Early 1970s Chicago member informant

[Villain]

thanks Villain. If the brothers weren't childhood friends, that could put them back into consideration, although I still don't like them for it. Charles English did chitchat a little bit with agents in the mid-1960s and they did assign him a symbol code (CG 6962). Based on the available FBI files, he didn't reveal anything significant at all. But maybe he changed his mind in the 1970s.

Also, I recall looking into Sam English FBI file and don't remember seeing anything that looks like it came from this informant. Need to review again.

Some of the declassified FBI files show which FBI agents investigated which Outfit members. That is avenue to pursue. For example, Frank Ford managed Guido DiChiaro in the 1970s (not saying he's the informant) What other members were assigned to Ford?

Sorry if I specifically mentioned the English bros but I only wanted to use them as example regarding some of the alleged "childhood friends" but since we are already talking about them, its worth mentioning that by the early 70s Charles English lost most of his influence within the organization and as you already said, he couldve been quite unsatisfied.

Another thing which interests me is the informant's statement regarding Giancana saving his life during the early 50s. what was it about? Was it because of narcotics or maybe it was something else? Lots of young West Side guys were selling it during that time and many of them were caught by the cops and later got killed by the Outfit. There was also one or two failed hits....

[Ed]

thanks Villain. If the brothers weren't childhood friends, that could put them back into consideration, although I still don't like them for it. Charles English did chitchat a little bit with agents in the mid-1960s and they did assign him a symbol code (CG 6962). Based on the available FBI files, he didn't reveal anything significant at all. But maybe he changed his mind in the 1970s.

Also, I recall looking into Sam English FBI file and don't remember seeing anything that looks like it came from this informant. Need to review again.

Some of the declassified FBI files show which FBI agents investigated which Outfit members. That is avenue to pursue. For example, Frank Ford managed Guido DiChiaro in the 1970s (not saying he's the informant) What other members were assigned to Ford?

Another thing which interests me is the informant's statement regarding Giancana saving his life during the early 50s. what was it about? Was it because of narcotics or maybe it was something else? Lots of young West Side guys were selling it during that time and many of them were caught by the cops and later got killed by the Outfit.

It's definitely a good line of investigation. Joe Fusco's name is mentioned so perhaps it's related to the liquor business. The informant seems to speak ill of Chris Cardi (maybe because of murders) and the dope business so if I had to guess, the informant's troubles were unrelated to narcotics. On the other hand, the informant talks about being around Pete DiPietto and witnessing Giancana apparently throwing dope dealers out of his bar/place of business. Why hang around dope dealers if you're not a dope dealer yourself? Could be just a coincidence that he was there to witness.

Another thing is, if Giancana saved his life and helped promote him in the life, that suggests to some degree that he didn't have a strong family network of cousins and in-laws in the outfit to speak up for him and protect him.

[Villain]

thanks Villain. If the brothers weren't childhood friends, that could put them back into consideration, although I still don't like them for it. Charles English did chitchat a little bit with agents in the mid-1960s and they did assign him a symbol code (CG 6962). Based on the available FBI files, he didn't reveal anything significant at all. But maybe he changed his mind in the 1970s.

Also, I recall looking into Sam English FBI file and don't remember seeing anything that looks like it came from this informant. Need to review again.

Some of the declassified FBI files show which FBI agents investigated which Outfit members. That is avenue to pursue. For example, Frank Ford managed Guido DiChiaro in the 1970s (not saying he's the informant) What other members were assigned to Ford?

Another thing which interests me is the informant's statement regarding Giancana saving his life during the early 50s. what was it about? Was it because of narcotics or maybe it was something else? Lots of young West Side guys were selling it during that time and many of them were caught by the cops and later got killed by the Outfit.

It's definitely a good line of investigation. Joe Fusco's name is mentioned so perhaps it's related to the liquor business. The informant seems to speak ill of Chris Cardi (maybe because of murders) and the dope business so if I had to guess, the informant's troubles were unrelated to narcotics. On the other hand, the informant talks about being around Pete DiPietto and witnessing Giancana apparently throwing dope dealers out of his bar/place of business. Why hang around dope dealers if you're not a dope dealer yourself? Could be just a coincidence that he was there to witness.

Another thing is, if Giancana saved his life and helped promote him in the life, that suggests to some degree that he didn't have a strong family network of cousins and in-laws in the outfit to speak up for him and protect him.

Nicely said and also thanks for Fusco and DiPietto since those are good leads. We go through all of the cases from the early 50s that involved Fusco and DiPietto and Ill try to collect the prominent names from those same cases. I dont believe there are too many out there regarding that particular time period and then we can see if there any same names/name on that funeral list. Btw both Carl Fiorito and DiPietto were Sicilians right but they werent made, at least Fiorito wasnt?

[B.]

Good points about English, both of you. I don't feel they can be completely ruled out, though there are some cracks in the theory.

I think it's smart to look at the domestic situation, though it's worth considering that the informant wanted to give the FBI the impression that he had a stronger marriage than he did, or at least avoided discussing marital issues. He makes it clear that his wife understood he was part of the mafia and had certain social obligations, if nothing else.

Like Ed said about Cardi/murders, doesn't he talk negatively about Alderisio for murders as well? I need to re-read the documents. He makes a point of saying that Accardo and Ricca are committed to non-violence. All of this could point to a non-violent (or maybe "less violent") personality, or it could be "thou doth protest too much" and he is someone with a murderous past trying to downplay his own involvement in violence. It's like with Greg Scarpa, you'd never know the guy is a mass murderer from looking at his CI reports.

One big factor is motivation to cooperate. We can't be sure that the informant started cooperating in 1971, maybe earlier, but I haven't come across him in the NARA files that go through 1969 (which might not be comprehensive, but there are still a massive amount of files in there), so I do suspect he started cooperating around 1970/1971. Some of the reports seem kind of "introductory", though sometimes the FBI will rehash background info on an informant.

Motivations vary from legal trouble, troubles within the mafia, personal/financial trouble... we even see in a couple cases that someone's cooperation coincides with the death of an older mafia relative, like a spell is broken. Just things to consider about some of these suspects.

As both Antiliar and B. brought up the LoBues, Salvatore and Vincenzo Castelli's sister Giovanna married a Tony LoBue also from Caccamo.

Oh, so the LoBue that Joe A Costello married might be Caccamese, not Corleonese. Shows that "younger" generations intermarried with their paesans.

Another suspect that popped up in my mind is Leonard Gianola/Gianolla...he was closely connected to Giancana, Cesario, Nicoletti and the rest of the guys. Was involved in loan sharking and I also think (not 100% sure) he had long time Mafia ties through the former Mangano organization. Many sources labeled Gianola as former 42 but again im not quite sure about that. So if guys like Gianola, the English bros and Daddono were previously with the Mangano crew, then its quite possible that one of them met Giancana during the mid or late 1940's (like the informant said).

I thought about Gianola, glad you brought him up.

He is the right age, came from Cinisi which had a strong early compaesani group, and his name was changed from Giannola. However, the name change is so minor I don't know that it would fit the informant's description of Sicilian relatives not being able to recognize it.

Cinisi (Palermo)
Francesco "Frank Alo" Abbate (murdered 1944)
Pietro Amato (deported 1953)
Leonard "Needles" Gianola
Giuseppe Giunta (murdered 1929)
Cesare Manzella (murdered 1963, Sicily)
Paolo Palazzolo (murdered 1935)
Onofrio Vitale (murdered 1944)

- Cinisi was part of a tight-knit network connecting Detroit, St. Louis, Chicago, Springfield, and Indiana. Manzella would be identified as boss of Cinisi after leaving the US and was killed in Sicilian mafia warfare. Manzella gave an address in Springfield, Illinois, prior to his deportation so he may have transferred to that mafia group, where his relatives the Impastatos had a presence.

- Leonard Gianola's mother was a Badalamenti from Cinisi, so she could connect to the infamous mafia Badalamentis of Cinisi and Detroit.

- The question is if Gianola had older relatives involved with the mafia. Most of the above Chicago area surnames are like "Smith" in Cinisi and family trees are filled with these names, so could be any number of relations.

[B.]

I do get the impression that the informant's earlier Sicilian ties were a minor factor in his joining the Chicago family. He says he had to gain his sponsor's trust before he became a member, which implies he didn't rely on relation alone and had to earn his own place.

What stands out to me is that he seems to know who sponsored his older relatives for membership. I'll take a look when I have time to scan the files again, but I'd be curious to compare the length of that sponsor's name to the length of his own sponsor's name. Would be interesting if the redacted name is the same length.

[Antiliar]

I do get the impression that the informant's earlier Sicilian ties were a minor factor in his joining the Chicago family. He says he had to gain his sponsor's trust before he became a member, which implies he didn't rely on relation alone and had to earn his own place.

What stands out to me is that he seems to know who sponsored his older relatives for membership. I'll take a look when I have time to scan the files again, but I'd be curious to compare the length of that sponsor's name to the length of his own sponsor's name. Would be interesting if the redacted name is the same length.

If it makes any difference, I get the impression that the CI was a member of Battaglia's crew. So with that in mind maybe we should start with members of that crew. I'll start a list that others can add to:

Sam Battaglia/Phil Alderisio crew:
Chuck Nicoletti
Nick Palermo
Rocco Pranno
Rocco Salvatore
Rocco Potenzo
Rocco DeGrazia (that's a lot of Roccos!)
Rocco De Stefano?
Joe Amabile
Armando Fosco
Sam Louis
Leonard Gianola
Joseph Lombardo
Tony Spilotro
Romeo Nappi?
Mario DeStefano?
Dominic "Hunk" Galiano
Marshall Caifano
Frank Fratto
Louis Fratto?
Albert Frabotta
Angelo Jannotta
Joseph Rocco

[Snakes]

I do get the impression that the informant's earlier Sicilian ties were a minor factor in his joining the Chicago family. He says he had to gain his sponsor's trust before he became a member, which implies he didn't rely on relation alone and had to earn his own place.

What stands out to me is that he seems to know who sponsored his older relatives for membership. I'll take a look when I have time to scan the files again, but I'd be curious to compare the length of that sponsor's name to the length of his own sponsor's name. Would be interesting if the redacted name is the same length.

If it makes any difference, I get the impression that the CI was a member of Battaglia's crew. So with that in mind maybe we should start with members of that crew. I'll start a list that others can add to:

Sam Battaglia/Phil Alderisio crew:
Chuck Nicoletti
Nick Palermo
Rocco Pranno
Rocco Salvatore
Rocco Potenzo
Rocco DeGrazia (that's a lot of Roccos!)
Rocco De Stefano?
Joe Amabile
Armando Fosco
Sam Louis
Leonard Gianola
Joseph Lombardo
Tony Spilotro
Romeo Nappi?
Mario DeStefano?
Dominic "Hunk" Galiano
Marshall Caifano
Frank Fratto
Louis Fratto?

Galiano was dead by this time, correct? I'd also add Albert Frabotta and Albert Jannotta to the above, as well as Joseph Rocco. Joseph Rocco is also the redacted name in the first "clear" paragraph on the page linked below. He was born in 1908 and worked under Battaglia. He is interesting only under the context of the informant describing Rocco's dislike of Rocco Salvatore, which is fairly specific. Not sure if it means anything, though. Here is the link and I also posted a screencap of the paragraph in question:

https://archive.org/details/paul-ricca- ... 8/mode/1up

[B.]

If it makes any difference, I get the impression that the CI was a member of Battaglia's crew. So with that in mind maybe we should start with members of that crew. I'll start a list that others can add to:

Sam Battaglia/Phil Alderisio crew:
Chuck Nicoletti
Nick Palermo
Rocco Pranno
Rocco Salvatore
Rocco Potenzo
Rocco DeGrazia (that's a lot of Roccos!)
Rocco De Stefano?
Joe Amabile
Armando Fosco
Sam Louis
Leonard Gianola
Joseph Lombardo
Tony Spilotro
Romeo Nappi?
Mario DeStefano?
Dominic "Hunk" Galiano
Marshall Caifano
Frank Fratto
Louis Fratto?

Awesome, I think you're right to start looking within that crew. Who needs the three Doms when you have the five Roccos? The informant associated heavily with members of this crew and especially in Chicago that's an indicator he was part of it.

There's Gianola's name again. He's the only one that jumps out at me given his Cinisi background but I don't know enough about him to comment further w/ comparisons to the informant beyond background and (slight) name change.

If the informant was Gianola, I feel like he would have commented on more of the murders that happened to the Cinisi faction up through the mid-1940s, but we're only seeing a portion of his cooperation so he may very well have said more elsewhere. Hard to gauge the extent of his info when we only have a few reports.

EDIT: I don't know how reputable it is, but the book Double Cross says Gianola was close to Sam Giancana going back to the 1920s.

What others on the list had Sicilian heritage aside from Nicoletti and Gianola?

[Antiliar]

Galiano was dead by this time, correct? I'd also add Albert Frabotta and Albert Jannotta to the above, as well as Joseph Rocco. Joseph Rocco is also the redacted name in the first "clear" paragraph on the page linked below. He was born in 1908 and worked under Battaglia. He is interesting only under the context of the informant describing Rocco's dislike of Rocco Salvatore, which is fairly specific.

I included Galiano to be comprehensive, and it was mentioned that the information is scattershot, jumping around to different time periods.

Added the names you mentioned. I'm sure there were old-timers too who were retired or shelved.

[funkster]

It's probably a good guess that he's in that group, I realize I'm way late lol but I will say the discussion by the informant of Teets at the wake doesn't sound like it was coming from Joe. It sounded like someone who knew him well, but not necessarily family.

[funkster]

Also interesting to note in these files, the story about Cerone being very close to Joe Spa. Wonder if something occurred here, cause I recall Mikey Mags telling a second hand story about Cerone hating Joe Spa and that when someone jokingly told Jack that Joe Spa was tougher than he was at a bar, Cerone knocked him on his ass and Willie held him down with his foot on the neck asking if Jack wanted him to rip his head off. Maybe somethign in later years turned the relationship sour.

[Antiliar]

Here's a few more names of guys were probably (or possibly) in the Battaglia group in the 1960s:
Americo DePietto?
James D'Antonio
John Matassa Sr.?
Louis Eboli
Anthony Centracchio
Sam Ariola?

[PolackTony]

Here's a few more names of guys were probably (or possibly) in the Battaglia group in the 1960s:
Americo DePietto?
James D'Antonio
John Matassa Sr.?
Louis Eboli
Anthony Centracchio
Sam Ariola?

My own opinion is that Ariola definitely belongs. What about DeChiaro? Or is it that he was direct with Giancana?

[PolackTony]

If it makes any difference, I get the impression that the CI was a member of Battaglia's crew. So with that in mind maybe we should start with members of that crew. I'll start a list that others can add to:

Sam Battaglia/Phil Alderisio crew:
Chuck Nicoletti
Nick Palermo
Rocco Pranno
Rocco Salvatore
Rocco Potenzo
Rocco DeGrazia (that's a lot of Roccos!)
Rocco De Stefano?
Joe Amabile
Armando Fosco
Sam Louis
Leonard Gianola
Joseph Lombardo
Tony Spilotro
Romeo Nappi?
Mario DeStefano?
Dominic "Hunk" Galiano
Marshall Caifano
Frank Fratto
Louis Fratto?

What others on the list had Sicilian heritage aside from Nicoletti and Gianola?

Off the top of my head, Galiano (the surname I think was originally Gagliano), Sam Luisi, and DeStefano. I'm not 100% sure about Palermo, but I believe that his parents were most likely from Cosenza. All the rest are Napuletani, Calabresi, Lucani.

Not many Sicilians in this group, which incidentally fits with the deeper history of Melrose Park going back to the '20s when there was already a big concentration of Napuletani gangsters there.

[PolackTony]

thanks Villain. If the brothers weren't childhood friends, that could put them back into consideration, although I still don't like them for it. Charles English did chitchat a little bit with agents in the mid-1960s and they did assign him a symbol code (CG 6962). Based on the available FBI files, he didn't reveal anything significant at all. But maybe he changed his mind in the 1970s.

Also, I recall looking into Sam English FBI file and don't remember seeing anything that looks like it came from this informant. Need to review again.

Some of the declassified FBI files show which FBI agents investigated which Outfit members. That is avenue to pursue. For example, Frank Ford managed Guido DiChiaro in the 1970s (not saying he's the informant) What other members were assigned to Ford?

Another thing which interests me is the informant's statement regarding Giancana saving his life during the early 50s. what was it about? Was it because of narcotics or maybe it was something else? Lots of young West Side guys were selling it during that time and many of them were caught by the cops and later got killed by the Outfit.

It's definitely a good line of investigation. Joe Fusco's name is mentioned so perhaps it's related to the liquor business. The informant seems to speak ill of Chris Cardi (maybe because of murders) and the dope business so if I had to guess, the informant's troubles were unrelated to narcotics. On the other hand, the informant talks about being around Pete DiPietto and witnessing Giancana apparently throwing dope dealers out of his bar/place of business. Why hang around dope dealers if you're not a dope dealer yourself? Could be just a coincidence that he was there to witness.

Another thing is, if Giancana saved his life and helped promote him in the life, that suggests to some degree that he didn't have a strong family network of cousins and in-laws in the outfit to speak up for him and protect him.

Nicely said and also thanks for Fusco and DiPietto since those are good leads. We go through all of the cases from the early 50s that involved Fusco and DiPietto and Ill try to collect the prominent names from those same cases. I dont believe there are too many out there regarding that particular time period and then we can see if there any same names/name on that funeral list. Btw both Carl Fiorito and DiPietto were Sicilians right but they werent made, at least Fiorito wasnt?

Fiorito I believe was 2nd generation Sicilian (I think his father was Antonio Fiorito of Contessa Entellina). I'm reasonably certain that DePietto's parents were both from Benevento, Campania, however.