Handsome is actually Albert Vena. He is telling Mandell essentially not to fuck with Quaranta/Stravoupolos because they are paying someone in Elmwood Park - that came out in court. The question is who in Elmwood Park - Gags is a good guess - I wondered Matassa as well.PolackTony wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 7:38 pmGood call.Patrickgold wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 4:00 pmSounds like the handsome guy they are talking about is Gary Gags. He use to live around Harlem and North and he’s a EP guy so that makes sense they were dropping money off to him possiblyNorthBuffalo wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 1:28 pmPatrick you should really look into the Mandell wiretaps - as they were explained to me by this guy I trust, Mandell and Michael are speculating that Quaranta (who lives in Indiana) and Stavroupolos are cutting up strip club proceeds in Elmwood Park on a daily basis early in the morning at a place near Armands. The reason that concerns Mandell is that he suspects that means one thing - there is a guy in Elmwood Park they meet to hand money to. On a daily basis I might add - sounds exhausting.Patrickgold wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 12:54 pm I recently heard Tony Q owns a lot of out of state strip clubs, not just Pole Katz. Not sure of the states but I believe some to be in Texas. Here is a link to one he owned in Ohio. Not bad for a former Franklin Park police officer. Obviously someone is bank rolling him.
https://www.wtol.com/article/news/wtol- ... 6b60dea336
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/ ... ichael.pdf
General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground
Moderator: Capos
-
- Straightened out
- Posts: 344
- Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2023 1:06 pm
Re: General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground
-
- Full Patched
- Posts: 1184
- Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2020 5:02 pm
Re: General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground
You sure about that? There was another wire tap where he asked vena permission to take them out and Vena said no.NorthBuffalo wrote: ↑Mon Jul 15, 2024 6:21 amHandsome is actually Albert Vena. He is telling Mandell essentially not to fuck with Quaranta/Stravoupolos because they are paying someone in Elmwood Park - that came out in court. The question is who in Elmwood Park - Gags is a good guess - I wondered Matassa as well.PolackTony wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 7:38 pmGood call.Patrickgold wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 4:00 pmSounds like the handsome guy they are talking about is Gary Gags. He use to live around Harlem and North and he’s a EP guy so that makes sense they were dropping money off to him possiblyNorthBuffalo wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 1:28 pmPatrick you should really look into the Mandell wiretaps - as they were explained to me by this guy I trust, Mandell and Michael are speculating that Quaranta (who lives in Indiana) and Stavroupolos are cutting up strip club proceeds in Elmwood Park on a daily basis early in the morning at a place near Armands. The reason that concerns Mandell is that he suspects that means one thing - there is a guy in Elmwood Park they meet to hand money to. On a daily basis I might add - sounds exhausting.Patrickgold wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 12:54 pm I recently heard Tony Q owns a lot of out of state strip clubs, not just Pole Katz. Not sure of the states but I believe some to be in Texas. Here is a link to one he owned in Ohio. Not bad for a former Franklin Park police officer. Obviously someone is bank rolling him.
https://www.wtol.com/article/news/wtol- ... 6b60dea336
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/ ... ichael.pdf
-
- Associate
- Posts: 32
- Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2020 11:49 am
Re: General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground
Of all the descriptions I can think of to call Vena, "Handsome" isn't one.
-
- Full Patched
- Posts: 1184
- Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2020 5:02 pm
Re: General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground
I would agree on that. That’s why I’m a little confused.Cosmik_Debris wrote: ↑Mon Jul 15, 2024 9:15 amOf all the descriptions I can think of to call Vena, "Handsome" isn't one.
Re: General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground
Well to be fair that would be a pretty good code name then. The calabrese prison recordings have them referring to men as "she' and the "curly girl", and stuff like that.Patrickgold wrote: ↑Mon Jul 15, 2024 9:44 amI would agree on that. That’s why I’m a little confused.Cosmik_Debris wrote: ↑Mon Jul 15, 2024 9:15 amOf all the descriptions I can think of to call Vena, "Handsome" isn't one.
Not saying it's Vena, just that "handsome" could be anyone.
-
- Straightened out
- Posts: 344
- Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2023 1:06 pm
Re: General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground
I'll say a good source of mine says people call Vena 'Handsome' and 'Tall' - and yeah I think its not to his face but in code for obvious reasons. Here is the second transcript that shows Handsome is indeed Vena - and Vena refused to 'serve up the Parthenon guy' (Stravoupolos) https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/ ... ichael.pdf
I also think when Mandell is talking about the Sherriff and the DA he is talking about other people in the Outfit. The 'intelligence community' is people giving him information on who pays who in the Outfit.
39 MANDELL: So, why Billiard One, along with his companion
40 Billiard Two, go there makes all the sense to
41 the intelligence community over at the, the
42 States Attorney’s Office. So that means that
43 little Rex—Robert Redford is right.
44
45 MICHAEL: Yep.
46
47 MANDELL: And you know what the Cook County State’s
6
1 Attorney said? “So what. So fucking what.”
2
3 MICHAEL: I don’t think they’re shar—I don’t think they’re
4 sharing anything with the Cook County Sheriff
5 or anything or anybody else.
6
7 MANDELL: No, no, no, no, no, not sharing though. There’s
8 no bribe going on. I’m saying that Billiard
9 Number One pays homage to somebody above him.
10 That’s what the intelligence community is
11 saying.
I also think when Mandell is talking about the Sherriff and the DA he is talking about other people in the Outfit. The 'intelligence community' is people giving him information on who pays who in the Outfit.
39 MANDELL: So, why Billiard One, along with his companion
40 Billiard Two, go there makes all the sense to
41 the intelligence community over at the, the
42 States Attorney’s Office. So that means that
43 little Rex—Robert Redford is right.
44
45 MICHAEL: Yep.
46
47 MANDELL: And you know what the Cook County State’s
6
1 Attorney said? “So what. So fucking what.”
2
3 MICHAEL: I don’t think they’re shar—I don’t think they’re
4 sharing anything with the Cook County Sheriff
5 or anything or anybody else.
6
7 MANDELL: No, no, no, no, no, not sharing though. There’s
8 no bribe going on. I’m saying that Billiard
9 Number One pays homage to somebody above him.
10 That’s what the intelligence community is
11 saying.
Re: General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground
Thanks for sharing these, Buffalo! Reading transcripts like this is always fascinating. It's like trying to peice together a mystery. Obviously lots of it is tough to deciper, but here's my take reading between the lines, curious for other's thoughts.NorthBuffalo wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 1:28 pmPatrick you should really look into the Mandell wiretaps - as they were explained to me by this guy I trust, Mandell and Michael are speculating that Quaranta (who lives in Indiana) and Stavroupolos are cutting up strip club proceeds in Elmwood Park on a daily basis early in the morning at a place near Armands. The reason that concerns Mandell is that he suspects that means one thing - there is a guy in Elmwood Park they meet to hand money to. On a daily basis I might add - sounds exhausting.Patrickgold wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 12:54 pm I recently heard Tony Q owns a lot of out of state strip clubs, not just Pole Katz. Not sure of the states but I believe some to be in Texas. Here is a link to one he owned in Ohio. Not bad for a former Franklin Park police officer. Obviously someone is bank rolling him.
https://www.wtol.com/article/news/wtol- ... 6b60dea336
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/ ... ichael.pdf
- As you mention, Handsome is almost certainly Vena.
-I read the "Sheriffs Department" and the "Cook County State's Attorney" as being two different Outfit crews. There's a lot of talk of sharing profits, who's turf it is, etc. Based on what we know about Mandell, I would say there's a strong chance this is referring to the Elmwood Park crew and the Grand Ave crew.
-At one point he references "the brothers." Anyone think there is a chance he's talking about the Difronzos?
-Anyone think the Sheriff could be Andriacchi? He is certainly referring to a high ranking figure.
-
- Straightened out
- Posts: 344
- Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2023 1:06 pm
Re: General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground
I think the Sherrif is actually DiFronzo and the 'guy from Rosemont' is Stephens (the former mayor). I'm being told that he's talking about the brothers in the context of Jim and Petes, a restaurant in Elmwood Park, where the brother and his brother in law had a falling out - he's just giving a location to where this 'cut up' meeting is being held in Elmwood Park.
Re: General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground
Reading a bit more about Mandell/Manning's history, I'd be surprised if he had direct access to John Difronzo like that. The transcripts read like he is talking directly to and receiving answers directly from the "sheriff". Anything is possible of course.NorthBuffalo wrote: ↑Tue Jul 16, 2024 10:36 am I think the Sherrif is actually DiFronzo and the 'guy from Rosemont' is Stephens (the former mayor). I'm being told that he's talking about the brothers in the context of Jim and Petes, a restaurant in Elmwood Park, where the brother and his brother in law had a falling out - he's just giving a location to where this 'cut up' meeting is being held in Elmwood Park.
Manning/Mandell left Chicago to retire to Florida sometime in the mid 2000's, and then around 2012 returned to Chicago and resumed a life of crime re-connecting with his old Outfit contacts. Pretty interesting honestly. He just seemed like somebody who was really into the life, the addiction of it, and couldn't give it up. Either way, given Mandell's time away, I'd be surprised if someone as careful and protected as Difronzo would talk to him directly. Of course it also possible that he was able to communicate with him through intermediaries and still receive orders that way.
-
- Straightened out
- Posts: 344
- Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2023 1:06 pm
Re: General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground
I agree that mandell would never talk to DiFronzo - I think he's in contact with Vena who is in contact with DiFronzo's people. I think the Sherriff is DiFronzo and I think the Cook County States Attorney is some intermediary working to figure out who these two strip club guys (Billiards Players) are paying - and it seems to me as if there may be crews kind of fighting over this.Coloboy wrote: ↑Wed Jul 17, 2024 11:23 amReading a bit more about Mandell/Manning's history, I'd be surprised if he had direct access to John Difronzo like that. The transcripts read like he is talking directly to and receiving answers directly from the "sheriff". Anything is possible of course.NorthBuffalo wrote: ↑Tue Jul 16, 2024 10:36 am I think the Sherrif is actually DiFronzo and the 'guy from Rosemont' is Stephens (the former mayor). I'm being told that he's talking about the brothers in the context of Jim and Petes, a restaurant in Elmwood Park, where the brother and his brother in law had a falling out - he's just giving a location to where this 'cut up' meeting is being held in Elmwood Park.
Manning/Mandell left Chicago to retire to Florida sometime in the mid 2000's, and then around 2012 returned to Chicago and resumed a life of crime re-connecting with his old Outfit contacts. Pretty interesting honestly. He just seemed like somebody who was really into the life, the addiction of it, and couldn't give it up. Either way, given Mandell's time away, I'd be surprised if someone as careful and protected as Difronzo would talk to him directly. Of course it also possible that he was able to communicate with him through intermediaries and still receive orders that way.
See the relevant portions below. My overall viewpoint here is that Vena may have been putting Mandell and Michael on to these two strip club guys - then balked at the very end after learning they were owned by another crew. I think at this point in time, Vena is kind of still trying to figure out if they can take these guys out or not - and then changes his mind, which frustrates Mandell. It seems DiFronzo or the Elmwood Park liason played dumb to a certain extent.
Alright, that was number one. Number two, I ran
18 into a guy, tall handsome guy. He called, so I
19 ran over there and spent about five minutes.
20 Anyway, he gave me some, some, uh, information.
21 He asked me how I was doing and blah blah blah.
22 I says: “I’m doing fine.” I says: “You know,”
23 he says: “How are things going?” I says: “You
24 know what? I’m in contact with”—Uh, it doesn’t
25 concern him, it doesn’t concern you. I’m just
26 relating a story to you by the way.
27
28 MICHAEL: Uhm hmm.
29
30 MANDELL: But I said: “You know, I’m in contact with the
31 Sheriff’s office and, as most people know,
32 there’s some litigation with the Cook County
33 State’s Attorney who’s spearheading an
34 investigation.” This is all legal matters. And
35 he told me about some information that he has
36 had that, that a fellow that I know in the real
37 estate world had about these two billiard guys
38 meeting at a coffee shop in my old, in my old
39 stomping grounds out west. And I said: “Where
40 did this come from?” I said, he says: “You didn’t
41 know?” I, he said: “Between six and nine o’clock
42 in the morning on a daily basis.” So anyway I
43 just, I gave that to the Sheriff and the State’s
44 Attorney, they’re shocked. They said, they
45 surprised—They just hear about this today. So,
46 everybody’s wondering why the information was
47 sort of withheld all this time. That would have
2
1 made their life a little bit easier. And so uh,
2 that’s the only thing. I was a little, everybody
3 was, everybody on my side of the fence—
Then you have this portion - my view is Robert Redford is Panozzo who is the one initially putting them on to this score, with the initial support of Vena. Again, trying to figure out if DiFronzo owns these guys or not.
39 MANDELL: So, why Billiard One, along with his companion
40 Billiard Two, go there makes all the sense to
41 the intelligence community over at the, the
42 States Attorney’s Office. So that means that
43 little Rex—Robert Redford is right.
44
45 MICHAEL: Yep.
46
47 MANDELL: And you know what the Cook County State’s
6
1 Attorney said? “So what. So fucking what.”
2
3 MICHAEL: I don’t think they’re shar—I don’t think they’re
4 sharing anything with the Cook County Sheriff
5 or anything or anybody else.
6
7 MANDELL: No, no, no, no, no, not sharing though. There’s
8 no bribe going on. I’m saying that Billiard
9 Number One pays homage to somebody above him.
10 That’s what the intelligence community is
11 saying.
12
13 MICHAEL: I don’t believe it.
14
15 MANDELL: There’s no reason to go over it at, in that
16 neighborhood, on a daily basis, in the morning,
17 other than for that purpose. The States Attorney
18 says those guys are miles out of their area.
19 For what reason?
20
21 MICHAEL: Yeah, I don’t believe it. I, I believe that
22 they’re wanna bes and they just go there.
23
24 MANDELL: No, no, no, and the ones, and the one that’s
25 above the wanna be is another perceptionist of
26 the wanna be perceptionist film crew.
27
28 MICHAEL: Right.
29
30 MANDELL: This is like the actors guild. Believe me. This
31 is all this is, is a play-actors guild. And
32 again, it’s got nothing to do with me or you or
33 anybody we know. But this is coming right out
34 of the Cook County people.
Re: General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground
The guys Mandell met at La Scarola were Vena, Robert Panozzo, and Mike Swiatek.
Re: General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground
"Handsome" was Robert Panozzo. "The Billiard Company" collectively referred to Quaranta and Stavropoulos. Quaranta = "Q/cue ball." The references to "Sheriff's Department" and "Cook County State's Attorney" didn't mean anything in particular, it was just empty code Mandell used. The "film perceptionists[sic]" mentioned on 9/20 are wannabe Outfit guys ("film" actors).
The "rest of the guys" mentioned on 9/5 are Vena and Larry Petitt. Stavropoulos belonged to Elmwood Park, so Petitt was asked if Stavropoulos's club was "spoken for." Mandell and Michael also speculate on who permitted Stavropoulos to have the club and Michael inquires if it could be "Fat Ass in North Carolina" (Mike Sarno, imprisoned in NC at the time). Mandell doesn't seem to care if that's the case as he responds that he "doesn't give a fuck who it is." He goes on to say that the "old guys [senior Outfit members] are done" because they didn't want another Family Secrets.
The "rest of the guys" mentioned on 9/5 are Vena and Larry Petitt. Stavropoulos belonged to Elmwood Park, so Petitt was asked if Stavropoulos's club was "spoken for." Mandell and Michael also speculate on who permitted Stavropoulos to have the club and Michael inquires if it could be "Fat Ass in North Carolina" (Mike Sarno, imprisoned in NC at the time). Mandell doesn't seem to care if that's the case as he responds that he "doesn't give a fuck who it is." He goes on to say that the "old guys [senior Outfit members] are done" because they didn't want another Family Secrets.
- Ivan
- Full Patched
- Posts: 3697
- Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 6:33 am
- Location: The center of the universe, a.k.a. Ohio
Re: General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground
Interesting. Could elaborate on this? He means DiFronzo, Andriacci, D'Amico? (Pardon my ignorance again.)
EYYYY ALL YOU CHOOCHES OUT THERE IT'S THE KID
Re: General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground
-
- Full Patched
- Posts: 1184
- Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2020 5:02 pm
Re: General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground
Snakes, any insight on who he’s talking about the big older guy with a huge appetite that has a social club on Addison st. That guy use to be at Sally’s Pancake House on Sundays but then started going to Emmy’s. Also lives around Harlem and North, which borders River Forest. They think Frankie Q and Dimitri could possibly be meeting him. In my opinion it sounds like Joey A. Lives in River Forest, had a social club and also use to go to Sally’s Pancake House.