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Intro

The Chicago Mafia aka the Outfit aka the Capone Mob was, and probably still is, one of the most unique Italian crime families from around the United States. Even though they copied their structure, membership and took the same rules from their ancestors back in Italy, to an extent, still back in the old days the Chicago family was slightly different than the rest of the Italian crime groups. One of the main reasons for that was the total control of the second largest city at the time, under the rulership of only one crime family while on the other hand, the larger New York area was divided between five different families.

Even though it was the second largest city, I believe that the Chicago area had the territory and potential for the presence of more than one family, but all of the greed, backstabbing and bloodshed which occurred during the old days, only one group managed to make its way to the top of Chicago’s criminal underworld. That’s why the old Chicago Outfit had only one boss who commanded a legion of criminals who in turn formed the criminal machinery and structure, which lasts even today or for the last hundred years.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, there were at least two, mainly Sicilian, crime families in Chicago, followed by a bunch of other ethnic crime gangs such as southern Italians, the Irish, Jews and Greeks. The first leading family was controlled by Italian Mafia bosses from around the North, West and South sides of the city, while the second crime family was allegedly stationed around the Chicago Heights, Calumet City, Blue Island, Joliet and Will County areas. I also believe that both crime families were in close relationship mainly because of some of the blood relations between the two groups, followed by the mutual business adventures both in the world of crime and local politics.

Some sources say that there was allegedly a third group or smaller crime family located near Chicago or from the Indiana area. Even though the Indiana area didn’t have much action during those days, still most of the gangsters from around the Chicago area used that same nearby state for many sinister purposes. I also believe that the so-called Indiana group was either official or they were just one part of the larger Chicago Heights family, which I think it was the latter situation.

By the late 1920’s almost all of the leaders from both crime families were eliminated by certain rival groups, especially by the so-called “Mainlanders” which were headed by alleged members of America’s Camorra organization such as John Torrio, Al Capone, Paul Ricca, Dominick Roberto and Jim Ammiratto. The so-called Roberto-Ammiratto “clique” played a major role in eliminating their rivals from around the Chicago Heights and Calumet City areas, and they allegedly continued their “crusade” towards the Indiana area. Most of the remaining Sicilian clans which previously belonged to the so-called second crime family, joined the winning Roberto and Capone groups.

Back in 1928 Al Capone was brought as official member of America’s Cosa Nostra network by one of the New York crime families and in fact, Chicago’s bloody conflicts were just a “reflection” of the conflicts which also occurred in New York at the time. By 1931, the Chicago group under Capone was officially recognized as one or monolithic crime family by the rest of the U.S. crime families, and also received its own “seat” on the Mafia’s national commission which in fact represented the whole Cosa Nostra criminal network. Capone also managed to gather all of the loyal non-Italian crews and made them a vital part of his organization.

By the 1950’s and 60’s, or during their so-called “golden era”, the Chicago Outfit controlled numerous crews in and out of the Chicago area. In fact, they had many crews, both Italian and non-Italian, which were represented by the so-called “board of directors” which was a group formed by the most powerful four or five caporegimes who in turn represented the rest of the capos and crews from around the Chicago area, such as the ones from the North Side, West Side, Loop and South Side, and Chicago Heights, including the Indiana area.

The Chicago Outfit also had every right to control certain parts of Indiana mainly because even before Torrio and Capone, the organization already had its own representatives and operations around that same area. So, the following article is only about the Outfit’s presence around northwest Indiana and its predecessors who in turn established the base for their future legacy.


Northwest Indiana


The Old Testament


Giacomo Colosimo is considered the so-called “father” of the modern day Chicago Outfit and besides controlling both the city’s Loop and South Side areas, the old crime boss also already had interests in the Indiana area mainly through some of close business associates. One of those associates who helped Colosimo in establishing his influence in Indiana, was one non-Italian crime boss and political leader known as John Patton.


Jim Colosimo


Born in 1883, in the small town of Burnham, Irish hoodlum John Patton became one of the most extraordinary individuals, who largely contributed to the so-called term “menace to society”. Story goes that Patton since young age, or to be precise at the age of 14, worked at a local bar and even though it was a small place, still due to its strategic location straddling the Illinois/Indiana border and the inherent jurisdictional confusion, Burnham became the best place for opening brothels and saloons.


John Patton

In 1908 or at the age of 23, Patton became the youngest Mayor of the small town of Burnham and so he quickly started investing his money in other various brothels and gambling joints around the Chicago area, especially in the south suburbs and also around northwest Indiana. In fact, this was the point when Colosimo became Patton’s business partner and Colosimo placed one of his enforcers Mike Carrozzo to look after his extortions, followed by one of Colosimo’s cousins known as Thomas Colosimo as overseer of his gambling rackets. Story goes the situation got so bad that the Mayor of nearby Hammond threatened to publish the names of brothel secret owners from his town and also closed the road to Burnham. Colosimo’s criminal career was ended with his murder in 1920 and his empire was inherited by his protégé John Torrio.


Mike Carrozzo


The New Regime

As I already stated that by 1929 the infamous Chicago Heights crew was officially formed with Capone’s “blessing” and the man on top of this faction was Dom Roberto. This group was formed by two crews, one being the leading “Mainlander” crew and the other included the so-called Sicilian factions, which were headed by Charlie Costello, Pete Zeranti and Sam DiGiovanni, followed by Phil Bacino who in turn was connected to the old Sicilian Mafia from the Northwest Side but by now he was based in Calumet City. With the help of the old Sicilian connections, the leading mainlanders such as Roberto and Ammiratto also received interests outside the Chicago area, including the northwest Indiana territory. Because of the previous reason, I personally believe that the crew which oversaw the northwest Indiana area was headed by the Costello bros, Charles and Sam, who in turn also kept their authority over certain areas such as Will County and Joliet, obviously under the jurisdiction of the Roberto-Ammiratto regime. As a reward, some sources say that both Costello bros received gifts from Capone himself in the form of diamond belt buckle. Capone usually gave those expensive types of gifts to all of his old and new allies and also gave them their own districts and official positions. Their close associates Paul Miccalis aka Miccolis and Dan Perotta allegedly oversaw their rackets mainly around the Gary, Hammond and East Chicago areas.


Dominick Roberto


Jim Ammiratto aka Emery

All of the problems started the same year when Roberto was deported back to Italy or in March 1934, the same time when Paul Miccolis was killed gangland style. The next year or in October 1935, Miccolis’ son-in-law Dan Perotta was also shot to death and three years later in 1938, Sam Costello was also killed on the Outfit’s orders, and the request probably came from Roberto’s successor Jim Ammiratto aka Emery. Before going to jail or before being deported, many of Capone’s lieutenants and underlings were known for eliminating any potential successor of their own crews who wasn’t very much trusted by his predecessor or by the rest of the leading administration. This was a clear sign that somebody was slowly eliminating the old crew in northwest Indiana and I think that “somebody” was probably the Outfit’s new boss and Capone’s original successor, Paul Ricca. In fact, Ricca’s involvement in the conflicts around the Indiana area would later also open the doors for his West Side group to receive interests in that same territory.


Dan Perotta


The New Indiana Crew


After the murders of many former members of the old Indiana group, their remaining main overseers in northwest Indiana such as Joe Gianni and John Formusa aka Formosa allegedly continued their loyalty towards the Roberto-Emery crew and also began bringing other members and associates such as Tony Amadio, Rocco Pacioni, Patsy Gaglione, Anthony Parrinello, the Micelli clan and Paul Miccolis Jr. the son of the late Miccolis.


John Formusa aka Formosa

It is possible that by the early 1940’s the so-called Indiana crew still didn’t have any official caporegime or crew leader, although some sources from that same time period reported that the leading Outfit figures around northwest Indiana were Formusa and one non-Italian associate who went by the name of Jack Doyle. The reality was that Doyle acted as their front and controlled all handbooks around that same area, while Formusa was the prime overseer of the prostitution racket. Reports say that Doyle controlled at least 8 policy wheels in Gary, followed by again at least by 10 wire rooms, and on top of that he had a similar operation in Hammond.


Jack Doyle

So, while being the main representative for the whole Chicago Heights group, two of Emery’s prime crew bosses became Roberto’s brother John Roberto aka Roberts and Frank LaPorte. For example, LaPorte oversaw the Chicago Heights, Blue Island and Joliet areas, while Roberto oversaw Calumet City, Will County and northwest Indiana. Roberto’s old associate Sam Micelli, who in turn used the alias “Mitchell”, the remaining brother of the old Micelli clan, also joined Formusa as business partner in some of their interests around Gary and Hammond. In 1945, the government uncovered Micelli’s slot and vending machine operations in Calumet City and northwest Indiana.


Sam Micelli

The problem was that by the late 1940’s the government started building up a case against Jack Doyle and so in 1949 he and his companions Johnny Formusa and Rocco Pacioni were uncovered by the media for their illegal actions. In 1951, Doyle was called before the crusading Kefauver committee and was literally destroyed with sensitive questions. In 1953, Chicago’s best racetrack publicist and Outfit representative in northwest Indiana, Jack Doyle was indicted and two years later was also sentenced to 5 years in prison, because of the previous so-called Kefauver investigations, and was found guilty of tax evasion charges. This was obviously the end of Outfit’s main gambling operator in northwest Indiana, and on top of that, that same year or in March 1951, Paul Miccolis Jr. was also called before a grand jury and was questioned regarding his illegal activities by operating the so-called Flamingo restaurant in Gary, Indiana.


Paul Miccolis Jr.

From this point on, the Outfit’s leadership and the Chicago Heights Mob were in a difficult situation to find a solution to maintain their rackets around northwest Indiana. Some sources say that Formusa allegedly remained as the Outfit’s prime crew boss in Indiana but by the early 1950’s the situation completely changed.

Official Capo

During the 1940’s the bloody conflict between so-called rebels of the North Side group and the rest of the Outfit’s crews, ended up with the murders of at least six individuals from the North Side and also many of them decided to abandon the city of Chicago. For example, Tony Pinelli was one of the more respectable members from the old North Side crew with interests around Rush Street, Grand Avenue and possibly Taylor Street areas. Anthony aka “Joe Pinelli” aka “Joe Legno” aka “Frank Heisler” aka “Mr. Tom”, was one of those “old-timers” or “traditional” Mafiosi who was born on October 28, 1899; back in Caltanisetta, Sicily; and later immigrated to the United States. It is also possible that Pinelli remained neutral during the conflict but out of fear for his own life, he fled the city of Chicago sometime around 1945 and landed in Los Angeles, California; a place where back in the days many former Chicago Mafiosi already established themselves.


Tony Pinelli

As I already explained, previously the two former Mafia families had many mutual connections, both in Chicago and around Indiana. Because of that, after the second conflict, the new Outfit leadership under Tony Accardo and Sam Giancana decided to use that same old connection regarding the formation of an official crew in northwest Indiana.

So, in 1953 one of the Outfit’s representatives in Los Angeles, Frank Sortino aka Ferraro, was the main fella who greeted both Accardo and Giancana in that same city, and their job was to convince the so-called “refugee” Tony Pinelli to take a position as capo for the newly created northern Indiana crew, but again under the jurisdiction of the Outfit’s Chicago Heights group. This was a sign that the Outfit’s leadership trusted the remaining “Northsiders” to an extent, meaning for all safety, they placed Emery to oversee the so-called newly created crew.

Since he switched his alliance to the Outfit’s leadership, Pinelli also had the right to choose his own crew members and old associates such as Micelli, Formusa, Amadio, Pinelli’s nephews Anthony and Joseph Gruttadauro, Frank Zizzo, former bootlegger Roy Lancella, Ralph and Joe Iatarola, John Monatagano, Joseph Spino, Carlo Colianni, Rocco and Pete Schiralli, Frank Aliota, Pete Serio, Anthony Rizzo, Angelo and Joe Cardinale, Joseph Savoca, Sam Moretti and also one Tommy Morgano, who in turn still controlled several joints around the Near North Side. Morgano’s loan sharking enterprise operated behind the twin legitimate facades of a factoring business and frozen pizza pie company, which allegedly served as financial backup for their highly regarded gambling business. Pinelli’s influence was mainly present in Gary, Hammond and East Chicago, Indiana, including Calumet City. Interesting to note is that Pinelli, Morgano and the Cardinale brothers, all came from the same area back in Sicily.


Gaetano aka Tommy Morgano

Formusa also remained as one of Pinelli’s top lieutenants regarding Gary’s and Hammond’s prostitution rings and was later also uncovered for being one of the managers of the infamous Cal-Neva Lounge in Lake Tahoe, and was also labelled as close associate of famous singer Frank Sinatra and also Sam Giancana. As a matter of fact, some newspaper reporters and investigators at the time believed that Formusa was still the boss of the northwest Indiana rackets but shortly after, it came out they were wrong.

Additional sources say that Sam Micelli and Tony Amadio, together with another associate invested around 2 million dollars in the so-called Apex Pool, which in fact was a huge and rich oil development. Amadio also worked as overseer for Formusa in the prostitution business and so in October 1953, Amadio was convicted and sentenced to 6 years in jail for violating the Mann Act by transporting young girls from northwest Indiana to his club in Calumet City for immoral purposes, but later the verdict was overturned by the U.S. Supreme court.

Pinelli and his Indiana crew a had their fingers in the Master Barbers’ Union with the help of their representative and president Frank Aliotta. Later, Aliotta took a step back as president and became secretary treasurer while on the other hand, both Morgano and Zizzo personally infiltrated few of their own close associates such as Carlo Colianni, George Dicks, Joe Gruttadauro and Sam Moretti and completely took control of that same union.


Frank Aliotta

Colianni was also long time North Side associate of both Pinelli and Morgano, and so he was placed as spokesman for the union. On top of that, Colianni was also the president of the C&B Meat Provision company, which was mainly controlled by high level members from the North Side Mob, such as Joey DiVarco and James Allegretti. In 1958, the firm was exposed of its illegal operations and was later closed down. Some sources say that Colianni allegedly sponsored Allegretti for membership in the Outfit.


Carlo Colianni


As for George Dicks, he was one of those mysterious, but at the same time quite notorious figures within the Outfit, by being previously arrested for more than 300 times. Dicks originally belonged to the West Mob by being connected to big time players such as Sam Battaglia, Charles Nicoletti and Phil Alderisio, a sign of Ricca’s influence around the Indiana area.


George Dicks

In addition, Dicks, Moretti and Colianni all drew money from the Master Barbers’ union as “special investigators” and in less than six years, they managed to scheme over $300,000 and place them in their own pockets. That’s why in August 1959, the board of directors of that same union, was forced by the government to kick out all three previously mentioned gangsters, including Joe Gruttadauro and also old-time bootlegger Peter Serio.

The Indiana crew also controlled many car-theft operations, especially from the Gary area, which were mainly controlled by one old time restaurant owner and Outfit associate Ralph Iatarola and his son Joseph. These fellas owned the Casa Roma restaurant, which was located in an all-white neighborhood, mainly because the Iatarola family allegedly hated colored people. In fact, later both father and son were convicted to 50 days in jail for refusing to serve Black people in their own restaurant. Besides that, they were involved in a car theft ring, which stretched from Indiana to California and also to Florida, and according to the feds, these guys moved between $200,000 and $300,000 worth of stolen cars on monthly basis.

Chicago Heights member Gus Rubino was also labelled by the government as one of Chicago’s biggest dealers of stolen cars which were mainly transported and sold around northwest Indiana. Another Chicago Heights low level, but quite lucrative associate in the stolen cars business at the time was Albert Tocco, who in turn mainly transported stolen cars around Will County and Gary, Indiana; and all the way to Youngstown, Ohio.


Gus Rubino

All of the illegal income was dropped off at Pinelli’s so-called headquarters known as the “The Villa” which was located at 1101 Taft Street in Gary, Indiana. Pinelli used the name of his paramour Josephine Milton, and so he was known as Anthony Milton. Pinelli also used the establishment as the main offices for his own Century Distributing company Inc. that was used for his jukebox business. Pinelli’s coin machine racket even attracted the likes of Pittsburgh Mafia boss John LaRocca and in fact, during the mid and late 1950’s there were several meetings between Pinelli and Pittsburgh’s Mafia administration regarding that same racket. For example, in 1959 both LaRocca and his companion Sam Mannarino were once guests at Pinelli’s Gary Hotel in Gary, Indiana. This probably shows us the respectability and stature which Pinelli held within America’s Cosa Nostra organization.


John LaRocca


The Forbidden Fruit

Besides the gambling, union, prostitution, vending machines and car-theft rackets, the Indiana crew was also deeply involved the narcotics trade. In fact, this was the time period when Tony Accardo was the still the boss of the Outfit and all types of rackets were welcomed by the leading administration.

By now Jim Emery was the boss of the Chicago Heights and Indiana for around two decades and so he allegedly began to take a step back and spent most of his remaining days down in Florida, while his number two guy Frank LaPorte began taking over the day-to-day operations and took an acting role. But according to the government, Emery wasn’t going to retirement at all, but instead he travelled to Italy where he met his former and deported boss Dominick Roberto. Story goes that Emery was establishing the Outfit’s connections in the narcotics trade with the help of New York crime boss Charles Luciano, who in turn was also deported to Italy.


Emery, Roberto and Luciano in Italy

According to the FBN, the narcotics shipment arrived in New York and Chicago’s cut was first sent to Detroit or New Orleans, like for example there are some reports which indicate that Chicago Heights crew boss Joe Guzzino had direct contact in New Orleans with one Julian Lopez, who by the government was described as the chief narcotics supplier for that area. The product usually arrived in northwest Indiana and was welcomed by Pinelli’s crew, from where the rest of the shipment was spread around Chicago.

Back in 1956, both the Los Angeles and Indiana police departments considered Pinelli as one of the leading figures in the national narcotics trade. According to government sources, once a month, the Indiana crew received shipment of heroin which were destined for the Chicago market. Their “relatives” in Montreal, Canada; Florida or New York would send the heroin hidden in food cans, cheese or even wine bottles and with the help of members such as Frank Zizzo and Tommy Morgano, who owned few pizzeria businesses in that area, the product safely arrived and was prepared for further distribution. For example, Zizzo was the owner of the Pepper Pot Pizza restaurants with locations around Gary and Hammond and from there, the product was transferred to another pizza parlor which was located in Calumet City and in the end the rest of the stash arrived at Morgano’s pizza company on Chicago’s Near North Side.

During that time period, the problem with heroin addiction in Northern Indiana went on a higher level which was never seen before. One of their main “runners” in Gary for example, was Weldon “The Bear” Drisselle, who in turn controlled a band of nearly 20 dope peddlers. They mostly sold their product at a local steel plant with the help of some the employees. But by the mid 1950’s, dozens of deaths from heroin overdose occurred in the same area which quickly brought the attention of law enforcement. And so by February, 1956, the government managed to arrest 118 individuals, including 76 residents of Gary and 42 residents of East Chicago. Many of the witnesses were identified as addicts, aged 18 to 28, including husbands and wives, most of them being steel plant employees. Among them were Drisselle and his crew of “runners”, which, according to some reports, probably was the main reason for the arrests since one of the members, previously talked to the cops. The informant, who in turn was an ex-employee at the steel plant and later a simple street dealer, said that, on a good day, he earned over $500 from the drug business.

Bad boys whatcha gonna do?

By the late 1950’s Indiana’s crime boss Tony Pinelli received much unwanted attention from the law. At the time, Pinelli was called before every possible jury and senate committee regarding his gambling and coin machine operations, and was publicly labelled as the prime criminal in northwest Indiana. In 1959 he together with two of his lieutenants Rocco and Peter Schiralli, were called to Washington before a senate committee to answer regarding their illegal schemes. In fact, Rocco Schiralli worked as a Gary city controller and together with his brother Peter, were involved in the pinball machine business and so, Pinelli was under indictment on a federal income tax delinquency. Later, Pinelli was also slapped with possible deportation proceedings, something which signaled the end of his position as leader of the Indiana crew. Similar faith also occurred to Tony Gruttadauro, John Formusa, Frank Zizzo and others from that same crew, by being called before senate committees and being exposed for their crimes.


Pete Schiralli

By the late 1950’s things weren’t going so well for the Indiana crew, and old man Pinelli decided to take a step back from his position as top boss of that same group, and by the end of this time period he has returned to his previous home in Los Angeles. Before leaving Chicago, story goes that Pinelli gave his job to his prime lieutenant and long-time associate Gaetano a.k.a. Tommy Morgano, who instantly placed Zizzo and Formusa as his top lieutenants in Gary and Hammond, while on the other hand he elevated other members such as Joe Spino and John Montagano as his prime overseers in East Chicago.


John Montagano

According to some informants at the time, Morgano personally said that he was going to control the county from "corner to corner", and that not even a fly was going to come in without his knowledge. In addition, in 1962 Formusa suffered a stroke which left him paralyzed and unable to speak, and so from that point on Zizzo became Morgano’s official number two guy.

By 1962, Tommy Morgano set his sight on Porter County, and tried to corrupt the county sheriff with a $100,000 bribe. This was a big mistake for Morgano since he was reported by that same sheriff and so in November that same year, he was indicted on bribery charges. During the trial, Morgano entered a guilty plea and was given between 2-14 years imprisonment and $10,000 fine. In the end, Morgano was instructed by his lawyer that he had the choice to go back to his homeland in Italy, instead of serving his prison sentence and so in January 1963, the government deported him for good.

That same year the feds also realized that Morgano still received illegal income which was sent from the U.S. all the way to Italy. According to the report, Morgano’s son-in-law Donald Grieco, together with his brothers were in involved in the cash transfer. The Grieco brothers worked for the so-called Fiore Buccieri group from the West Side mob. The alleged messenger between Morgano and his crew in the U.S., was Ernest Sansone who in turn belonged to the North Side crew under Ross Prio.


Donald Grieco

Morgano’s spot was instantly taken by Frank Zizzo whose reign as boss of the Indiana crew didn’t last long, since that same year or in August 1963, he was convicted and sentenced to 5 years in prison on interstate gambling charges, with few of his low level bookies. During the same time period Pinelli also relinquished all of his previous connections and interests from his Indiana crew and also switched his membership to the Los Angeles crime family and “retired” in his home in Sierra Madre, California. So, with Pinelli in Los Angeles, followed by Morgano in Italy and Zizzo in prison, according to the FBI, the guy next in line was Anthony Gruttadauro who after Zizzo’s imprisonment, began taking care of the day-to-day operations of the Indiana crew as acting capo. Gruttadauro inherited all of the crew’s rackets and was even in charge of all football-basketball parlay cards which were distributed throughout the Hammond-Gary area.


Tony Gruttadauro

Prison Blues

During Gruttadauro’s reign as Zizzo’s “voice” on the streets, the Indiana crew was still bringing huge illegal income for the Outfit but in 1966, Zizzo was paroled and again took control of the crew. Back in 1965, Zizzo’s complete car theft crew was indicted by the government and in 1966, the leader Richard Buonomo together with his top lieutenants Herman David, Patsy Accettura, Joe Iatarola, Kenneth Nash and James Cobb, were sentenced to 10 years in prison.


Richard Buonomo


Patsy Accettura

From that point on Zizzo was forced to take a low profile, meaning he still took his cut from all illegal operations, but in front the eyes of the public and the government he acted as a legitimate businessman. Zizzo still owned the Pepper Pot Pizza restaurants which in fact served as “drop points” for his share of all of the crew’s operations.

Besides old crew members such as the Gruttadauro bros, the Cardinale bros, Joe Spino and Georgie Dicks, by now few of Zizzo’s up and coming associates were Eugene Izzi, Santos Morales, Louis Mazzare, Raymond Kulik, Zizzo’s son Anthony Zizzo and also Morgano’s son Bernard Morgano. In 1966 and 1967, Zizzo’s close associate Eguene Izzi was twice arrested on gambling charges and so most of his operations were closed, while on the other hand his “boss” Joe Spino continued to walk freely on the streets of both Gary and Hammond, but by 1968 most of his operations were raided and were publicly uncovered by the government.


Eugene Izzi

The situation became worst in 1969, when one of their prime gambling lieutenants Raymond Kulik was also arrested on gambling charges, together with a large group of low level associates and operators. During the late 1960’s Zizzo somehow managed to stay under the government’s radar but this lasted until 1970, when he was again imprisoned for parole violation.


Raymond Kulik

The Last of The Mohicans

In 1973, Zizzo was again released from prison but three years later or in 1976, he was again indicted regarding the theft of a large number of television sets from around the Chicago area, which ended up in Indiana. Luckily, in the end Zizzo was acquitted, while his son Anthony was convicted to five years in prison together with four other associates. Anthony Zizzo mainly operated around the Cicero and Melrose Park areas, and always helped his father in the transportation of stolen cars or various gambling operations.

From the mid 1970’s until the early 1980’s, Outfit capo Frank Zizzo ruled the Indiana crew with an “iron fist” but still during that time many changes occurred within the leading administration of the Chicago Heights group, which still had jurisdiction over Zizzo’s crew and acted as his representatives on the Outfit’s “board of directors”.


Frank Zizzo

But there was one “small” problem and that was the so-called Buccieri crew from the Cicero and West Side areas. You see, since the late 1960’s the Buccieris tried to takeover areas which belonged to the South Side mob and the Chicago Heights group. When Frank LaPorte, representative for both Chicago Heights and Indiana crews, died of natural causes in 1972, some type of friction occurred within the group regarding LaPorte’s former position and in the end, it was for Al Pilotto to take the spot as new representative.

Previously I also pointed out that the Buccieris already had some interests around northwest Indiana, and so they also used the bad situation within the Chicago Heights crew by taking over the action and areas which were previously owned by the losing faction or Pilotto’s alleged rival Jimmy Catuara. In fact, in 1977 Catuara was killed and the Buccieris inherited his former interests around the South Side and Chicago Heights areas.


Al Pilotto

In 1981, Pilotto survived an assassination attempt and sources say that two members of Pilotto's crew, Nick D'Andrea and Sam Guzzino, were allegedly behind the botched hit and so a "contract" was quickly placed on their heads. In September 1981, D'Andrea had been lured to a garage by several Outfit members. Story goes that the prime Outfit members who were previously sent to investigate the whole conspiracy, were Indiana capo Frank Zizzo, South Side boss Angelo LaPietra and Sam Carlisi. So before being killed, D'Andrea was first beaten at a warehouse and then they were going to take him to Pilotto's future successor Dominic Palermo. Carlisi was allegedly hitting D'Andrea with a shotgun on the way, but they discovered that the victim was dead once they got to the house.

This shows that both Zizzo and Palermo took care of Pilotto’s group and when Pilotto was sent to jail in 1982, from that point on, the Chicago Heights group became very vulnerable and they already started receiving attacks from the former Buccieri crew which by now was headed by Angelo LaPietra and Joe Ferriola aka the Cicero-South Side mob. Besides Palermo, I personally believe that Zizzo was the last remaining member of the old Chicago Heights and Indiana group with the power to still command respect among the rest of the Outfit’s membership. I also believe that both Zizzo and Palermo were obliged to start grooming one of their members, known as Albert Tocco, as official representative for their large group.


Al Tocco

Changing of The Guard

By 1983, two of the main problems were Zizzo’s failing health and the other one was the huge influence and presence by the Cicero-South Side faction. With Zizzo being out of the day-to-day decisions, it seems that Palermo wasn’t able to fight off the so-called “invasion” and so Joe Ferriola received even larger influence.


Joe Ferriola

In 1986, Frank Zizzo died of natural causes and so that same year, Al Tocco became the official representative for both the Chicago Heights and Indiana crews but this time there weren’t any additional capos beneath him, meaning it is quite possible that the capo position for the Indiana crew was probably relinquished, a decision probably made by the leading Ferriola-LaPietra crews. Some sources say that even though Tocco was a very ruthless individual, still he was allegedly quite afraid from Ferriola and his murderous crew.

Besides that, Palermo remained as Tocco’s lieutenant for their Chicago Heights crew, while Morgano’s son Bernard Morgano became the leader of what was left from the old Indiana crew. Morgano wasn’t an official capo, but instead he was a soldier or made member who in turn was responsible for the crew’s rackets in that area and probably reported directly either to Tocco or Palermo.


Dominick Palermo

By 1989, Tocco was out of the picture since he was previously chased by the government and was later imprisoned, and the man next in line was Palermo who took control of what was left from the old Chicago Heights crew, again with Morgano as his prime lieutenant around the Indiana area.

Bernard Morgano owned a restaurant in Gary, Indiana; which was used for stashing cash which came from an illegal lottery that was operated by two of Morgano’s associates Al Watkins and Tony Leone. Since Morgano was the central figure in keeping the syndicate's presence in northwestern Indiana, his main job was collecting street tax from gambling operators, including the operators of vending machines and also owners of local chop shops.


Bernard Morgano

For example, one of Morgano’s associates Peter Petros collected around $1000 a month from one restaurant owner with the help of threats made towards the owner and his family, and also collected $2500 per month from an operator of video poker machines after implying his business might be destroyed if the operator refused. Few of Morgano’s additional collectors were his nephew Tony Leone, followed by Sam Glorioso and Sam Nuzzo Jr.


Sam Glorioso

Morgano often travelled from northern Indiana to Calumet City where he met with his boss Dominick Palermo and his lieutenant Nick Guzzino. They usually held their meetings at a restaurant known as "The Taste of Italy" and at the end of their conversations, Morgano delivered the money from the street tax which was collected from the Indiana area. Previously Morgano survived a heart attack, and so Palermo’s lieutenant Guzzino sometimes directed Morgano's associates regarding the collections from his area, but still every dollar which was collected was first delivered to Morgano's home.


Nick Guzzino

Death of a Crew

By 1991, the government managed to gather enough evidence against Palermo, Guzzino and Morgano with the help of Morgano’s nephew Tony Leone who in turn decided to testify against his uncle and the other two members. Besides Leone’s testimony and also the testimonies of eleven victims regarding the illegal activities of both the Chicago Heights and Indiana crews, the government also used transcripts from wiretapped conversations which completely confirmed the connection and also the subordination of the Indiana crew towards the Chicago Heights group and the Outfit’s leading administration. In fact, during one of the trials a government tape was played in which the leader of the Indiana crew stated something like “we’re going to have to check it out with Chicago first”. At the end of the trials, Morgano’s last statement was directed towards his “rat” nephew Leone by saying “He is a snake, he lied on the stand. I do not ask for mercy; I ask for justice”.

In 1992, the 74 years old boss of the group Dominick Palermo was sent to 32 years in prison and was also fined $25,000, followed by his lieutenant Nick Guzzino who in turn was sentenced to 39 years of imprisonment, and in the end Bernard Morgano who received 16 years. They were all guilty for racketeering, extortion, threats and arson, including collecting so-called “street tax”. This signaled the end or the so-called “death” of one of the Outfit’s oldest and crucial crews, such as the Chicago heights and Indiana group, with Palermo and Morgano being the last crime bosses who “closed the doors” of their own crews.


Palermo being taken to prison


Morgano being taken to prison

After the dismantle of the Chicago Heights crew, the Cicero-South Side mob finally had a clear path in spreading their influence around all southern suburbs and towns, including northwest Indiana. At the same time, another old time Outfit crew was also completely dismantled by the government and that was the original North Side group and so because of that, the Cicero-South Side mob received complete control over the Lake County, DuPage County and McHenry County areas, while the West Side mob received the lucrative Near North Side area. This means that from that point on the Chicago Outfit was down to two groups with five crews, such as the Cicero and Chinatown for the South Side mob, followed by the Cicero-Melrose Park, Elmwood Park and Grand Avenue crews which represented the so-called West Side mob.

In the end, even though during the old days most of the Indiana area was considered as a place filled with cornfields and “one-horse” towns, still the old Chicago Outfit was obviously able to make something out of nothing, meaning they succeeded in forming that same area into one of their prime headquarters for illegal income but as any other evil empire, in the end they failed to preserve their influence and presence. Today, there are probably still few so-called Outfit “remnants” around northwest Indiana, a simple “shadow” of the past when the Outfit was once able to turn “ordinary metal into gold”.

Cheers

Here are some additional pics of members and associates from the Indiana crew...


Angelo Cardinale


Joseph Savoca


Steven Bedalow

Stay tuned for another free and also never released article regarding one time Chicago boss Louis "Little New York" Campagna, followed by the Outfit's Arizona crew. Also, I might be returning to Youtube in a very short time period. And dont forget, FUCK ALL PAYWALLS and dont let them get you with their short "free" stories and shitty youtube vids. Cheers

Back in the day there were tons of underground casinos going on in that area. Big $$$ back then!!!

Also even currently there are tons of strip clubs that area that are pretty much all mobbed up! Another big $$$ maker even today!

Nice TD stay oldschool !

Thanks @H and will do, always

Just saw your post @Rush....thats right, since the 1920s until the 1980s, all types of conflicts occurred regarding Chicago's southern suburbs, Calumet City and NW Indiana, meaning those guys obviously knew regarding what they were fighting for and knew the potential of those same areas.

I think it was few years ago when one so-called "street source" reached out to me and during our convo, he also mentioned that there were allegedly still some Italian racketeers operating around the Indiana area, although I dont remember if he said if they were connected, meaning you might be right....

When John Formusa survived a stroke in 1962 and was hospitalized, he was allegedly visited by Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr....