Roots of the Capone Mob a.k.a. the Chicago Outfit

[Villain]

Some of the previous threads got me thinking about posting this so-called time line or chart of prime criminal groups which played their roles in the forming of one of the most infamous crime syndicates such as the Chicago Outfit. In addition, I'm obviously wrong about some of the locations or members regarding the gangs' hierarchies but the good thing is that some of you guys might correct me...

At first I want to state that before the Capone Mob, or should I say during the 1910’s in Chicago there were the Mafia organization and the so-called Black Hand extortionists. As most of us know that the Mafia is an organized criminal element while the Black Hand was more of an extortion method rather than organized crime scheme which was performed not just by the Italians, but also by other ethnic criminal groups. So the Capone Mob wasn’t formed by either of these two criminal elements but instead it was created by other and quite different criminal groups, which in time succeeded in eliminating the previous two and absorbed or destroyed everything what was left. So this might be one of the reasons for which the future Capone Mob a.k.a. Chicago Outfit was different than the rest of Italian organized crime syndicates. My personal belief is that there were four main crime factions which operated in three different territories around the city of Chicago, such as the Loop and South Side, the South suburbs and the Chicago Heights area, and in the end, the West Side. Obviously there were also other smaller crime groups which operated in the same or different territories but I believe that these four gangs were the prime architects for the most infamous organized crime group which exists even today.



The Loop and South Side


Story goes that during the 1910’s, the most infamous crime boss around that area was Giacomo “Big Jim” Colosimo. He wasn’t Sicilian because he was born in Calabria, Italy, and his power was made mostly because of his wife Madam Victoria Moresco and also because of his close connections to the local politicians and racketeers, who in fact made him an organized crime figure similar to the Mafia, or in his case, the Camorra. Some stories say that at first Colosimo did not have the need of any particular strong-arm crew but later he was allegedly pushed around by other Italian criminals, who saw him as easy prey, and so he decided to call for some reinforcement from New York, mainly from the Brooklyn area. Here are some of the main individuals from this particular territory which I believe played the main roles in Colosimo’s organization:


Colosimo group (1910-1920)

Victoria Moresco

Joseph Moresco

John Moresco

Thomas Colosimo

James Adduci

Joseph D’Andrea (killed in 1914)

John Torrio (came from Brooklyn, NY)

Robert Vanella (came from Brooklyn, NY, and alleged cousin of Torrio)

Mike Carrozzo (close associate and alleged bodyguard of Colosimo)


Even though his associates exterminated most of the individuals who made problems to his operations, still in 1920 Jim Colosimo was found shot to death in the lobby of his famous restaurant. I believe that after the murder of Colosimo, most of his family members and relatives such as the Morescos were ousted from the business and the organization was allegedly taken over by Colosimo’s “help” John Torrio, who in turn absorbed some of Colosimo’s old and new companions and also began importing his own guys from New York. In addition, by 1926 the Torrio group also managed to spread their operations in Cicero area. Here are few of the main individuals which I believe played the main roles within the group:


Torrio group (1920-1926)

Robert Vanella (in 1921 returned to Brooklyn, NY)

Mike Carrozzo

James Adduci

Al Capone (allegedly brought from Brooklyn, NY by Torrio)

Sylvester Agoglia (allegedly brought from Brooklyn, NY by Torrio)

Gaetano Ricci (allegedly brought from Brooklyn, NY by or possibly with Torrio)

Ralph Capone (Al Capone’s brother)

Joseph Fusco (associate of Carrozzo)

James Mondi (associate of Carrozzo)

Frank Nitto (associate of Carrozzo and possibly Adduci)

Michael De Stefano (associate of Torrio)

Charles Fischetti (allegedly brought from New York by Capone)

Rocco Fischetti (allegedly brought from New York by Capone)



During the early 1920’s on the other side of town, the West Side, there was a huge competition for the Italians such as the Lawndale area which was filled with Jewish criminals and even Irish gangsters. My personal belief is that during that same time period, among the Italians, there were two main crime groups around this territory such as the Genna crime family and the one which was led by Joe Esposito. The interesting thing about these two groups was that they controlled various juvenile criminal gangs, which in turn largely contributed for the power of the two groups and also in the forming of the future Chicago Outfit. Story goes that the Gennas broke off from the Sicilian Mafia and made an alliance with Esposito. Even though Esposito was older in every view, still I’ll begin with the most prominent faces from the Taylor Street and Grand Avenue areas such as the Genna group:


Genna group (1920-1925)

Angelo Genna

Mike Genna

Sam Genna

Tony Genna

James Genna

Pete Genna

Sam Amatuna

Albert Anselmi

Joe Scalise

Paul Battaglia (possibly leader of a gang which was associated with the Gennas)

August Battaglia

Frank Battaglia

Tony Campagna (possibly leader of a gang which was associated with the Gennas)

Joe Novello

Pete Montalbano

Joe Bavone

John Cutula


Another ex-Brooklyner and also from southern Italian heritage, story goes that Joe Esposito’s big push in Chicago occurred back in 1919 when his close associate and former undertaker James Marzano became the political boss of the old 19th Ward and leader of the Italian population in that area, who by the early 1920’s became retired, thus making Esposito the overall boss. He wasn’t the typical Mob boss but still he closely worked with many criminal gangs on daily basis and supplied them with protection, financials and booze. I also believe that Esposito faced the similar problems as Colosimo and so he also searched for an underworld protection among the younger criminals such as the Sicilian Genna gang and other Italian criminals like for example immigrants from around the Naples area. Here’s a list of possible high profile criminals who formed the so-called Esposito group during that time:


Esposito group (1920-1925)

Anthony Volpe

Sam Esposito (semi-retired possibly because of a previous murder attempt)

Paul Ricca (came to the U.S. in 1920 and became associate of Esposito somewhere around the early 1920’s and later also became affiliated with the Torrio gang)

Ralph Varchetti (Varchetto)

Joe Varchetti (Varchetto)

Philip Leonatti

Frank DeLourentis

John Tucillo

John Infantino



In the time period of two years more than few changes occurred within these last three crime groups, like for example in 1925 Angelo, Mike and Tony Genna were all murdered, including their close associate Sam Amatuna. Also some of their members such as Tony Campagna and Joe Novello decided to separate themselves from the group and allegedly went to war. This was obviously the end of the Genna crime family and so some of the remaining members and associates such as James Genna, Scalise and Anselmi went with the Torrios, and some such as the Battaglia clan, continued the tradition by controlling criminal juvenile gangs and also began working with other crime bosses from different ethnicities, but not the Torrios. In 1926 both the Torrio and Esposito factions suffered some losses, like for example John Torrio survived a horrible murder attempt and as for the Esposito faction, they lost two of their main players to the “other side” such as Frank DeLourentis and John Tucillo. So according to Mob history, after the murder attempt, Torrio left Chicago and handed down everything to Al Capone. Story goes that previous of the murder attempt the Esposito group already saw an opening and allegedly made an alliance with Capone, thus slowly forming the future Capone Mob. For example the alliance between Al Capone and one of Esposito’s men, Paul Ricca, which was established in the traditional way by making Capone the best man at Ricca’s wedding.


During the same time another Southern Italian gang made an alliance with the Capones. A little bit more down south of the Capone faction, or to be exact around the Chicago Heights area, the so-called Mafia had seen better days. During the early 1920’s the Chicago Heights area was ruled by a couple of Sicilian factions and one allegedly non-Sicilian, which was formed mostly by South Italians. By 1926, most of the big time Sicilian criminals were murdered and allegedly the main South Italian who ruled supreme at the time in that area was Dominic Roberto. The remaining Sicilian clans joined forces with the new administration and formed an empire on the East Side and from 19 Street Chicago South to Kankakee to Gary Indiana and west to Joliet Ill. In addition, during this period the Roberto group began to cooperate more and more with the Torrio group. Here are some of the individuals which I believe were the main administration within the crime group:


Roberto group (1926-1929)

John Roberto

Joe Guzzino

Frank LaPorte

John Nicastro

Jim Emery

Charlie Costello

Nick Costello

Sam Costello

Pete Zarante

Al Saldone

George Montesanti


Since both Colosimo and Torrio were gone, Esposito allegedly felt that he was the all mighty boss, both in the political and criminal worlds. So he and his cohorts began expanding their underworld connections by making new alliances with other criminal gangs, particularly from the West Side area. Here are the other criminal factions and individuals from the West Side area which I believe were closely affiliated with the Esposito group during the late 1920’s:


Melrose Park


John Montana Sr. (also affiliated with the Torrio gang)

James Montana (also affiliated with the Torrio gang)

Mauro Montana Jr. (son of Montana Sr.)

Frank Rio (also affiliated with the Torrio gang)

Albert Pranno

James DiPrisco

Sam Cataudella

Michael Greco

Rocco Iaccullo

Carl Borsellino

Louis Borsellino

Anthony Borsellino



Taylor Street and Elmwood Park


Lawrence Mangano

Phil Mangano

Louis Clementi

Louis Scaramuzzo

Frank Laino


Also by this time many members who were previously imported from New York into the Capone Mob, managed to go up through the ranks quite fast or maybe too fast, such as Louis Campagna who was allegedly imported from New York by Gaetano Ricci in 1928 and the next year, the guy was considered big time. Also other criminals from the West Side area previously joined the new force such as Phil D’Andrea and Frank Rio and even criminals from the North Side, such as James DeGeorge, Ross Prio, Tony Capezio, Dominic Nuccio, Rocco DeGrazia and Tony Pinelli, and they all became big shots. For example Tony Capezio brought other big time associates to the organization such as Tony Accardo. In other words, the Capone Mob was mixed and formed by many criminals from various gangs and territories, which is almost impossible to name them all, especially on who was who during that particular time period, mostly because the Capones were the most lucrative force and everyone wanted in. On top of that, as I previously stated that we also have the non-Italian criminals who still held close connections to Capone, which were close enough so we can easily consider them as members of his organization. Here’s a list of the most prominent non-Italian criminals who were in alliance with the Capone organization:


The Loop and South Side

Max Guzik

Jake Guzik

Harry Guzik

Sam Guzik

Murray Humphreys

Sam Hunt

Ralph Pierce

Nick Alex

Sam Alex

Hyman Levine

Robert Curry

Denis Cooney

Ralph Smith

Robert McCullough



Cicero

Willie Heeney

Claude Maddox

Frankie Pope

Louis Cowen

Ray Nugent

Edward Vogel

William Vogel

John Patton


West Side

William White

William O’Donnell

Mike Heitler

John Bolton

Louis Lipschultz

Marty Guilfoyle


North Side

Jack Perkins (also in close connection with the Cicero crew)

Edward Konowski

Frank Estes


With the killing of Joe Esposito in 1928 and the deportation problems of Dominic Roberto, Jim Emery grabbed the top spot for the Chicago Heights crew and kept his alliance with the Capone gang and the same story continued for the Esposito group, which by that time was led either by Anthony Volpe or Paul Ricca. With the alliance of these gangsters from those four crews, the Capone Mob was born and the boys had almost the whole city in their palms except for the North Side and also the Italian civil organization known as the Unione Siciliani, which brought the murders of many Italians, including Albert Anselmi and Joseph Scalise, who previously belonged to the Genna group. But by 1930, the Capone Mob made few successful moves by almost eliminating every rival, such as the Aiello crime family on the North Side, and on top of that, Al Capone was officially accepted into the Sicilian Mafia, or to be exact, as a capo or a “city boss” for one the New York Sicilian clans. During this period, many “leftovers” from different and almost eliminated crime groups joined or bow downed to the Capone crime family, such Sam and Pete Genna, or Salvatore Loverde who in turn previously was associated with the Aiello crime family and until 1931 acted as representative for the Chicago faction of America’s Cosa Nostra, and in 1932 he was possibly replaced by Paul Ricca. And if Ricca really took the spot, than obviously the Neapolitan heritage continued within Chicago’s underworld, not the Sicilian like it did in many other cities across the country. In other words, all Sicilian crime families accepted the Outfit’s top administration as it was. That same year, Al Capone was sent to jail and so I’ll try to make a list only from the most prominent capos and members, which I believe worked under the newly formed Chicago Outfit:


Boss: Al Capone (jailed in 1932 for over a decade, together with his alleged successor Frank Nitto who in turn was sentenced only to 18 months. So my bet goes to Nitto’s alleged underboss Paul Ricca who in turn took the position as the acting boss during Nitto’s jail term. When Nitto got out, in a short time there was a murder attempt on his life which sent him to hospital for a while, and I believe that Ricca again took the reigns as acting boss of the Chicago Outfit until 1934/35. When Nitto returned to the scene as boss of the Outfit, Ricca took a step back but story goes that he already managed to establish himself as a true leader among his fellow members, which is something quite possible since Nitti was mostly absent. On top of that, by 1932 Ricca also became Chicago’s representative on the Mafia’s commission table)

Underboss: Louis Campagna (allegedly Capone’s best guy Frank Rio was the previous underboss of the organization but because of his inability to lead and his health problems and also natural death, by 1935 he was allegedly quickly replaced by Campagna, who in turn had a lot of backing from the New York Mafia. Campagna kept this position until the late 1930’s when he was possibly replaced by Elmwood Park/Grand Avenue member Tony Accardo)

Advisor: Story goes that the Chicago Outfit never really had this position but some sources say that it might’ve belong to Phil D’Andrea, mostly because of his Sicilian roots, Mafia connections and also political connections in the First Ward)


Most prominent and possible capos during the 1930’s:

Cicero, Wisconsin, Florida: Ralph Capone

South and Southwest Side, Florida: the Fischetti brothers, Charles and Rocco

Near South Side and Loop: Phil D’Andrea (possible advisor)

Elmwood Park and part of Grand Avenue: Tony Capezio

Taylor Street, part of Grand Avenue and Lawndale: Lawrence Mangano

North Side: James DeGeorge (or possibly Tony Pinelli)

Melrose Park: John Montana Sr. was sentenced to prison in 1932 and was replaced by Frank Rio until 1934 or 1935, who in turn died and was replaced by Rocco DeGrazia

Chicago Heights, Calumet City, Joliet, Northern Indiana: Jim Amaratti a.k.a. Emery

Des Moines, Iowa: Charles Gioe until 1939/40 when he was replaced by former Melrose Park member Louis Fratto


In the end, I want to say again that my main point was explained since the beginning of this time line or history of Chicago’s prime crime groups which played the main role in forming of the “timeless” Capone Mob and later, the Chicago Outfit. During the Outfit’s peak which I believe was the 1950’s and 60’s, the so-called Sicilian faction was placed as the chief executive administration. This occurred when some of the southern Italian bosses such as Louis Campagna, allegedly sponsored some of the Sicilian criminals such as one of the Outfit’s most infamous bosses known as Sam Giancana. Most of these Sicilian fellas previously were in association with the Genna group or Lawrence Mangano who by the mid 1940’s was also eliminated. As I previously stated that most of the top guys during the late 1920’s and throughout the 1930’s were from Calabrian or Neapolitan heritage, which were obviously “schooled” by the three main crime groups such as the Colosimos, Espositos and the boys from the Chicago Heights area. But the change within the Outfit’s hierarchy began during the mid and late 1930’s, when many young Sicilian criminals, who were previously associated with the Gennas or Mangano, were absorbed into the organization such as members from the Battaglia clan, or members from the old 42 gang. So these guys probably needed a time period of 10 years to go up through the ranks of the syndicate and proof for that is the Sicilian leadership which occurred during the late 1940’s and early 50’s, with guys like Tony Accardo, Ross Prio, Sam Giancana and Sam Battaglia. But in reality these guys were only the so-called “shield” for the real leadership which was formed by Ricca, Campagna and Emery, the original descendants of the old Roberto, Torrio-Capone and Esposito groups a.k.a. the so-called “fathers” of the Chicago Outfit.

[Antiliar]

Interesting theory. How do you connect Frank Rio with Melrose Park? Why do you think John Montana Sr was the top man in Melrose and not Rocco De Grazia?

[Villain]

Interesting theory. How do you connect Frank Rio with Melrose Park? Why do you think John Montana Sr was the top man in Melrose and not Rocco De Grazia?

First of all I want to thank you Antiliar for your response. Second, I connected Rio to the Melrose Park territory with the "help" of this one Chitribune article which mentions his name together with one of the members from the Taglia family during the 1910's. Another reason for which i placed him in that area were some of the statements in some articles or books which portraits him as west suburban crime boss. As for Montana Sr., to tell you the truth there are more sources regarding his or his sons' operations in that territory rather than Rio or DeGrazia, especially the yeras during Prohibition. On top.of that, one time his brother was Judge i think. So i decided to place him as the leading gangsters during that period, mostly because after the imprisonment of Capone, his son Mauro Jr was one of the leading figures in that area. As for DeGrazia, I cant find any info regarding his big time operations during the mid or late 1920's in that territory and again, to tell you the truth I dont kow how the hell DeGrazia ended up.as capo of MP area during the mid 1930's, since there are some infos that he previously and possibly oprated on the North Side

Thats why im thanking you for the response mainly because you are the one from a handful.of people who can correct me on these kind of subjects, even thought sometimes they cost money

[Antiliar]

No problem. The Montanas were one of the first well known Mob families in Melrose Park, but when we go that far back it becomes confusing. I see the Montanas as a leader of a gang the same way Frank Calabrese Sr was the head of a crew, yet he still reported to a capo. Rocco De Grazia had a Capone connection that we know of going back to at least 1929, but we don't know of one for the Montanas. Rio, by the time he was connected to the Capones, was primarily in Chicago proper, then in the early 1930s moved to Oak Park.

So I'm not saying that you're wrong. I'm just saying that I haven't seen enough evidence to draw conclusions. The earliest capo of Melrose Park who I'm certain of is De Grazia. He might not have been the first. Maybe it was Montana, or Rio, or someone else.

Other crews that are confusing (I have theories about them, but they are always subject to change) are the Buccieri crew BEFORE Buccieri and the Aiuppa crew BEFORE Aiuppa. The North Side Crew before Ross Prio, we do have more names, but not sure of the order. James De George was probably immediately before Prio, then there was Thomas Neglia (killed 1943). Was Nick De John a capo in between? Many sources say he was a capo. John or James Franzone is another name. Was there anyone before Neglia?

Other names come up who might have been important, but am unsure where to place them. Charlie Fischetti seems to have been important. Phil D'Andrea was another. Lawrence Mangano and Vincent "the Don" Benevento seemed to be connected to what is now the Elmwood Park Crew (back then associated with Capezio and Accardo). In the end, I don't think we'll ever find out all the answers, but it's fun looking for them.

[Villain]

No problem. The Montanas were one of the first well known Mob families in Melrose Park, but when we go that far back it becomes confusing. I see the Montanas as a leader of a gang the same way Frank Calabrese Sr was the head of a crew, yet he still reported to a capo. Rocco De Grazia had a Capone connection that we know of going back to at least 1929, but we don't know of one for the Montanas. Rio, by the time he was connected to the Capones, was primarily in Chicago proper, then in the early 1930s moved to Oak Park.

So I'm not saying that you're wrong. I'm just saying that I haven't seen enough evidence to draw conclusions. The earliest capo of Melrose Park who I'm certain of is De Grazia. He might not have been the first. Maybe it was Montana, or Rio, or someone else.

Other crews that are confusing (I have theories about them, but they are always subject to change) are the Buccieri crew BEFORE Buccieri and the Aiuppa crew BEFORE Aiuppa. The North Side Crew before Ross Prio, we do have more names, but not sure of the order. James De George was probably immediately before Prio, then there was Thomas Neglia (killed 1943). Was Nick De John a capo in between? Many sources say he was a capo. John or James Franzone is another name. Was there anyone before Neglia?

Other names come up who might have been important, but am unsure where to place them. Charlie Fischetti seems to have been important. Phil D'Andrea was another. Lawrence Mangano and Vincent "the Don" Benevento seemed to be connected to what is now the Elmwood Park Crew (back then associated with Capezio and Accardo). In the end, I don't think we'll ever find out all the answers, but it's fun looking for them.

You're absolutely right, I mean i dont know where I should place Sam Aiuppa or James Belcastro(who i believe was a one time capo) for that matter and as you said, at least its fun to guess. I also have to be honest that you're one of the guys,older than me, who always say that we shouldnt jump to conclusions. So I want to ask you where do you place Pinelli during the early or mid 1930's?

[Snakes]

Pre-Giancana time period is really not my wheelhouse so I enjoyed reading these posts. In my opinion, the two of you are probably the preeminent posters as far as this era is concerned.

[BillyBrizzi]

Great stuff Villian, very interesting.

[Antiliar]

Thanks Snakes.

Villain: Pinelli is tough. I used to wonder if he was a North Side guy, but now I lean to the possibility that he was one of the guys who preceded Buccieri. I think Frank Maritote could have been too. Nitto is another source of confusion. While the traditional view is that he was the boss after Capone, I've been seeing other sources say that he was never a boss. He may have been a capo who was assumed by the police and the press to have been the top guy. If you read the papers from the 1930s, you'll see various names come out as the boss: Nitto, Rio, Humphreys, Guzik, even White.

Another thing to consider is the overlap in territories. When the FBI first started receiving inside information on the Outfit in the late 1950s and early 60s, Sam Battaglia and Jack Cerone were both in Melrose Park. Aiuppa and Buccieri were both in Cicero. In an earlier period both Buccieri and Battaglia were on Taylor Street -- but I don't think they were capos yet.

I agree with you about Jimmy Belcastro. Sure seems like he could have been a boss. The Chicago Sun-Times claimed Bruno Roti was the original Chinatown boss, but I agree with you that he may have succeeded Belcastro. Then again, we could be wrong.

[Villain]

Thank you Snakes and BillyB.

Antiliar thats a very interesting theory regarding Pinelli's situation. To tell you the truth, during that period the West Side area had many big time faces such as Fanelli, Mangano, DeGrazia, Maritote, etc. which is tha main reason for confusion. Also, while talking about Belcastro, he also inherited huge handbook operations on the West Side after the death of his cousin Rocco Fanelli. So long time ago I read somewhere that after the murder of Mangano, there is a possibility that Belcastro and Capezio divided some of his operations since he was a huge player.

You're right about Nitto and to tell you truth I really hate placing him as boss mostly because, as you said, he was blamed mostly by the media of being the boss. I also believe that the only guy who mentions Nitto as the "guy who had the last word" was Willie Bioff but he could've been wrong mainly because Humphreys also had the last word regarding the unions but still that didnt make him the top boss of the organization.

In addition, Montana Sr. was possibly more connected to Esposito, rather than the Torrios or Capones. But later his son Mauro Jr and Sr.'s brother James possibly were closely connected to the Outfit. There's even a possibility that Mauro controlled his own crew(Severino, Palma) until 1941 when he was sentenced to prison. According to some reports, Mauro's imprisonment was one of the first successful cases in which a syndicate member was sentenced to long prison term.

[Villain]

Also, this is the only document which made me connect D'Andrea to the South Side and First Ward...

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... ti%20mafia

There was also another reference somewhere that he was quite close with Guzik, and many documents show that the Jewish gangster was the real boss of the First Ward and South Side for quite some time

[Antiliar]

Also, this is the only document which made me connect D'Andrea to the South Side and First Ward...

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... ti%20mafia

There was also another reference somewhere that he was quite close with Guzik, and many documents show that the Jewish gangster was the real boss of the First Ward and South Side for quite some time

Good find on that document. That's something I overlooked. If that's true, I don't think Belcastro could have been in charge. There would have been a conflict with the chronology.

Another point to note when reconstructing the past (and I'm not saying you've done this, it's just something we all need to be aware of) is guilt by association. Often when we see two mobsters working together or arrested together we might assume that they're from the same crew. We know that's not always the case. The Calabreses (South Side) sometimes did jobs with the Wild Bunch guys (Cicero crew), for example. If we didn't know better, we'd assume they were all part of the same crew. When going back to look at Jimmy Belcastro and noticed he was arrested once with Anthony Volpe. From other evidence we know that Belcastro was a South Side guy and Volpe was connected to Aiuppa and his Cicero/Melrose Park crew.

Getting back to the pre-Buccieri and pre-Aiuppa crews, from the Jimmy Fratianno book he tells us that when he first met Sam Giancana after he was made that he was just a soldier, then the next time they met he moved up. Several years went by and according to several sources, including his FBI file, Giancana was associated with Cicero. What we don't know is if he was a capo in Cicero if he operated out of Cicero when he was Accardo's underboss. Then that brings up the question: What was Frank Ferraro/Sortino before *he* was the underboss? It seems to me that he would have been a capo (but not necessarily). Was he Aiuppa's predecessor? The questions don't stop.

[Villain]

Also, this is the only document which made me connect D'Andrea to the South Side and First Ward...

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... ti%20mafia

There was also another reference somewhere that he was quite close with Guzik, and many documents show that the Jewish gangster was the real boss of the First Ward and South Side for quite some time

Good find on that document. That's something I overlooked. If that's true, I don't think Belcastro could have been in charge. There would have been a conflict with the chronology.

Another point to note when reconstructing the past (and I'm not saying you've done this, it's just something we all need to be aware of) is guilt by association. Often when we see two mobsters working together or arrested together we might assume that they're from the same crew. We know that's not always the case. The Calabreses (South Side) sometimes did jobs with the Wild Bunch guys (Cicero crew), for example. If we didn't know better, we'd assume they were all part of the same crew. When going back to look at Jimmy Belcastro and noticed he was arrested once with Anthony Volpe. From other evidence we know that Belcastro was a South Side guy and Volpe was connected to Aiuppa and his Cicero/Melrose Park crew.

Getting back to the pre-Buccieri and pre-Aiuppa crews, from the Jimmy Fratianno book he tells us that when he first met Sam Giancana after he was made that he was just a soldier, then the next time they met he moved up. Several years went by and according to several sources, including his FBI file, Giancana was associated with Cicero. What we don't know is if he was a capo in Cicero if he operated out of Cicero when he was Accardo's underboss. Then that brings up the question: What was Frank Ferraro/Sortino before *he* was the underboss? It seems to me that he would have been a capo (but not necessarily). Was he Aiuppa's predecessor? The questions don't stop.

You're absolutely right again. The "guilt of association" thing is quite serious subject that all researchers should be aware of and I have to be honest, usually when theres no other info out there(or at least infos that i might've missed) except for one in which two individuals being arrested together, such as the examples of Angelo Genna and Paul Battaglia or Nuccio and Prio, I usually place them in one group until something new comes out.

You're also right regarding Giancana's position within the Outfit, which is well pointed out in his files. That might've happened around the same time when his alleged sponsor Louie Campagna entered the Cicero territory which possibly occurred after his release from prison. Or maybe Campagna became involved in Cicero when Ralph took to Wisconsin since my old theory that during that period Maddox was the overall boss of Cicero doesnt hold much water.Theres also one document which states that Campagna was the possible boss after Accardo's problems with the meat business(1952/53), and his reign allegedly lasted until his death in 1955.

Regarding Ferraro's position, I have my own theory. During the late 1940's and early 50 D'Andrea mostly spent his time in Michigan or California until his death in 1952?. Lets say that because of his high status, eventhough he wasnt around, he was still considered by his fellas the boss of Chinatown, Near South Side and Firs Ward and they sent his envelopes and messages, Mafia style. The previous guys which i consider them as the bosses on the South Side, the Fischettis, one ofthem was in Florida at the time and the other one took Lake County(possibly Rocco). So when the coast was clear, if we look at that document a little bit differently, Roti possibly took the Chinatown territory and possibly the South Side , and as for Ferraro, he was also a South Side guy who possibly was under Roti, since he, meaning Ferraro, grew up with guys such as Catuara and the Alex family. Alex's family shared few joints with the Rottis at the time and Ferraros brother(or father i dont remember) was also very close with both families. So since Roti had those two territories, then I would place Ferraro as capo of the Near South side and Loop, but thats just me thinking. There are many documents which say that Alex was the real boss of the Near South Side and Loop and that Ferraro worked for him, something in which I hardly believe. After the death of Roti and with the rise of Giancana,, thats when Ferraro probably received the First Ward and became also an underboss and as for the Chinatown territory, it probably went under Caruso. After the death of Ferraro, possibly Marcy and Alex took the reigns of the First Ward.

[Sam22]

Very interesting stuff guys. My compliments on all the outfit posts. Great info, great job researching.

[Villain]

Very interesting stuff guys. My compliments on all the outfit posts. Great info, great job researching.

Thanks Sam22 and to tell you the truth if it wasnt for Antiliars posts, this thread would've gone nowhere

[Lupara]

Great summary.

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