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                <h1>Organized Crime &amp; Political Corruption</h1>
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       <h3>Mob Roots</h3>
      <p>The Mob, the Mafia, the Outfit, the Syndicate and La Cosa Nostra, a phase 
					coined by Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky in 1931 meaning 
					&quot;this thing of ours&quot;, all terms for the same thing - the 
					American version of the Sicilian Mafioso. It's American 
					roots lie in the inner city gangs of the late 1800s. Prior 
					to the Italian influx of immigrants in the latter part of 
					the 19th century, the majority of criminal gangs in the big 
					city ghettoes were of Irish descent. Those Irish gangs that 
					prospered moved out of the ghettoes and the void that was 
					created was soon filled with new blood from the 
					Mediterranean. Those remaining Irish gangs were, over a 
					period of time, ravaged and mostly destroyed by the new 
					emergent Italian and Jewish criminal gangs.</p>
<p>These early crime gangs had little to do with the 'organized crime' that we 
					associate with the Mob today. The organization as we 
					recognize it did not really come about until the 1920s. 
					Sure, there were gangs of organized criminals, but not 
					organized crime. The thing that really kicked the whole 
					thing in to action was the enactment of the 18th Amendment 
					on January 16th, 1920 - Prohibition.</p>
<p>The Prohibition act closed down thousands of pubs and saloons and opened up 
					tens of thousands of speakeasies across the country. 
					Bootlegging and rumrunning became cottage industries in many 
					towns, supplying alcohol to the masses through the capable 
					hands of the crime gangs. There was so much money to be made 
					through this lucrative industry, there was hardly a 
					policeman or a judge that could not be bought off. These 
					were the times of the millionaire criminals. It is estimated 
					that Chicago's Al Capone made $60 million on the booze 
					racket alone. The whole network, from manufacturing to 
					delivery to final sales had to be run as a business and the 
					dominant gangs of the early 1900s took on the challenge. The 
					Organized Crime gangs were born.</p>
<br>
&nbsp;<center>
<h2>The Chicago Mob - Early Days.</h2>
</center><br>
&nbsp;<p>The Chicago Mob had its early beginnings with James 'Big Jim' Colosimo. 
					Big Jim emigrated from his Italian home-land with his father 
					in 1895 at the age of 24. After trying his hand as a 
					newspaper boy, shoe shine boy and street sweeper, Colosimo 
					figured honest hard work was a mugs game and moved on to 
					crime. He began working for Michael 'Hinky Dink' Kenna and 
					John 'Bath House' Coughlin as a collector. Kenna and 
					Coughlin were two of Chicago's most corrupt aldermen and 
					under their expert tuition, Big Jim moved up to the dizzy 
					heights of Brothel Bagman, collecting the pimp money for his 
					infamous bosses.</p>
<p>In 1902, Big Jim married the Madam of one of the brothels on his collection 
					route, Victoria Moresco. Jim became the manager of the 
					brothel and with his shrewd management and with aid of his 
					alderman friends, business boomed. Big Jim turned his 
					brothel in to an up-market whore house and expanded into the 
					local neighbor hoods opening cheap prostitution houses where 
					prices were as low as a dollar. Big Jim's cut on the 
					bordellos take was about 60% and in no time at all, he was a 
					millionaire.</p>
<p>It wasn't long before Big Jim became Chicago's premium whore dealer. Top of 
					the list in a town brimming with dens of prostitution. 
					However, Jim's high life did not go un-noticed by other 
					members of the criminal underworld. The Black Hand 
					Extortionists were soon pressing Jim into handing over ever 
					increasing amounts of protection money or face the rosy 
					consequences of a bullet in the head. Jim decided enough was 
					enough and went looking for a solution to his problem. The 
					solution came in the form of
					<a href="http://members.home.com/fig1/mob/players/torrioj.htm">
					John Torrio</a>, Colosimo's nephew from New York. A few 
					short months and several bloody corpses later, the word was 
					out that Big Jim Colosimo's prostitution empire was no 
					longer open to extortion.</p>
<p>Colosimo was pleased with the results of 'Little John' Torrio's work and 
					rewarded him by making him manager of some of the lower rung 
					whorehouses in Big Jim's empire of vice. Torrio made vast 
					improvements on the 'dollar-a-trick' brothels, ordering the 
					girls to dress as sweet young virgins to entice more custom. 
					The improvements paid off and the once sleazy pits became 
					booming businesses. Little John was soon promoted by 
					Colosimo to be his chief aide. This effectively put Torrio 
					in the position to run all of Colosimo's empire since Big 
					Jim just wanted to take a back seat, enjoy his profits and 
					generally take it easy.</p>
<br>
&nbsp;<center>
<h2>The Stakes Go Higher.</h2>
</center><br>
&nbsp;<p>Johnny Torrio recognized the vast potential offered by the 18th 
					Amendment and tried to convince Colosimo of the fortunes 
					that could be made through illegal booze. However, Big Jim 
					was happy with how his vice empire was going and saw little 
					reason to move on to bootlegging. Jim was already rich and 
					had no enthusiasm for a new venture. John Torrio was not 
					going to be stopped by the reluctance of his boss and so he 
					kept on planning.</p>
<p>In 1919, Torrio recruited a 19 year old hoodlum from the old New York gang he 
					used to belong to, the James Street Gang. This young man 
					would become Chicago's most notorious gangster - Al 
					'Scarface' Capone. Alfonse Capone was the brawn to Little 
					Johnny's brain. Capone was the kind of man who liked to fix 
					things the quick way - with the knife, baseball bat, gun or 
					any number of murderous weapons. He became John Torrio's 
					body guard, chauffeur and right-hand man. With Al by his 
					side, Torrio decided to make his move on Colosimo.</p>
<p>On May 11th, 1920, Jim Colosimo was shot dead in his cafe. With the demise of 
					Colosimo, John Torrio and Al Capone set about systematically 
					getting their teeth into every criminal venture in and 
					around Chicago. With Big Jim dead, Torrio simply took over 
					the whole organization and anyone who complained about it 
					had to face Al Capone.</p>
<center>
<h2>Gang Warfare.</h2>
</center><br>
&nbsp;<p>Johnny Torrio had big plans for his inherited organization. Not content 
					with just the whoring business like Colosimo, he wanted to 
					unite all the Chicago gangs and take a piece from each of 
					their criminal ventures. Each gang would have their own area 
					of operations and stick to it. No interference from 
					neighboring gangs was to be tolerated - each gang should 
					stick to their own turf. So, he called all the gangs 
					together - the Italians, Irish, Polish, etc. Torrio laid out 
					his plans to the heads of each of the Chicago gangs - 
					promised them millions of dollars if they towed the line and 
					gang warfare if they did not. Warfare that he would 
					undoubtedly win. </p>
<p>&nbsp; </p>
<p>The leaders of the various gangs were not weak men. They had got to where 
					they were by being tougher than the next guy but most saw 
					the logic in what Torrio was proposing - make money and live 
					to enjoy it. Some of the harder headed Irish gangs agreed to 
					join and then did their own thing anyway. The inevitable war 
					began.</p>
<p>Probably the most notorious of the gangs at war was the North Siders led by 
					the Irish thug Dion O'Banion. Then, out of the blue, 
					O'Banion offered to sell his Seiben Brewery to Torrio for a 
					half million dollars and then retire from the mob scene. 
					Torrio readily agreed - half a mil was pocket change and 
					well worth it if it meant ridding himself of Dion O'Banion. 
					A week after the deal was done, federal agents raided the 
					brewery and confiscated everything. O'Banion had got wind of 
					the federal action and sold the brewery off to Torrio so 
					Little Johnny would take the loss. Torrio was furious at 
					being suckered by O'Banion and vowed death on the Irish 
					mobster. Torrio acquired help from New York in the form of 
					Frank Yale, Albert Anselmi and John Scalise. The three of 
					them murdered O'Banion in his flower shop. The trouble did 
					not stop there though. The O'Banion gang continued to 
					operate and make war with Torrio under the leadership of 
					Hymie Weiss.</p>
<p>As expected, Weiss planned reprisals for the murder of Dion O'Banion. Torrio 
					was ambushed twice and on both occasions was very lucky. The 
					first attempt killed Torrio's chauffeur and pet dog. Torrio 
					walked away from the scene without a scratch - just two 
					bullet holes in his fedora. On the second attempt, Weiss and 
					Co. scored better. On January 24th, 1925, Weiss had his 
					gunmen ambush Torrio outside his apartment block. Torrio was 
					hit by a shotgun blast and four bullets. With wounds in the 
					stomach, arm and chest, the gravely wounded Torrio fought 
					off death for a week and a half in the hospital, guarded day 
					and night by 30 bodyguards.</p>
<p>Being so close to death brought a love of life on John Torrio. After his 
					recuperation he thought a lot about where his life was and 
					where he was headed. His plan for a united crime syndicate 
					in Chicago was a long way from fruition and the chances that 
					the O'Banion gang would succeed next time were very good. At 
					the age of 43, with $30,000,000 in his pocket, Torrio turned 
					to Al Capone and said &quot;It's all yours, Al. I retire&quot;. Torrio 
					took an extended Mediterranean vacation and then retired to 
					Brooklyn.</p>
<center>
<h2>The <a name="Capone">Capone </a>Years.</h2>
</center><br>
&nbsp;<p>At the age of 26, Al Capone became the leader of the largest criminal 
					organization in America with over a thousand employees, the 
					majority of them killers. But Capone's gang was merely part 
					of his powerful empire. In his pocket, Capone had most of 
					the police force and judiciary in Chicago, aldermen, 
					attorneys, mayors, legislators, governors and even 
					congressmen. Also belonging to the Mob were the big union 
					bosses - particularly the infamous Teamsters Union.</p>
<p>Capone continued to war with the gangs that would not play by the rules and 
					eventually succeeded in taking out all of his enemies. 
					Probably his most famous hit was the massacre of the 
					O'Banion gang at a garage at 2122 North Clark Street - The 
					St. Valentines Day Massacre. Hymie Weiss was long since gone 
					by now, having been gunned down outside his headquarters by 
					machine gun fire on October 11th, 1926 - nine months into 
					the Capone leadership. The leader of the gang now was George 
					'Bugs' Moran. Capone sent a hit team disguised as policemen 
					to the garage on N.Clark where members of the old O'Banion 
					gang were taking delivery of a shipment of booze. The hoods 
					were lined up against the wall, as if ready for a pat-down 
					search, and machine gunned to death. However, Bugs Moran and 
					two others were arriving late to the meeting and were on a 
					corner near the garage when the shooting started. They took 
					off at the sound of the shots and escaped Capone's trap.</p>
<p>1929 was a bad year for Capone. The St. Valentines Day Massacre caused major 
					public concern. Capone was no longer a supplier of wanted 
					commodities to the people, he was seen as the killer he was. 
					No longer did the public view the Mob as a gang who 'only 
					killed their own', they were just plain killers. Public 
					appreciation of Al Capone was on the decline. Capone was 
					criticized by his underworld counterparts of the other big 
					families at the underworld convention in Atlantic City for 
					the massacre and so he agreed to go to jail for a cooling 
					off period in the hope of diffusing public opinion. A collar 
					on a firearms charge in Philadelphia put Al away for a short 
					time. This was the only time served by anyone for the St. 
					Valentines Day Massacre - and the charge was not even 
					related to the event.</p>
<p>Al Capone got out of prison and continued to run the Chicago family as 
					before, through murder, intimidation and violence. But, by 
					now, the government had had enough. Although Capone could 
					not be fingered for any of the murders he had been involved 
					with, he was finally nailed for income tax evasion in 1931 
					and sentenced to 11 years imprisonment. He was released in 
					1939 due to his poor health and spent the rest of his life 
					at his Florida mansion where he eventually died of syphilis 
					in 1947.</p>
<center>
<h2>The Mob Goes On.</h2>
</center><br>
&nbsp;<p>The Mob did not end with the demise of Al Capone, in fact it got even 
					better at it's job. Capone was a very high profile figure 
					and his activities, and so the Mobs activities, were well 
					publicized during Al's ten years at the top. Frank 'The 
					Enforcer' Nitti took over from Capone and the Mob went low 
					profile again - keeping it's head down. But the gangland 
					slayings continued of course.</p>
<p>Nitti had a run in with the O'Banion/Moran crew, now run by Ted Newberry, in 
					December 1932. Newberry had the new Mayor of Chicago, Anton 
					Cermak, on his payroll and used his influence to have police 
					sent to one of Nitti's hangouts to have him arrested. A gun 
					fight erupted and Nitti was badly wounded. Police Sergeant 
					Lang was also wounded. Mayor Cermak put Nitti on trial for 
					the shooting of Lang but during the trial the jury became 
					convinced that Lang had shot himself in order to look like a 
					hero. The trial ended in a hung jury, Nitti walked and Lang 
					got fired from the force. Cermak also got his during the 
					trial. He was shot by a fanatic in Miami when he went to 
					congratulate President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt and died 
					3 weeks later. It is very doubtful that this was a Mob 
					killing - but you never know! Newberry was 'clipped' about 3 
					weeks after the gun play with Lang and Nitti. Newberry was 
					blown away with shotguns and .45s on Lake Shore Drive and 
					his body was buried in a field in Indiana.</p>
<p>The Mob at this time moved out of the blatant prostitution circles. The 
					Outfit kept the strip joints and quieter 'massage parlors' 
					but stopped supporting the wide open brothels of the Capone 
					era. This helped to get the public image of the Outfit back 
					out of the gutter where Capone had driven it. Now the major 
					money maker for the Mob was gambling. This has always really 
					been the life blood of the Mobs. Prohibition had been 
					repealed and so booze was no longer lucrative. Gambling was 
					everywhere in the 30's. Every street corner had a bookmaker, 
					each one either Mob operated or in private hands, kicking 
					back 50% of the take to the Family. The police force was so 
					corrupted by this time, nothing was ever done to control the 
					bookies. Even the new Mayor, Ed Kelly, was put there by the 
					Mob. In 1934, Mayor Kelly was re-elected to office and it 
					seemed practically everyone voted for him. It is estimated 
					that as many as 250,000 votes were faked. In 1936, he won 
					again gaining four votes for each vote the opposition 
					received!</p>
<p>When Nitti, Paul 'The Waiter' Ricca and other members of the Chicago family 
					were indicted after an enormous shakedown in the movie 
					industry, Ricca proposed the motion that Nitti take the rap 
					for all the co-defendants in the case. Nitti had previously 
					done 18 months on an income tax charge and had no desire to 
					be banged up again. Nitti became nervous about the prospect 
					and was a prime candidate to turn States Evidence and rat on 
					others to help save his hide. Most of those indicted 
					,especially Paul Ricca, were not happy with the way Nitti 
					had handled the whole Hollywood deal. A meeting was called 
					at Nitti's house in Riverside, west Chicago, and Nitti was 
					accused of messing up the whole thing, since he was the man 
					behind it and ultimately responsible. The next day, March 
					19th, 1943, Frank Nitti took his own life with a pistol and 
					blew his brains out.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ipsn.org/ricca_paul.htm">Paul Ricca </a>would have been 
					the next obvious choice for Boss. It is the opinion of some 
					that he was in fact in charge even before the demise of 
					Nitti. Ricca was an elegant mobster - clean and neat, 
					soft-spoken with a pronounced Italian accent. Ricca would 
					pronounce a death sentence with the quiet phrase &quot;Make'a him 
					go away.&quot; Ricca had been in the mob for years. Al Capone had 
					been his best man at his wedding in 1927 and by 1940, Ricca 
					had done and seen all that was the Chicago mob scene. A 
					natural leader and very well respected by his mob peers. 
					Unfortunately, he was sent to prison in 1943 for his 
					complicity in the Hollywood extortion racket and sentenced 
					to 10 years. This did not stop him from having his say on 
					the Mob activities however. The Chicago Mobs law firm was 
					able to fake I.D.s for
					<a href="http://www.ipsn.org/accardo.html">Tony Accardo </a>
					so he could visit Ricca in prison pretending to be his 
					lawyer. Thus, Ricca could still make executive decisions and 
					have Accardo perform as Boss in his absence.</p>
<p>Although Ricca got 10 years, he was released in August 1947 having only 
					served 4. This was a big deal for the Chicago press who 
					stated that Mob influence had a big hand in the early 
					releases of Ricca and those men convicted with him in 1943. 
					This is probably true. The man responsible for the approval 
					of the early release, Attorney General Tom Clark, just 
					happened to get appointed to the Supreme Court the minute 
					the position became available. Coincidence? Many think not. 
					The Chicago Tribune in 1952 went to press calling for 
					Clark's impeachment saying he was utterly unfit for such a 
					position of responsibility, citing his role in the early 
					release of Ricca and Co. as obvious Mob involvement.</p>
<p>When Paul Ricca was released from Leavenworth, being seen and associated with 
					known mobsters would be a violation of his parole. Thus, the 
					gauntlet of power was passed onto
					<a href="http://www.ipsn.org/accardo.html">Tony Accardo.</a></p>
<center>
<h2>Expanding the Business</h2>
</center>
<p>Tony had in fact been in effective charge since Nitti had blown his head off. 
					Accardo continued to expand the Mob's hold on the gambling 
					community in and around Chicago. He began pirating the wire 
					service of Continental Press, a service that carried the 
					betting odds, results and payoff information. The legal wire 
					service owner, James Ragan, had refused to give in to the 
					Mob when asked to hand over a piece of the action. So, Joe 
					Batters began to steal the service by tapping the legal 
					lines. He then ordered all the Mob influenced bookies to 
					drop Continental Press and switch to the illegal service. 
					Non-compliance with the order met with the usual 
					consequences. Ragan began making waves for Tony by 
					complaining to the police department and then ultimately, 
					the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Ragan began telling the 
					FBI everything he knew about the Mob operation - he wrote a 
					10,000 word dissertation detailing all his dealings with the 
					Mob representatives who had attempted to deal with him in 
					the first place. This brought Ragan a nasty introduction to 
					the business ends of several shotguns. Badly wounded, Jim 
					Ragan was admitted to Michael Reese Hospital where he 
					continued to inform the FBI of everything he knew. The case 
					against the Mob and Accardo was getting stronger all the 
					time. Ragan had to be put away for good and, six weeks after 
					the shooting, the Mob finished what they had started. Ragan 
					was poisoned in his hospital bed. The Mob had got to someone 
					on the staff at the hospital. Without Ragan's testimony, the 
					FBI had to drop the case.</p>
<p>At the end of World War II, the Chicago political scene changed dramatically 
					for the Mob. Ed Kelly was ousted and Martin Kennelly was 
					brought to office. Kennelly was not a Mob choice for Mayor 
					and as such he was very opposed to Accardo and the Outfit. 
					The police force went through a major cleaning process and a 
					lot of officers were either transferred or moved out 
					completely. The Mob's book making offices were hit hard and 
					blatant open betting became a thing of the past. This by no 
					means ended the Mob's gambling scene. Things just moved 
					underground. The Mob also moved out into the suburbs where 
					the local law was easier to corrupt.</p>
<p>In 1946, Frank Costello and Meyer Lansky, from New York, began a racket that 
					was to be one of the top earners for mobsters for over 20 
					years. They sent Bugsy Siegal to Las Vegas where he opened 
					the Flamingo casino and hotel. The scam was to 'skim' the 
					house take even before it was officially counted so there 
					was never any record of the cash anywhere. It would take a 
					while before the Chicago Mob entered into the operations in 
					Nevada but when they eventually did, they did on a grand 
					scale. Meanwhile, the New York Mobs opened the Desert Inn, 
					the Riviera, the Royal Nevada and the Dunes. The skim on 
					some of these hotel/casinos was up to $400,000.00 a month!</p>
<p>The Chicago mob entered into Las Vegas late in the game but they were still 
					doing nicely on other ventures. While New York was skimming 
					casinos, Chicago was getting part of the S &amp; G Gambling 
					Syndicate operated out of Miami. S &amp; G supplied the legal 
					wire service to the gambling operators in Florida. It was 
					owned and operated by five Florida residents and in 1948 
					showed a gross income of $26,000,000.00! Now who wouldn't 
					want a part of that? The Mob used their connections in the 
					police force to raid bookmaking establishments operating 
					with S &amp; G's wire service. Accardo also made Continental 
					Press cut off service to all bookies in Florida essentially 
					closing S &amp; G down. The company remained out of action for 
					about two weeks. When it eventually reopened, the company 
					showed a Mr. Harry Russell as a fully paid up partner. Of 
					course, Russell was a Chicago man and now part of the S &amp; G 
					take was now being funneled back to the boys in Illinois. 
					Russell had paid $20,000.00 for his share of S &amp; G - not a 
					bad deal for part of a 26+ million a year business. Oddly 
					enough, once Russell became a partner, the police never 
					raided another S &amp; G establishment!</p>
<center>
<h2>The Total Domination of Chicago.</h2>
</center><br>
&nbsp;<p>The Chicago Mob moved in on the policy and numbers rackets in the 
					predominantly black areas of Chicago. Sam Giancana, recently 
					released from prison, went to Accardo with some information 
					he had picked up while banged up. There were some pretty 
					lucrative numbers and policy wheels to be had in the 'black 
					belts' of Chicago. Giancana was given some muscle and sent 
					out to acquire the new business. One of the first wheels to 
					be taken was the Maine-Idaho-Ohio wheel run by one of the 
					biggest policy racketeers Eddie Jones. Jones was kidnapped 
					by Giancana and Co., not for the ransom but to scare Jones 
					half to death. The ruse worked and soon after his release, 
					Jones moved to Mexico. The wheel moved into the hands of the 
					Chicago Mob. Others soon followed suit, either by 
					intimidation or death.</p>
<p>Joe Batters then sent all his top men out to convince ALL of Chicago's 
					bookmaking establishments to fork over 50% of their take. Of 
					course, many were already doing this and others soon agreed 
					to do so but some held out and many legs were broken during 
					this time. Even one of Accardo's capos, Charles 'Cherry 
					Nose' Gioe, was clipped since he thought he could hold out 
					on some of the take. Gioe was ambushed in his car and shot 
					five times. Eventually, everyone towed the Mob line. If 
					there was a bookie not giving 50% to the Mob, then the Mob 
					had not yet found him and he was skating on very thin ice.</p>
<p>With Chicago in line, the Mob moved in on Las Vegas. With a sizable loan from 
					the Teamsters Union Central States Pension Fund, the 
					Stardust hotel and casino was built. This was to become the 
					Chicago Mob's flagship casino in Nevada. The New York Mobs 
					were already well ahead of the Chicago mobsters with scams 
					set up in the Desert Inn, the Flamingo, the Riviera and 
					others. What was once Highway 91 was quickly becoming 'The 
					Strip'.</p>
<p>Now Tony Accardo was becoming bored with his Mob life. Accardo had 
					accomplished more than any other Boss in Chicago. Things 
					were operating smoothly all over and Tony, after a great 
					deal of thought, opted out of the top spot of the Chicago 
					Mob. Accardo confided in his long time friend, Paul Ricca, 
					about his decision and Ricca basically told Accardo that the 
					Mob just couldn't lose such an important leader as the great 
					Joe Batters. It was decided that Accardo could step down if 
					he agreed to become Consiglieri, counsel, to his successor. 
					Tony was to be available to the Outfit for consultation on 
					important Mob matters. Accardo agreed and in 1957 Sam 
					Giancana became the head honcho of the Chicago family of La 
					Cosa Nostra.</p>
<p>Giancana was to become one of the most ruthless of the Mob Bosses. There are 
					rumors that Giancana put a contract out on Desi Arnaz 
					because he produced the hit TV show 'The Untouchables which 
					glorified the role of Elliot Ness and showed the Chicago Mob 
					in a very poor light. How did he expect Arnaz to portray 
					murderers and extortionists? The contract was canceled - as 
					were several others put out by Giancana - probably on the 
					authority of Accardo and Ricca. Giancana was also involved 
					with the Central Intelligence Agency in plots to assassinate 
					Fidel Castro - and some say President John F. Kennedy too. 
					Although other Mobs were involved too, the evidence seems to 
					show that they were in it for the money. Giancana was a firm 
					believer in the viability of the plots.</p>
<center>
<h2>The FBI Enter the Game.</h2>
</center><br>
&nbsp;<p>1957 was a watershed year in the history of the Mob. The five families 
					of New York were always at war over something. They had 
					their own well being on their minds rather than that of La 
					Cosa Nostra. To put a stop to this, a meeting at Apalachin 
					of all the heads of each family was called on November 14th. 
					All twelve members of the Commission attended along with 
					many top aides. Sam Giancana went and Accardo accompanied 
					him. The gathering of so many of the countries top gangsters 
					did not go unnoticed and it was not long before the press 
					were there too. The interest of the Head of the FBI, J. 
					Edgar Hoover, was also peeked. It became obvious that the 
					dealings of the gangsters were crossing state lines which 
					made Mob crimes federal crimes.</p>
<p>Up until 1957, the FBI had little or no dealings with Mob activity. Hoover 
					was busy hounding communists and felt that Mob crimes were 
					the responsibility of local law enforcement. But now, in 
					1957, the communist threat was waning and the Apalachin 
					meeting proved that the Mobs were in fact a country wide 
					organization. This meant that Mob crimes had, at least on 
					some occasions, to be the responsibility of the federal 
					government. Hoover initiated the Top Hoodlum Program which 
					investigated racketeering and other organized crime 
					dealings. The heat was on now.</p>
<p>Giancana loved to be in the limelight. Rather than keep his head down, like 
					Accardo had done so well, he courted the press and became a 
					celebrity of the underworld. His fling with singer Phyllis 
					McGuire was a much publicized event - especially since she 
					was seen in the company of President John F. Kennedy also. 
					The FBI began following every move Giancana made and he 
					began to slip up and make bad decisions. He even began 
					putting prices on the heads of the FBI agents who were 
					working on him. These contracts were, like the Arnaz 
					contract, withdrawn on the orders of Tony Accardo. The Mob 
					murder of an FBI man would only bring down the wrath of the 
					whole Bureau. However, Sam did get one over on the FBI. In 
					1963, Giancana took the Bureau to court claiming that his 
					civil rights were being abused because he was being followed 
					so acutely. In a decision that completely threw the FBI, 
					Judge Richard Austin granted an injunction which ordered the 
					FBI to stay at least one block distant from Giancana at all 
					times.</p>
<center>
<h2>The Granting of Immunity.</h2>
</center><br>
&nbsp;<p>In 1963, the Justice Department came up with a new strategy against the 
					Mob. The granting of immunity. If a subject was granted 
					immunity then he would effectively not be prosecuted for any 
					crimes he had committed. Sounds great. However, this also 
					means he cannot incriminate himself with any testimony so he 
					loses the right to take the Fifth Amendment and has to 
					answer the questions posed to him. If he lies, he is found 
					guilty of perjury, if he stays silent he is in contempt. 
					Either way, he goes to jail. If he tells the truth, he gets 
					off free but his fellow gangsters might have a few things to 
					say about that. In May of 1965, Sam Giancana was granted 
					immunity. Giancana refused to testify at a Grand Jury and 
					was hauled off to the county jail until he would testify or 
					until the term of the Grand Jury was up. Sam would stay 
					locked up for the term - one year. So, now the Chicago Mob 
					needed another leader. The trouble was, there was nobody 
					really up to it. Tony Accardo had to come out of his 
					semi-retirement as Consiglieri and pick up where he had left 
					off in 1957.</p>
<p>When Giancana was released in May of 1966, he was adamant that he wanted the 
					top spot back from Accardo. Tony had a different plan in 
					mind. Accardo and others were convinced that the major FBI 
					harassment of the Mob had a lot to do with the high profile 
					ways of Giancana. The contracts on FBI men, the cockiness 
					after the triumph of his law suit against the FBI, the 
					general contempt Sam had for all law enforcement. Accardo 
					refused Giancana the top spot. Giancana was furious but 
					realized there was noting he could do when up against Joe 
					Batters. He agreed to leave and moved off to Mexico. Accardo 
					now had to appoint another new leader. The prize went to Sam 
					&quot;Teets&quot; Battaglia. Battaglia's reign at the top would not 
					last long, however. In May 1967, he was pinched for bribing 
					public officials. He was released after six years due to 
					ill-health and died eleven days later. Yet another leader 
					was required. The Outfit picked Felix 'Milwaukee Phil' 
					Alderiso.</p>
<center>
<h2>Tough at the Top.</h2>
</center><br>
&nbsp;<p>Milwaukee Phil was, at one time, a top hit man for the Mob. It is known 
					that he carried out at least thirteen contracts and was 
					undoubtedly a party to many more. Knowing that this man is 
					such a killer, it is unusual to find that Alderiso's years 
					at the top were remarkably hit free. Of course, this may be 
					due to the fact that Accardo was still acting as Consiglieri 
					to the Outfit. Alderiso's reign at the top was short lived. 
					In July of 1969, he was arrested for conspiring to defraud a 
					Chicago suburb bank. The arrest was made at his home in 
					Riverside and a cache of arms was found there. More trouble 
					was to follow Phil once the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and 
					Firearms got their hands on that. Alderiso was found guilty 
					and sent to jail where he died some years later.</p>
<p>The Outfit now had yet another Boss to find. John 'Jackie' Cerone was the 
					successful candidate. Jack Cerone was Tony Accardo's 
					prot�g�. Groomed from an early age for the top spot by the 
					man who was seen by many as the greatest Mob Boss ever, 
					Cerone could have had an astounding effect on the world of 
					organized crime. Unfortunately for the Mob, he would be 
					arrested and imprisoned in 1970. Cerone fell foul of a 
					'disgruntled employee' Lou Bombacino. Bombacino got into an 
					argument with his bosses, Don Angelinni, Joe Ferriola, Frank 
					Aurielli and Dominick Cortina. The dispute was settled by 
					Cerone who took the side of the four bosses. Bombacino was 
					not happy with the outcome and decided to get his revenge by 
					turning States Evidence. Cerone was convicted on 
					racketeering charges along with all four of the bosses.</p>
<center>
<h2>Accardo Rides Again</h2>
</center><br>
&nbsp;<p>Tony Accardo had no more suitable mobsters to take the top spot and so 
					he was again forced to come out of his semi-retirement and 
					assume the hot seat. The only other viable contenders were 
					Gussie Alex and Joe Auippa. Alex was by far the most 
					experienced but he was not Italian and so could not be 
					'made'. There were guys in the outfit that would reserve 
					judgment on the decisions of man who was not made, not one 
					of their own. Joe Auippa on the other hand was made and had 
					been around for a while, he was now in his seventies, but 
					lacked the management skills to be top boss. So it was 
					decided that the three of them, Accardo, Alex and Auippa 
					would all take control together. As Auippa gained confidence 
					and expertise, Alex and Accardo would step back and let Joe 
					have the driving seat.</p>
<p>The seventies were very active times for the Mob and a lot of 'examples' had 
					to be made. The casinos in Las Vegas were not producing as 
					much income as they used to and so a new man was sent to 
					oversee the operation - Tony 'The Ant' Spillotro. There were 
					five gangland murders very soon after his arrival. Another 
					example was made of Sambo Cesario. When Milwaukee Phil 
					Alderiso had gone to prison, Cesario began seeing Phil's 
					mistress. This was a violation of Omerta where 'made' guys 
					could not mess with the wives and girlfriends of other 
					members of the Outfit. Sambo was blasted while sitting on 
					his front lawn. March of 1972 saw the demise of Chuck 
					Carroll. He was bound, gagged and blind folded, shot and 
					stuffed into the trunk of his car. April 14th 1973 was the 
					day Mad Sam DeStefano was gunned down. On December 20th of 
					the same year, Dick Cain had his head blown off in Little 
					Sicily for double crossing another mobster. Cain was also an 
					informant for the FBI but the Mob never knew that until the 
					FBI revealed that fact, as Cain had asked them too, when he 
					died. 1974 saw ten documented gangland slayings and there 
					were nine more in 1975.</p>
<p>One of the hits in 1974 was a tough decision for the Mob leadership. It 
					involved a hit on an ordinary business man called Daniel 
					Seifert. The decision was tough since Seifert was not a 
					mobster and the Mob was only supposed to kill their own - 
					other gangsters. But Seifert was set to testify in a case 
					which could bring down too many good men that the Mob could 
					not afford to lose. The hit was sanctioned and Seifert was 
					blown away with shotguns. As if killing an ordinary citizen 
					was not enough, the hit team performed the deed in full view 
					of his wife and young child. The news media lapped up the 
					story and Consiglieri Accardo was furious at the killers for 
					their stupidity.</p>
<p>One of the killings in 1975 would also grab the presses attention. One time 
					Mob Boss Sam Giancana was killed at his home in Chicago. 
					Giancana had been making a fortune for himself off the 
					casinos he had set up in Mexico, Cuba, Iran and various 
					cruise liners. Sam felt that he owed the Mob nothing since 
					he had effectively been thrown out of the Outfit by Accardo 
					in the sixties. The Mob saw things in a different light. 
					Giancana had been holding out and not paying his tribute. He 
					was whacked in his basement with a .22 silenced pistol. He 
					was shot in the back of the head and the throat.</p>
<center>
<h2>Cerone Returns.</h2>
</center>
<p>1975 saw the release from prison of Jackie Cerone. Cerone rejoined the mob as 
					second in command to Joe Auippa although in reality it was 
					Cerone who was now running the show. Jackie did not want to 
					come back to the limelight after his release but reluctantly 
					accepted the position on the insistence of Tony Accardo. One 
					thing Cerone had insisted on was using Auippa as a front so 
					most of the press and police attention would be aimed in 
					Joe's direction and not Cerone's. It is believed by some 
					that Auippa was not aware of this arrangement and still 
					believed himself Boss whilst all the time Jackie Cerone was 
					pulling the strings.</p>
<p>One of the first things that had to be settled by the Cerone-Auippa 
					leadership was the whacking of Chris Cardi. Cardi had done 
					numerous small jobs for the outfit including collecting, 
					'juicing' or load sharking, and general muscle. Cardi was 
					not happy with the return on his dealings and so took a road 
					that was very taboo while Tony Accardo was still involved 
					with the Outfit. Cardi began dealing drugs. In the Outfit of 
					Joe Batters, dealing drugs was a cardinal offense. However, 
					Cardi did not get the usual treatment of a bullet in the 
					back of the head. When Cardi was arrested for his heroin 
					racket, the Mob went to the judge assigned to the case. The 
					judge was on the take and he was instructed to give Cardi 
					the maximum sentence possible for his crimes. Chris Cardi 
					served his time and was then released. Three weeks later, 
					while he was out walking with his wife and three kids, two 
					masked gunmen shot eight rounds from .45 pistols into his 
					back. Then, just for good measure, he was popped in the 
					face.</p>
<p>Other hits sanctioned in 1975 included two bookmakers. The first, Nick 
					Galanos, was an independent bookmaker who kept up with his 
					street tax. His crime was moving into the Forest Park area. 
					Forest Park was a Mob controlled district and Galanos had 
					not asked for permission to operate in the area. He was shot 
					in his basement on August 30th with .45 caliber pistols. 
					Nine rounds in the back (naturally) and again in the chest 
					just for good measure. The second bookie was Tony Reitinger, 
					also an independent. His crime was not paying his tribute to 
					the Outfit. He was hit at the end of October by two masked 
					men. Reitinger suffered four .30 caliber rounds to the back 
					and side and two shotgun blasts to the head.</p>
<p>January brought yet another sanctioned hit. This time the target was a jewel 
					thief who had caused trouble for the Mob when one of his 
					jobs got solved by the police. The thief's name was Frank 
					DeLegge, Jr. The police had an informant in on the burglary 
					and were able to arrest and imprison the gang. Also 
					imprisoned were two made Mob men who were nailed for 
					conspiracy. DeLegge was whacked, probably by Tony Spillotro, 
					soon after. His throat was cut from ear to ear and his body 
					was left in a ditch near Elmhurst. The body was discovered 
					later, frozen solid.</p>
<center>
<h2>The Mob Hits Jimmy Hoffa</h2>
</center>
<p>In July 1975, Tony Accardo, as the Chicago representative to the La Cosa 
					Nostra Commission, cast his vote with the other heads of the 
					LCN families to have Jimmy Hoffa murdered. Hoffa had been 
					imprisoned for his part in the Mob dealings of the Teamsters 
					Union. The Mob found another guy, Frank Fitzsimmons, to 
					replace him. Fitzsimmons was more than happy to comply to 
					all the Mobs requests - even more so than Hoffa had been. 
					The Mob were very happy with 'Fitz'. When Hoffa was 
					eventually released, Fitzsimmons had a clause included in 
					Hoffa's parole terms that stipulated that he could never 
					become involved with the labor unions again. Hoffa signed 
					the papers without really reading them and became furious 
					when the clause was brought to his attention. Regardless of 
					the clause, Hoffa began to make the moves required to regain 
					control of the Teamsters. Fitzsimmons asked for the Outfit 
					to intervene and the last place Jimmy Hoffa was seen alive 
					was in a restaurant called the Red Fox on Six Mile Road in 
					Detroit.</p>
<p>There are various glamorous stories detailing the final resting place of 
					James Riddle Hoffa. One of the most famous is the story from 
					a convict, Donald 'Tony the Greek' Frankos, who told Playboy 
					magazine he had helped bury Hoffa's body in the end zone of 
					the New York Giants stadium in New Jersey. Apparently, 
					Frankos' original story had Hoffa's body buried in the 
					foundations of a shopping mall in NJ but Playboy souped up 
					the story for the benefit of their readers. The FBI believes 
					Hoffa's body was thrown into a vat of boiling zinc at a 
					fender factory in Detroit.</p>
<center>
<h2>The FBI Score Big.</h2>
</center>
<p>Jackie Cerone and Joe Auippa were eventually collared by the FBI in 1986. The 
					FBI used electronic bugs and turn-coat mobsters to obtain 
					evidence of racketeering on fifteen mobsters in a case they 
					code named Strawman II. They were all charged with skimming 
					$2,000,000 plus dollars from Las Vegas casinos. The trial 
					started in the latter half of 1985. Cerone and Auippa were 
					found guilty and sent to prison in 1986. Cerone was now 71 
					and Auippa 78 years or age.</p>
<p>Strawman II was the culmination of five years of investigative work by the 
					FBI. The Strawman I and Strawman II (a continuation of 
					Strawman I) caused the Chicago Mob more trouble than any 
					other investigation. In 1978 the District Court in Kansas 
					City authorized the FBI to use electronic bugging devices in 
					Mob hangouts. Telephone taps were used, hidden microphones 
					and other listening devices were put in place and Mob 
					subjects were tailed everywhere. Seizures of money being 
					skimmed from the casinos were made and raids were made on 
					mobsters houses. In one such raid a set of books, detailing 
					every aspect of the mob operations he took part in, was 
					found in the home of Carl DeLuna, the underboss 
					(second-in-command) of the Kansas City Outfit. These proved 
					to be invaluable to the prosecution in the two trials that 
					were to follow. In 1981, the cream of the Kansas City Mob 
					were indicted for skimming the Tropicana casino in Las 
					Vegas. All but two of the defendants would be convicted. One 
					of the two was the Boss of the KC Outfit and he was never 
					tried because he died whilst in custody. This was the result 
					from Strawman I. Strawman II was a continuance of Strawman 
					I. Using much of the same evidence and lots of new stuff, 
					members of the Chicago Outfit were tied directly into the 
					operations of the KC Outfit. Hence, indictments were brought 
					on many of the top echelon members of the Chicago Mob also.</p>
<center>
<h2>The Outfit Appoint Yet Another Boss.</h2>
</center>
<p>The Outfit required another Boss. On the recommendation of Tony Accardo and 
					Gus Alex, that Boss was Joe Ferriola. The first thing 
					Ferriola did as Boss, on the same day he took up leadership, 
					was put out a contract on Tony Spillotro. The Outfit was 
					blaming Spillotro for all the grief caused them by the FBI 
					in the past months. After all, it was Spillotro's 
					responsibility to watch his men in Las Vegas and it was 
					those men that had turned states evidence for the FBI. Tony 
					was also becoming a renegade - performing un-sanctioned 
					burglaries and running drugs. He had drawn attention to 
					himself with all his recent court cases and high profile 
					actions in Las Vegas. He had to be silenced. In June of 
					1986, Tony Spillotro and his brother, Michael, were clubbed 
					unconscious and buried alive in a corn field in Indiana.</p>
<p>Although Ferriola was the Boss, he was suffering with incurable cancer and so 
					passed on the mundane day to day running of the Outfit on to 
					Sam 'Wings' Carlisi. Ferriola died of his cancer in 1991. 
					Carlisi is generally acknowledged to have been the Boss of 
					the Chicago Mob from the late 80's until he was put away in 
					December of 1993 for racketeering, gambling, loan-sharking, 
					extortion, arson, tax fraud and conspiring to murder.</p>
<p>And that is where the information runs out for me. It is thought that Joe 
					Lombardo, released from prison in November 1992, may be 
					calling the shots in the Outfit now but through the guise of 
					his cousin, Joe Andriacci. Lombardo cannot be seen as active 
					in the Mob or he will violate his parole and go back inside. 
					Other prominent members of the Outfit that are still around 
					are Dominic Cortina, Joe Spadavecchio, Robert Salerno, Al 
					Pilotto, Joe and Larry Petitt, Angelo LaPietro, Pete 
					DiFronzio, James Inendino and Marco D'Amico to name a few. 
					Although the actions of the FBI have had a serious effect on 
					the organized crime families of the Mob and natural 
					attrition has taken it's toll on the original gangster 
					members, the Mob is still alive and kicking and still making 
					a tidy living from the gambling rackets of Chicago</p>
<hr>
<p>On April 25, 2005 The U.S. Attorney in Northern District of Illinois 
					(Chicago), Patrick Fitzgerald held a dynamite press 
					conference where he announced the RICO indictment of the mob 
					bosses of the four crews (Melrose Park Crew , Elmwood Park 
					Crew , 26th Street Crew (Chinatown) , and the Grand Avenue 
					Crew and named as the acting Boss of the Chicago Outfit 
					James Marcello. The DOJ press release, the indictment, and 
					charts of 18 unsolved murders from 1970-1986 defendants were 
					accused of conspiring to have commit are available at
					<a href="http://www.ipsn.org/indictments/indictments-oc/default.htm">
					http://www.ipsn.org/indictments/indictments-oc/default.htm</a></p>
<p>The <a href="indictments/indictments-oc/pr042505-outfit.htm">press release</a> 
					gives a good account of how the Outfit operates.</p>
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