General Chicago Outfit Info Dumping Ground

[Snakes]

I can tell you personally that around the time of the Sflarski video poker bust, the Caruso’s were very much active and involved in the rackets. I won’t get into detail, but I’ve seen literal backpacks full of cash in their residences. They were making a shit load of money, and probably still are.

Aunt baby is correct that they enjoy a high-level of insulation and connection in the areas where they operate. They are extremely well connected politically even to this day. The real, true outfit guys have operating through multiple screens down to a T. As everyone knows, there have been plenty of smaller, outfit “adjacent “busts in the past decade, but they are never tied to the person actually in charge of it. Unless you are Sarno, and you are doing dumb shit like blowing up businesses.

Sarno also admonished Szaflarski on the phone for mentioning Toots by name.

[NorthBuffalo]

I can tell you personally that around the time of the Sflarski video poker bust, the Caruso’s were very much active and involved in the rackets. I won’t get into detail, but I’ve seen literal backpacks full of cash in their residences. They were making a shit load of money, and probably still are.

Aunt baby is correct that they enjoy a high-level of insulation and connection in the areas where they operate. They are extremely well connected politically even to this day. The real, true outfit guys have operating through multiple screens down to a T. As everyone knows, there have been plenty of smaller, outfit “adjacent “busts in the past decade, but they are never tied to the person actually in charge of it. Unless you are Sarno, and you are doing dumb shit like blowing up businesses.

Sarno also admonished Szaflarski on the phone for mentioning Toots by name.

That was David Kantowski (brother in law of Volpendesto and crooked real estate agent) who was admonished on the phone - Szaflarksi was painted as the guy collecting the money from the machines, but I never could figure out if Szaflarksi was the guy 'using' Sarno's crew to take out his competitor (using Sarno as muscle) or whether Sarno 'used' Szaflarski as their 'front man' to own the machines since most of them were ex-felons.

[Coloboy]

I can’t be certain, but I strongly believe that the Caruso’s and Sarno were directly using Szaflarski as a front. It was his name on all the machines and his company. Again, I don’t wanna get into too much detail on a message board, but the families had a falling out of sorts over it after the bust

[Snakes]

I can tell you personally that around the time of the Sflarski video poker bust, the Caruso’s were very much active and involved in the rackets. I won’t get into detail, but I’ve seen literal backpacks full of cash in their residences. They were making a shit load of money, and probably still are.

Aunt baby is correct that they enjoy a high-level of insulation and connection in the areas where they operate. They are extremely well connected politically even to this day. The real, true outfit guys have operating through multiple screens down to a T. As everyone knows, there have been plenty of smaller, outfit “adjacent “busts in the past decade, but they are never tied to the person actually in charge of it. Unless you are Sarno, and you are doing dumb shit like blowing up businesses.

Sarno also admonished Szaflarski on the phone for mentioning Toots by name.

That was David Kantowski (brother in law of Volpendesto and crooked real estate agent) who was admonished on the phone - Szaflarksi was painted as the guy collecting the money from the machines, but I never could figure out if Szaflarksi was the guy 'using' Sarno's crew to take out his competitor (using Sarno as muscle) or whether Sarno 'used' Szaflarski as their 'front man' to own the machines since most of them were ex-felons.

I swear there was another one that I got that from, but I'm doing it from memory, so I may be wrong.

[Snakes]

No, it was Kantowski. I just forgot.

Nick Cataudella would call Sarno and say "your buddy" was trying to get a hold of him. The "buddy" was Toots Caruso.

An employee of Amusements, Inc. also told Szaflarski that he wasn't sure if they should put machines in one establishment that had video cameras. Szaflarski replied that it "wasn't his choice" as to where to put the machines. Amusements, Inc. (Sarno's front company) also took over many of the stops belonging to M&M (the Marcellos' video gambling front company). Probably not a coincidence that they replaced M&M's machines with theirs around 2006-07.

[Aunt+Baby]

Regarding Carusos, I’d guess they they just have so much endless insulation in the areas in which they operate. They’re very difficult to get access to. Even during family secrets, considering Tootsie was the boss, his name wasn’t brought up much at all, which shocked everyone

I'm not sure Toots was ever 'boss' - I think he was always under Monteleone/Sarno/etc. Snakes can probably be the most accurate on this but I'm not sure Toots ever became the power his father was - he was well-known in his younger years around Bridgeport and then after the Frank Jr. debacle, I tend to think he faded away considerably. He and all his family members were also thrown out of the unions, while many other Outfit guys stayed in. I know he was mentioned in the Sarno trial and picked up on wiretap. His brother was the driver for Al Tournabene at around 60 years old, which made me wonder how wealthy or powerful these guys really are (that seemed like more of an errand boy job).

I do wonder how much clout the Carusos really have in the modern Outfit.

I was pretty clearly referring to ‘boss’ of that Chinatown-Bridgeport outfit, as most capos in Chicago are considered and referred to as bosses

[Aunt+Baby]

This isn’t true at all. If anything, the NYC guys are obviously the more outdoors-y. Many more known hunters especially given the proximity & so many properties in upstate NY-Vermont-NH-Maine and such.

You're probably right but the huge volume of Aiuppa hunting pics circulating certainly creates that impression about Chicago.

John gottis weirdo kid said he took Sam gravanos crew on a hunting trip to calm them down, this was in some recent interview he did with a strange Persian guy.

There are numerous photos of NY guys on hunting & fishing excursions. Many more than Chicago

The fact is that guys like Aiuppa took the oath to heart & were phantoms on the streets, and it was easier to capture them on leisure trips, while their guards were down. They are an extension of the Genovese, and it shows with how they conduct themselves

Guarantee you can find a ton of private photos of white trash philly-jersey guys playing cowboy in carolina or wherever with cowboy hats and spurs attached

[Aunt+Baby]

I can tell you personally that around the time of the Sflarski video poker bust, the Caruso’s were very much active and involved in the rackets. I won’t get into detail, but I’ve seen literal backpacks full of cash in their residences. They were making a shit load of money, and probably still are.

Aunt baby is correct that they enjoy a high-level of insulation and connection in the areas where they operate. They are extremely well connected politically even to this day. The real, true outfit guys have operating through multiple screens down to a T. As everyone knows, there have been plenty of smaller, outfit “adjacent “busts in the past decade, but they are never tied to the person actually in charge of it. Unless you are Sarno, and you are doing dumb shit like blowing up businesses.

Yes precisely. The Carusos haven’t gone anywhere, in fact, they’ve benefited from the Roti-factor more than any other family in that neighborhood, including the LaMantias, who squandered it away through rampant drug use and reckless violence

The one fuck up was with the kid maiming that black youth, which was truly horrible, but besides that, the fact that this family while they were the actual fucking leadership faction of Chinatown were able to remain mostly anonymous during the what was not only probably the biggest outfit trial of the modern era, but was also centred around the family that they themselves had been running, is really unbelievable and deserves a great deal of limelight

I feel like one day a glut of hidden info is going to be randomly released on this family and their stranglehold on their territory over the many decades. They are for sure arguably the most mysterious and enigmatic mafia clans in the US

[Aunt+Baby]

I can tell you personally that around the time of the Sflarski video poker bust, the Caruso’s were very much active and involved in the rackets. I won’t get into detail, but I’ve seen literal backpacks full of cash in their residences. They were making a shit load of money, and probably still are.

Aunt baby is correct that they enjoy a high-level of insulation and connection in the areas where they operate. They are extremely well connected politically even to this day. The real, true outfit guys have operating through multiple screens down to a T. As everyone knows, there have been plenty of smaller, outfit “adjacent “busts in the past decade, but they are never tied to the person actually in charge of it. Unless you are Sarno, and you are doing dumb shit like blowing up businesses.

Sarno also admonished Szaflarski on the phone for mentioning Toots by name.

That was David Kantowski (brother in law of Volpendesto and crooked real estate agent) who was admonished on the phone - Szaflarksi was painted as the guy collecting the money from the machines, but I never could figure out if Szaflarksi was the guy 'using' Sarno's crew to take out his competitor (using Sarno as muscle) or whether Sarno 'used' Szaflarski as their 'front man' to own the machines since most of them were ex-felons.

Saflarski is a goof and front guy, nothing more. The issues arose when he married into their family. That’s when things got weird, after the bust

[Snakes]

I can tell you personally that around the time of the Sflarski video poker bust, the Caruso’s were very much active and involved in the rackets. I won’t get into detail, but I’ve seen literal backpacks full of cash in their residences. They were making a shit load of money, and probably still are.

Aunt baby is correct that they enjoy a high-level of insulation and connection in the areas where they operate. They are extremely well connected politically even to this day. The real, true outfit guys have operating through multiple screens down to a T. As everyone knows, there have been plenty of smaller, outfit “adjacent “busts in the past decade, but they are never tied to the person actually in charge of it. Unless you are Sarno, and you are doing dumb shit like blowing up businesses.

Sarno also admonished Szaflarski on the phone for mentioning Toots by name.

That was David Kantowski (brother in law of Volpendesto and crooked real estate agent) who was admonished on the phone - Szaflarksi was painted as the guy collecting the money from the machines, but I never could figure out if Szaflarksi was the guy 'using' Sarno's crew to take out his competitor (using Sarno as muscle) or whether Sarno 'used' Szaflarski as their 'front man' to own the machines since most of them were ex-felons.

Saflarski is a goof and front guy, nothing more. The issues arose when he married into their family. That’s when things got weird, after the bust

Do you know them or something?

[PolackTony]

I can tell you personally that around the time of the Sflarski video poker bust, the Caruso’s were very much active and involved in the rackets. I won’t get into detail, but I’ve seen literal backpacks full of cash in their residences. They were making a shit load of money, and probably still are.

Aunt baby is correct that they enjoy a high-level of insulation and connection in the areas where they operate. They are extremely well connected politically even to this day. The real, true outfit guys have operating through multiple screens down to a T. As everyone knows, there have been plenty of smaller, outfit “adjacent “busts in the past decade, but they are never tied to the person actually in charge of it. Unless you are Sarno, and you are doing dumb shit like blowing up businesses.

Sarno also admonished Szaflarski on the phone for mentioning Toots by name.

That was David Kantowski (brother in law of Volpendesto and crooked real estate agent) who was admonished on the phone - Szaflarksi was painted as the guy collecting the money from the machines, but I never could figure out if Szaflarksi was the guy 'using' Sarno's crew to take out his competitor (using Sarno as muscle) or whether Sarno 'used' Szaflarski as their 'front man' to own the machines since most of them were ex-felons.

I swear there was another one that I got that from, but I'm doing it from memory, so I may be wrong.

Please don’t confuse my paesani, thanks.

[PolackTony]

Regarding Carusos, I’d guess they they just have so much endless insulation in the areas in which they operate. They’re very difficult to get access to. Even during family secrets, considering Tootsie was the boss, his name wasn’t brought up much at all, which shocked everyone

I'm not sure Toots was ever 'boss' - I think he was always under Monteleone/Sarno/etc. Snakes can probably be the most accurate on this but I'm not sure Toots ever became the power his father was - he was well-known in his younger years around Bridgeport and then after the Frank Jr. debacle, I tend to think he faded away considerably. He and all his family members were also thrown out of the unions, while many other Outfit guys stayed in. I know he was mentioned in the Sarno trial and picked up on wiretap. His brother was the driver for Al Tournabene at around 60 years old, which made me wonder how wealthy or powerful these guys really are (that seemed like more of an errand boy job).

I do wonder how much clout the Carusos really have in the modern Outfit.

I think he meant Toots was "boss" of Chinatown.

Frank Jr. (who almost certainly got the information from his father) said that Toots, Leo Caruso, and Shorty "ran" Chinatown in the time leading up to Family Secrets. When (or if) Chinatown split back off from Cicero, I'd imagine Toots would have been the capo.

This is a theoretical drawing that I shared with Tony of how the Outfit may have been split up in the late 90s. There were seemingly very few made guys on the street during that time period (a couple of those names may never have been made), and one or more crews may have been temporarily(?) combined to accommodate this lack of management:

You did a great job on the recent thread discussing the evidence around this. From the best intel you were able to source, Chinatown was merged with Cicero/Taylor St in the 90s. Now if this wound up being a permanent thing or was just an interim arrangement due to the immediate crisis in leadership in the 90s, we really don’t know.

So far as I am aware, no reliable evidence has ever come out that Toots Caruso is or ever was a captain. Maybe he was. Maybe after Monteleone became boss of the entire Family, Chinatown was reinstated as a formal crew. Or, maybe it never was and Caruso was just considered the de facto “boss” of a “crew” of associates, as any made guy can be; along the lines of how when Ferriola was a soldier he had a “crew” of associates, the “Wild Bunch”, answering to him (I’m referring to prior to Torello’s death when we can presume that Ferriola was actually bumped up to captain). The last made guys that we even know for sure with that group were the Calabreses and DiForti, so if Caruso was the only made guy on the streets there by the late 90s and early 2000s, then he would have just had a “crew” of associates reporting to him. If any other guys were made subsequently and assigned to Caruso as captain, we just have no evidence for this (again, maybe it happened and maybe it didn’t).

[Patrickgold]

Regarding Carusos, I’d guess they they just have so much endless insulation in the areas in which they operate. They’re very difficult to get access to. Even during family secrets, considering Tootsie was the boss, his name wasn’t brought up much at all, which shocked everyone

I'm not sure Toots was ever 'boss' - I think he was always under Monteleone/Sarno/etc. Snakes can probably be the most accurate on this but I'm not sure Toots ever became the power his father was - he was well-known in his younger years around Bridgeport and then after the Frank Jr. debacle, I tend to think he faded away considerably. He and all his family members were also thrown out of the unions, while many other Outfit guys stayed in. I know he was mentioned in the Sarno trial and picked up on wiretap. His brother was the driver for Al Tournabene at around 60 years old, which made me wonder how wealthy or powerful these guys really are (that seemed like more of an errand boy job).

I do wonder how much clout the Carusos really have in the modern Outfit.

I think he meant Toots was "boss" of Chinatown.

Frank Jr. (who almost certainly got the information from his father) said that Toots, Leo Caruso, and Shorty "ran" Chinatown in the time leading up to Family Secrets. When (or if) Chinatown split back off from Cicero, I'd imagine Toots would have been the capo.

This is a theoretical drawing that I shared with Tony of how the Outfit may have been split up in the late 90s. There were seemingly very few made guys on the street during that time period (a couple of those names may never have been made), and one or more crews may have been temporarily(?) combined to accommodate this lack of management:

You did a great job on the recent thread discussing the evidence around this. From the best intel you were able to source, Chinatown was merged with Cicero/Taylor St in the 90s. Now if this wound up being a permanent thing or was just an interim arrangement due to the immediate crisis in leadership in the 90s, we really don’t know.

So far as I am aware, no reliable evidence has ever come out that Toots Caruso is or ever was a captain. Maybe he was. Maybe after Monteleone became boss of the entire Family, Chinatown was reinstated as a formal crew. Or, maybe it never was and Caruso was just considered the de facto “boss” of a “crew” of associates, as any made guy can be; along the lines of how when Ferriola was a soldier he had a “crew” of associates, the “Wild Bunch”, answering to him (I’m referring to prior to Torello’s death when we can presume that Ferriola was actually bumped up to captain). The last made guys that we even know for sure with that group were the Calabreses and DiForti, so if Caruso was the only made guy on the streets there by the late 90s and early 2000s, then he would have just had a “crew” of associates reporting to him. If any other guys were made subsequently and assigned to Caruso as captain, we just have no evidence for this (again, maybe it happened and maybe it didn’t).

Tony, great valid points. Everyone I have talked to from that area says Caruso is the boss of Chinatown with other guys like Terry Scalise running the day to day operations. That being said, I have reliable informations that Richie Cats Catezone was not only made but controlled all the gambling in Chinatown before he died. Not sure if that means he was area boss or just ran gambling for the area boss.

[NorthBuffalo]

Rare photo of Nicholas 'Nick the Stick' LoCoco who singlehandedly coordinated the hired trucking scandal and was thrown off a horse and died under mysterious circumstances in 2004, despite being an avid horseman and always dressing like a cowboy. He was known as 'The Stick' for carrying around a wooden rod that he would use to collect loanshark money per my source - he used it like a cane. He inherited essentially what Anthony Pucillo was running under Mayor Daley but LoCoco continued 'double dipping' in both running the hired truck program and using his own trucks.

He was quite close to Frank 'Toots' Caruso who also began dressing in western wear apparently - that is kind of hilarious to me.

Interesting anecdote from the FBI file on Lococo - apparently he was quite a gambling kingpin for the LaPietra crew after being used as a beard through the late 70s by Angelini, Cortina and Hal Smith to layoff bets. Additionally, he was shot in the head:

On 9/13/87, NICHOLAS LOCOCO received a gunshot wound (superficial) to the head (the bullet entered and exited the head area) . FBI Agents subsequently interview ed the assailant in this matter, one | ... ". described in OCIS as a co-worker of LOCOCO, had received a S3 ,500 juice loan from LOCOCO b 6

and had repaid the $3,500. LOCOCO threatened witness with physical harm on various occasions if he did not repay a sizable, amount of interest. A Chicago Police Department report regarding this shooting can be found under CGPD number J3 94977, and is located in Chicago file 183B-2197 Sub V serial 2.

[PolackTony]

Tony, great valid points. Everyone I have talked to from that area says Caruso is the boss of Chinatown with other guys like Terry Scalise running the day to day operations. That being said, I have reliable informations that Richie Cats Catezone was not only made but controlled all the gambling in Chinatown before he died. Not sure if that means he was area boss or just ran gambling for the area boss.

Oh yeah, if any guys were made with that group I’d definitely say that Richie Cat is on the shortlist. I personally believe that he was made (like, gun to my head and I had to call it). If he was, this could then have consequences for the discussion here (in that, if he was a made guy, he either reported to a captain — whether acting or official — or direct to the boss). I just try to be a careful about drawing a line between what I would be in the position to make a strong claim for vs what I believe to be the case (the latter often resting on less solid evidence and requiring more assumptions that would be difficult to justify).

It’s good to know though that you’ve heard that he was a member. This goes to further support that he was made (and again, that would have implications for how to read how things might’ve shaken out over the years in Chinatown).