Chicago Outfit Lineage Chart 1928-2017

[Snakes]

Pretty sure Carlisi visited him several times in prison. Tornabene did the same thing with Carlisi.

[Villain]

So guys whats your opinion on this so-called "pre-final" look of the chart...

These are the so-called bosses or clans who were somehow responsible for the creation of the Capone Mob:

Giacomo Colismo (boss of the whole South Side and Loop and also killed in 1920, but succeeded by Giovanni Torrio who in turn survived a horrible assassination attempt in 1926 and was succeeded by Al Capone)

Angelo Genna (boss of the so-called Genna clan, closely connected to the Capone gang and also representative for the Sicilian faction on the West Side and also killed in 1925 by his own faction)

Giuseppe Esposito (boss of the Western suburbs and killed in 1928 and two years earlier his faction was already connected to the Capone gang)

Dominic Roberto (in 1926 became the boss of the Chicago Heights faction and by 1928 joined the rising Capone Mob and in 1932 was jailed and three years later he was deported back to Italy)


In 1928, the Capone gang was brought in by the Masseria clan from New York as an extended arm of their illegal operations, and by 1930 Capone almost exterminated the so-called bad blood within the Sicilian Chicago crime family. In plane words, Al Capone became a captain of a crew of ten made guys for one of the New York clans, who were later probably followed by other newly made guys and also joined by some previously made Sicilian members


Here’s how the top hierarchy for the Capone Mob looked like from 1928 until 1931:

Top Boss: Giuseppe Masseria (crime family boss in New York who was killed in 1931 and later succeeded by Charles Luciano)

Capo Decina or Crew Boss: Al Capone (captain in the Chicago area for the Masseria crime family)

Representative: Salvatore Lo Verde (representative for the rest of the national crime families and was succeeded by Paul Ricca in 1930 or 1931)

Second in Command: Frank Nitto (representative for the Chicago area)


In 1932, Al Capone and Frank Nitto went to prison and after that, the old Capone Mob was recognized as a separate group and one proof for that is all of the ten or more members, who previously belonged to Capone’s crew, became bosses or captains of their own territories and controlled their own crews. At the start they accepted a specific type of hierarchy since they also started as a special crew, by having a top boss, boss or chief executive (in the previous case known as Crew Boss) and underboss (in the previous case known as representative or in some cases a second in command). The group later became known as the Chicago Outfit.


Top Boss

Al Capone 1932 1939 (imprisoned in Alcatraz until 1939 when was transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution at Terminal Island in California to serve out his sentence for contempt of court and was considered retired because of his alleged health problems and died in 1947)

Paul Ricca 1940 1943 (imprisoned in 1943 until 1947)

Charles Fischetti 1944 1946

Louis Campagna 1947 1955 (Campagna died in 1955)

Paul Ricca 1956 1971

Tony Accardo 1972 1992 (possibly joined by Joseph Aiuppa who was imprisoned in 1985)

Sam Carlisi 1993 1996 (Carlisi was imprisoned in 1992 and by 1996 he began having health problems and died in 1997) (possibly joined by Joseph Aiuppa who was still imprisoned and also died in 1997)

John DiFronzo 1997 2014 (retired due to alleged health problems)

Joe Andriacchi 2015 2016 (retired due to alleged health problems)

Salvatore DeLaurentis 2017 present



*Boss or day-to-day chief executive- boss level member who usually advised with the top boss and senior adviser before bringing a serious decision regarding any serious subject and same as the top boss, he was also a representative on the national Mafia commission.


Boss

Paul Ricca 1932 1939

Louis Campagna 1940 1943 (imprisoned in 1943 until 1947)

Tony Capezio/Tony Accardo 1944 1946 (during this period Tony Accardo was groomed for the boss position by Tony Capezio and Charles Fischetti)

Tony Accardo 1947 1952

Tony Capezio 1953 1955 (Capezio died in 1955)

Tony Accardo 1955 1957

Sam Giancana 1957 1965

Sam Battaglia 1966 1967 (imprisoned in 1967)

Jack Cerone 1967 1970 (imprisoned in 1970)

Joey Aiuppa 1971 1984 (became the official boss in 1974/75 and imprisoned in 1985)

Sam Carlisi 1986 1992 (imprisoned in 1992)

Joe Andriacchi 1993 1994 (acting boss for John DiFronzo until 1994)

John DiFronzo 1995 1997

John Monteleone 1998 2001

Al Tornabene 2001 2002

Jimmy Marcello 2003 2005 (Marcello imprisoned in 2005)

Mike Sarno 2006 2010 (Sarno was imprisoned in 2010)

Salvatore DeLaurentis 2011 2016

Albert Vena 2017 present



*Senior Adviser - this role started from the late 1940's when the whole top administration was released from prison, while younger guys also rose at the top, and it is quite possible that the position lasts even today. In addition, this position is usually held by fresh-out-of-prison bosses, former commission members or old and semi-retired bosses. (in addition, from 1939 until 1947 we can also consider Al Capone as one of the first senior advisers, but we cannot confirm this because of his alleged health and mental problems after being released from Alcatraz and transferred to other institutions and later released in a suspicious condition)


Senior Adviser

Paul Ricca 1948-1955

Tony Accardo 1956 1971

Gus Alex 1972 1992

Joey Lombardo 1993 2005 (possibly joined by Angelo LaPietra from 1996 until 1999)

Al Tornabene 2005 2009

Joe Andriacchi 2010 2014

Marco D'Amico 2015 present (possibly joined by John Matassa, Jr.)



Underboss

Louis Campagna 1932 1939

Phil D’Andrea 1940 1943

Tony Accardo 1944 1946

Sam Giancana 1947 1956

Frank Ferraro 1957 1964 (Ferraro died in 1964)

Sam Battaglia 1964 1965

Phil Alderisio 1966 1967

Phil Alderisio 1967 1969

Charles Nicoletti 1970 1975/76 (acting under boss who by the mid 1970’s was semi-retired or shelved)

Jack Cerone 1976/77 1985 (imprisoned in 1985)

John DiFronzo 1986 1992

John Monteleone 1993 1994

Al Tornabene 1995 2000

Joe Andriacchi 2001 2009

Salvatore Cataudella 2010 present

[Frank]

The only thing I really disagree with pertained to the senior advisor dates. I thought DiAmico replaced Tornabene in 2009, with Addriacchi out of the picture for a few years due to cancer. Also I thought Tornabene replaced Lombardo after his arrest in 2005. Otherwise I'm fine with the rest.

[Villain]

The only thing I really disagree with pertained to the senior advisor dates. I thought DiAmico replaced Tornabene in 2009, with Addriacchi out of the picture for a few years due to cancer. Also I thought Tornabene replaced Lombardo after his arrest in 2005. Otherwise I'm fine with the rest.

Thanks Frank, so if DiAmico replaced Tornabene in 2009, what was the year when Andriacchi took his position again? Also thanks for the correction on Lombardo's imprisonment

EDIT: no matter i get it and i corrected it...i think?! lol

[Snakes]

I'd take Gus Alex off. Top boss and senior adviser are interchangeable.

[Snakes]

Also, Vena has never been named the official boss. He's the so-called "street boss."

[Villain]

Top boss and senior adviser are interchangeable.

Not during the 50's or 60's

Also dont you think that the street boss term can be equivalent to the boss term, with number 1 and 2 at the above?

As for Alex, Ill later post my research regarding his position during that period...

[Snakes]

I just don't think he was around that much from the mid-seventies on. Even Accardo seemed to play a more active role.

I have no idea what the street boss's place is. I asked Scott how it worked with Cataudella as underboss but he didn't know.

[Confederate]

I just don't think he was around that much from the mid-seventies on. Even Accardo seemed to play a more active role.

I have no idea what the street boss's place is. I asked Scott how it worked with Cataudella as underboss but he didn't know.

Nick Calabrese never mentioned a position that was BETWEEN the #1, #2 and the Crew Bosses. Why would Vena who is the boss of Grand Avenue be needed to talk to the other Capos all the time? Wouldn't that be Cataudella's job? On this matter i would take Calabrese's word over Scott. LOL
The smaller Outfit doesn't need to be more top heavy.

[Snakes]

It can only be guessed what Vena's role is. The Outfit may structured differently now -- Nick hasn't been on the streets since 1995. I'm not a big fan of labels either way.

[Villain]

Nick Calabrese never mentioned a position that was BETWEEN the #1, #2 and the Crew Bosses. Why would Vena who is the boss of Grand Avenue be needed to talk to the other Capos all the time? Wouldn't that be Cataudella's job?

No offence to anyone, but thats a good point

[Villain]

I’m not trying to sound like a fan or anything like it, but I think that after all of these evidences which I’m about to present you, shows that Alex is possibly the “missing link” regarding the adviser role during the “empty” time period between Accardo from the late 1960’s, until Lombardo and LaPietra during the early 90’s. Regarding our previous conversation regarding Alex’s activities during the 1970’s, all of the evidences imply that his position was somewhere at the top and for example I also completely disagree that he was a crew boss during the 1980’s, since all of the evidences show otherwise…

According to the media coverage from the early 1990’s regarding the outcome from some of the trials at the time, “Top mobster Leonard Patrick is expected to testify at a federal trial that he reported to and worked for Gus Alex beginning in the mid-1950s, when then-mob boss Sam Giancana told Patrick he was ``with`` Alex, according to a new government filing.” So according to my research, this occurred when Patrick’s previous superior Dave Yaras was sent to Florida in 1957 where he spent most of his time, while expending or defending Chicago’s interests in that same territory. So if you look at this info, obviously at first you would think that Alex was above Patrick and the Jewish gangster reported to his superior, but the problem is that during the late 50’s and through out the 1960’s, the FBI records show that Patrick in fact controlled his own crew which was mostly involved in loan sharking and bookmaking:

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... 4&tab=page

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... 6&tab=page


According to one FBI informant, during the mid 1950’s Patrick expanded his operations outside of Chicago by attending a meeting at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco with his partner Dave Yaras and his son Ronald and also Louis Tom Dragna and Nicolo Licata, the big shots of the Los Angeles crime family. Also Ernest Debs, a Los Angeles County supervisor and a close friend of a major California officeholder, was also allegedly present. The FBI informant also advised that Patrick "has been moving well toward the top of the Chicago criminal organization and might be a replacement for Gus Alex, who appears to be working for power because of the contacts he has made without advising other members of the organization"


Another example is when at the same time, a clash occurred between Fiore Buccieri and Mike Patrick, Lenny’s older brother. The problem was that some of Patrick’s men took over some of the operations in North/West area in which Buccieri was the overlord of the juice racket. At first Patrick’s men frequented a cigar store and other establishments in Buccieri’s territory and made bookmaking loans across jurisdictional lines. Later Buccieri learned of their presence on his territory and summoned Mike Patrick to a mob sit down. The sit down occurred in a Cicero social and athletic club which served as a front for Buccieri’s juice operations. During the exchange of words, Buccieri stood up and shouted “If you don’t want to give us half of your juice business, we’ll take it all eventually”. Buccieri also demanded a cut of the Patrick brothers’ gross profits from usurious loans to patrons of their gambling operations on his territory. After the noise died down, Mike Patrick came out shaking hands with Buccieri and looked like they had come to some type of agreement.

So according to all of these evidences, Patrick controlled his own crew from the late 1950’s until the late 1980’s, and he was under the supervisory of Alex, the guy who during the first half of the 1960’s controlled his own crew. When he used to be a crew boss, Alex’s group was also formed of other made members or high level associates, which in fact was a crew of guys who were previously controlled by Frank Ferraro, but since in 1957 he became the underboss, all of these men went under Alex, including: (according to some FBI reports, they were forbidden to mention Alex’s name in any public conversation)

Louis Tornabene – operated a large handbook operation mainly around Polk and State Street and his crew included Edward Joyce, George Ossey and his younger son and also Tornabene’s brothers, Tony and Frank. Tornabene also had a cousin who was a big shot in the New Orleans crime family, and had something to do with the “New Orleans wire” in connection with the race horse betting.

Charles Bertucci - gambling operator from the South Side, who came through the ranks of the late mob boss Bruno Roti. In fact, Bertucci was related to Roti’s wife and became a close business partner with Alex and Tornabene in numerous clubs and building projects. When Roti Sr. died previous of Ferraro becoming an underboss, some members from his crew, such as Bertucci, joined Ferraro’s faction or the Chicago Heights group.

Louis Briatta - the guy who extorted every single business in the Loop, and also oversaw every gambling operation in that territory and every gambling bet was reported to him. Briatta was the brother-in-law of Alderman John D’Arco and was also related to Mayor Daley. In fact, Daley’s son was the husband of Briatta’s daughter Mary. His crew members were hi s brothers Joe, Mike and Tom Briatta, and also Nick Garambone, Leo Bloom, Johnny McDonald and Sid Frasin

On October 11, 1967, the boys from Cicero scheduled a huge lavish party for Alex at the MGM Lounge. At the last minute, the group changed the location of the party to Martin’s Restaurant on Roosevelt Road. Obviously the gangsters changed the place in the last minute just to avoid any government surveillance. Those who attended the party were Alex and Aiuppa, and Bucky Ortenzi, Larry Rassano, Tony DeMaio, Sam Rizzo, Phil Tolameo and Don Dimitrious. The same year Willie Messino, who was a big time loan shark and extortionist for West Side hoodlums Jack Cerone and Joe Gagliano, was charged for extortion and was sent to a trial. When Alex heard about the news he became infuriated with Messino because according to some sources, he did not have the “ok” from Alex to act violently. According to one FBI report, Alex told Cerone that Messino cost the Outfit a great deal of money in times when the last thing that the organization needed was another destruction of a lucrative enterprise. And so Alex informed them that he had no intention on getting Messino’s case “fixed.” Alex already had the jury in his pocket because five jurors were members of unions which were under the influence of Alex but he decided not to interfere. So if Cerone or Gagliano ever had something against Alex’s decision, they kept it for themselves.


By the late 1960’s Alex started “releasing” all his crew operations and the Loop area and it slowly became an open territory, mostly controlled by the Buccieri group and proof for that is Alex taking a position as the main individual between the top administration and the underboss with the rest of the capos: (two different informers stating the same thing)

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... lex_cerone

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... _alderisio

Also as it was previously stated in some of my previous posts, in 1971 Alex took the position as senior adviser on the ruling panel, which also included Accardo and Aiuppa. One good proof for that are few documents which shows Accardo and Alex advising Aiuppa to stay away from the narcotics racket:

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... lex_larner

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... _narcotics

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... _narcotics

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... _narcotics

Since I previously posted a document which showed that Alex was still present at the top with Aiuppa and Cerone during the late 1970’s, I don’t see any problem or any kind of reason for him not to continue with the same position even during the first half of the 1980’s or at least until 1985. During this period, many reports say that Alex was still the supervisor of Lenny Patrick’s crew, and allegedly took 25% from the loan sharking activities from that same group. But some reports say that he also took 20% from the gambling proceeds, but it doesn’t say from which sources. So my pick goes to the guy who was in charge for the video poker machines such as Hyman Larner, who in fact was second crew boss under Alex’s supervision since the late 1960’s:

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... arner_alex (1964)


https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... uppa_russo (1973)

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... arner_alex (1974)


Proof for Larner’s illegal activities during the late 1980’s, was one former Outfit associate who during the early 1990’s decided to cooperate with the feds and so in 1991 the Panamanian newspapers announced that Hyman Larner had suddenly died of natural causes. Everyone was shocked and even the FBI could not believe the news and so the feds decided to send few of their men to investigate the matter. The agents looked all around Panama for any evidence regarding Larner’s fake death but they had no luck. They didn’t even found a grave with Larner’s name on it and so that was it. The agents returned home and obviously did not believe the story and so they left the case open. Few years later in 1995 rumours surfaced that Hyman Larner was very much alive and resided in the U.S. or to be specific, in Flathead County, Montana. In reality, Larner played it very smart because at first he faked his death by using corrupt Panamanian newspaper editors to publish his alleged death and also he had suspicion that the U.S. government will send their agents to check out the news and so he decided to come back home quietly to his own country, where nobody will be looking for him


Back to Alex, according to some reports, on September 29, 1989, two Grand Avenue crew members Anthony Daddino and Frank Schweihs were found guilty and convicted on many charges. One thing was that Schweihs was a killer and a stand up guy, so the Outfit wasn’t afraid of him, but Daddino was another thing and so the bosses had other plans for the guy. They paid Daddino’s bond and he was released. But there was another problem. So according to those same reports, through his contacts, Gus Alex received information that an extortion case was under way and that Mario Rainone was the “main star”. Alex feared that Rainone knew and might talk about the fact that Alex took a cut from every extortion that Rainone previously committed, so the old man ordered the other old man Lenny Patrick to take care of the job. So according to Lenny Patrick’s testimony, he took the problem to James Marcello who in turn was about to orchestrate an old Outfit “trick” when one man was ordered to kill another and then both were slain at the same time by another hit team, but in end everything went wrong.


In addition, heres a testimony from the Laborers' Union Trusteeship Hearings from FBI agent John O'Rourke in 1997:

“Defendant SAMUEL A. CARLISI was the leader or boss of the enterprise. In that capacity, he supervised and approved its membership, roles and recruitment, its various criminal activities, and the use of its funds. He also resolved disputes within the Crew. Beginning in approximately 1987, CARLISI also occupied a supervisory position within the Outfit. In that capacity, CARLISI coordinated the activities of his crew and at least one other organized crime street crew, the Lenny Patrick Street Crew, and used his position to authorize criminal activities which benefited the Carlisi Street Crew and its members. In approximately 1987 or 1988, the Carlisi Street Crew provided funding for the Patrick Street Crew’s juice loan operation and took an interest in the profits from that business. Subsequently, Joseph Vento, a member of the Carlisi Street Crew, was assigned to supervise the juice loan operation of the Patrick Street Crew.” – means that Carlisi supervised Patrick’s crew, not Alex, but still from previous reports we know that Patrick also gave a cut to Alex. Proof for that can be found in Patrick’s testimony, in which he refers that Sam Carlisi and John DiFronzo muscled him out of his "street taxes”, which in fat was the right time for Alex’ lawyers to make it clear that Patrick in fact received orders from DiFrozno and Cralisi, and not Alex. But Patrick quickly defended himself by saying "Come on, come on, you're getting out of the tune there," "Now you're trying to tell me I didn't give Alex any of the profits from extortions. That's out, that's out." Proof for Patrick’s knowledge regarding the Outfit’s membership was his statement about not personally knowing Frank "Babe" DeMonte but still he identified him as a member of Vincent Solano's North Side Crew, and also indicated that he knew him as made member of the Chicago Outfit.


So after all of these evidences and facts, I truly believe and that’s fact that Patrick was his own crew boss who reported to Carlisis’s people, while Alex was always at the top from the early 1970’s until his imprisonment in 1992 and that’s also a fact. Another proof for his senior adviser role was that Carlisi and Marcello rarely met with Alex, but instead they had meetings only with Patrick regarding loans and proceedings, who by the end of the day still gave a cut to Alex. Another proof was his time within the Outfit and also his non-Italian heritage, which blocked him for becoming the boss but instead he became a semi-retired boss who still took his cut from illegal proceedings and had the adviser role, according to the previous and numerous reports.

[Snakes]

Look, I believe everything you posted and I believe he was high ranking for several years but I just do not think he had any one, specific position. He was an important guy whom the Outfit bosses respected and at times looked to for guidance, but I don't believe there is a direct lineage between or that he held the exact same spot in the Outfit as other guys you have listed there. But then again, it would look pretty dumb to label these guys as "semi-retired, respected Outfit figures" so senior adviser is as good as anything, I guess. I just do not believe there was any one position which was specifically earmarked for this purpose. Does that make sense? I don't mean to be contrarian, you're looking for the facts just like I am.

[Villain]

Look, I believe everything you posted and I believe he was high ranking for several years but I just do not think he had any one, specific position. He was an important guy whom the Outfit bosses respected and at times looked to for guidance, but I don't believe there is a direct lineage between or that he held the exact same spot in the Outfit as other guys you have listed there. But then again, it would look pretty dumb to label these guys as "semi-retired, respected Outfit figures" so senior adviser is as good as anything, I guess. I just do not believe there was any one position which was specifically earmarked for this purpose. Does that make sense? I don't mean to be contrarian, you're looking for the facts just like I am.

I understand you but you also have to understand me that my research is backed by everyday, police-type opinions, meaning if a guy was somewhere at the top from the early 70s and continued his activities such as banning drugs or asking for murders and taking cuts from two different crews which by the late 80s reported to the made guys, than he was really somewhere at the top...no matter what, the Outfit wasnt the only crime family which did similar things

[Confederate]

I also think Murray Humphreys was a very top level guy before Alex took his spot. I know everybody criticizes Roemer but you can't criticize TAPED CONVERSATIONS FROM A BUG the Feds planted in 1959 which shows Humphreys as having a lot of power. He did order Joe Gagliano to go out to some suburb (can't remember) and check on somebody concerning a juror. Maybe I'm wrong, but it sure seemed like a few of the non Italian guys in the Outfit were very powerful. Just because they didn't go through a making Ceremony of some sort really is meaningless. I also do agree with Snakes that the title thing was not so important to those guys as it is to outsiders trying to understand the Outfit's working dynamics. Seems to me that the argument that some of the powerful non Italian guys were simply high level associates of the Outfit is complete bullshit. Guys like Humphreys, Alex, Vogel, Pierce, Kruse were 100% Outfit guys. The only DIFFERENCE is that they were not actually considered part of the nationwide Mafia as full members. However, to the guys in Chicago, they were full fledged members of the Outfit and to most of those guys, it would seem that is really all that mattered. Why would a guy like Joe Gagliano even care about what some guys from New York thought about Murray Humphreys? It would not have mattered at all.
Just my 2 cents.