Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

[NorthBuffalo]

The Carlisi-related Tornabenes were harboring Manocchio? Wow, if true I had no idea about that connection.

Apologies I confused Tornabene with Max Inserro who was harboring Manocchio and had connections to Providence - that was covered extensively already.

[PolackTony]

Brother Alfonso Carlisi, born in 1913 in Chicago, was also involved. He used the alias "Al Drago" and operated lounges Al's Place and the Starlite in Cicero for years. In the 1960s, the FBI stated that Al Carlisi was a "key figure of the Chicago mob" in Cicero and a liaison between figures like Aiuppa and Buccieri and the Buffalo outfit. Al Carlisi died in 1989, living in suburban Berkeley, IL.

I just posted this on Al Carlisi a few days ago. As Snakes noted, however, he doesn’t appear in any later lists or anything and it’s possible that the Feds were inflating his importance or had confused his alleged role as a liaison to Buffalo with one played by Sam or Carmen.

The Carlisi-related Tornabenes were harboring Manocchio? Wow, if true I had no idea about that connection.

Apologies I confused Tornabene with Max Inserro who was harboring Manocchio and had connections to Providence - that was covered extensively already.

Correct. And the Inserros were also Aiuppa guys. This crew had connections to Midwest Families like KC and STL and to Eastern Families like Buffalo and NE. Then there are the ties between the Eboli/Ariola family in Melrose Park and the Genovese Ebolis; at least one FBI source stated that Louie Eboli had started out with Aiuppa, which I believe (though multiple crews had operations and interests in Melrose Park and adjacent suburbs in the 50s/60s and it’s not always clear which guys were actually assigned to which captain, a problem further complicated by the fact that such assignments could have also changed over time). And that’s just what we know, could well be other connections that we are as yet unaware of. The Aiuppa crew would seem to have been well-positioned in terms of connections nationally and this is a dimension that should be taken into account when considering Aiuppa’s path to becoming boss, I think (in addition to his seniority within the Chicago Family and tenure as a powerful capodecina locally, of course).

[B.]

Ah yeah, I do remember that coming up with the Inserros and Manocchio. They were well-connected like Tony said. The "Saint" nickname comes from the brother's original nickname "St. Louis" and "Little Saint Louis", where they came from. There is also an FBI report where an informant said the older brother Mariano "Joe Weasel" Inserro originally brought Vincent "into" the outfit which suggests he may have been made too. He worked as a trucker and as we know there were quite a few sleeper members who flew under the radar, especially among the Sicilians.

Their mother was from Caccamo and when I looked into them the father may have been from Termini, I'm sure Tony could say for sure. 100% Sicilian which fits them originally being connected in STL.

[Snakes]

Vince Inserro got made in the big '56 ceremony. Was also listed by the FBI as one of the two primary suspects in the Cain killing (other being Joe Lombardo).

[B.]

He also stabbed a construction worker to death across the street from his house because he thought the guy was looking at his wife. Well-adjusted guy.

[PolackTony]

Ah yeah, I do remember that coming up with the Inserros and Manocchio. They were well-connected like Tony said. The "Saint" nickname comes from the brother's original nickname "St. Louis" and "Little Saint Louis", where they came from. There is also an FBI report where an informant said the older brother Mariano "Joe Weasel" Inserro originally brought Vincent "into" the outfit which suggests he may have been made too. He worked as a trucker and as we know there were quite a few sleeper members who flew under the radar, especially among the Sicilians.

Their mother was from Caccamo and when I looked into them the father may have been from Termini, I'm sure Tony could say for sure. 100% Sicilian which fits them originally being connected in STL.

Mariano Inserro died in 1970 in Lake Forest. As you note, he was officially employed as a truck driver in the years prior to to his death, this was a hell of a place for a “truck driver” to be living (for those unfamiliar with Chicagoland, it would be like a truck driver owning a house in Beverly Hills). Also very interesting to note that as of 1940, Mariano Inserro was an employee of the Roma Macaroni Co., which I’ve brought up a number of times in various posts as it was owned by the Prestigiacomos of Bagheria and had a number of mafiiosi in its employ (not least of which, Totò LoVerde). Also interesting to note that Mariano Inserro’s first wife was Marianna Marsala (she died in 1937). She was born in Chicago to Francesco Marsala and Maria BonGiovanni, Little Sicily residents from Ficarazzi. I’ve mentioned before that there were mafia-connected BonGiovannis in Little Sicily from Ficarazzi.

And yes, I’m pretty certain that Giuseppe Inserra, the Inserro brothers’ father, was from Termini. While their mother, Grazia Peri, was from Cáccamo and legally married him in Joliet, when she arrived in the US she stated that her last residence was in Términi, so I would assume that the couple were already together before immigrating.

Grazia Peri was naturalized in Chicago in 1940. At this time, the Inserros were living at Chicago Ave and Hamilton in the Italian section of Humboldt Park. Notably, one of Grazia’s witnesses was Carmella Drago. No apparent relation to the Carlisis, she was born in Chicago to Antonino Drago and Rosa Taormina of Ribera. The Dragos lived at Beach and Spaulding in Humboldt Park. While in later decades this intersection became known as the “motherland” of the Almighty Latin Kings (founded in Humboldt Park in the 1950s, and which, according to old heads I knew as a kid, included a number of Italian members alongside the newly arrived Puerto Ricans in its first generation), more relevant here, it was also home at this time to the Dragos’ paesano, Jim DeGeorge. Carmella, who subsequently married Ugo Stefanelli, a “second wave” arrival after WW2 from Palazzo Adriano, had an older brother named Carlo Drago. Carlo married Isabella Monteleone, who was born in Chicago to parents from Sambuca. Her father, Salvatore Monteleone, may well have been related to the family of fellow Sambuca native Johnny Apes Monteleone.

Vince Inserro got made in the big '56 ceremony. Was also listed by the FBI as one of the two primary suspects in the Cain killing (other being Joe Lombardo).

Even by Chicago standards, Vincent Inserro had a very nasty reputation that belied his diminutive stature. I would imagine he got his hands dirty in a number of other murders that we don’t know about as well. B and I have discussed before how, apart from violently abusing his wife, he stabbed a construction worker to death in front of his home because he thought the guy had whistled at her.

[NorthBuffalo]

A source told me that Vincent Inserro's son (Joey) died a suspicious death in the early 70s - does anyone have more on that? Sounds like quite a guy.

[PolackTony]

A source told me that Vincent Inserro's son (Joey) died a suspicious death in the early 70s - does anyone have more on that? Sounds like quite a guy.

Joseph Vincent Inserro was 22 years old when he died in an auto accident in North Riverside in 1972. Joey Inserro was driving a motorcycle and had a head-on collision with a car driven by an elderly driver who was charged with negligent homicide and failure to yield. Inserro also had a passenger, a kid named Rob Traum, who was riding on the back of the bike and thrown in the collision but survived. Nothing about the incident seems suspicious to me.

[NorthBuffalo]

A source told me that Vincent Inserro's son (Joey) died a suspicious death in the early 70s - does anyone have more on that? Sounds like quite a guy.

Joseph Vincent Inserro was 22 years old when he died in an auto accident in North Riverside in 1972. Joey Inserro was driving a motorcycle and had a head-on collision with a car driven by an elderly driver who was charged with negligent homicide and failure to yield. Inserro also had a passenger, a kid named Rob Traum, who was riding on the back of the bike and thrown in the collision but survived. Nothing about the incident seems suspicious to me.

Thanks for clearing that up - I can also now see the old news clippings with Traum's name. The guys I chat with and who send me some of these photos are all old guys who often confuse things or tell stories - I appreciate the ability to fact check them.

[NorthBuffalo]

A source told me that Vincent Inserro's son (Joey) died a suspicious death in the early 70s - does anyone have more on that? Sounds like quite a guy.

Joseph Vincent Inserro was 22 years old when he died in an auto accident in North Riverside in 1972. Joey Inserro was driving a motorcycle and had a head-on collision with a car driven by an elderly driver who was charged with negligent homicide and failure to yield. Inserro also had a passenger, a kid named Rob Traum, who was riding on the back of the bike and thrown in the collision but survived. Nothing about the incident seems suspicious to me.

Thanks for clearing that up - I can also now see the old news clippings with Traum's name. The guys I chat with and who send me some of these photos are all old guys who often confuse things or tell stories - I appreciate the ability to fact check them.

Actually this guy said he confused Inserro with Alderisio - Alderisio's son died in the early 70s of liver failure but many suspected he was poisoned as he never drank and was essentially being bullied by members of his fathers former crew before he died. This guy says that Alderisio, his wife and his son all died in a span of three years, which is quite odd if true.

[JoelTurner]

Alfonso Tornabene was born 1923 in Chicago to Carmelo Tornabene and Maria Carlisi, of Canicattì, Agrigento. Carmelo and Maria married in Orange, NJ in 1908 and later moved to Chicago.

Small correction: They actually married in Orange, NY per Alphonso’s naturalization papers. This was in Western New York, roughly 2 hrs from Buffalo.

This had piqued my interest; but upstate NY fits them better then North Jersey especially considering that their relatives moved there, as you pointed out.

Thanks for the comment. I can see why you'd think that, but Carmelo Tornabene and Maria Carlisi were, in fact, married in New Jersey in 1908. There were multiple versions of Carmelo's naturalization petition; while one, as you note here, read that he was married in "Orange, New York", the other version stated that he was married in "Orange, New Jersey". That the latter was the correct version is indicated by the fact that "Carmelo Tornabe" [sic] and "Maria Carlisa" [sic] were married in 1908 in NJ, per the NJ Marriage Index (the family later used the "Tornabe" version of their surname in a number of Chicago documents as well). While several relatives did wind up moving to Western NY, there is no indication that I have seen that Carmelo and Maria lived in that area. So far as I'm aware, they were in the NYC area for just a few years before relocating to Chicago by 1909.

Thank you for the correction

Do you know if they had any connections to people in the NYC/NJ area other than with Tornabe?

[PolackTony]

A source told me that Vincent Inserro's son (Joey) died a suspicious death in the early 70s - does anyone have more on that? Sounds like quite a guy.

Joseph Vincent Inserro was 22 years old when he died in an auto accident in North Riverside in 1972. Joey Inserro was driving a motorcycle and had a head-on collision with a car driven by an elderly driver who was charged with negligent homicide and failure to yield. Inserro also had a passenger, a kid named Rob Traum, who was riding on the back of the bike and thrown in the collision but survived. Nothing about the incident seems suspicious to me.

Thanks for clearing that up - I can also now see the old news clippings with Traum's name. The guys I chat with and who send me some of these photos are all old guys who often confuse things or tell stories - I appreciate the ability to fact check them.

Actually this guy said he confused Inserro with Alderisio - Alderisio's son died in the early 70s of liver failure but many suspected he was poisoned as he never drank and was essentially being bullied by members of his fathers former crew before he died. This guy says that Alderisio, his wife and his son all died in a span of three years, which is quite odd if true.

Yeah, Dominick Alderisio died in 1974 at 27 years old. According to the papers, the cause of death was indeed given as liver failure. One of course doesn’t have to drink alcohol to get liver failure; he could’ve been taking medication, he could have intentionally or unintentionally OD’d on something (a lot of people would be surprised to learn how easy it is to fry your liver by taking too much Tylenol).

If he committed suicide, it would at least make sense that he may have been depressed, given that his mother, Molly (the FBI believed her maiden name to have been Prapopke, but were never able to verify their marriage records and that doesn’t match any records for anyone that I could find; one source who claimed to have know her for many years stated that she was an Italian girl from Milwaukee), had died in 1973, two years after his father Phil died of a heart attack in prison. I’m not sure what Molly Alderisio's cause of death was. She had been involved in taking care of the family’s legit businesses and real estate interests (she ran a BBQ joint that they owned for years in Milwaukee, where she also maintained a second residence).

I haven’t seen anything indicating that LE thought either death was suspicious. After Phil’s death, Molly Alderisio had charged the IRS with harassing her and Dominick over money that the Feds believed that they had stashed in their house. Could be the case that they were being harassed by LCN affiliates for money as well (there are claims that something similar happened to Ferriola’s wife after he died), though again, I don’t recall seeing anything indicating that.

It could also just be that the family was cursed. Phil’s father, Domenico Alderisio, had died in 1969 right when Phil got jammed up by the Feds and then Phil’s sister, Anna Zucco, died in 1974 a couple of months before Dominick died. It’s like a lightning bolt hit them in those years.

[NorthBuffalo]

A source told me that Vincent Inserro's son (Joey) died a suspicious death in the early 70s - does anyone have more on that? Sounds like quite a guy.

Joseph Vincent Inserro was 22 years old when he died in an auto accident in North Riverside in 1972. Joey Inserro was driving a motorcycle and had a head-on collision with a car driven by an elderly driver who was charged with negligent homicide and failure to yield. Inserro also had a passenger, a kid named Rob Traum, who was riding on the back of the bike and thrown in the collision but survived. Nothing about the incident seems suspicious to me.

Thanks for clearing that up - I can also now see the old news clippings with Traum's name. The guys I chat with and who send me some of these photos are all old guys who often confuse things or tell stories - I appreciate the ability to fact check them.

Actually this guy said he confused Inserro with Alderisio - Alderisio's son died in the early 70s of liver failure but many suspected he was poisoned as he never drank and was essentially being bullied by members of his fathers former crew before he died. This guy says that Alderisio, his wife and his son all died in a span of three years, which is quite odd if true.

Yeah, Dominick Alderisio died in 1974 at 27 years old. According to the papers, the cause of death was indeed given as liver failure. One of course doesn’t have to drink alcohol to get liver failure; he could’ve been taking medication, he could have intentionally or unintentionally OD’d on something (a lot of people would be surprised to learn how easy it is to fry your liver by taking too much Tylenol).

If he committed suicide, it would at least make sense that he may have been depressed, given that his mother, Molly (the FBI believed her maiden name to have been Prapopke, but were never able to verify their marriage records and that doesn’t match any records for anyone that I could find; one source who claimed to have know her for many years stated that she was an Italian girl from Milwaukee), had died in 1973, two years after his father Phil died of a heart attack in prison. I’m not sure what Molly Alderisio's cause of death was. She had been involved in taking care of the family’s legit businesses and real estate interests (she ran a BBQ joint that they owned for years in Milwaukee, where she also maintained a second residence).

I haven’t seen anything indicating that LE thought either death was suspicious. After Phil’s death, Molly Alderisio had charged the IRS with harassing her and Dominick over money that the Feds believed that they had stashed in their house. Could be the case that they were being harassed by LCN affiliates for money as well (there are claims that something similar happened to Ferriola’s wife after he died), though again, I don’t recall seeing anything indicating that.

It could also just be that the family was cursed. Phil’s father, Domenico Alderisio, had died in 1969 right when Phil got jammed up by the Feds and then Phil’s sister, Anna Zucco, died in 1974 a couple of months before Dominick died. It’s like a lightning bolt hit them in those years.

That's interesting - I was never clear whether Phil actually spent time in Milwaukee or not - I know he was close to Balistreri and wondered where the nickname came from. Have you seen any indication that his former crew - who would have been guys like Mario DeStefano, Lombardo and Frank Schweis - trying to move in on his businesses after he passed away? We all know the 'hit from the grave' story about Phil and Cesario so I was surprised to hear that while some believe his reputation alone made the Outfit kill someone - here his kid and wife were being extorted by his former crew.

Somehow his cousin Patsy Ricciardi survived the 1970s only to be killed years later. Lightning Bolt indeed.

There was a great poster years ago on GangsterBB who was from the Bronx (Pizza Boy) and was quite knowledgeable about the Genovese and Lucchese. He also hung around with Patsy Ricciardi in his youth who was Phil's cousin who somehow survived the 1970s only to be killed by Frank Schweis years later.

[PolackTony]

Albert Tocco was born in Chicago Heights. His father Michaelangelo Tocco/Iocco was born in Chicago to a family from Campobasso province, Molise. His mother Laura Storto was born in Pittsburgh to Italian parents. I wasn't able to confirm her ancestry, but based on the surname she was also most likely from the area of Molise/Abruzzo.

Just to confirm, the Tocco brothers' parents were indeed compaesani. The parents of both Michaelangelo "Mike" Iocco and Laura Storto were from the comune of Castellino del Biferno, Campobasso, Molise (the separate region of Molise was only created in 1963, and thus the province of Campobasso was historically part of the older region of Abruzzi e Molise). Mike Iocco was born in 1895 in Chicago to Giuseppe Iocco and Maria De Lisio of Castellino del Biferno, who had married the prior year in Chicago, and was baptized at Blessed Assumption Parish on the Near Northside that year (Blessed Assumption was the oldest Italian Parish in Chicago). The family lived on Forquer St in the rapidly expanding Taylor St Italian colony on the Near Westside of Chicago at the time and Mike Iocco's younger siblings were baptized at Holy Guardian Angel Parish. After living initially in PA, the Stortos moved to Chicago and also settled on Forquer St (today Arthington), near the Ioccos. By 1910, the Ioccos had relocated to Chicago Heights, presumably for work -- father Giuseppe was a railroad worker down there, while Mike Iocco worked for the Inland Steel Company, as did several members of the Liparota/LaPorte family (also interesting to note that, as I've discussed in some older posts, the Liparotas also had connections to the Taylor St neighborhood around 1900). The surname was originally Iocco, with spelling variations such as Iocca, Yocco, Jocco, and Jacco on some US documents. At some point, the erroneous "Tocco" was entered on a document and stuck for whatever reason (the actual surname "Tocco" is, on the other hand, a primarily Sicilian surname, specifically in the Western part of Palermo province). The family's initial settlement in the Taylor St community makes sense, as this was the primary locus of settlement for immigrants from Abruzzo/Molise in Chicagoland, followed by Chicago Heights.

While Albert "Caesar" Tocco was born in 1929, his older brother Joseph Frank "Papa Joe" Tocco was born in the Heights in September 1922. In 1945, he married Angeline Cuda, a Heights girl born to Francesco Cuda and Elizabetta Montella, natives of Sambiase, Catanzaro, and thus paesani of the Ruberto/Liparota family. Interesting to note that her paternal uncle, Domenico Cuda, wound up moving to Milwaukee, where he was a prominent and socially active member of the Italian community for decades. In an older post about Francesco Liparota of Sambiase, who was presumably a cousin of the Frank LaPorte in the Heights, and who married into the mafia-connected family of the Taylor St Gambinos from Mazzara del Vallo, I noted that he also moved to Milwaukee after living in Chicago. This seems notable given that there were otherwise relatively few Calabresi in the Milwaukee Italian community (which was mainly composed of Sicilians and Northern Italians). It could also very well point to longer-standing ties between the Ruberto/Liparota family and Milwaukee that may, in part, explain why former Milwaukee outfit member Frank LaGalbo was assigned to captain Frank LaPorte when he transferred his membership to the Chicago outfit in the 1950s, as the context for this specific assignment otherwise remains opaque.

As mentioned previously, "Papa Joe" Tocco, alleged to have been a close personal friend of Frank LaPorte, wound up moving out to AZ, where, by the 1960s, both local LE and the FBI considered him an important figure in the Chicago outfit's network of operations and affiliates in the SW. As of 1950, Joe Tocco was still living in Steger, Will County, in the SW suburbs of Chicago, where he owned a trucking company involved in hauling building materials for construction sites. By 1960, however, he had relocated to Tucson, where he owned the Golden West Bakery until it burned down in 1966. At that point, Joe Tocco relocated to Phoenix, where he opened Papa Joe's Restaurant, which LE identified as a major hub for mob activity in AZ in the 1970s. In 1968, authorities claimed that Joe Tocco was one of the Chicago figures who incorporated the AZ Entertainers, Club Owners, and Associates Guild -- believed to be a front for Chicago mob interests in the region -- with Frank Mancini, a flamboyant former club owner in Calumet City who moved to AZ around 1950 and subsequently worked for the AZ Highway Department and DMV (when queried by LE as to his connections to Joe Tocco, Mancini said he had known Tocco since he was a "kid"). Frank Mancini was born in Chicago Heights in 1910 to Domenico Mancini, a native of Pizzone, Isernia, Molise (the hometown of the Foscos and multiple other important and inter-related Taylor St families, as I've discussed many times before), and Lena Orlando, a native of Agnone, Isernia.

Frank Mancini was also reputed to have been a "cousin" of Armand, Robert, Mario, and Nick D'Andrea, mob-connected brothers in Chicago Heights and Joliet. They were at least compaesani, as the parents of the D'Andrea brothers were also from Pizzone. Their sister, Antoinette D'Andrea, married Frank Luzi, another Chicago Heights associate who was the son of Frank LaPorte's sister, Teresa Liparota (Frank's nephew is author Matt Luzi). Armand D'Andrea's construction company handled multi-million dollar contracts for the City of Joliet, while he was also heavily involved in real estate and business investments in AZ. The D'Andrea's cousin, former Chicago Heights PD officer Ernest Savaiano, was among the men said to frequent Papa Joe's Restaurant in the 1970s. Robert D'Andrea, meanwhile, was living in Phoenix when he was busted in 1975 for storing weapons stolen in an AZ heist of 125 firearms. While Armand D'Andrea died of a heart attack in 1978, brothers Nick and Mario, who were involved in cocaine distribution, were murdered in 1981 in Chicago Heights (viewtopic.php?p=232930#p232930).

Other members of Mancini's "guild" were:

• Joe Falduto, a Taylor St guy born in Chicago to Antonio Falduto and Carmella Malara of the Pellaro quarter of the City of Reggio Calabria. Falduto operated the Roma Bakery in Phoenix and died in Glendale, AZ, in 1976. Falduto had previously been a secretary of the mobbed-up Illinois Specialty Bakers Association in the 1950s (I've previously touched on the bloody history of mafia control of the Italian bread/bakery industry in Chicago when discussing figures like Jim DeGeorge and Carlisi-Tornabene compaesano Cipriano Argento). Falduto's first wife was Edith Scala, a Taylor St girl born in Chicago to parents from Marigliano, Napoli, and a likely relative of Marigliano native Pasquale Scala, founder of Scala Packing Company, a longtime iconic Chicago purveyor of Italian beef and sausage.
• Joe DiCaro, owner of the Phoenix-based B & D Meat Company. Totally unrelated to the Sicilian DiCaros from Bridgeport, this Joe DiCaro was born in Chicago Heights to Vincenzo Bianco Di Caro and Carmella Pancrazio of Sambiase. Vincenzo Di Caro was another employee of Inland Steel and his mother was a Ruberto, so he was likely a relative of the Ruberto-Liparotas; Carmella's brother Domenico Pancrazio was a longtime official of the Holy Name Society of San Rocco Parish in Chicago Heights.
• Convicted heroin trafficker Jose Urias.

Frank LaPorte was himself said to have controlled significant investments in AZ, including lucrative real estate holdings and a natural gas well (this in addition to his investments in CA, of course). Interesting to see that the network of people connected to Joe Tocco shows a pattern of ties to both Taylor St and the Heights and potential deeper connections around shared Calabrian ancestry, given Tocco's marriage and close connection to LaPorte. While his younger brother Al was inducted into Chicago LCN in the 1983 ceremony with the Calabrese brothers, to my knowledge, no firm evidence has yet surfaced as to Papa Joe Tocco's membership status. He died in Phoenix in 1995.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another South Suburban LCN figure with ties to AZ was Jimmy Catuara. In 1973, Catuara was acquitted for his alleged role as a mastermind of a nationwide mortgage loan scam that involved Chicago LCN affiliate Louis "Lou the Tailor" Rosanova (who owned the Savanah Inn and Country Club in Atlanta), Chicago associate Billy Dauber, and a number of other individuals residing in Phoenix, NYC, CA, and MD. Rosanova was convicted on fraud charges in the case, after being arrested and charged in Phoenix, where he was said to have been planning to play golf with Dean Martin. In 1974, AZ papers cited LE as alleging that Catuara was planning to "retire" to the Phoenix area following the serious heat coming down on him from the $4.3 million heist of the Purolator Company that year, committed by a gang of guys said to have been reporting to Catuara (use the search function). Of course, Catuara did not wind up riding off quietly into the sunset but remained in Chicago where things didn't end so well for him.

In this light, it's interesting to note a small detail from the testimony of Nick Calabrese during the Family Secrets trial in 2007. While recounting the beginning of his formal affiliation with the Chicago outfit as an associate reporting to then-soldier Angelo LaPietra, Calabrese noted that he and his brother went on the lam to Phoenix in 1969, as Frank Calabrese was trying to duck a subpoena from investigators targeting the juice loan racket in Chicago at that time. While in AZ, Nick said that they were in contact with a Chuck Catuara, who was also staying in Phoenix at the time and who they knew from Chicago. Nick stated that Chuck Catuara worked as an agent/collector for Frank Calabrese's juice loan operation. He also stated that Chuck Calabrese was a friend of their father, James Leo Calabrese. James Leo Calabrese -- a longtime worker at a paper cup factory who died in Melrose park in 1980 -- otherwise hasn't come up as someone connected to anybody, but given that he was a Barese raised on Grand Ave who married a Sicilian girl, it would be no real surprise if he had at least social connections to some people who were affiliated with the mob at some point. I've noted before that the 1922 naturalization of James Leo Calabrese's father, Mola di Bari native Francesco Paolo Calabrese, was witnessed by Nicola Nitti, father of later outfit associate Nick Nitti (viewtopic.php?p=226324&hilit=mola#p226324).

Both the Nitti and Calabrese families, however, were from Bari and settled near Grand and Racine, so it is no surprise that they had ties to each other. Nick's claim that his father was a friend of this Chuck Cataura could, however, also point to longer ties between the Calabrese family and the Southside Chinatown/Armour Square/Bridgeport area. During the Family Secrets trial, outfit associate and disgraced CPD officer Anthony "Twan" Passafiume, ala "Anthony Doyle" testified that he had known Frank Calabrese since they were kids as they used to play handball with each other. This always jumped out to me, as Passafiume grew up in Armour Square and Calabrese was from the NW Side, so I figured that there was some connection that Calabrese must've had since a young age to the Southside that isn't otherwise legible to us.

There is no record of a Chuck, or a Charles/Calogero, Catuara in Chicago. There was, however, Carl Catuara, born in 1927 in Chicago to Jimmy Catuara and his wife, Mary Bonomo (born in Chicago to parents from Nicosia, Enna). After his father's murder in 1977, Carl Catuara made the papers in the 1980s when investigators were exploring his possible ties to a robbery of an armored car containing rare coins. In 1996, Catuara was fired from his position with the State of IL as manager for a Westside driver's license office when Federal Operation Silver Shovel, a probe into Chicago/Cook County political corruption, revealed that he had been selling fake licenses to cooperating witness John Christopher. Christopher, a nephew of Chicago captain Fiore Buccieri, had prior ties to Carl Catuara, who was alleged to have previously arranged loans to bankroll Christopher's trucking company. Carl Catuara died of natural causes in 1997 before he could stand trial for charges stemming from Silver Shovel. He would seem to be the best bet for the "Chuck Catuara" recounted by Nick Calabrese unless another Catuara had "Chuck" as a nickname. All of the Catuaras in Chicago were, however, from an extended family from Sant' Angelo Muxaro, Agrigento, who settled in the Chinatown/Armour Square area, so any Catuara would presumably have been a relative of some degree to Jimmy Catuara.

Anthony Passafiume aka Anthony Doyle was born in Chicago in 1944 to Frank Passafiume (d.1953), born in Chicago to parents from Termini Imerese, and Mamie Grace Invergo, born in Chicago to parents from Nicosia. Tony Passafiume's mother was thus a compaesana of Jimmy Catuara's wife. The Passafiume/Invergo family, additionally, lived at 29th and Lowe, a few short blocks from where the Catuaras lived at 26th and Emerald. If James Leo Calabrese in fact had personal ties to the Catuaras, it could well explain how Frank Calabrese and Tony Passafiume came to meet each other as kids.