maria Albergo. Gaetano’s parents were Frank and Lena Fiorenza of Sambuca, Sicily.

Pep was a salesman for Steiner Electric for many years but he worked as a bookmaker for the Rockford outfit for many years. On August 2005 he pled guilty to impersonating a police officer when he flashed a Winnebago County Sheriff’s badge and threatened to take a man to jail on September 29, 2004. A weapons charge from that incident was dropped in exchange for the guilty plea and he was sentenced to 12 months’ probation.

On February 1, 2006 Pep was arrested once again, this time by federal agents for his involvement of a gambling ring in Rockford that authorities said stretched back to at least the early 1980s and was once tied to the Family Secrets case in Chicago. He was arrested along with Joe W. Saladino, John “Tiger” Frisella, Charles Purin, Frank Giardono, John “Finooch” Salamone, Nick Provenzano and Pep’s sons Rick and Nick Fiorenza. Frank “Gumba” Saladino was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator as he was found dead in his hotel room when federal agents arrived to arrest him. Pep was ultimately sentenced to three years’ probation of which eight months was under house arrest while wearing an electronic monitoring device, 150 hours of community service, his passport held by his probation officer and he was fined $10,000 and ordered to forfeit an additional $46,000.

Interestingly, on May 30, 2003 Pep bought the residence at 633 Maple Avenue, Machesney Park, Illinois from John Kaemmerlen for $63,000. Kaemmerlen was arrested in 1982 in a huge cocaine conspiracy ring that federal agents privately said was tied to the Rockford LCN and saw the arrests of about a dozen people.

[Patrickgold]

Just got word that Rockford LCN associate/possible member Joe “Pep” Fiorenza passed away on January 17th.

Pep was born October 22, 1945 in Rockford, Illinois to Gaetano “Ike” Fiorenza and Anna Buda. Anna was born in Milwaukee, the daughter of Giuseppe Buda and Maria Albergo. Gaetano’s parents were Frank and Lena Fiorenza of Sambuca, Sicily.

Pep was a salesman for Steiner Electric for many years but he worked as a bookmaker for the Rockford outfit for many years. On August 2005 he pled guilty to impersonating a police officer when he flashed a Winnebago County Sheriff’s badge and threatened to take a man to jail on September 29, 2004. A weapons charge from that incident was dropped in exchange for the guilty plea and he was sentenced to 12 months’ probation.

On February 1, 2006 Pep was arrested once again, this time by federal agents for his involvement of a gambling ring in Rockford that authorities said stretched back to at least the early 1980s and was once tied to the Family Secrets case in Chicago. He was arrested along with Joe W. Saladino, John “Tiger” Frisella, Charles Purin, Frank Giardono, John “Finooch” Salamone, Nick Provenzano and Pep’s sons Rick and Nick Fiorenza. Frank “Gumba” Saladino was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator as he was found dead in his hotel room when federal agents arrived to arrest him. Pep was ultimately sentenced to three years’ probation of which eight months was under house arrest while wearing an electronic monitoring device, 150 hours of community service, his passport held by his probation officer and he was fined $10,000 and ordered to forfeit an additional $46,000.

Interestingly, on May 30, 2003 Pep bought the residence at 633 Maple Avenue, Machesney Park, Illinois from John Kaemmerlen for $63,000. Kaemmerlen was arrested in 1982 in a huge cocaine conspiracy ring that federal agents privately said was tied to the Rockford LCN and saw the arrests of about a dozen people.

Thanks for the info and great write up Cavita. Any idea if he was still active when he died? And what was his stature on the streets?

[cavita]

Just got word that Rockford LCN associate/possible member Joe “Pep” Fiorenza passed away on January 17th.

Pep was born October 22, 1945 in Rockford, Illinois to Gaetano “Ike” Fiorenza and Anna Buda. Anna was born in Milwaukee, the daughter of Giuseppe Buda and Maria Albergo. Gaetano’s parents were Frank and Lena Fiorenza of Sambuca, Sicily.

Pep was a salesman for Steiner Electric for many years but he worked as a bookmaker for the Rockford outfit for many years. On August 2005 he pled guilty to impersonating a police officer when he flashed a Winnebago County Sheriff’s badge and threatened to take a man to jail on September 29, 2004. A weapons charge from that incident was dropped in exchange for the guilty plea and he was sentenced to 12 months’ probation.

On February 1, 2006 Pep was arrested once again, this time by federal agents for his involvement of a gambling ring in Rockford that authorities said stretched back to at least the early 1980s and was once tied to the Family Secrets case in Chicago. He was arrested along with Joe W. Saladino, John “Tiger” Frisella, Charles Purin, Frank Giardono, John “Finooch” Salamone, Nick Provenzano and Pep’s sons Rick and Nick Fiorenza. Frank “Gumba” Saladino was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator as he was found dead in his hotel room when federal agents arrived to arrest him. Pep was ultimately sentenced to three years’ probation of which eight months was under house arrest while wearing an electronic monitoring device, 150 hours of community service, his passport held by his probation officer and he was fined $10,000 and ordered to forfeit an additional $46,000.

Interestingly, on May 30, 2003 Pep bought the residence at 633 Maple Avenue, Machesney Park, Illinois from John Kaemmerlen for $63,000. Kaemmerlen was arrested in 1982 in a huge cocaine conspiracy ring that federal agents privately said was tied to the Rockford LCN and saw the arrests of about a dozen people.

Thanks for the info and great write up Cavita. Any idea if he was still active when he died? And what was his stature on the streets?

Pep was always a huge bookmaker and loanshark going back, at least to my personal knowledge, the 1980s. He dealt in a lot of money- so much so that when he remodeled his house, he paid for it in cash to the tune of over $50,000. Whenever I get back to Rockford I always ask around and he was active up until at least last year being involved in large scale gambling games. I had heard from a few people at one of the social clubs that he was made, but I have no way to confirm that.