Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

[PolackTony]

Tony "Nags" Panzica was born Anthony Panzica in 1912 in Chester, Hancock County, WV, to Francesco "Frank" Panzica of Campofelice di Roccella and Crocefissa "Rose" Viola of Brancaccio, Palermo. In 1906, Frank Panzica was living in Steubenville, OH, while in 1910 he and his family were living in WV, where Frank owned a restaurant. In the 1920s, they moved to Chicago and in 1930 were living at 28th and Emerald in the Armour Square/Bridgeport neighborhood, where Frank owned a grocery store. There were other Panzicas living in the Bridgeport area, who seem to have been from Termini and Caccamo; some of them intermarried with people with surnames also connected to the Outfit in the area, such as LoCoco and Fushi (also families from Termini, and Campofelice belonged to the ). From my info, Tony Panzica first appeared in the papers as an accomplished burglar, who was working with Frank Schweihs in a burglary ring that was moving stolen merchandise to Jewish Outfit associates Leo and Sam Rugendorf (who also owned a meat market at Wentworth and 25th in Chinatown, Ground Zero for the Bridgeport mob). A later article stated that Schweihs and Panzica were from the same Southside neighborhood, which doesn't seem to be quite true, as Schweihs lived at 70th and Normal in Englewood as a kid. Schweihs was also 20 years younger than Panzica, which leads me to suspect that Panzica may have been Schweihs' mentor and entry into the orbit of the Outfit. Like Schwiehs, Panzica was a Southside guy who wound up with the Battaglia/Grand Ave crew, so I suspect that Panzica may have also been the link that brought Schweihs into that crew.

Panzica was more than an experienced burglar. In 1964, he was pinched as a collector for Phil Alderisio's juice loan operation. When he was busted, police recovered records and ledger sheets for Alderisio's loans and collections, as well as records referring to a Southside meat wholesaler located on Wentworth Ave (not stated, but I'd suspect it was connected to the Rugendorfs). At the time, the Tribune reported that Panzica was an ex-convict from Chicago Heights; perhaps he moved there at some point or used an address there, but I don't have any info ever placing Panzica as living in the Heights. The Trib also noted that Panzica had given police the Wentworth Ave business as his home address when he was arrested several years before. When Panzica was arrested, he was driving a "hit car", with hidden panels and a motorized compartment for holding weapons, similar to the one that Alderisio and Nicoletti and been famously caught in several years before. In 1983, the NY Times reported that the FBI considered Panzica and Schweihs -- "suspected underworld 'hit men' in other slayings" -- the prime suspects in the Dorfman hit. In recent years, Scott Burnstein has written that per FBI records, Panzica was the wheelman in the Dorfman hit, while Schweihs and Albie Vena were the shooters (assuming that I have his genealogy correct, this would make sense, as Panzica was already old at this point). Tony Panzica died in 1998 in Broward County, FL, an area that Schweihs had strong personal ties to as well, as he had an address there in the 70s and 80s. Another article from around the time of the Dorfman hit stated that Panzica and Scweihs frequently traveled to FL together. Antiliar and I discussed Panzica recently, and we both thought it was a good possibility that Panzica may have been involved with Scheihs in the Johnny Roselli hit in FL.

Bill Feather had Tony Panzica born in 1913 and dead in 1990. I don't believe this is correct, but was rather another Anthony Panzica, who was born and died in Chicago. As noted above, Panzica was stated to be tied to Florida, which supports the guy who died in Broward County as being him. But there's more. Around the time that Tony Panzica was busted in 1964, the FBI had files stating that he was an associate of Alderisio and Irv Weiner (who, of course, again connects to both Dorfman and the Rugendorfs). They also stated that Panzica's then-girlfriend (unnamed) would often cook for meetings at Sam Battaglia's farm compound in far Northwest Suburban Kane County. Further, the Feds stated that Tony Panzica was related to a Dominick Panzica of Milwaukee. In 1964, August Maniaci told the FBI that Frank and Peter Balistrieri informed him that Frank would soon be attending a meeting at Battaglia's farm along with NYC and CA LCN members (the Feds speculated that this might have been related to Commission moves to name a replacement boss for the Bonnano family). FBI surveillance failed to confirm whether Balistrieri or any other out-of-town LCN members actually visited Battaglia's place around this time, as they only observed IL-registered vehicles present, apart from the WI-registered vehicle of Dominick Panzica. As it turns out, Tony Panzica had an older brother named Dominick, who was born in WV in 1911. During the 1950s and 60s, Dominick Panzica indeed lived in Milwaukee, though he later returned to Chicagoland, as he died in Cook County in 1979. One wonders if Balistrieri had indeed visited Battaglia's farm and whether Dominick Panzica could've been his driver. At the time, the FBI was actively trying to ascertain whether Dominick was an associate or member of the Milwaukee Outfit, but apart from this, I don't see his name appearing in relation to the mob in WI. In 1936, Dominick and older brother Pietro/Peter Panzica were arrested along with a group of Southside criminals including Rocco DeStefano and father Michele DeStefano, "Ralph Baglia" (clearly Ralph Buglio, as the ages match), Joe Lascola, Charles Corona, and Nick Petrizzo, as part of what the press called "one of the biggest hijacking rings in the Chicago area". The Panzicas had allegedly been hijacking trucks carrying liquor and other merchandise which they delivered for storage at the DeStefano's liquor company warehouse at 49th and Federal. Another possible connection to the Milwaukee Outfit is that sister Damiana "Mamie" Panzica married Salvatore Morici, who was born in Chicago to parents from Porticello/Santa Flavia, an area very closely connected to the Milwaukee mafia. Later in life, Mamie Morici also lived in WI. Another sister, Mary Panzica, later lived in South Suburban Will County, which could perhaps explain Tony Panzica's possible but unconfirmed connection to the Chicago Heights area.

The Panzicas would seem to be an interesting family that has largely gone under the radar, despite Tony Nags having been implicated directly in, arguably, one of the highest-profile mob hits in Chicago history. These guys seem to have had a long history of affiliation with the mob and come from a high-suspicion family -- early connection to the Steubenville, OH area (they had relatives that also settled in the Pittsburgh area); father from an Eastern Palermo comune with other connections to the Outfit and close to Termini (worth keeping in mind that like Caccamo, Campofelice was historically in the Termini Imerese administrative district), which had significant mafia influence in both Chicago and OH/PA; father owned a grocery store. One would suspect that father Francesco Panzica could've been connected to the mafia as well. Who knows if the Panzeca/Panzica families in that area around Termini are closely related, but it's also worth noting that the boss of the Caccamo family in the mid-20th century was Giuseppe Panzeca.

[Patrickgold]

Tony "Nags" Panzica was born Anthony Panzica in 1912 in Chester, Hancock County, WV, to Francesco "Frank" Panzica of Campofelice di Roccella and Crocefissa "Rose" Viola of Brancaccio, Palermo. In 1906, Frank Panzica was living in Steubenville, OH, while in 1910 he and his family were living in WV, where Frank owned a restaurant. In the 1920s, they moved to Chicago and in 1930 were living at 28th and Emerald in the Armour Square/Bridgeport neighborhood, where Frank owned a grocery store. There were other Panzicas living in the Bridgeport area, who seem to have been from Termini and Caccamo; some of them intermarried with people with surnames also connected to the Outfit in the area, such as LoCoco and Fushi (also families from Termini, and Campofelice belonged to the ). From my info, Tony Panzica first appeared in the papers as an accomplished burglar, who was working with Frank Schweihs in a burglary ring that was moving stolen merchandise to Jewish Outfit associates Leo and Sam Rugendorf (who also owned a meat market at Wentworth and 25th in Chinatown, Ground Zero for the Bridgeport mob). A later article stated that Schweihs and Panzica were from the same Southside neighborhood, which doesn't seem to be quite true, as Schweihs lived at 70th and Normal in Englewood as a kid. Schweihs was also 20 years younger than Panzica, which leads me to suspect that Panzica may have been Schweihs' mentor and entry into the orbit of the Outfit. Like Schwiehs, Panzica was a Southside guy who wound up with the Battaglia/Grand Ave crew, so I suspect that Panzica may have also been the link that brought Schweihs into that crew.

Panzica was more than an experienced burglar. In 1964, he was pinched as a collector for Phil Alderisio's juice loan operation. When he was busted, police recovered records and ledger sheets for Alderisio's loans and collections, as well as records referring to a Southside meat wholesaler located on Wentworth Ave (not stated, but I'd suspect it was connected to the Rugendorfs). At the time, the Tribune reported that Panzica was an ex-convict from Chicago Heights; perhaps he moved there at some point or used an address there, but I don't have any info ever placing Panzica as living in the Heights. The Trib also noted that Panzica had given police the Wentworth Ave business as his home address when he was arrested several years before. When Panzica was arrested, he was driving a "hit car", with hidden panels and a motorized compartment for holding weapons, similar to the one that Alderisio and Nicoletti and been famously caught in several years before. In 1983, the NY Times reported that the FBI considered Panzica and Schweihs -- "suspected underworld 'hit men' in other slayings" -- the prime suspects in the Dorfman hit. In recent years, Scott Burnstein has written that per FBI records, Panzica was the wheelman in the Dorfman hit, while Schweihs and Albie Vena were the shooters (assuming that I have his genealogy correct, this would make sense, as Panzica was already old at this point). Tony Panzica died in 1998 in Broward County, FL, an area that Schweihs had strong personal ties to as well, as he had an address there in the 70s and 80s. Another article from around the time of the Dorfman hit stated that Panzica and Scweihs frequently traveled to FL together. Antiliar and I discussed Panzica recently, and we both thought it was a good possibility that Panzica may have been involved with Scheihs in the Johnny Roselli hit in FL.

Bill Feather had Tony Panzica born in 1913 and dead in 1990. I don't believe this is correct, but was rather another Anthony Panzica, who was born and died in Chicago. As noted above, Panzica was stated to be tied to Florida, which supports the guy who died in Broward County as being him. But there's more. Around the time that Tony Panzica was busted in 1964, the FBI had files stating that he was an associate of Alderisio and Irv Weiner (who, of course, again connects to both Dorfman and the Rugendorfs). They also stated that Panzica's then-girlfriend (unnamed) would often cook for meetings at Sam Battaglia's farm compound in far Northwest Suburban Kane County. Further, the Feds stated that Tony Panzica was related to a Dominick Panzica of Milwaukee. In 1964, August Maniaci told the FBI that Frank and Peter Balistrieri informed him that Frank would soon be attending a meeting at Battaglia's farm along with NYC and CA LCN members (the Feds speculated that this might have been related to Commission moves to name a replacement boss for the Bonnano family). FBI surveillance failed to confirm whether Balistrieri or any other out-of-town LCN members actually visited Battaglia's place around this time, as they only observed IL-registered vehicles present, apart from the WI-registered vehicle of Dominick Panzica. As it turns out, Tony Panzica had an older brother named Dominick, who was born in WV in 1911. During the 1950s and 60s, Dominick Panzica indeed lived in Milwaukee, though he later returned to Chicagoland, as he died in Cook County in 1979. One wonders if Balistrieri had indeed visited Battaglia's farm and whether Dominick Panzica could've been his driver. At the time, the FBI was actively trying to ascertain whether Dominick was an associate or member of the Milwaukee Outfit, but apart from this, I don't see his name appearing in relation to the mob in WI. In 1936, Dominick and older brother Pietro/Peter Panzica were arrested along with a group of Southside criminals including Rocco DeStefano and father Michele DeStefano, "Ralph Baglia" (clearly Ralph Buglio, as the ages match), Joe Lascola, Charles Corona, and Nick Petrizzo, as part of what the press called "one of the biggest hijacking rings in the Chicago area". The Panzicas had allegedly been hijacking trucks carrying liquor and other merchandise which they delivered for storage at the DeStefano's liquor company warehouse at 49th and Federal. Another possible connection to the Milwaukee Outfit is that sister Damiana "Mamie" Panzica married Salvatore Morici, who was born in Chicago to parents from Porticello/Santa Flavia, an area very closely connected to the Milwaukee mafia. Later in life, Mamie Morici also lived in WI. Another sister, Mary Panzica, later lived in South Suburban Will County, which could perhaps explain Tony Panzica's possible but unconfirmed connection to the Chicago Heights area.

The Panzicas would seem to be an interesting family that has largely gone under the radar, despite Tony Nags having been implicated directly in, arguably, one of the highest-profile mob hits in Chicago history. These guys seem to have had a long history of affiliation with the mob and come from a high-suspicion family -- early connection to the Steubenville, OH area (they had relatives that also settled in the Pittsburgh area); father from an Eastern Palermo comune with other connections to the Outfit and close to Termini (worth keeping in mind that like Caccamo, Campofelice was historically in the Termini Imerese administrative district), which had significant mafia influence in both Chicago and OH/PA; father owned a grocery store. One would suspect that father Francesco Panzica could've been connected to the mafia as well. Who knows if the Panzeca/Panzica families in that area around Termini are closely related, but it's also worth noting that the boss of the Caccamo family in the mid-20th century was Giuseppe Panzeca.

Great write up Tony. Tony Panzica was mentioned in the book “friend of the family” by D. Lea Jacobs. The book is about FBI agent Ed Robb who worked the Donnie Brasco investigation in Florida. Anyway, Panzica was sent by Chicago with Mike Condic to have a sit down with New York at King’s Court. The meeting was over who controlled a associate by the name of Johnny Cascio. Cascio was the nephew of Phil Tomoleo and supposedly fell under Mike Spilotro. Cascio was also involved in the chop shop business in Chicago. Chicago came back and said New York could have Cascio. It mentions that Panzica made silencers for the outfit and worked for Ricca back in the day. It also said that he lived in Boca Ratón at the time.

Cascio would end up being murdered by his girlfriend in the late 80s.

[B.]

Patrick -- does it say who from New York he sat down with?

[PolackTony]

Patrick, thanks for the post. As I understand it, Panzica and Condic had a sitdown with "Tony Rossi", who was a Lucchese associate in Tampa who was actually undercover agent Ed Robb. The Cascio kid was on record with Chicago, but for whatever reason Chicago was unhappy with him and agreed to essentially farm him out as an associate to the Luccheses in FL. "Tony Rossi" was on record with Vincenzo "Jimmy East" Ciraulo and also working with Jojo Fitapelli. Following the negotiations with "Rossi", Philly Tolomeo and Tony Panzica were to instruct Cascio to follow "Rossi's" orders.

In 1983, when Lefty Ruggiero and a bunch of guys in FL were indicted in a federal bust of mob-controlled trash hauling in FL, Cascio was erroneously described by the NY Times as a Chicago "member" (Benjamin Husick was also falsely described as a Tampa "member", though with the NYC families the Times was careful to differentiate members from associates). The others indicted included Ciraulo, Bernard D'Agostino (Lucchese associate), Fitapelli, Richard Mazzenga (Lucchese associate), Frank Foggia (Bonanno member), Vincenzo Acquafredda (Gambino member).

Interesting to guess at how Cascio was represented by Chicago here. He seems to have been represented by Mike Spilotro, who himself was an associate on record with his brother. The situation suggests that you basically had associates under higher-level associates. Of course, in formal terms, all of them would have only had status as an associate under a made guy (in this case, Tony Spilotro), but still interesting to think about how with a relatively small number of made members, Chicago seems to have had crews of associates answering to another associate.

[Snakes]

Patrick, thanks for the post. As I understand it, Panzica and Condic had a sitdown with "Tony Rossi", who was a Lucchese associate in Tampa who was actually undercover agent Ed Robb. The Cascio kid was on record with Chicago, but for whatever reason Chicago was unhappy with him and agreed to essentially farm him out as an associate to the Luccheses in FL. "Tony Rossi" was on record with Vincenzo "Jimmy East" Ciraulo and also working with Jojo Fitapelli. Following the negotiations with "Rossi", Philly Tolomeo and Tony Panzica were to instruct Cascio to follow "Rossi's" orders.

In 1983, when Lefty Ruggiero and a bunch of guys in FL were indicted in a federal bust of mob-controlled trash hauling in FL, Cascio was erroneously described by the NY Times as a Chicago "member" (Benjamin Husick was also falsely described as a Tampa "member", though with the NYC families the Times was careful to differentiate members from associates). The others indicted included Ciraulo, Bernard D'Agostino (Lucchese associate), Fitapelli, Richard Mazzenga (Lucchese associate), Frank Foggia (Bonanno member), Vincenzo Acquafredda (Gambino member).

Interesting to guess at how Cascio was represented by Chicago here. He seems to have been represented by Mike Spilotro, who himself was an associate on record with his brother. The situation suggests that you basically had associates under higher-level associates. Of course, in formal terms, all of them would have only had status as an associate under a made guy (in this case, Tony Spilotro), but still interesting to think about how with a relatively small number of made members, Chicago seems to have had crews of associates answering to another associate.

It's a little bit different than the situation described above, but guys like James LaValley and Mario Rainone were associates under an associate (Lenny Patrick) who reported to another associate (Gus Alex). Alex reported to a made member (albeit the boss) but the similarities are still there.

[PolackTony]

Patrick, thanks for the post. As I understand it, Panzica and Condic had a sitdown with "Tony Rossi", who was a Lucchese associate in Tampa who was actually undercover agent Ed Robb. The Cascio kid was on record with Chicago, but for whatever reason Chicago was unhappy with him and agreed to essentially farm him out as an associate to the Luccheses in FL. "Tony Rossi" was on record with Vincenzo "Jimmy East" Ciraulo and also working with Jojo Fitapelli. Following the negotiations with "Rossi", Philly Tolomeo and Tony Panzica were to instruct Cascio to follow "Rossi's" orders.

In 1983, when Lefty Ruggiero and a bunch of guys in FL were indicted in a federal bust of mob-controlled trash hauling in FL, Cascio was erroneously described by the NY Times as a Chicago "member" (Benjamin Husick was also falsely described as a Tampa "member", though with the NYC families the Times was careful to differentiate members from associates). The others indicted included Ciraulo, Bernard D'Agostino (Lucchese associate), Fitapelli, Richard Mazzenga (Lucchese associate), Frank Foggia (Bonanno member), Vincenzo Acquafredda (Gambino member).

Interesting to guess at how Cascio was represented by Chicago here. He seems to have been represented by Mike Spilotro, who himself was an associate on record with his brother. The situation suggests that you basically had associates under higher-level associates. Of course, in formal terms, all of them would have only had status as an associate under a made guy (in this case, Tony Spilotro), but still interesting to think about how with a relatively small number of made members, Chicago seems to have had crews of associates answering to another associate.

It's a little bit different than the situation described above, but guys like James LaValley and Mario Rainone were associates under an associate (Lenny Patrick) who reported to another associate (Gus Alex). Alex reported to a made member (albeit the boss) but the similarities are still there.

We think alike, man, as I was going to make the same point about Patrick (Pierce would be another) and Alex. It’s the same concept at play, I think (the adage of the organizational structure of the mafia is “As above, so below”). The difference between those cases would just be that guys like Cascio (or any number of other guys, of course) were associates who ultimately went up to a made guy (informally, a “crew boss”) who had his own subcrew as an LCN member under his capo. Guys like Patrick and Pierce functioned as equivalents to “crew bosses”, and seem to have ultimately answered to/were represented by Alex (the “King of the Greeks”), as one 1970s CI described his role as representing the non-Italian guys to the admin of the mafia organization. I agree that Alex in a formal sense was most likely seen as an associate directly on record with or represented by the admin and de facto head of a parallel structure of crews composed of non-members. I strongly suspect that there are examples of this in other families as well. I imagine that a guy like Eddie Salem in Detroit was seen in the same way, with crews of associates who answered to him and whom he represented vis-a-vis his partners in the mafia. Meyer Lansky would be another guy, seen as representing a group of non-LCN members who were parallel to but formally affiliated with the mafia via representation by Lansky (hence Accardo’s comment that Lansky was seen as akin to an “avugad”).

In terms of associates answering to higher associates, the book that Patrick cited seems to suggest that the Luccheses were doing the same thing in this case. Cascio was instructed to fall under “Rossi”, who in turn was an associate on record with Jimmy East. Jimmy Burke would be another obvious example of associates being far from equals in the same family.

EDIT: I forget at the moment whether it was Pierce or Patrick, but supposedly one of those guys warned the Italian associates who answered to them to stay away from made guys. If true, it’s an interesting and rare window into how some of these guys viewed their relationship to the mafia. They may have been trusted and longtime associates, but presumably they worried about having their associates — I’d imagine particularly Italians — poached by made guys. No matter how much money they made or how respected they were personally by the mafia, ultimately they were not members and thus probably were at a real disadvantage if a made guy wanted to take one of their earners or enforcers from them.

[Snakes]

Patrick, thanks for the post. As I understand it, Panzica and Condic had a sitdown with "Tony Rossi", who was a Lucchese associate in Tampa who was actually undercover agent Ed Robb. The Cascio kid was on record with Chicago, but for whatever reason Chicago was unhappy with him and agreed to essentially farm him out as an associate to the Luccheses in FL. "Tony Rossi" was on record with Vincenzo "Jimmy East" Ciraulo and also working with Jojo Fitapelli. Following the negotiations with "Rossi", Philly Tolomeo and Tony Panzica were to instruct Cascio to follow "Rossi's" orders.

In 1983, when Lefty Ruggiero and a bunch of guys in FL were indicted in a federal bust of mob-controlled trash hauling in FL, Cascio was erroneously described by the NY Times as a Chicago "member" (Benjamin Husick was also falsely described as a Tampa "member", though with the NYC families the Times was careful to differentiate members from associates). The others indicted included Ciraulo, Bernard D'Agostino (Lucchese associate), Fitapelli, Richard Mazzenga (Lucchese associate), Frank Foggia (Bonanno member), Vincenzo Acquafredda (Gambino member).

Interesting to guess at how Cascio was represented by Chicago here. He seems to have been represented by Mike Spilotro, who himself was an associate on record with his brother. The situation suggests that you basically had associates under higher-level associates. Of course, in formal terms, all of them would have only had status as an associate under a made guy (in this case, Tony Spilotro), but still interesting to think about how with a relatively small number of made members, Chicago seems to have had crews of associates answering to another associate.

It's a little bit different than the situation described above, but guys like James LaValley and Mario Rainone were associates under an associate (Lenny Patrick) who reported to another associate (Gus Alex). Alex reported to a made member (albeit the boss) but the similarities are still there.

We think alike, man, as I was going to make the same point about Patrick (Pierce would be another) and Alex. It’s the same concept at play, I think (the adage of the organizational structure of the mafia is “As above, so below”). The difference between those cases would just be that guys like Cascio (or any number of other guys, of course) were associates who ultimately went up to a made guy (informally, a “crew boss”) who had his own subcrew as an LCN member under his capo. Guys like Patrick and Pierce functioned as equivalents to “crew bosses”, and seem to have ultimately answered to/were represented by Alex (the “King of the Greeks”), as one 1970s CI described his role as representing the non-Italian guys to the admin of the mafia organization. I agree that Alex in a formal sense was most likely seen as an associate directly on record with or represented by the admin and de facto head of a parallel structure of crews composed of non-members. I strongly suspect that there are examples of this in other families as well. I imagine that a guy like Eddie Salem in Detroit was seen in the same way, with crews of associates who answered to him and whom he represented vis-a-vis his partners in the mafia. Meyer Lansky would be another guy, seen as representing a group of non-LCN members who were parallel to but formally affiliated with the mafia via representation by Lansky (hence Accardo’s comment that Lansky was seen as akin to an “avugad”).

In terms of associates answering to higher associates, the book that Patrick cited seems to suggest that the Luccheses were doing the same thing in this case. Cascio was instructed to fall under “Rossi”, who in turn was an associate on record with Jimmy East. Jimmy Burke would be another obvious example of associates being far from equals in the same family.

EDIT: I forget at the moment whether it was Pierce or Patrick, but supposedly one of those guys warned the Italian associates who answered to them to stay away from made guys. If true, it’s an interesting and rare window into how some of these guys viewed their relationship to the mafia. They may have been trusted and longtime associates, but presumably they worried about having their associates — I’d imagine particularly Italians — poached by made guys. No matter how much money they made or how respected they were personally by the mafia, ultimately they were not members and thus probably were at a real disadvantage if a made guy wanted to take one of their earners or enforcers from them.

That was Lenny Patrick that said that to one of his guys (can't remember who).

[B.]

Associates answering to associates is common even in NYC. When Sal Vitale became a Bonanno associate he answered to Massino who was still an associate. Gary Valenti also answered to Vinny Asaro when he was still an associate even though Valenti was formally on record with Asaro's father, a member.

The above examples are based on close/familial relationships but it obviously plays out operationally, too, where associates work for other more highly-placed associates.

I was curious about the Florida sitdown because members are supposed to meet with other members in that situation. If Panzica met with a made member in the sitdown it might tell us he was made, but from the sound of it he only met with Rossi? Unless there were more steps involved.

[PolackTony]

Associates answering to associates is common even in NYC. When Sal Vitale became a Bonanno associate he answered to Massino who was still an associate. Gary Valenti also answered to Vinny Asaro when he was still an associate even though Valenti was formally on record with Asaro's father, a member.

The above examples are based on close/familial relationships but it obviously plays out operationally, too, where associates work for other more highly-placed associates.

I was curious about the Florida sitdown because members are supposed to meet with other members in that situation. If Panzica met with a made member in the sitdown it might tell us he was made, but from the sound of it he only met with Rossi? Unless there were more steps involved.

As described in the book, it seems that Panzica and Condic met with "Rossi" twice. The second time was after they received word back from "Chicago" regarding the decision on Cascio. Given his background and long criminal career, it's possible that Panzica could've been made, though nothing supports that and my baseline assumption is that a Chicago guy wasn't made unless proven or very strongly suggested otherwise. Doesn't seem that Panzica met directly with Jimmy East, for example, so this sitdown doesn't add anything either way, unfortunately.

Here's the relevant section from page 115 of the D. Lea Jacobs book on Ed "Tony Rossi" Robb:




Interesting Lea Jabos' comment that the loaning out of an associate between families would require word "from the top". Given that Cascio was a lower-level associate being loaned out to a Lucchese associate, I do wonder what the protocol on the decision-making process would have been here. Was word back from "Chicago" just the nod from Tony Spilotro? Did it go up to Lombardo, or up to the "board" and/or Aiuppa? Same on the other side: was this something that could be approved just by Ciraulo, or did it have to be approved by the Lucchese admin?

[B.]

Yeah Panzica may have been involved as a higher-level associate. Good questions about the level of authority needed to "loan" someone out.

You'd think at the very least the made member in charge of these guys would need to let his superiors know and have their blessing but it may be as simple as "touching base", not a real approval process. From other sources a big part of these arrangements revolves around keeping the superiors in the loop in case a future problem comes up.

We don't really know how Chicago navigated these issues though.

[Snakes]

Phil (Philly Beans) Tolomeo worked for Frank Calabrese (and, by extension, Angelo LaPietra) for about ten years before absconding with juice loans profits and later cooperating against Frank and his crew. So, I'm not sure how that would fit into all of this unless it was just a connection point between Cascio and Chicago. Panzica, presumably being higher on the food chain and conveniently living in Florida, may have been the guy to relay the instructions on the Outfit's behalf. Just guesses, though.

[PolackTony]

Phil (Philly Beans) Tolomeo worked for Frank Calabrese (and, by extension, Angelo LaPietra) for about ten years before absconding with juice loans profits and later cooperating against Frank and his crew. So, I'm not sure how that would fit into all of this unless it was just a connection point between Cascio and Chicago. Panzica, presumably being higher on the food chain and conveniently living in Florida, may have been the guy to relay the instructions on the Outfit's behalf. Just guesses, though.

That's a good point, though my impression is that before 1978 Philly Beans may have been working for the Lombardo crew (any confirmation on that? Offhand I don't have a source). The Spilotro thing comes directly from the book, where it seems pretty clear that Mike Spilotro was Cascio's "compare" to the Outfit, even though Tolomeo was apparently his uncle. Mikey Spilotro was, obviously, not made, so either they were wrong about his status or they actually meant Tony (my guess is that Cascio was under Mike who carried Tony's name and representation even if he wasn't a member himself). Here are the preceding pages from the Jacobs' book to provide further context:






Now, I think Tolomeo is an interesting case study for the ways that neighborhood geography and ancestry (the two are often closely intertwined) played roles in structuring crew affiliations. As a young adult, Tolomeo lived in North Austin on the Westside (on Lemoyne by Central; i.e., Sam DeStefano and Spilotro-land). So a connection to guys from the Battaglia/Lombardo crew makes perfect sense. As a young kid, however, Tolomeo lived at 31st and Shields, in Armour Square. His father was Antonino Trovato, who was born in Buenos Aires, apparently to parents from Nicosia, Enna; the Chinatown/Bridgeport area had a significant colony of Nicosiani. This has been covered several times in previous posts, so I won't cover it again, but a number of Outfit-connected guys in that neighborhood have ancestry from Nicosia. Worth noting that there were many Croatians in Armour Square as well. Many of them intermarried with Italians, thus it's also unsurprising that Mike Condic went back with both Philly Beans and Tony Panzica, as Condic's family lived at 31st and Wells (he was also named as working with Panzica and Schweihs in the 1962 burglary thing connected to the Rugendorfs that I mentioned above). Condic's niece married Joe LaScola, and some other relatives also married Italians. So, while I'm sure no one explicitly thought of Philly Beans as a Nicosiano who thus "belonged" with Chinatown (maybe the other Nicosiani were at least aware of the fact that he was a paesan', though I doubt it was in and of itself an important factor in terms of Outfit business by this time), his ancestry would have been an important part of the context that connected him to guys from that neighborhood and decina.

[Snakes]

my guess is that Cascio was under Mike who carried Tony's name and representation even if he wasn't a member himself

That would be my guess, too

[B.]

Great explanation. It's the tracks some of these guys run on even if it wasn't something they were fully conscious of.

Didn't realize "Rossi" was on record with the Lucchese Family. Always assumed he was sort of like these guys we're talking about, an "associate of an associate" (i.e. Rossi was subservient to Brasco). The formalities of how these undercover agents end up with different Families tells us a lot about how the mafia works.

[PolackTony]

Great explanation. It's the tracks some of these guys run on even if it wasn't something they were fully conscious of.

Didn't realize "Rossi" was on record with the Lucchese Family. Always assumed he was sort of like these guys we're talking about, an "associate of an associate" (i.e. Rossi was subservient to Brasco). The formalities of how these undercover agents end up with different Families tells us a lot about how the mafia works.

Agreed on both paragraphs. From the book, seems clear that “Rossi” was an associate directly under Jimmy East and tasked by him as in charge of some lower-level associates (he also passed another agent named Ty Cobb off as “Vinnie Russo”, one of the guys under him). Once this guy Robb set himself up as “Tony Rossi” and got himself on record as a Lucchese associate he was like one of those bug lights that attracts everything in the night, including an obvious bottom-feeder from Chicago who tried to parlay his low-level status with Chicago into a deal with these NY guys. From Robb’s account, seems that Chicago didn’t care about Cascio, and doesn’t seem that he did anything to damage them after he got pinched with these other guys in FL. I’d bet they were glad that they’d washed their hands of him.