This was in the Sun-Times today.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/23952...lrose-park.html

Very kosher

Kind of funny. Shows that officials have almost zero respect for the voting populace. With so many people out of work and stuff you'd think giving a felon and Outfit connected guy a sweetheart job like that would cause outrage, but apparently the officials of Melrose Park just don't give a f**k.

I've heard Danny's is good, though.

Kind of ridiculous they wont let this guy have a straight job.

He clearly still owns that tavern on top of it.

I've eaten at Danny's once. The food was pretty good. Nothing too fancy, just good old italian food.

But he says he's done with his past criminal life.

lol and who says the Outfit has no politicians in their pockets these days? On the other forum, I posted a photo of Dote posing with a bunch of current alderman and the Melrose Park mayor.

Dote is another member of the Elmwood Park Crew. The fact he partnered with Vito Scavo shows the Outfit's crews are still working together...Scavo and the entire Melrose Park territory belongs to Cicero.

I don't doubt it, but have you been to Melrose Park lately?

It is a pretty rough place.

I imagine a little cash, above table or under, Outfit connected or not, could go a long way there.

I don't really find the liquor license surprising.

The job is pretty embarrassing.

Melrose Park is still super corrupt. Although the last time I was in the area it seems mostly mexican and not much Italian left, kinda like Cicero these days.
Carl Dote has another place in Des Plaines or it may have closed recently. His brother Anthony is one of Marco's top guys.

Melrose is around 50% Mexican as well as 25% Italian. Sadly not how it used to be (italian population) and could possibly turn out like Cicero, but, all the politicians in Melrose are Italian.

The latest census is 66 percent Hispanic and 22 percent white total. I doubt every single white person there or anything close to it is Italian.

Ok, 19% Italian.

His DP place is now closed.

Tony Dote is the real power of the two...Carl was more of just an aide or bookmaker.

Agree, Tony Dote is Marco D'Amico's right hand man. I can't remember but did Carl Dote get nabbed in Operation Gambat? I know he was busted in 2000.

Interesting that Carl tends to get more attention in the press.

Carl started getting a lot of press when the "Check Please" piece aired. That was a big mistake on his part. Although it would have never occured to me watching the episode and him stating that he is the owner that he can't hold a proper liqour license.

is marco damico retired or semi-retired or what the fuck?

Marco has always been a big topic for people to discuss. I've heard that he still makes a lot of money from bookmaking and owns a lot of property in the River North/Rush Street area. He only had one big arrest and that was from Operation Gambat and he did 12 years. He had a mansion in Barrington that sold for $1.5 million after he went to jail so he has some pretty big bucks.
Some people claim he is the underboss to DiFronzo and others say he's just a big time bookie.
Personally I think he controls a lot of or all of the gambling in Chicago and some overseas casinos.
He lives in Westchester near 22nd and Wolf road.

I just don't see how he could NOT be in the upper echelons.

I definitly think Marco is upper echelon. Made or not made he is well respected and a lot of guys really look up to Marco plus he did his time without talking. It wouldn't suprise me if DiFronzo let Marco take the reigns of the Elmwood Park crew or even the entire Outfit.

Besides, isn't "made" sort of like skipper status in The Outfit?

I don't think being made means as much as it used to in the Outfit. Back years ago if you were made the outfit would take care of your family if you went to jail. Nick Calabrese stated that James Marcello had to pay Nick $4,000 a month to keep him happy. Angelo LaPietra even told the Calabrese brothers after they were made that it only bought them a little more protection.

Could be they just did away with the ceremony again after Joey O died.

It’s all conjecture but I definitely feel that there was kind of a dismantling of the structure of the Outfit at some point, at least in Elmwood Park. I don’t have any evidence, just from reading thousands of pages on it, my guess/impression is that, like a dissolving company, different people wound up with different assets, spun-off various profitable parts, etc. For example it seems DiFronzo is either mostly or wholly legitimate right now. I would imagine some old-timers are still getting revenue from offshore casinos, but who knows if it’s even illegal. Maybe Marco is in charge of what’s left of the bookmaking.

But I can’t say I’ve seen anything suggesting that it is all intricately connected anymore. I can definitely envision a scenario where interested parties kind of just walked away with whatever was left of the Outfit and more or less abandoned the structure.

Pizza lunches at the Loon notwishstanding.

These "debates" are absolutely laughable.

The Outfit was never dismantled & it isn't going anywhere. Being made is and has always been the end all be all in the Outfit. Yes, Paul Carparelli is made (regarding another silly "debate" going on in another topic). He had a crew of soldiers answering to him, and he himself was reporting to a capo. That's a made guy.

Elmwood Park Crew isn't the Chicago Outfit. Cicero & Chinatown are the formal Chicago Outfit, and I know you guys are desperate for info about the crews down there, but you're not going to find any. And no, (yawn), it isn't because there isn't anything relevant to report. Don't worry, when more low level made guys slip up, we'll have more stuff to gossip about.

Hey tough guy: I know you hang out with a bunch of gangsters, or are part of a gangster family, or whatever your lame fantasy is, but notice how I specified Elmwood Park.

And if you compare the Outfit of yesteryear to today's Outfit, yes it was indeed dismantled. How many crews are left?

This has really just become a revolving door

That was directed toward everybody, not just you & your supremely bizarre agendas.

Calm the fuck down.