The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

[B.]

Man, Hegarty would have been great to talk to if he didn't die young. Interesting he pointed out the ethnic heritage of the Chicago Family but noted the "sphere of influence" went beyond that. I appreciate that he "translates" Chicago's set-up/terminology into more universal Cosa Nostra language, though I'd love to know if he had local sources for some of the language he used, specifically the use of dialect -- he says "capudecina" instead of the more common FBI term "caporegime".

He seems to have approached Chicago similarly to the way we do and would have been a great resource to speak with.

Incredible collaboration in this thread.

[PolackTony]

Man, Hegarty would have been great to talk to if he didn't die young. Interesting he pointed out the ethnic heritage of the Chicago Family but noted the "sphere of influence" went beyond that. I appreciate that he "translates" Chicago's set-up/terminology into more universal Cosa Nostra language, though I'd love to know if he had local sources for some of the language he used, specifically the use of dialect -- he says "capudecina" instead of the more common FBI term "caporegime".

He seems to have approached Chicago similarly to the way we do and would have been a great resource to speak with.

Incredible collaboration in this thread.

Hegarty was a native Chicagoan. He told Congress that he had studied “the Italian and Sicilian languages”, hence his nuanced attention to the Sicilian dialect spelling of the rank positions. In another testimony statement, he stated something to the effect that “while these individuals [captains] are called ‘street bosses’ locally in Chicagoland, we have been aware for many, many, years that their actual title is ‘capudecina’” (presumably, he’s referring to at least as far back as the Costello-Giancana wiretap).

Worth noting that prior to transferring to Chicago, Hegarty worked in the Philly FO. He may have been one of the agents on those 60s FBI Philly reports. Unsurprising then that he used “rappresentandu ufficiali”, as those Philly reports and Bruno wiretaps had Bruno using that usage for “boss”. In his 80s Congressional testimony on the Chicago family, Hegarty also stated that he had heard wiretaps of a making ceremony, and described this as involved letting a Holy picture “burn down to the hand”, which matches the description that both Calabrese brothers have for their ceremony (they both underscore the burning of the paper down to the hand). But it’s unclear to me if Hegarty actually had intel on Chicago’s ceremony specifically (which we know for sure was being used at the time Hegarty was testifying, at the least), or if he had heard tapes of another family, Philly or someone else, and was just stating that Chicago had the same ceremony documented for other families.

[B.]

Makes sense he was with the Philly office previously. His range of knowledge went beyond investigating Chicago racketeering and he was in a position to compare/contrast different Families, something that's essential to understanding this stuff.

What year did he mention a recorded ceremony? The Patriarca ceremony was late 1989 so this seems to suggest the FBI recorded an earlier ceremony if he mentioned it in the 1980s. Maybe an illegal wiretap like the 1960s tapes hence why we haven't heard of it? Otherwise you'd think they'd publicize it like they did with the Patriarcas and Philly. If there truly was an earlier recorded ceremony somewhere we can only hope that surfaces in a report someday via FOIA.

[PolackTony]

Makes sense he was with the Philly office previously. His range of knowledge went beyond investigating Chicago racketeering and he was in a position to compare/contrast different Families, something that's essential to understanding this stuff.

What year did he mention a recorded ceremony? The Patriarca ceremony was late 1989 so this seems to suggest the FBI recorded an earlier ceremony if he mentioned it in the 1980s. Maybe an illegal wiretap like the 1960s tapes hence why we haven't heard of it? Otherwise you'd think they'd publicize it like they did with the Patriarcas and Philly. If there truly was an earlier recorded ceremony somewhere we can only hope that surfaces in a report someday via FOIA.

It was in 1983, IIRC. Well-before we’re aware of the FBI recording any ceremonies, of course. Unclear what time frame it could’ve been from and which family. Presumably they had an illegal bug. May just be complete coincidence that ‘83 was the year that the Calbreses had their ceremony, with the “paper burning down to the hand” thing.

[PolackTony]

Note that the 1993 IOC report states that one of the drug "crews" tied to Chicago LCN and the SCU was running cocaine from Florida.

In 1985, a joint ATF/DEA operation busted an Outfit-connected arms and narcotics trafficking (as well as burglary and hijacking, naturally) ring. The ring included Grand Ave Crew associates Mikey Swiatek and Danny Bambulas, as well as longtime Outfit associate (previously linked to the Daddono crew) Emilio "Emil" Crovedi, and Ed Pedote (a Chicago jeweler and member of the Board of Commissioners of the police in suburban Hinsdale, IL). Along with the ring having sold undercover ATF agent Frank Mazzola 19 firearms, several silencers, and three bombs, Bambulas also allegedly directed Crovedi to sell the agent 3 ounces of cocaine (Bambulas and Swiatek thought that Mazzola was working with them on a plot to rob the Jewelry Exchange Building in Chicago's Loop). The ATF stated that Bambulas was:



I don't know who this Vito Lombardo was, but given the 1993 IOC report, one wonders if he could've been linked to some of these Baresi guys in Chicago (there were plenty of Baresi in Chicago with the surname Lombardo). Alternatively, one also wonders if he had any connection to the Altavillese Frank Lombardo discussed above.

The ATF at the time also described Crovedi as a "major cocaine dealer" and stated that, along with whoever this Vito Lombardo was, Bambulas was tied to a Miami-based cocaine wholesaler named Peco López (subsequently arrested by the DEA in Miami). Both Bambulas and Crovedi had been tied in the past to notorious cartage hijackers/armed robbers in the Daddono crew (such as Johnny Varelli and Frank DeLegge, Sr), but they were also connected to Rocky Infelice. In a 1969 case, it was stated that Bambulas and Crovedi had been directed to meet Infelice and Anthony Legato in NYC to receive a shipment of stolen merchandise to be transported back to Chicago. In 1971, Anthony Legato was busted in Miami for attempting to board a Chicago-bound plane with 5 lbs of heroin. Legato, who was found as "trunk music" in Chicago in 1981, also worked with longtime Outfit-connected robber Bobby Pullia, who in 1987 was busted for carrying 3 kilos of cocaine in a car following a trip to Schaumburg. Recall that Frank Rappa, who had reportedly returned to Chicago in 1984 and was linked to "Sicilian cocaine traffickers" in Chicago during that period (per a Tribune-cited FBI report), had an address in Schaumburg, and was very likely linked himself to Infelice.

[CabriniGreen]

No mention that Rockford is part of the Chicago Outfit, rather they're part of a Sicilian Mafia group.

Great info, thanks for posting, again.

My read is that the Feds thought that the Rockford-Aragona zip group was working with, but not organizationally a part of our subordinated to, local LCN. We've seen how across several different documents from this era, the FBI uses terms like "Chicago LCN", "Rockford LCN", "Chicago Sicilian Group", and "Rockford Sicilian Group", and it isn't always clear to me if they were using these terms to all denote the same organization or group, or distinct ones with connections or co-operation. Part of it is that we are also likely seeing an evolving picture of what was happening on the ground by the FBI for this period, as they were actively conducting investigations in the region and trying to make sense of what sorts of relationships these different Sicilian and Mainland Italian networks had with local LCN.

This is precisely how I've always seen the Cherry Hill guys, and how many see the Canadian guys.

This is essentially the component of Italian OC that I've been the most interested in for awhile now. It's very consistent with Sicilian groups involved in narcotics. You touched on Salamone, the first mafia war, the Napolis, a lot of stuff I've tried to get going. Great thread here man...

[B.]

Missing piece of the puzzle in Rockford is our knowledge of the Aragona Family. Boston member Biagio DiGiacomo and his wife both came from mafia lineages and their relatives were allegedly on opposite sides of a war there that has received very little coverage (some Romeo and Juliet shit). The Family there as a whole is an enigma and Cavita has shown that the Aragonesi in Rockford and Boston were close but Aragona doesn't show up among the usual suspects on the US side of the Agrigento network.

I suspect this Aragona conflict led to some of the 1970s immigrants who Cavita has documented but again we're at a massive disadvantage given how little we know about the Aragona Family.

DiGiacomo's naturalization was witnessed by a female Buscemi in Boston area. I'd be surprised if the DiGiacomos in Rockford weren't relatives of Biagio and he adds a Boston dimension to all of this.

[cavita]

Here are three files which connect Rockford's Buscemi to Boston as well as a reference to an Antonino DiGiacomo who was murdered in Boston. Any idea who this Antonino was?

Screenshot_20220705-184140.png

[B.]

Via Lennert:

DiGiacomo, Alfonse –
*born in September 1957, in Aragona, Sicily (1948???)
*cousin of Frank Buscemi, brother of Salvatore
*active in Rondinella foods
*associate of Galluzzo

DiGiacomo, Salvatore –
*born August 1947, in Aragona, Sicily
*brother of Alfonse, cousin of Frank Buscemi

Here's Salvatore's obituary:
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/rr ... d=16777662

Says his sister was also married to an Antonio Buscemi, so the DiGiacomos and Buscemis can be connected in both Boston and Rockford.

Neither Antonino or Biagio are listed as brothers so the presumption would be cousins.

[cavita]

Via Lennert:

DiGiacomo, Alfonse –
*born in September 1957, in Aragona, Sicily (1948???)
*cousin of Frank Buscemi, brother of Salvatore
*active in Rondinella foods
*associate of Galluzzo

DiGiacomo, Salvatore –
*born August 1947, in Aragona, Sicily
*brother of Alfonse, cousin of Frank Buscemi

Here's Salvatore's obituary:
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/rr ... d=16777662

Says his sister was also married to an Antonio Buscemi, so the DiGiacomos and Buscemis can be connected in both Boston and Rockford.

Neither Antonino or Biagio are listed as brothers so the presumption would be cousins.

I can't find anything on this Antonino DiGiacomo who was supposedly murdered in Boston approximately ten years prior to the date of these files which was 1987 so the murder would have occurred around 1977?

[PolackTony]

Via Lennert:

DiGiacomo, Alfonse –
*born in September 1957, in Aragona, Sicily (1948???)
*cousin of Frank Buscemi, brother of Salvatore
*active in Rondinella foods
*associate of Galluzzo

DiGiacomo, Salvatore –
*born August 1947, in Aragona, Sicily
*brother of Alfonse, cousin of Frank Buscemi

Here's Salvatore's obituary:
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/rr ... d=16777662

Says his sister was also married to an Antonio Buscemi, so the DiGiacomos and Buscemis can be connected in both Boston and Rockford.

Neither Antonino or Biagio are listed as brothers so the presumption would be cousins.

I can't find anything on this Antonino DiGiacomo who was supposedly murdered in Boston approximately ten years prior to the date of these files which was 1987 so the murder would have occurred around 1977?

Me neither. I’ve tried looking for a death record in MA or any mention of him in the papers, and didn’t find anything when I looked.

[B.]

When I talked to someone with firsthand knowledge of the mafia in Boston he said Biagio DiGiacomo just sort of showed up out of nowhere and thought he may have been close to Sam Granito early on. Don't know anything about Granito.

Salvatore Giglia being ID'd as an elder Patriarca capodecina from Aragona suggests there was an element in Boston that flew completely under the radar.

[cavita]

Missing piece of the puzzle in Rockford is our knowledge of the Aragona Family. Boston member Biagio DiGiacomo and his wife both came from mafia lineages and their relatives were allegedly on opposite sides of a war there that has received very little coverage (some Romeo and Juliet shit). The Family there as a whole is an enigma and Cavita has shown that the Aragonesi in Rockford and Boston were close but Aragona doesn't show up among the usual suspects on the US side of the Agrigento network.

I suspect this Aragona conflict led to some of the 1970s immigrants who Cavita has documented but again we're at a massive disadvantage given how little we know about the Aragona Family.

DiGiacomo's naturalization was witnessed by a female Buscemi in Boston area. I'd be surprised if the DiGiacomos in Rockford weren't relatives of Biagio and he adds a Boston dimension to all of this.

Any idea what DiGiacomo's wife's maiden name was?

[PolackTony]

Missing piece of the puzzle in Rockford is our knowledge of the Aragona Family. Boston member Biagio DiGiacomo and his wife both came from mafia lineages and their relatives were allegedly on opposite sides of a war there that has received very little coverage (some Romeo and Juliet shit). The Family there as a whole is an enigma and Cavita has shown that the Aragonesi in Rockford and Boston were close but Aragona doesn't show up among the usual suspects on the US side of the Agrigento network.

I suspect this Aragona conflict led to some of the 1970s immigrants who Cavita has documented but again we're at a massive disadvantage given how little we know about the Aragona Family.

DiGiacomo's naturalization was witnessed by a female Buscemi in Boston area. I'd be surprised if the DiGiacomos in Rockford weren't relatives of Biagio and he adds a Boston dimension to all of this.

Any idea what DiGiacomo's wife's maiden name was?

His wife was Gina Caramazza. Looks like her sister was also married to a Buscemi, they lived in MA as well. These DiGiacomos, Galluzos, Buscemis, and Caramazzas were all super intermarried it seems.

[B.]

From a court file:

DiGiacomo is 43 years old, was born in Sicily, and continues to have family there. However, his family and his wife's family, the Caramazzas, are engaged in a bloody vendetta against each other in Sicily. Evidently because of this, DiGiacomo did not travel to Italy to visit his dying mother or to attend her wake. The government has not presented clear and convincing evidence to establish that DiGiacomo conspired to commit murders in Sicily. Rather, an Italian magistrate has recommended that he be removed as a suspect in the pending murder investigations.

Wouldn't be surprised if Antonino DiGiacomo's murder was tied into whatever was taking place in Aragona.

Biagio also had ties to Montreal that haven't been clarified. I've posted a 1980s FBI report that mentions the Bonanno Montreal decina had a redacted contact in the Patriarca Family, could be him.