from the major convictions of the mid 1980s and continuing unabated into the 1990s the outfit like most other american mafia families had weathered countless arrests and indictments. after 1992 death of tony accardo both boss sam carlisi and underboss john difronzo were not immune to this with both being indicted in 1992, twice in carlisis case. carlisi would spend the last 5 years of his life fighting legal battles up until his 1997 death. difronzo on the other hand after his march 1993 conviction and imprisonment won an appeal and was released july 1994 a free man.

with an overwhelming desire never to return to prison or face an indictment i believe difronzo possibly while imprisoned or after his release devised a new setup for the top tier of the chicago outfit. however by new or to claim this was difronzos own original idea, or my own for that matter would be wrong. other mafia families in the u.s. have used a consiglio/ruling council in the past, most specifically the detroit partnership and well the outfit itself. in the period 1957-1972 there were 2 high ranking leaders in charge in chicago and neither was named giancana. sam was the boss but above him sat both paul ricca and tony accardo who continued this setup up until riccas 1972 death and possibly to some extent after.

although not involved directly in day-to-day affairs the consiglio comprised 2-3 advisors with one being the senior advisor. these are my terms and i think they better describe this setup as opposed to multiple consiglieres splayed across a chart. also the consiglio did not function in same capacity as that of a traditional consigliere. the consiglio would serve to install a new administration upon major indictments and arrests, advise new member proposals or capo promotions. it would also consist of members with a deep institutional knowledge of the outfit, city and state politics and business leaders. it would always insure that 2-3 senior leaders were left in a position to keep the outfit operational when facing major indictments as a permanent ruling council as opposed to one setup after a big bust. lastly it would insure that a boss did not run rough shod over members by over taxing them or ordering needless headline grabbing murders.

i realize i have been the most vehement opponent of the existence of 'a' consigliere in the outfit, but the consiglio/ruling council is not the same as i have said.

The consiglio was basically a panel of consiglieres which is why we see members of it being called one when they didn't hold the official position of consigliere. If you're saying it's anything but that you're mistaken. Tony Accardo and Paul Ricca were not above Sam Giancana when Sam Giancana was the Boss of the Outfit. The Boss is the Boss. The Consigliere and the Consigliere are neither under nor above the Boss but adjacent.

i suppose if one were to chart the giancana regime indeed accardo-ricca-giancana would be all on same level side by each. however as to who ultimately had more influence and power to one place giancana in the bosses seat.

however i dont want to debate things that happened 60-70 years ago as their is ample info about this period out there in many books, docs etc. i would be more curious to those on here if this is possibly a viable theory for trying to figure out the outfits admin and structure from 1992 and on. i apologize as well if some of my writing isnt clear, things still arent always the best cognitively these days so what looks good and makes sense to me doesnt always translate i guess.

!!!!!DISCLAIMER!!!! THE FOLLOWING LIST OF ALLEGED MEMBERS OF THE CHICAGO OUTFIT IS PURE SPECULATION, HYPOTHESES AND THEORY. IT IS NOT FACT!!!!!
IT CAN BE CONSIDERED TO EXIST IN AN EVERETTIAN PARALLEL UNIVERSE OR DAVID DEUTSCH IF ONE PREFERS.

membership of the chicago outfit consiglio/ruling council from jan 1997-july 2014, approximate.

consiglio/ruling council
(1997-2001)
john difronzo
angelo lapietra (1997-1999)-died march 1999
joseph lombardo

(2001-2003)
john difronzo
joseph lombardo

(2003-2005)
john difronzo
joseph lombardo (indicted apr 2005 in family secrets and went on the run)
alphonse tornabene

(2005-2009)
john difronzo
alphonse tornabene (died may 2009)

(2009-2014)
john difronzo (retired fully because of health)
joseph andriacchi

with the retirement of difronzo in 2014 the consiglio/ruling council was no longer in place. as to what term can be used to describe members of consiglio i am not yet sure. apparently the terms senior advisor and advisor are 'triggering' to some and to call all of them consiglieres seems odd and redundant. perhaps to refer to this as a ruling council makes more sense with those in it being members. if one were to chart this setup i would place john difronzo for the entirety on par with BOSS and other 1-2 members on same level as underboss.