The topic of the Outfit and drug trafficking, particularly under Accardo, has come up several times on the forums. The conventional wisdom, including from Roemer, was that the Outfit had an iron clad rule against narcotics and actually followed it. I read Roemer didn't change his view until much later when DiFronzo's brother was charged for his involvement in that big marijuana growing operation, which was taken over by the mob because of a loanshark debt, if I remember right.Confederate wrote: ↑Thu Oct 19, 2017 1:29 pmI know some of you researchers don't put much stock in Bill Roemer's books. I realize that Roemer was in love with Accardo and fabricated some of the dialogue in his books. He also was prejudice against some Outfit guys. Those are his faults. However, why would he lie about the no drug dealing policy?Villain wrote: ↑Sat Sep 30, 2017 5:30 pmYeah, looks like the area which allegedly gave the birth of Accardo, the guy who is followed by the "no dealing drugs" legend, continued to flourish in the business, especially the members who inherited his organization. I say "his" because Accardo was on the top administration for almost 50 years. And speaking about marijuana, dont forget another Grand Av figure Joe DiFronzo, the brother of the alleged top boss.cavita wrote: ↑Sat Sep 30, 2017 4:51 pm There's also Anthony Giannone who in 2001 was described as a foot soldier in the Elmwood Park and Bridgeport crews. He was called "an alleged drug dealer and bookie" from Bartlett, Illinois. He was charged with having more than 100 pounds of marijuana in his possession when the feds raided the Elgin home of an associate of his on June 11, 2001. Giannone was also said to have dealt in cocaine. He was convicted of theft, gambling and battery in the 1980s.
The guy was a top FBI agent. He ALSO stated that guys got AROUND the no drug dealing policy by LOANING money to street drug associates rather than dealing dope DIRECTLY. It seems like this thread about the junk crews goes out of its way to try and desperately prove otherwise?
Back on the RD forum years ago some might remember a poster called Little Al. Definitely one of the most knowledgeable on Chicago. He pointed that Fifi Buccieri, Turk Torello, and Rocky Infelise had all been involved in the drug trade.
I don't recall which poster it was but another poster made this post about other Outfit people involved over the years...
The opinion I've developed over the years, from the available evidence, was that while Chicago may not have been as involved as the NY families, there are plenty of examples to show the Outfit was involved at times to a certain degree. Accardo strikes me as sort of taking the same approach Castellano or Gigante did where it was tolerated as long as you had permission.For sure we cannot compare the Outfit's involvement in the narcotics trade with the New York crime families but I really dont want to sound like a broken record so heres a small history on the Outfit's involvment in the narcotics trade...
During the late 1920's and early 30's Al Capone's cheif of security Willie Heeney was a junkie and was also heavily involved in opium peddling. When the goverment started raiding Capone's hideouts, they caught Heeney throwing cans filled with the narcotic and later also found dozens of cans in his possession filled with it. Also Jack McGurn used to work for Heeney as a street peddler, especially when he fell out of the organization.
Another of Capone's close associates and boss of the Melrose Park area Rocco DeGrazia was also heavily involved in the opium trade.On occasion he and his brother were arrested for threatening a Melrose Park pharmacist to provide them with opium and morphine. In the mid 1940's, during Accardo's reign, DeGrazia was again arrested for smuggling opium.The cops also found a smoking pipes which indicates that he was also a user. Now if Accardo was so much against the selling and the use of narcotics, this guy was going to be killed. So instead he remained in the position of area boss untill 1957.
Also in 1943 Outfit member Charles Nicoletti and his associate Ernest Sansone were arrested by the Chicago police for peddling narcotics. Nicoletti was sent to Midland, Michigan to serve 18 months.
As for Accardo, during the early 1950's when the west side bloc of the Chicago Outfit became stronger then ever, he kept a closed eye on a huge crew that was involved in a huge heroin ring. The crew was led by west side hoodlums Tony Pape, Joe Iacullo and Frank Coduto. According to FBI reports Iacullo was seen going in and out of Accardo’s home for more than 20 times. So a man has to be very naive to belive in the story the the notorious boss of the Outfit, which was Accardo himself, warned Iacullo more then 20 times to stop dealing.Thats just unacceptable. But when the cops arrested these guy regarding the narcotics trade, Accardo killed them all because was he scared from the bad publicity which was given by the narcotics trade and avoided any government heat that might jeopardize his vast gambling operations. But previously he never rejected a full envelope from the narcotics trade.
Tony Pape was also a close friend of another big time Outfit hoodlum who went by the name of Teets Battaglia. When Battaglia was recognized as a number two men within the Outfit, he also tolerated a narcotics crew which was led by Americo DePietto, Rocky Infelice and Cowboy Mirro. They imported heroin from France through Canada and also from South America. Also on one occasion Turk Torello and Infelice were caught with $100,000 worth of narcotics. During the mid 1960's the top echelon of the Outfit,including Giancana, Battaglia and other were subpoenad regarding the narcotics racket which was led by the crew. No one was punihsed because of the attention that was brought upon them.
During the early 1970's the Arziona mob, in which the Outfit also had its own crew, was funneling drugs from Mexico into the Chicago area through its territory. The main guys for the Outfit were Tony Spilotro and Paul Schiro i think. The gang was a mixed crew of burglars and dope peddlers, including Phoenix-based Frank Moreno and Fred Pedote, Arden Lee Smith, a heavy narcotics dealer who fled to Mexico to escape a jail term, and Brian “The Mad Pineapple” Ho, a weapons and drug dealer who worked in a Phoenix service station. Spilotro wasn’t much of the time around so Schiro ran day to day operations.
When Joey Aiuppa became boss of the Outfit at first he stayed open minded about the narcotics trade and supported Nicoletti's involvment in the business. But later Accardo and Gus Alex changed his mind and so he refused to give the Nicoletti faction consent to become involved.
Other prominent Outfit members involved or at least took a cut from the nracotics trade were Paul Ricca(possible connection was the Genovese family in NY), Nick DeJohn(Tom Buffa from the St.Louis mob), Leonard Calamia(San Fransisco connection), Ross Prio(Ken Eto's connection with black gangs), Fifi Buccieri(Torello, Infelice), Phil Alderisio(DePietto), Richard Cain, Lenny Patrick(connection with Nicoletti and possibly Fred Morrelli) and Dave Yaras(worked as a smuggler in south Florida and transported narcotics up to New York).
I think that the only Outfit boss who really shunned drugs in his whole life time, was Gus Alex. Theres not even one speck of FBI or newspaper information or even rumour about his involvment in the trade.I can say the same thing about his previous mentors such as Bruno Roti, Murray Humphreys, Eddie Vogel and Jake Guzik.