Whats up fellas?! Im back with another free and never released before article, for all of you to enjoy. Stay tuned for more free articles and dont forget to boycott all paywalls. Salut'
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“The saddest thing in life is wasted talent, and the choices that you make will shape your life forever.” - Chazz Palminteri, A Bronx Tale

In one of my previous articles, I already showed you the trials and tribulations of one of Chicago’s most corrupt cops Bill Hanhardt, who in turn represented just a “tip of the iceberg” when it came down to Chicago’s corruption among the many individuals from the police force that worked for the local Mafia, also known as the Outfit. Besides Hanhardt, many of us also heard about other corrupt cops such as Richard Cain aka Scalzetti who was also an alleged member of the local Italian criminal brotherhood. So, besides being involved in numerous schemes, these types of criminals were also coldblooded killers and also protected other murderers from the organization they belonged to. They were brutal on the same level as some of their notorious associates, and didn’t care about a human’s life by being constantly hypnotized by the old mighty dollar. One corrupt cop who stood up among the rest of his criminal associates was Thomas Durso, an individual who was always ready to eliminate anyone who stood in his way in accomplishing his criminal plans. During those days many government officials moonlighted for the crime syndicate as protectors, procurers and even as collectors, but in Durso’s case you will witness the real dark side of Chicago’s corruption, and on how one quite intelligent man made all of the wrong choices and completely destroyed his own life and also the lives of others.


Thomas “Tommy” Durso

TO SERVE AND PROTECT

Born in 1928 to Antonio Durso and Mary Tripiano (other sources say Esposito), Thomas or Tommy as his was known, was the third child of two sisters and three brothers which also included Ralph and Michael Durso. Even though they probably had some relatives which operated on both sides of the law, still the Dursos were legitimate family and his father worked for the Chicago Tribune. At the age of 20, Tommy wanted to become a detective for the government, a task which he accomplished two years later. Durso grew up around the city’s Lower West Side, which during those days was an area infested with criminal activities, but it seems that young Durso allegedly decided to establish the government’s law.

The young detective managed to appear in the newspapers for the first time in February 1951, when he and two other detectives busted one small car theft ring from the Northwest Side, which was mainly involved in selling stolen car parts, such as wheels, tires, radios and batteries. Later or in May 1958, detectives Durso and Thomas Mahon literally cornered one infamous Chicago burglar known as Manuel Moniz Jr. in Elmwood Park. Reports say that Moniz allegedly resisted arrest and was shot to death by Durso himself. Durso later testified that Moniz allegedly drew a gun and wounded Mahon in the arm, and so Durso was able to eliminate the attacker by shooting him four times. The late Moniz allegedly stole $15,000 from some apartment and for stopping the burglar and returning the stolen loot, both Durso and Mahon received rewards in the form of cash from Chicago’s mayor at the time. These few cases allegedly opened the doors for Durso to become an official police officer and also a respected member of Chicago’s Police department. Durso obviously showed his colleagues that he wasn’t afraid to pull the trigger of a gun whenever it was needed, and also the environment where he grew up and knowing almost every criminal from around the West Side area, gave him the ability to always be one step ahead from most of his cohorts in the police force.


Manuel Moniz

FACE OF THE DEVIL

In June that same year, Durso’s father Anthony suddenly died of natural causes and it seems that from that point on Durso has changed, but for the worst. I personally don’t have any information if Durso already had some underworld connections, or maybe he developed them during the following years, something which I highly doubt. By the early 1960’s, the so-called Outfit’s West Side mob was in charge of the whole organization, with bosses like Paul Ricca, Tony Accardo, Sam Giancana, Fiore Buccieri, Jack Cerone and Sam Battaglia who were able to kill a man with the blink of an eye. Coincidentally, the main powerful capo and representative for the whole West Side area at the time was allegedly Battaglia, who in turn personally knew Durso. Both Giancana and Battaglia already had many corrupt cops in their ranks, and all of them killed for the organization and also controlled certain schemes.

This means that by that period, Durso was probably successfully hiding his true nature by being disguised as honest detective and police officer, while in reality he personally knew almost every member from both of Chicago’s criminal upper and lower echelons. On top of that, the old guys like Ricca and Accardo had a lot of trouble with the government at the time, so the younger leaders like Giancana and Battaglia worked with everyone who was able to bring large sums of cash to the table, no matter what type of scheme the individual was involved in, even if it was about narcotics. The lived by the rule “deal but don’t get caught and if you ever get pinched and talk about it, you will die”. So, one thing led to another, and before you know, police officer Durso became one of Battaglia’s protectors, enforcers and also prime operators in the dope peddling business. In fact, Durso was one of Battaglia’s main compatriots, who played a vital role in the making of his criminal “machine” because first of all, he was a cop and second, he was able to kill people without being a suspect and above all, he also peddled narcotics. One of the main things which made Durso quite valuable for Battaglia, was Durso’s connections to many dope peddlers from around the West Side.


Sam “Teetz” Battaglia

GATHERING OF MAD MEN

Since Battaglia was an important member of the Chicago Outfit, he placed one of his associates from his personal Grand Avenue crew, known as Samuel “Mad Sam” DeStefano, between him and Durso obviously because Battaglia wanted to distance himself from the whole operation. DeStefano was one quite demented and notorious individual but on the other hand, he was a longtime friend of both Battaglia and Giancana, and was also one of the city’s most lucrative loan sharks. On top of that, sources say that DeStefano was allegedly also known for having many corrupt policemen on his payroll, for doing the dirty work such as beating up debtors or driving them personally to DeStefano’s headquarters. I personally believe that Durso played a major role in DeStefano’s police contacts and also probably organized those same corrupt police “squads”.


“Mad Sam” DeStefano

According to the FBI, DeStefano also largely financed many narcotics operations, mainly through Durso and his contacts. Both DeStefano and Durso were often seen together in some of the city’s joints, discussing business and Durso handing envelopes of cash to his “boss”. So, if DeStefano enjoyed Durso’s company, this means that Durso himself was also a psychopath in his own way. In fact, DeStefano was a huge hypocrite because back in 1955, he killed his own brother Michael on the orders from Giancana, allegedly because the younger brother became a heroin addict and the problem was that he knew too much regarding some illegal operations and allegedly became unreliable.

Durso repeatedly purchased narcotics previously financed by Outfit members from the Grand Avenue crew, and then sold the stash to addicts, mainly through his large network of dope pushers. Durso’s main partner in the narcotics business was Mike Gargano, a known Outfit enforcer, who was acquainted with many Mafiosi but never became a member of Outfit’s Italian brotherhood. Besides that, this fella was a hardcore criminal with a quite large history of arrests and convictions, including a sentence to Joliet state prison on July 22, 1949, to two four-year terms for armed robbery. After that he was paroled on June 6, 1951, and again on June 13, 1957, he was sentenced to serve 10 years in the state prison at Fort Madison, for breaking and entering but he was again paroled in 1959. This obviously means that Gargano had all of the needed connections for his early releases from prison, and one of his main connections was probably Durso.


Mike Gargano

After receiving the narcotics shipment, Durso immediately informed Gargano regarding the arrival and so Gargano’s job was to re-sold large quantities of heroin to some of their so-called street dealers. The main “street runners” for the operation were Tony Moschiano, John Generella, Pete Fabbri and Leonard Fiorenzo, all from the West Side area. Most of these guys and their associates were petty criminals and rapists and top of that, some of them were heroin addicts.

The crew usually operated by renting a hotel room, in which they kept the stash of drugs that was previously packed in numerous little packages, ready for sale. After making the transactions, the crew’s members visited Green’s Tavern which was located on the West Side and was owned by one of Durso’s associates known as James Green, where they would leave the money for a pick up, usually by Moschiano since he was one of Durso’s main runners. In fact, Green had a long history of narcotics trafficking by being connected to many infamous dope peddlers who worked for the Outfit, such as Nolan Mack, Nathaniel Spurlark and Americo DePietto. According to some reports, Durso’s crew made between $300,000 and $500,000 a year from the narcotics racket, or around four million dollars in today’s money, thus destroying the lives of thousands of families from around the Chicago area.

WITH THE CASH COMES THE PARANOIA

Because of the huge cash flow, Durso was quite aware that if something happened to the whole operation, his own life was going to be on the line, especially while having a “friend” such as DeStefano. That’s why Durso developed a huge paranoia and started constantly blaming his dealers for being possible informers and always threatened them with death. The cause for Durso’s alleged paranoia was obviously their profiles and it was quite natural for him to be constantly worried since some of those guys were not quite reliable, and the problem was that it was too late to make changes and that’s why Durso decided to make an “example”.

Everything went smooth until some kind of a “bad blood” allegedly occurred between Durso and his prime dealer Tony Moschiano. According to some reports, there were three incidents between Durso and Moschiano, like for example the first one occurred when the duo went on sale which in turn was never realized. Story goes that the purchaser of heroin, which was one of Moschiano’s associates, did not have the money and on top of that, he became quite suspicious of Durso's car since it contained a plaque which indicated some connection with the Chicago Police Department. Because of that, a heated argument occurred between Durso and Moschiano, in which Durso threatened his younger associate that if he, meaning Moschiano, did not get rid of the stash in two weeks, he might end up dead. Later Moschiano quickly saw the “writing on the wall”, because he realized that with paranoid criminals such as Durso there was no “this” or “that”, but instead he just nodded with his head and went out to get the job done, or else.


Durso’s car which he used to follow his drug dealers

The second incident occurred after a month, when Durso became quite angry at Moschiano for not appearing with the money from the sale or with the product. Thereafter, Durso called for Lenny Fiorenzo and advised him that he knew that he, meaning Fiorenzo and Moschiano had been together for the last several days, and that Fiorenzo was in trouble and his life depended on finding Moschiano. This was a classic Outfit move by pushing one of the victim’s friends against his fellow associate. Fiorenzo told Durso that the only place that he knew of, regarding Moschiano’s whereabouts, was his home. After failing to find him there, Durso lost his nerves and drove to a restaurant where they were joined by Durso’s personal enforcer Mike Gargano. This time Fiorenzo was quite scared and was also cornered by Gargano who in turn gave him another chance to think about where Mochiano might’ve been, and if not, he was going to kill him right there on the spot. Suddenly, Fiorenzo told Durso and Gargano another possible place, which was the apartment of one of Moschiano’s girlfriends Lupe Costabile.

The three of them then proceeded to Lupe's rooming house, where they were greeted by Lupe's landlady Nancy Bourne. The gangsters entered through the front door quite violently, with Gargano remaining downstairs while holding a pistol on Fiorenzo head and also a man who roomed in the building, while Durso and Mrs. Bourne went upstairs to Lupe's room. Now, this is the point where you can witness Durso’s most savage moments, possible legacy of his mentor “Mad Sam” DeStefano. When Durso saw that the room was empty, he knocked Mrs. Bourne down, whereupon he drew a pistol and screamed at her to get up. The poor old woman said that she had recently broken her back and couldn't get up, whereupon Durso swore that he would break her back again and would blow her head off if she didn't get up. He then forced Mrs. Bourne downstairs and ordered her to phone Moschiano and when someone answered the call, Durso quickly grabbed the phone from Mrs. Bourne and told whoever was on the other side to have Moschiano on the street within ten minutes or someone was going to get hurt. The person on the other side arranged for them to meet and so Durso sent for Gargano to bring Moschiano.


Anthony Moschiano

After their arrival, both Moschiano and Fiorenzo were handcuffed together and were taken from the Bourne home to another location. After a dozen of kicks and puches, knife cuts and cigarette burnings, both were released with the understanding that Moschiano was given a second chance to sell the remaining heroin within two weeks, and to deliver the proceeds to Durso. In fact, Durso’s so-called “forgiveness” was because of the money, meaning if he killed Moschiano right there on the spot, he was never going to see his cash, nor his heroin ever again.

THE SETUP

But the situation didn’t get any better when few days later both Fiorenzo and Moschiano were arrested by narcotics agents and were taken into custody. They were kept for six days until both of them decided to “spill the beans”. The dealers started talking regarding their illegal activities and their association with Durso and during that same period, Moschiano also led several officers to the hotel room where the narcotics were seized. Reports say that the two informants, together with the feds, devised a plan to get Durso into a trap. On January 21, 1964, shortly after Mochiano’s and Fiorenzo's release from custody, they contacted Durso and arranged a meeting at some local restaurant. An hour later, Durso only met with Fiorenzo, who in turn explained to him that he and Moschiano were arrested for some alleged petty theft and were confined for six days and Fiorenzo also informed Durso about the alleged robbery of the hotel room where the narcotics were kept, while they were in custody, and asked Durso if he can arrange another shipment for a double price.

Strangely, Durso looked very calmed and told Fiorenzo to go and pick up Moschiano and later to stop by at Durso’s suburban home. When the duo arrived at the place, they parked their car in the garage where they were greeted both by Durso and Gargano. During their conversation, Moschiano tried to convince Durso that he still had the money, along with other money from sales of narcotics, which he would’ve deliver to him but the thing was that he, meaning Mosciano wanted another kilo of heroin and that he would make up for the missing money and missing narcotics from the proceeds of the previous sale.

Immediately, Durso’s face became completely red and stated that he was not going to fall for that trick and suddenly, fueled by his murderous rage, Durso pulled out a hunting knife and started stabbing Moschiano to death multiple times right there in the garage. With his hands covered in blood, Durso turned to Fiorenzo, who by now was peeing in his pants, and yelled at him "I want you to look at this. This is what happens to stool pigeons and people that short me!" In other words, Durso knew about the betrayal but obviously didn’t know all of the details. This is just another proof that during this period, the Outfit was deeply infiltrated in the government system, thus receiving information on who was talking and who was not, which was the main reason for the many unprotected government informers being hunted down by the Mob all around the country.


Chicago Outfit enforcer Tommy Durso

Durso imposed his brand of punishment as a deterrent to future potential informers and it was not a crime of passion spawned by hot and angry blood, but instead it was a crime for profit with the help of the cold, deliberate execution of a human being just to protect the investment which was represented by a crime syndicate. Durso then told Fiorenzo that he would give him the break of his life and let him go, and if anyone in the neighborhood asked him about having picked up Moschiano, he was to say that he did pick him up but that he dropped him off two or three blocks from the starting point. Gargano then drove Fiorenzo to an elevated train station and the latter took a train back to Chicago's West Side. In a state of panic, Fiorenzo quickly reported the incident to the feds.

BAD COP GOING TO PRISON

On February 2, 1964, both Durso and Gargano were arrested on charges for transporting and selling narcotics, but not for the murder of Moschiano since there was no body or any other evidence regarding the slaying, except for Fiorenzo’s word. But more than two months later, Moschiano’s dead corpse popped up in the Des Plaines River, with his hands handcuffed, rags stuffed in his mouth, his throat cut from ear to ear, and with numerous stabbing wounds in the stomach, and it was then when the feds caught a real break. In no time, both Durso and Gargano were taken to trial, and during the whole “show”, the defense was destroyed by the testimonies of Fiorenzo and the rest of the street dealers, including Mrs. Bourne and Miss. Costabile. In the end, in November 1964, both defendants were sentenced from 100 to 150 years in prison. One police captain who attended the trial, told the newsmen that this was the first syndicate-related murder conviction in Chicago in his memory. According to some of the attendees at the trial, both Durso and Gargano have shown no remorse after hearing their sentences and were calmly escorted to their prison cells.


Durso at the trials in 1964

One strange situation occurred after the Durso-Gargano case, and that was the resignation of the leading state’s attorney and prosecutor James Flynn. Reports say that the attorney won eleven out of twelve cases, meaning he was quite successful in doing his job and was allegedly incorruptible. On top of that, by the mid 1960’s Durso’s case was only one of the few successful murder trials against organized crime and the Chicago Outfit at the time, but for some unknown reason Flynn decided to quit.


Former state's attorney James Flynn

IN AND OUT OF JAIL

In 1971, Durso made a request to be transferred to the Joliet Work-Release Center and “miraculously”, his request was granted. Even his old buddy Gargano was also granted similar request, allegedly because both of them were “model inmates”, according to prison authorities. Durso received privileges to attend classes at the Chicago State University where he was working to obtain a master’s degree. He was also allowed unescorted weekend furloughs and some reports say that Durso was often secretly visited in his room by one alleged “girlfriend” and that all of her visits were unauthorized by certain officials, because the rule was that inmates cannot take visitors outside the guest parlor and also the security guards should be aware about every visit.

Three years later or in 1974, the Chicago tribune disclosed the whole story and when the information reached the office of state’s attorney Bernard Carey, the situation became a public scandal and he immediately contacted the director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, Allyn Sielaff. According to newspaper reports, Carey allegedly blamed some of the prison officials for abusing the program and stated that “it had never been designed to provide unescorted weekend furloughs for individuals of this kind”. On the other hand, Sielaff defended himself by saying “We are still trying to sort out the facts on how this happened”, but later his Corrections Department was taken to court by state’s attorney Carey who in turn demanded that his office be given advance notice for every inmate which was about to receive any type of privilege and so, Sielaff agreed. In not time, Durso was transferred to a maximum security jail cell at the Statesville Penitentiary, where he was stripped from almost all of his privileges and was treated like any other dangerous inmate.

Justice is so sweet but in the city of Chicago things always end up with some type of suspicion, like for example the death of government witness Leo Fiorenzo. That same year, or after he testified against Durso and Gargano, sources say that Fiorenzo was taken to an “unknown” location in Dallas, Texas; where he lived for more than 8 years until one day in 1974 when he was found dead, allegedly from a heroin overdose. According one report, previously the late Fiorenzo was successfully treated for his addiction at a methadone clinic and that some of the agents and people around him swore that Fiorenzo has quit his drug addiction for good. When the cops found Fiorenzo’s dead body, he was fully dressed with an empty hypodermic syringe at his side. But there is another conflicting report which was made by Dr. Ross Zumwalt, a pathologist, and it doesn’t mention any type of heroin overdose with a syringe but instead, he stated that Fiorenzo allegedly died of an “accidental overdose” from a pain-killing drug that he had obtained from his personal doctor, and that there was no kind of evidence of a foul play.


Leonard Fiorenzo

Many people still don’t believe that the Mafia sometimes used so-called “fatal shots” of heroin and pain killers in eliminating some of their victims because it’s too hard to prove it, especially if the victim was a former addict. The two conflicting reports completely confused some of Chicago’s investigators who in turn tried to find a connection between Fiorenzo’s death and the weekend furloughs of both Durso and Gargano, meaning they wanted to know if the imprisoned gangsters had something to do with the suspicious death while they were free on the streets, since everything happened at the same time. In fact, the investigators were quite aware regarding the non-existence of the term “coincidence” when it came down to the Mob but as usual, in the end they were not able to find any evidence.

In 1978, Durso asked to be paroled because he was allegedly a “changed man” and had two job opportunities because of his master’s degree. In fact, Durso became the first Illinois convict to receive two college degrees while in prison, including a master’s in corrections. Durso appeared before the parole board silver-haired and completely tanned, and he looked more like he had been enjoying some swimming pool in Miami then working as a janitor in a prison. Durso told the board that he had been offered two jobs, one at the University of Puerto Rico and the other at the University of Arizona. But no matter on what Durso said or did, in the end his parole was denied and board rejected his bid for early release.

WASTED TALENT

After serving 20 years in prison, in January 1984, 56-year old Durso was finally paroled and became a free man. By that time all of his former gangster friends from the Grand Avenue crew were mostly dead, but Durso allegedly had high hopes for receiving a good legitimate job but the reality was different, meaning nobody wanted a former convict and a murderer around them. Durso lived in a small $370-a month apartment in Elk Grove Village and need to find work, fast. So, in June that same year, Durso decided to take his story to the newspapers and explained to them that for one convict to be fully “cured”, one needs to expand his knowledge while serving his sentence, and later it was up to the government to find him or her a steady job. Durso stated “When I first got out I thought it would only be a matter of weeks or a month before I found work. I never realized the animosity people out here have towards ex-convicts. Take the two degrees I earned in there. They have no idea what a man has to go through to get an education and stay out of trouble in the penitentiary.”


Durso in 1984

Durso also had serious heart issues and wasn’t able to do any physical work, and allegedly felt betrayed by the Illinois Department of Corrections for previously encouraging him to finish the degrees, and later only “showcased” him in front of the public as a completely rehabilitated model inmate. So, Durso’s issue and also the issues of other ex-convicts, was noticed by Corporation Counsel James Montgomery who said that the public factor should also help rehabilitate criminals by giving them jobs and second chances but still in Durso’s case, nothing really changed since the only two things he kept for himself were the hope for survival, and his rent security deposit.

Being the intelligent individual that he was, I personally believe that Durso deep inside him knew that he was just another wasted talent, obviously because he was quite aware regarding the cardinal mistake which he did during his prime years, that changed his whole life for the worst. He obviously had the talent and chance to become an honest cop, and to teach future police officers on how to do their job. Some people posses huge talent, while others like Durso are possessed by it, and when that happens, that same characteristic becomes a “curse”. And Durso’s “curse” was choosing the wrong path, followed by the constant bitterness that he felt in his heart for wasting his own, God-given, talent.

Cheers

Nice article. On Leonardo Fiorenzos death, a source in Dallas says Anthony Catrine had a meeting with Charles Civello and Angelo Piriano and was ordered to pick up the "Doctor" from out of town and to take care of someone named Jack. Doctor was slender older, about 5 8, 140 pounds, Grey receding hairline, wore glasses and spoke with a eastern American accent. Stayed a couple of nights at an unknown hotel. The source says Anthony told him on the 10th of August that he had just had dinner with the doctor at The Warsaw and was told that they had to move fast for Jack condition. Could all be coincidence, or maybe not, but Dallas still had cops in their pocket during this time, and Fiorenzo did go by Jack once he was in Texas. Another thing, the source was thought to be unreliable, by the detectives, no follow ups.

Thanks a lot bud and yeah, Fiorenzo's witness protection name or alias was "Jack Nicklaus Cayden", meaning thats a third theory which throws additional suspicion over the whole case. I personally believe that Fiorenzo's death wasnt investigated enough and I also think there was a foul play, besides the three theories saying that there wasnt enough evidence about it.

Thanks again for the additional info, and stay tuned for more free and never released articles and also dont forget to boycott all paywalls. Its going to be a great "Chicago mob summer" lol. Cheers bud

I am fairly certain that Jimmy Greens bar is now Green Eyes, which is some hipster spot off Western Blue Line. The Moschiano family lied in what is now Humboldt Park.

As always thanks for the additional info buddy. I almost dont know anything about Green and his ties to the Outfit, except for the Durso connection. As for the Moschianos coming from the Northwest Side, to be honest it doesnt surprise me much since most of the dope peddling crew also came from that same area.

...in addition, the whole Moschiano case and his suspicious death reminds me of some wiretapped convos between Genovese members in which they were allegedly convincing victims to take the "fatal dope shot" instead of being shot in the head with a gun, or even regarding Marilyn Monroe's (allegedly suspicious) death...

Also, if Moschiano's body was never found, Durso was going to avoid every prison sentence because he already had all of the needed connections to keep his name clean, like for example the case in which he was caught with narcotics was completely thrown out, something which created a public scandal..

Anthony Moschiano had a brother named 'Big Lou' (Louis) Moschiano - there were several major heroin dealers in that family and Frank Moschiano was also murdered if I am not mistaken - they were all on that 'Bambina' as they used to call it. Lou was in prison for most of the 1980s on heroin charges and has multiple cases online that you can see and browse.

Thanks again for the additional info on the Moschianos, since I never knew that. Ill do some research on the rest of the brothers.

Im still not able to find anything regarding Louis Moschiano, but I managed to find some info regarding one Joseph Moschiano Sr. who in turn was possibly Anthony's father who died in 1963 and also one info regarding one Frank who died in 1997....do you think Louis and Frank were possibly some blood relatives with Anthony?

1948 Joseph Moschiano Sr...




.....and regarding his death in 1963....



And also info regarding one Frank Moschiano who died in 1997...

Isn't $ 3000 value for 4 ounces of H cheap? Although the date isn't shown.

Its from the 1964 which means $3000 in today's money is around $30,000

I just noticed that I never wrote anything regarding Durso's death or when he died, or maybe he's still alive lol Currently Im still not able to find shit about it, except for his birthday, and so anyone knows anything about it?

TooDoped - I think this is Lou Moschiano - I am nearly positive 'Big Lou' was a relation to Loverboy. The family was quite large - its interesting to see they married in with Buccieri you wonder if there is any relation to Fifi and Frank Buccieri.

https://books.google.com/books?id=R...=Louis%20Moschiano%20Chicago&f=false

That's a find and so Ill try again to find some additional info. And yeah, the family was quite big and I also wonder regarding the Buccieri name.