General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground

[B.]

The Nighthawk crisis is important. We have to be vigilant.

I have a feeling it's going to culminate with us all reading newspaper articles about something horrible done by a man in New York whose name we do not recognize but whose character description feels disturbingly familiar.

"Law enforcement is responding to a mass shooting that took place today at the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals..."

[funkster]

I will respectfully disagree about needing new perspectives on who is boss accardo/ricca/giancana who is chairman of the board, lol that is a discussion that i just cant take anymore..

[Antiliar]

I will respectfully disagree about needing new perspectives on who is boss accardo/ricca/giancana who is chairman of the board, lol that is a discussion that i just cant take anymore..

We all know that Frank Sinatra was the real chairman of the board LOL

[PolackTony]

FWIW we did discuss the Cassano stuff when he first got busted, but I think the details involving Mucerino are a new story.

Oh for sure, as it’s a currently ongoing story with events happening now (the grand jury). Hence, I specifically noted that I wasn’t talking about the Cassano/Galione thing with Mucerino above.

Gioacchino “Jack” Galione’s name has been around since the indictment of him and Cassano in 2021, but he hasn’t been discussed previously here. His family I believe is from Caivano, just outside of Napoli and next Acerra, a town with very strong ties to Chicago, and immigrated to Chicago in the ‘70s. His father was Vincenzo “Vincent” Galione, Sr, who passed away in 2014. I also believe that the Galiones were linked to Gioacchino’s Ristorante in Addison, though the name is a coincidence there, it would seem, as Gioacchino’s is named after its owner, Gioacchino Curatola, who is Calabrese. Additionally, the Galiones seem to be close to the DiDianas of Baci fame, which would make sense as the DiDianas would be their paesani from Acerra.

It was posted above that the victim and witness in the Cassano/Galione case, Luigi Mucerino, is the son of LaPietra crew affiliate, Salvatore Mucerino. This appears to be false (as always, if I’m wrong, prove it, don’t just say “some guy told me”). Salvatore Mucerino, who died in 2004 (after his death, he was apparently claimed to have been a made guy), is best remembered for bilking the City of Chicago for 400+ bogus work orders when he was with Streets and San during the ‘79 Blizzard, and for being charged in a ‘86 Cicero murder plot with Frank Cardascio (the charges against both were dropped). So far as I know, Sal Mucerino’s only son was Salvatore Roy Mucerino, Jr, who died in 1986 at the age of 22.

Note from the Tribune article from the other day that Luigi Mucerino is a young guy, 39. Based on my info, his parents are a different Salvatore Mucerino, who emigrated to Chicago from Italy in 1977, and Viviana “Vivian” Torina, who is from Ciminna, Palermo (note here that Paolo Torina from Ciminna was the “Paolinello” recounted by Nicola Gentlle, who Gentile inducted into the Pittsburgh Family to protect him from a death sentence ordered by Chicago boss Tony D’Andrea, though Paolinello was later murdered after returning to Chicago).

Salvatore and Vivian Mucerino used to operate Salvatore’s Restaurant on Lake St in Bloomingdale, which closed some years back.



1998 obituary of Giuseppe Torina of Ciminna, Luigi Mucerino’s maternal grandfather:



There are many Mucerinos in Chicago, all with roots going back to Scisciano, also a town next to Acerra, and the hometown of the Ebolis and Ariolas. The outfit-affiliated Sal Mucerino was himself born in Scisciano in 1933. We can assume that Luigi Mucerino’s father is almost certainly also from Scisciano or a neighboring town, as the Mucerino surname is basically only found there. Note also that Luigi testified that he knew Gioacchino Galione from the Italian social club scene in Addison; again, they are very likely paesani, so this makes sense (I believe that the Mucerinos may additionally be related by marriage to the Curatolas who I noted above, though I’m not 100% sure that it’s the same Curatolas). Luigi Mucerino thus could be related in some way to outfit affiliate Sal Mucerino, but he’s not his son.

[funkster]

Holy shit Meisner reporting a mistrial in the Cassano case.

Looks like the judge had barred any mention of OC in the trial and the case agent for the govt stated on the stand he was in the Chicago OC squad. Wow.

[PolackTony]

Holy shit Meisner reporting a mistrial in the Cassano case.

Looks like the judge had barred any mention of OC in the trial and the case agent for the govt stated on the stand he was in the Chicago OC squad. Wow.

Yup lol. Amazing. The whole trial was looking to be a circus anyway, given that Mucerino was allegedly a drug dealer who had been bankrolled by Cassano, refused to pay back his loan, and then flipped after he got pinched on drug stuff (at least according to Galione’s defense).

[funkster]

Not surprised that there is still a Chicago OC squad, but interesting that they are apparently the team specifically conducting this investigation which would seem to indicate confirmation it’s at least tangentially outfit related.

[PolackTony]

As the Tribune article from the other day was behind a paywall, posting it here:

“I got cold-cocked': Victim tells federal jury of alleged juice loan extortion assault


By Jason Meisner


March 5 at 8:05 PM ET


Luigi Mucerino was driving back from a weekend in Lake Geneva in August 2016 when a “tough guy” he knew from the west suburban Italian social clubs showed up at his Bloomingdale home late at night, pounding on the windows and doors and terrifying his wife and two young daughters.


The man, Giocchiano “Jack” Galione, told Mucerino over the phone they needed to talk, Mucerino told a federal jury Tuesday. They met at the Dapper’s West restaurant in nearby Addison and Galione drove him to his home a few blocks away, where they made brief small talk in the garage.


But before Mucerino could ask what it was all about, something slammed into his eye, knocking him unconscious, Mucerino testified. When he woke up, he was on the ground, his face broken and bloody, and Galione was standing over him with a towel.


“I got cold-cocked,” Mucerino, 39, told the jury in a matter-of-fact tone. He said Galione never told him why he’d hit him, offering instead a well-worn line from mobster movies that it “was just business.”



Federal prosecutors alleged the assault, which broke Mucerino’s nose and fractured several bones in his face, was the result of an attempt to collect on a $10,000 juice loan Mucerino had taken out with Galione’s associate, Gene “Gino” Cassano.


In opening statements Tuesday morning, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan said Cassano was furious that Mucerino had failed to pay back the street loan, which was offered with no paperwork at exorbitant interest rates, so he “decided to take things into his own hands” and sent his “violent henchman” over to collect.


“There was no other reason for Galione, a stranger with violent reputation, to show up at his house that night,” Hogan said.


Attorneys for the defendants, meanwhile, told the jury they’re not denying Galione roughed up Mucerino that night. But they said the victim and key witnesses have changed their stories repeatedly and have so many credibility problems it’s impossible to determine the motive for the assault, which is an element prosecutors have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.



“Mr. Cassano did not send anyone, hire anyone to go there,” Cassano’s attorney, Todd Pugh, said in his opening statement. “Gene had nothing to do with what occurred in that garage.”


One key witnesses who prosecutors say will link Cassano’s juice loan to the assault was actually indicted by the U.S. attorney’s office ahead of trial on charges of Social Security fraud, attorney Christopher Parente, who represents Galione, said in his opening remarks to the jury.


Another witness — a known fentanyl dealer who operates an illegal gambling hall — had been cut off as a paid source by the government when he suddenly remembered fresh details about the case, including how Galione had allegedly “walked” him through how the assault of Mucerino occurred, Parente said.


Mucerino in particular was painted by the defense as an admitted drug trafficker, degenerate gambler and marijuana abuser, who acknowledged feeding a series of half-truths and outright lies to police and later to the FBI about the loan to throw them off the case.



“How many liars does it take to get to a single truth?” Parente said. “I don’t know — the government has set the over-under at about five.”


Cassano, 55, and Galione, 47, both of Addison, are charged in an indictment in 2021 with conspiring to collect a debt by extortionate means, which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. Galione is also charged with using violence to collect a debt.


The trial before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman is expected to last about a week.


While the case is limited to the one incident involving Mucerino, federal court records show it’s tied to a wider investigation of the Chicago Outfit, including gambling and prostitution rackets allegedly being run by the mob’s notorious Elmwood Park crew.


A court filing in a related case last year revealed that Cassano and others were captured on FBI wiretaps talking about an offshore sportsbook that they were allegedly running.


Currently, Cassano is president of Games Gone Wild, a Norridge-based company that leases sweepstakes machines to area businesses, records show. The machines resemble video poker kiosks, but since they can be played for free, they are not considered gambling devices. Critics contend the unregulated devices are designed to skirt the law and have been known to have links to organized crime.


In his testimony Tuesday, Mucerino admitted that he only reported the attack by Galione to the Addison police at his wife’s insistence, and that he initially lied and said he owed Galione a gambling debt. The assault charges filed against Galione in state court were later dropped because Mucerino refused to cooperate.


When FBI agents confronted him at a suburban Starbucks in April 2018, Mucerino said he again tried to “downplay the situation” by saying he owed a small gambling debt but didn’t know why Galione had hit him.


Mucerino said the agents who conducted the interview “were very interested” in Cassano.


“Did you want to talk about him?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Franzblau asked.


“No,” Mucerino said. “I thought if I downplayed the situation that it would end there.”


Later, the FBI served Mucerino with a subpoena and threatened him with jail if he didn’t comply. He eventually was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony.


On cross-examination, attorney Damon Cheronis, who also represents Galione, pressed Mucerino on his marijuana trafficking, which he said involved using money borrowed from Cassano to purchase hundreds of pounds of drugs from California suppliers and smuggling it back to Chicago in semi-trucks.


Cheronis accused Mucerino of withholding details about the operation, which earned him hundreds of thousands of dollars over many years, until a recent interview with agents.


Cheronis asked Mucerino if agents told him he had to forfeit any of those illegal proceeds or even inquired who his suppliers were.


“No,” Mucerino said.
“Who were your suppliers? What are their names?” Cheronis asked.


“I don’t know,” Mucerino said.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


2024 Chicago Tribune

[PolackTony]

Not surprised that there is still a Chicago OC squad, but interesting that they are apparently the team specifically conducting this investigation which would seem to indicate confirmation it’s at least tangentially outfit related.

See the article above from 3/5.

The Feds have been trying hard to connect the dots with this, the Frontier case, and the Nesbitt case to be able to hammer these EP guys. A reminder again that the Feds know more than what they are able to, or need to, present in court for a specific trial. Here, the prosecution wasn’t even able to mention OC let alone LCN, and, apparently, even noting on the stand that an agent testifying in this case is on the OC team was enough for the judge to toss the case as a mistrial lol.

[Ivan]

Can someone explain to me how the "sweepstakes machines" work and thereby get around gambling laws? Seems like the player has some tiny input in making it not totally random, and therefore they qualify as "games of skill" rather than straightforward gambling? How is cash paid out to the winners (if it in fact is)?

[PolackTony]

Can someone explain to me how the "sweepstakes machines" work and thereby get around gambling laws? Seems like the player has some tiny input in making it not totally random, and therefore they qualify as "games of skill" rather than straightforward gambling? How is cash paid out to the winners (if it in fact is)?

Bro, I really have to break your balls here as we literally just discussed these machines and you were part of the discussion lol.

The IL Gaming Board has declared sweepstakes machines illegal for years, but the courts have been tied up trying to decide the issue. This was the context for the whole Weiss thing where outfit-connected machine interests were lobbying officials to pass a law to make them legal.

They’re just like any other video slots, so far as I know, but they have been able to circumvent local video gambling laws in important ways. Due to loopholes in IL and Chicago gambling laws, sweepstakes machines don’t technically count as “video gambling”, due to the fact that they don’t use money bets but rather tokens. The argument used by these companies has essentially been “hey, this ain’t gamblin’, it’s basically Chuckie Cheese”. Except the tokens are then exchanged for cash by the business housing/operating the machine. Now, because of this, there are no taxes paid on sweepstakes winning, unlike directly cash bet based video gambling. And, while video gambling is banned in Chicago (hence the inner-ring suburbs today being totally infested with gaming parlors), the sweepstakes machines, not being considered “video gambling” under the definition State law, can operate within the limits of the City of Chicago. These machines are thus to be found all over the City in bars, restaurants, gas stations/car washes, corner/liquor stores, etc, as Patrick posted. Huge market of totally untaxed but totally legal gambling income to be split by the business and the owner/distributor.

Also important to note that because of this loophole, operators of sweepstakes machines don’t receive any background checks and the sites housing them aren’t inspected. So guys who wouldn’t pass a background check for legal, cash, gaming machines can operate the sweepstakes joints and no one is nosing around when they exchange the tokens for cash.

[Ivan]

Oh yeah shit, I forgot, thanks Tony.

People were talking about it elsewhere, apprently in some other states where these things exist you can only win gift cards and such but there are these ostensibly "separate" places right next door that buy the gift cards for cash. And/or they have to introduce some token skill-based aspect so they no longer fall under "games of chance" (apparently this is what they're like in North Carolina). Was wondering if something like this applied in Chicago.

Given the untaxed nature of these things and lack of a need for a background check etc., you'd think that these would be preferred at least by shadier types both by players and by owners even where straightforward slots are legal.

[PolackTony]

Oh yeah shit, I forgot, thanks Tony.

People were talking about it elsewhere, apprently in some other states where these things exist you can only win gift cards and such but there are these ostensibly "separate" places right next door that buy the gift cards for cash. And/or they have to introduce some token skill-based aspect so they no longer fall under "games of chance" (apparently this is what they're like in North Carolina). Was wondering if something like this applied in Chicago.

Given the untaxed nature of these things and lack of a need for a background check etc., you'd think that these would be preferred at least by shadier types both by players and by owners even where straightforward slots are legal.

I’ve never seen anything in IL about changing the machines so that they no longer qualify as “games of chance”. If I’ve missed something, hopefully someone else will bring it up. Maybe it’s a tactic though that these guys will adopt if/when the current loophole is finally closed.

As I noted above also, aside from the untaxed and shady nature of sweepstakes machines, for the time being you can also operate them in the City of Chicago, which is obviously a major deal given that it’s illegal to operate video gambling machines in the City.

[Ivan]

I’ve never seen anything in IL about changing the machines so that they no longer qualify as “games of chance”. If I’ve missed something, hopefully someone else will bring it up. Maybe it’s a tactic though that these guys will adopt if/when the current loophole is finally closed.

Yeah it's odd. Like in one of the games there are multiple slot wheels but you have to stop one manually by pressing a button so you have to time it right to win (I'm guessing this makes it even harder to win than the pure chance games; the owners certainly wouldn't make it easier).

[funkster]

Not surprised that there is still a Chicago OC squad, but interesting that they are apparently the team specifically conducting this investigation which would seem to indicate confirmation it’s at least tangentially outfit related.

See the article above from 3/5.

The Feds have been trying hard to connect the dots with this, the Frontier case, and the Nesbitt case to be able to hammer these EP guys. A reminder again that the Feds know more than what they are able to, or need to, present in court for a specific trial. Here, the prosecution wasn’t even able to mention OC let alone LCN, and, apparently, even noting on the stand that an agent testifying in this case is on the OC team was enough for the judge to toss the case as a mistrial lol.

Meisners latest tweet says the govt was dying to get OC in there somehow and it back fired.