Hello ladies and gents and sorry for me being absent for some time since for me personally, the summer vacations already started. But again, I present to you another free, 30 pages long and never released before story regrading one of the Outfit's most notorious bosses Joey Aiuppa. Even though Aiuppa's name is known almost by every mob researcher, still no one ever made a story such as this one. So, since the project is quite long, please take your time, open your cold drinks, enjoy the story and also please dont forget to give me your opinions about it, no matter if they are good or bad. I wish you all the perfect summer and also guess what?! Dont forget to boycott all paywalls and paying sites! Salut'

INTRO

By the twenty-first century, many experts in criminology are still trying to explain the real reasons on why one person would commit a crime. It is proved that there are many factors behind that type of negative action, such as biological, psychological, social, and economic factors, or a combination of them all. Most of the examples for committing a crime usually include either greed, anger, jealously, revenge or pride. Many of these individuals commit crimes on impulse, out of rage or fear, but others carefully plan everything in advance to increase gain and decrease risk, while breaking the law. Seven consider a life of crime better than a regular job, mainly because of their belief that crime brings greater rewards such as wealth, admiration and excitement, followed by the adrenaline rush when successfully carrying out a dangerous crime. Those people simply commit every type of crime, often in a group, in the city they live in, such as the city of Chicago. Half-century ago, one of those local individuals was organized crime figure Joey Aiuppa who in turn started his criminal career as a “rebel without a cause” but later ended up as a leader of one of America’s most notorious crime groups, known as the Chicago Outfit.


Joseph Aiuppa

RESPECTABLE FAMILY

Joseph Aiuppa was born in December 1907, in Chicago’s Melrose Park area, to Simone “Sam” and Rosalia Aiuppa nee Greco, who previously both came from Palermo Sicily, as immigrants in 1914. Joseph was the first of six children, and they lived in decent conditions since their father Sam was allegedly quite respected individual among the Italian community from around the West Side, and also worked as organizer for one of Chicago’s unions and above all, he was also a prominent member of the Melrose Park lodge of the infamous Unione Siciliani, later known as the Italo-American national union. Whenever someone hears the term “Unione Siciliani”, he or she often thinks that it was an organization formed only out of Italian criminals or Mafiosi, but that’s not completely true since there were also legitimate individuals as high-level members and in fact, that same organization was first started by ordinary and hardworking immigrants, such as professors, doctors and lawyers. So, my personal opinion is that Sam Aiuppa was probably completely “clean” and law-abiding citizen, but the criminals that he was surrounded by within their Italian brotherhood, probably had some type of negative influence over his two sons, Joseph and Sam Jr., including the area in which they grew up.


Alleged pic of Sam Aiuppa Sr.

THE BLACK SHEEP

By now almost every political expert, or representative or even researcher on organized crime, knows that the law of Prohibition was probably one of the biggest mistakes which the government of the U.S.A. ever did, mainly because they weren’t able to tax alcohol anymore and lost a lot of money, followed by other disasters which were caused by that same law. Above all, the crime rate all around the country went on an insane high level, especially in Chicago. Gangs like the O’Donnells, the Karpis gang, the Touhy gang and above all, the rising Italian Mafia, were shooting rivals left and right, obviously because of the huge income from bootleg booze, and on top of that they were also constantly killing each other. During the mid 1920’s, there were still some powerful crime leaders such as Mike Merlo, leader of the Unione Siciliani and boss of the local Italian Mafia, who tried to keep the peace within Chicago’s underworld, but after their deaths usually all hell broke loose.

Besides his father’s connections, Joseph Aiuppa dropped out of school in the third grade at the age of 10 and started working as a gardener. Reports say that Joseph almost didn’t have any type of education and was allegedly very illiterate individual. On the side, he trained boxing and was considered a promising amateur boxer. Four years later, he received a job at the Alming Greenhouse in Hillside, and by 1925 Aiuppa was already driving trucks filled with bootleg whiskey or beer, and also received a new employment at the Midwest Cartage Company. So, for the first time in his life young Aiuppa was making serious cash on his own, and also began creating close connections with members and associates from the Italian crime groups, and also with other criminals from different ethnicities, although I believe that he still didn’t officially belong to any of the crime syndicates, until the late 1920’s.


One quite blurry pic of young Joey Aiuppa

During that period the Melrose Park area was quite “gang infested” and there still some local independent gangsters and crews, but the most powerful were the Italians which were headed by Al Capone. Mob killers such as Frank Rio and Rocco DeGrazia lurked around the area and controlled certain rackets for their boss Capone, and it is quite possible that during this time Aiuppa joined the so-called Capone mob and became one of their younger associates. One young gangster known as George Bougadis was probably one of Aiuppa’s main connections to many criminals from around the West Side, since Bougadis himself already worked for some of the local mobsters.


George Bougadis

Even though Aiuppa originally came from the city’s West Side, still he joined Capone’s personal crew from around the Cicero and South Side areas, or the leading group at the time, although his “heart” always remained in Melrose Park. It is possible that Capone allegedly divided his “legions” on four different groups, such as the North Side crew, the West Sode “mob” which represented around four crews, the Chicago Heights group, and in the end the South Side group which represented two crews such as Capone’s original crew and also Phil D’Andrea’s crew from the Loop, Chinatown and the old 20th Ward.

The Cicero-South Side group was allegedly controlled by Capone’s brother Ralph Capone, followed by his lieutenants Charles and Rocco Fischetti, John Capone, Albert Capone, Joe Fusco, Nick Juffra, Ralph Buglio, John Moore aka Claude Maddox, William Heeney, Rocco DeStefano and James Mondi. In 1931, Al Capone officially became the representative for the Chicago mob on the national Mafia commission and around the same time, Aiuppa decided to marry one beautiful girl from his neighborhood known as Angeline Dolores Aiuppa, nee Zito, and his best man was one of his old buddies Robert Ansani aka Taylor.


Aiuppa in the middle with Ansani on the left, at Aiuppa’s wedding

Later, Aiuppa also became main partner together with Ralph Capone, Louis Campagna and Claude Maddox in one large joint at 4831 West Cermak Road in Cicero, which became known as the Turf Lounge or the Turf Nightclub. In later years, one associate of the old Chinatown crew who worked at the club and also launched his criminal career from that place, was Gus Alex. Aiuppa also became partner in the Taylor Company in Cicero together with Ansani and Maddox, which was used for manufacturing of gambling equipment and slot machines. Same as Aiuppa, Ansani was also connected to the Outfit since the 1920’s and also had quite long police record.

Back in 1922, Ansani allegedly served one year in jail for rapping, and later in 1928, he together with his brother opened a grocery store at 1111 North Chicago Avenue, which was allegedly also used for selling bootleg booze. This means that Aiuppa probably thought that with guys like Ansani around him and with Capone as his boss, and also being an associate of the Outfit’s leading and most profitable crew at the time, that his future in Chicago’s underworld was going to skyrocket and that he was going to be able to do whatever he wanted to, but the reality was different.


Cicero caporegime Ralph Capone

MR. JOEY O’BRIEN

Both of Aiuppa’s bosses Maddox and Heeney were also two of the most feared individuals within the Chicago Outfit who killed anyone at any given time, and constantly followed orders from their bosses and were more loyal to the local Italian Mafia then some of the actual members. So, during the same time Aiuppa obtained an alias “Joey O’Brien” and by 1932 became official associate of Maddox’s crew and whenever he had a problem with the law, Aiuppa only needed to mention his boss’ name and later was often released. For example, Maddox was heavily involved in the union racketeering business and that same year Aiuppa became union official of Local 782 Teamsters’ union of Maywood. In 1933, the Chicago Tribune listed Aiuppa as member of the Capone syndicate and also as enforcer for their unions. In 1935, seven gangsters including Aiuppa, were arrested regarding various hold-ups on golf clubs around Illinois and south Wisconsin, and when Aiuppa was asked who he was working for, he answered “You know me, I’m working for Johnny Moore”. Shortly after, Aiuppa and the rest of the gangsters were released. That same year Aiuppa was also granted a charter for Local 450 of the Bartenders, Waiters and Miscellaneous union and his boss Maddox had complete control over it. On the other hand, Aiuppa was arrested again for an assault in Berwyn, but was released as usual.


John Moore aka Claude Maddox

REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE

Even though he was already connected to the Italian Mafia and organized crime, still young Aiuppa lived for the thrill which came from a robbery or shooting people with a Thompson sub-machinegun, and during those days that same type of action was mainly ruled by independent non-Italian gangsters such as John Dillinger, whose name reached the country from coast to coast and was constantly in the newspapers. That’s why many younger criminals were blinded by the so-called “action” and also by all of the myths and legends that surrounded those same individuals. Besides Dillinger, during the early 1930’s the city of Chicago was home of the so-called Barker-Karpis gang which mainly dealt with bank and train robberies, and it was also among the few rare and local gangs that did kidnappings for ransom. Two of Aiuppa’s mentors, Maddox and Heeney, had connections to those same gangs and used them for various “jobs” and because of that, young Aiuppa also became connected to the Dillinger-Karpis gangs and allegedly stashed and resold weapons for those same independent crews.


Police mugshot of Aiuppa from the 1930’s

Sources say that in 1934, after the shooting between FBI agents and Dillinger’s gang in Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin; Aiuppa allegedly travelled to Aurora Illinois, and personally met with Dillinger, Barker and one John Hamilton who in turn was mortally wounded and died soon thereafter. That same year in July, Dillinger was also killed by the government, a situation which signaled the end of Aiuppa’s connections to nationally known bank robbers and cop killers, since the government declared a nation-wide hunt for those types of gangsters. In 1935, Aiuppa was arrested for being the prime suspect in the furnishing of machineguns and ammunition for the Dillinger and Karpis gang and was questioned regarding the case, but the government got nothing out of him and wasn’t able to establish hard evidences regarding Aiuppa’s presence after the shootout.


John Dillinger

MEMBER OF THE OUTFIT

As he previously expected, Aiuppa’s criminal career was flourishing thanks to his connections within the Chicago Outfit and also the crew he belonged to, but there was problem within the leadership of that same group. Back in 1932, Al Capone was sent to prison, same as his brother and Aiuppa’s capo Ralph Capone who in turn was released in 1934 and from that point on, his name was constantly in the newspapers. On the other hand, Charles Fischetti was in trouble with the law because of his illegal activities in the union business and also for carrying a concealed weapon, while James Mondi’s gambling operations were constantly raided by the cops. This means that Maddox and Heeney were “unofficially” two of the most important members of Capone’s Cicero crew, mainly because they still killed people for the Outfit and above all, they brought a lot of cash for the new leadership and were deeply involved in corruption, now under the rule of Paul Ricca from the West Side group.


William Heeney

During the late 1930’s, Aiuppa was recognized by the Outfit’s leadership as their prime operator along the “strip” in Cicero, a row of gambling spots and strip shows on Cermak Road, and also ran all prostitution operations in that same area. Aiuppa and his close associate Robert Ansani were also still involved in selling bootleg liquor in all of the taverns, restaurants and clubs along their districts, and in fact Ansani was once arrested on charges for violating the internal revenue laws, by operating two large stills near the Joliet area. Later, as usual, all charges were dropped. Aiuppa even bought a new residence located 1836 South 58th Avenue in Cicero, and also purchased the Towne Hotel in Cicero, something which shows us that Aiuppa was really making cash both for himself and also for the crime syndicate which he belonged to, but it seems that not everyone was happy about it. Sources also shows that Aiuppa made more money as associate rather then as a member of the Italian brotherhood.

For example, by 1940 the Outfit’s West Side administration became very powerful and also had complete control over who controlled what and where, meaning some of their underlings began infiltrating other areas which were previously given to other crews. For example, West Side heavyweights Tony Volpe and Louis Campagna set their sights on the Cicero area and literally forced their way in that same territory and established their own operations without any problem. Sources say that to evade any additional unwanted conflicts and attention from the law, the Outfit’s leadership under Ricca and Campagna decided to divide the whole Cicero area on two parts, north and south. This means that Aiuppa and some of his associates were pushed out from the northern part of Cicero, or were forced to share their districts with the “westsiders”.


West Side leader Tony Volpe

The problem was that Ralph Capone wasn’t able to control the crew, while the Fischettis kept all of their own interests in Cicero and “eyeballed” several parts from around the North Side, meaning they didn’t care much on what went down in Aiuppa’s territory. On top of that, both Maddox and Heeney respected the orders from their bosses and were still loyal to them, which means Aiuppa also had to keep quiet and to keep making money for the organization. Besides what his bosses thought, in the end, Aiuppa obviously lost some of the respect from his peers who belonged to different crews and was also looked upon as “incompetent individual”, a situation that will continue during the following decades.
In 1941, Aiuppa was hospitalized for having a malignant tumor in his nasal cavity, and he had serious and successful operation and was discharged from the hospital in 1942 and in fact, Aiuppa’s nasal operation left him with a hawk-like nose for the rest of his life.

MONEYMAKER

In 1943, both Ricca and Campagna were sent to prison for extorting movie studios in Hollywood, and Charles Fischetti allegedly became the new acting boss for the Outfit, with Tony Accardo from the West Side as his underboss. In fact, Aiuppa’s boss had two of toughest jobs in the Outfit’s history, with one being to devise a plan for bosses’ early releases, and the second job was to defend the Outfit’s throne from the old North Side crew and some old members from the West Side. In fact, Heeney and some other members from both the old Cicero and Chinatown crews played a major role in collecting the “donation” cash from all Outfit crews, and later in delivering it to certain government individuals. And in the end, or by 1947, Fischetti managed to deliver the bosses’ early releases, and also managed to eliminate every rival who tried to takeover the leading administration.

During that time, Aiuppa and Maddox also became the owners of the Greyhound Recreation Center at 4031 West Cermak Road and was fronted by one of Aiuppa’s associates Mike DeRose, followed by the Paddock Lounge, the Post Time Lounge, the Magic Lounge and the Circle Club. In one year, both the Paddock Lounge and Greyhound club were raided by the cops, multiple times but in the end, the joints always continued working like nothing ever happened. They even owned another firm which was called the AMA Advertising Company which was used for manufactured silk screen process. Since Aiuppa also kept his old influence around the Melrose Park area, he and Maddox also managed to spread their slot machine and vending machine operations in with the help of one of their old associates from around the Cicero area known as Eddie Vogel aka Chicago’s “King of Slots”. According to one informant, Aiuppa once bragged that he was the number two guy, after Maddox, in Cicero.


Eddie Vogel

In 1944, both Maddox and Aiuppa were subpoenaed to testify before a federal jury regarding the murder of Jens Larkin, for which both had nothing to do with it, but because of their deadly reputation the cops had every right to consider them as suspects. On top of that, it occurred in one of Ralph Capone’s taverns in Cicero that was owned by his brother Matty Capone. According to wiretapped conversations between high level mobsters, Matty was allegedly a “drunken bum” and had nothing to do with organized crime, but the problem was that he and the victim were previously having drinks in one of Aiuppa’s joints, a situation which forced the cops to question all owners of both establishments. In 1945, Aiuppa was arrested together with Mike DeRose and Sam Kaplan, as keepers of a gambling house in Cicero and according to the police officers, they allegedly managed to chase away around 100 bookies and bettors.

By the late 1940’s, Ralph Capone completely abandoned the Chicago area and also his position as capo for the old Cicero crew, and went to Wisconsin. It is possible that Rocco Fischetti allegedly became the new leader of the crew, mainly because his older brother Charles was semi-retired and lived in Florida most of the time. In 1947, Al Capone died of natural causes and according to some government sources, Maddox, Aiuppa and Ansani were few of the pallbearers at the funeral which was a closed or private affair.

The crew’s multi-million dollar income mainly came from unions such as the Produce Drivers' Union and Local 703, the Picture Frame Workers Union and Local 731, the International Hodcarriers Union, the Movie Operators Projectionists Union or Local 110, the Hotel, Club, Restaurant Employees, and Bartenders International Union, Suburban Local 450, and the huge Hotel-Motel Service Workers, Drugstore, Sports Events and Industrial Catering Union, or Local 593. Besides Ansani, during this time two of Aiuppa’s and Maddox’s prime lieutenants in the union business were the Lardino brothers, John and Dan. The brothers were both known as killers, extortionists and alleged members of the Chicago Outfit. Aiuppa also became the owner of the Ritz Cab company and also the 4811 Club, both joints located in Cicero, and also bought a firm which printed punch boards.


John Lardino


Dan Lardino

In November 1950, Aiuppa’s name became national when he appeared before the crusading Kefauver committee and the hundreds of reporters that occupied both the entrance and also the hearing room where the questioning occurred. While entering the building, Aiuppa covered his face with a handkerchief so he can avoid the photographers, but later when he got out, Aiuppa gave the same statement “no comment” to all questions. During the hearings, Aiuppa was constantly chewing gum, snarled and often smoked a large cigar, and also refused to say where he was born, how old he was or whether he was married or not. The Chairman of the Committee named Aiuppa as “the most contemptuous witness ever to appear before the committee”. The following year, Aiuppa was arrested for contempt by refusing to answer questions before a sub-committee of the Senate, and so he was sentenced to six months in jail. Later, Aiuppa was released on $10,000 bond and by the end of the year, his conviction was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court. If you think about it, for more than two decades Aiuppa was almost untouchable by the law, something which made him quite powerful and important in the government’s eyes.

CICERO’S NEW CAPOREGIME

In 1951, two Aiuppa’s mentors, Charles Fischetti and William Heeney, died of natural causes and he and Maddox were present on both funerals, besides being advised by the new leading administration to avoid all high-profile gatherings, including funerals. In 1952 Phil D’Andrea, one of the representatives of the whole South Side mob on the Outfit’s “board of directors”, which also included Aiuppa’s and Maddox’s crew, also died of natural causes and his position was allegedly inherited by Bruno Roti Sr from the Chinatown area and also old-time associate of Maddox from the “Capone days”.

So, by the early 1950’s, 51-year old Maddox officially became one of the elderly leaders of the Chicago Outfit and in August 1952, he was the host of a lavish gangster champagne party that occurred right in the “face” of Chicago’s police department and the FBI. The occasion was the wedding of his eldest son Bob Moore and the whole party was a gala affair with a 12-piece orchestra and the vintage wine flowed freely. The newsmen who motored to the country club were urged not to enter the clubhouse and were stopped by more than ten husky bodyguards in dark suits. The wedding was visited by more than 1000 guests, including all members of the Outfit’s leading administration such as Paul Ricca, Louis Campagna, Tony Accardo and Sam Giancana, followed by Maddox’s close associates like Aiuppa and Ansani. In fact, besides being a wedding, still the whole affair was also a sign of “farewell” for Maddox’s future retirement.

This means that after Ralph Capone’s retirement, who in turn was their previous official caporegime, it is quite possible that Aiuppa was either “unofficial” capo for the crew or officially became Ralph’s successor. Some of today’s sources say that Aiuppa allegedly became a capo sometime during the late 1940’s, while others say that it was during the early or mid 1950’s, but whatever is the truth one thing is for sure, Aiuppa was probably made a captain under the rulership of Tony Accardo, a connection which will become stronger during the following decades. Few of Aiuppa’s top crew members were Robert Ansani, Larry Rassano, Anthony Ortenzi, Albert Capone aka Rayola, Anthony DeRosa, Tommy Russo, Kaspar Ciapetta, John and Dan Lardino, Alphonse Carlisi, Leo Filippi, Aiuppa’s brother Sam Jr etc.

For example, shortly before World War I, Larry Rassano and his family had illegally immigrated from the province of Potenza in southern Italy, to the U.S. Rassano had a criminal record of two convictions regarding armed robbery and also a burglary, and later controlled most of Aiuppa’s prostitution operations. In 1952, several of Aiuppa’s and Rassano’s associates were suspected of being involved in a burglary that occurred in the Chicago Heights area, and later or in December 1954, Aiuppa was arrested together with Rassano and one Ruth Singer regarding their connection to illegal dice games which were held at the Frolics Club located at 4813 Cermak Road, and it was claimed that Aiuppa was the manager of the joint. According to investigators and the books which they found, in a single year, the Frolics Club handled almost two million dollars in bets, or around 28 million dollars in today’s money, give or take.


Aiuppa’s prime lieutenant Larry Rassano

By 1955, Aiuppa and some of his associates also bought the Navajoe Hills Gold and Country Club in Worth, Illinois; and opened two more establishments along Cermak Road, such as the Aloha Grill and the Alton Hotel, including the A.C. Construction Company which was located on West North Avenue, and a huge liquor store in Melrose Park. Aiuppa’s brother Sam Jr. lived in Melrose Park and was the secretary of the Country Investment Corporation, in which other relatives of other mobsters also worked in the same corporation.

There were also other important Outfit guys who were closely associated with Aiuppa’s crew, such as Joe Corngold who in turn was one of Cicero’s biggest gambling operators and loan sharks, and also one of Aiuppa’s main connections in the union business, Dominic Senese. While being a capo for the Outfit, Aiuppa received complete control over south Cicero, and also parts from both the Melrose Park, Maywood and South Side areas. Aiuppa’s prostitution rings were mainly controlled by one madam known as “Rose”, possibly Ruth Singer or another woman known as Rose Laws, and she was allegedly quite loyal to her boss.

Aiuppa began acting like his former boss Al Capone, by constantly wearing expensive suits and also bought one quite large and expensive diamond ring with printed letters “JAA”. He also bought a new and huge residence in Yorkshire Woods in Elmhurst, Illinois; and also began stashing expensive hunting equipment, such as guns, rifles and even hunting dogs, and began making frequent hunting trips and in fact, hunting became Aiuppa’s greatest passion. Even though Aiuppa was considered a millionaire and also made millions of dollars for the organization, still he probably controlled one of the smallest Outfit crews at the time and was also considered as one of the “weakest” capos by his peers in the organization, especially by the Outfit’s “rising star” Sam Giancana. According to an informant, Aiuppa was allegedly a “wild individual and a braggart” and that he was “nothing” while compared to other hoodlums in the Chicago area and in fact, this is the best example regarding Giancana’s influence against Aiuppa and the former “Capone faction”.

The first half of the 1950’s was somehow troubled for the Outfit, mainly because of the alleged “cold war” between Ricca and Accardo regarding the syndicate’s throne. The old Cicero crew possibly remained neutral to an extent, mainly because Maddox knew both Ricca and Accardo since the old days, and possibly wasn’t able to pick a side. Aiuppa did the same thing and remained under the radar until the conflict was over sometime around the end of 1954 or the beginning of 1955. The conflict ended with several victims, including one of Maddox’s and Aiuppa’s old associate from the Cicero area, Frank Maritote, but the peace was cemented when in 1955 both Louis Campagna and Tony Capezio died of natural causes, followed by Jack Guzik from the South Side mob. This was a huge loss for the Outfit since all of the three deceased individuals played a major role in keeping the organization in order and also in one piece. During their funerals, both Maddox and Aiuppa showed up among other mobsters and family members.

Even for Maddox, slowly the good times for the 53-year old crime boss were coming to an end. He probably knew that because of the whole pressure which he fought with during his whole life time, and was still fighting it. By now most of his old associates died from sudden heart attacks and Maddox knew that he was probably next because back in 1954 his long-time freedom was also jeopardized. The government already started investigating Maddox’s and Aiuppa’s Taylor & Company organization, and found out that it was a front for manufacturing and distributing gambling devices in violation of the federal laws. That same year, Claude Maddox, Joey Aiuppa and Robert Ansani were all arrested and taken to the FBI building for further questioning. Later, Maddox was released on a $1,000 bond but outside the federal building he was again arrested by Peter McGuire, chief investigator for the Illinois attorney general, who arraigned a quick trial. The feds had evidences that Maddox was making illegal profit from the company and was not listed in the documents as an owner which was required by law. Maddox was again freed on a $500 bond but was set for a hearing on October 25, 1954.


Old man Maddox

The government’s informant was a salesman for the Taylor Company known as Walter Clinnin, but the problem for Maddox and Aiuppa was that the agents already had the records to prove their illegal operations. The trail was set for January 1956, and in the end Maddox, Aiuppa, Ansani and two other partners, R. J. Johnson and Harry Milner, all were convicted based on an indictment that the defendants had shipped gambling equipment in interstate commerce from Chicago to Pennsylvania in violation of the Johnson Act. Following their convictions, Federal Judge William J. Campbell sentenced each defendant to serve 1 year and 1 day in Federal prison and to pay a fine of $1,000 and costs. The case was appealed, but they were upheld on appeal, and the men went to prison. That same year or right after the trials, the main witness Walter Clinnin who testified against all five defendants, simply vanished from the face of the earth and was presumed dead by the government, alleged courtesy of imprisoned Outfit leader Claude Maddox. For Maddox, this was the first time after 30 years set foot in jail, again, but for Aiuppa this was the first taste of a jail term.

I personally don’t have any information on who headed the old Cicero crew during their imprisonment, but there’s great possibility that Aiuppa sent messages from jail to his crew members on the outside. Some sources at the time speculated that Rocco Fischetti and his lieutenant Les Kruse allegedly took care of Aiuppa’s crew, but that’s not the case and its far from the truth, mainly because by that time Rocco Fischetti and his lieutenant Les Kruse, besides their interests in Cicero, they represented a different group mainly because of their transfer on the city’s Northwest Side or the Lake County area, and also because of Rocco’s huge lands that he bought in that same territory. So, the question still remains on who headed the Maddox-Aiuppa crew in 1956, while the whole leadership was in prison.

REMEMBER THE OLD DAYS

In 1957, all three crew leaders were released from prison and they were welcomed by completely different situation, even though they were gone for only one year. That same year, the Outfit elected a new boss, Sam Giancana, who belonged to the younger generation which Aiuppa also belonged to, but there was a difference. Mobsters like Giancana rose in the organization mainly on their own, and didn’t have much respect for the old guard, meaning they worked mostly with members that they grew up with, or with more sophisticated racketeers. On the other hand, gangsters like Aiuppa were always loyal to their mentors or whoever was above them, and always followed the inner workings and also the rules which were given by those same mentors. That’s why, Giancana was known for pushing around some of the older members and associates from the former “Capone mob”, especially the ones who were considered “useless” by the rising and aggressive younger generation. In plane words, it was a simple situation of changing of the guard, with the young taking over from the old, and the problem was regarding who belonged to which side.

Former Capone mobster and Aiuppa’s mentor Claude Maddox already saw “the writing on the wall”, but because of his murderous reputation, guys like Giancana still held respect for him and didn’t dare to touch any of his finances, nor any of his representatives. Maddox continued to reside in his home at 3536 S. Harlem Avenue in Riverside, and kept a very low profile. He was allegedly out of the rackets and mostly hung out with his family and grandkids and enjoyed his “hard earned” money. With Maddox’s blessing, Aiuppa received complete control over his boss’ former interests and officially became the real power in southern Cicero. In June 1958, John Moore aka Claude Maddox died in his sleep and the cause of his death was a heart attack. The services for the late Maddox were held at the chapel at 4000 St. Charles rd. in Bellwood, and out of respect, during the funeral, five of his gangster friends chased George Quinn, a Chicago Tribune photographer, for two blocks before cornering and slugging him, and in the end took his photo plates and destroyed them. The funeral was visited by many union representatives and local politicians, including high profile Outfit figures like Ricca, Accardo, Giancana, Aiuppa, Murray Humphreys, Gus Alex and Frank Ferraro, since the late Maddox was considered as “corner stone” of organized crime by everyone.

With Maddox out of the way, Aiuppa’s protection was completely gone and from that point he was on his own. Shortly after, Giancana allegedly assured Aiuppa that he was going to keep his crew, together with his districts and interests. The problem was that even though Aiuppa already shared the Cicero area with the West Side mob for the last 15 years or more, still he was ordered to share his operations with another of Giancana’s West Side capos, known as Willie Daddano and from that point on, both Aiuppa and Daddano used the Towne Hotel as their meeting place. According to one informant, when a “big shot” such as Maddox dies, his operations are mainly inherited by his number one guy, who in turn was obliged to share those same interests with other “big shots” from different crews. And that’s what happened to Aiuppa and his crew, meaning their interests were almost torn apart but by the end of the day, they still made some money for the organization and followed every rule, and simply waited for the “right moment”. In April 1959, Aiuppa was among the many guests at the wedding of one of Giancana’s daughters, Antoinette Giancana, which was held at the LaSalle Hotel in Chicago.


Outfit boss Sam Giancana at the wedding of his daughter

PUSHED AROUND

According to one wiretapped conversation from January 1960, in which the Outfit’s boss and underboss, Giancana and Frank Ferraro, both discussed Aiuppa’s situation. Giancana told Ferraro “I insulted your friend”, meaning Giancana had a tough conversation with Aiuppa in which the boss told his capo “I said listen Joey what the fuck do you think, that we’re married to you? You get out of work, you send a gup around, what the fuck do you think? We don’t owe you anything, we’re not married to you. We’ll help you sure, but we’re not married to you. We’re not going to put anybody out of work to put someone in there. Now I says, you’ll wait until something shows up and I’ll contact you. But this coming around every day, every day, that’s a lot of bullshit. We don’t owe them anything….I said you’re 50 some years old, you ought to be able to take care of yourself without going around asking for help here and help there. He said, I haven’t got a dime and I haven’t got this. I said who’s fault is it? It’s not our fault that you haven’t got anything.”

The above statement is one of the best examples of Giancana being a huge hypocrite by previously taking almost all of Aiuppa’s districts and interests from around the Cicero area, and also by placing his own people, and in end he acted as he or anyone from the leading administration never had anything to do with it. By using the words “us” and “we”, Giancana wanted to manipulate Ferraro that they all were in it together as leading bosses, and also Giancana’s statement “your friend” which was also made towards Ferraro, again means that both Aiuppa and Ferraro already knew each other by being members of the South Side mob, and besides being the Outfit’s underboss, by that time Ferraro was also considered the main representative for Aiuppa’s group and also other crews from the old South faction, after the death of his predecessor the late Roti Sr.

The conversation also confirms that Aiuppa and his crew were running out of cash and that Giancana was stalling the whole situation by giving false hope to his capo. But shortly after that, both Giancana and Ferraro decided that Aiuppa was allegedly lying to them regarding his bad financial status and that his requirement to receive additional interests around Cicero was instantly denied. Aiuppa’s wasn’t lying and his financial problem can be proved with the following wiretapped conversation, but this time between Giancana and Charles Nicoletti, who in turn knew Aiuppa and his old interests around the Cicero and Melrose Park areas:

Nicoletti: The stock, I know he got deals on ‘em so I know he aint gonna sell ‘em dollar for dollar. His store opens up at 9 to 12, the bar and liquor store. Of course that’s the biggest liquor store out there. In Melrose Park.

Giancana: Well theres two of ‘em on Broadway there, isn’t there?

Nicoletti: Well one of ‘em is closed and the other one is about to. You mean Joey O’Brien’s place? (Aiuppa’s place)

Giancana: Yeah

Nicoletti: Its closed up, they’re down. And the other guy’s getting down too. He’s doing a little business there.

Giancana: Whats happening there?

Nicoletti: Well this guy is knocking ‘em all out. Hes working on volume and hes got better prices. They can’t compete with this guy. What I’m gonna do, I got some money and the rest of the money I’m gonna get off of Sharky (Eulo). I figure this way we’ll go over there see and start looking into it and see what we can do with this guy. He’s got three apartments there that bring in $335,000 and it’s a half a block long and you got a parking lot. I mean, what the hell, I gotta do something. And I talked to Sharky and he said whatever you got in the balance I’ll give it to ya.


Chuck Nicoletti

According to the conversation, Nicoletti somehow defended Aiuppa by giving Giancana the truth that Aiuppa and his crew were having a tough time for real. So, the obvious problem was that Giancana and Ferraro didn’t want to return some of Aiuppa’s former interests and again, Aiuppa had to take it and to keep quiet. The other problem for Aiuppa was, besides being pushed around by Giancana, he was also badmouthed by other high-level mobsters from his own South Side group, like Murray Humphreys. In fact, according to the feds, Humphreys allegedly had little respect for Aiuppa and allegedly considered him as “insignificant member” of the organization. In the world of organized crime, if someone complains too much and doesn’t bring enough money to the table, for whatever reasons, he was often considered incompetent and also became a potential target for other and more profitable crews.

With all of the bad publicity that surrounded him, coming both from his peers in Chicago’s underworld and also from the government, it seems that Aiuppa didn’t care much about it. In fact, Aiuppa had the problem of understanding the difference between high-class and respected mobster, and low-class criminal without any type of honor and respect. As I already stated at the beginning of this story, Aiuppa was a criminal who saw the whole situation on the same level, meaning in his mind there were no white hats and black hats, but instead there were only criminals and victims. So, he continued visiting Giancana thus asking for more opportunities, and also continued making money from whatever was left for him and his crew members.

After a while, Giancana started avoiding Aiuppa, like for example whenever anyone wanted to contact the boss, first he or she had to contact Giancana’s “secretary” Butch Blasi who in turn always gave Aiuppa the same answer that the boss wasn’t around and that Aiuppa will be contacted whenever Giancana returns home in Chicago. Even with that, still Aiuppa complained to Blasi that “things are down” due to constant police raids, because he knew that Blasi will transfer the message no matter what, but the problem was that Blasi was in no position and didn’t have the power to change things.

Whatever was going down between Aiuppa and the leading administration, the Cicero capo was always business as usual. Reports say that during this period Aiuppa often had meetings with the Outfit’s Jewish group headed by Dave Yaras and Lenny Patrick, under the rulership of Murray Humphreys and Gus Alex. According to FBI surveillance, all three mobsters usually met at the Luxor bathhouse on North Avenue, and this establishment was owned by Yaras and Patrick and also operated as a bathhouse open to the public, but also had plush quarters for gambling on the upper floors. The Luxor Baths was also used as a meeting place for known Chicago syndicate members, and two of the regulars were Joe Corngold and Aiuppa. According to the feds, the Jewish duo and the Cicero boys were becoming partners in a huge loan sharking operation.


Joe Corngold

Also, during this period, the main Outfit guys who literally controlled the multi-million dollar coin machine racket in Illinois, were Giancana, Eddie Vogel, Gus Alex, Hyman Larner, Lester Kruse, Frank LaPorte, Francis Curry, the English brothers, and Joey Aiuppa. By controlling the jukebox racket, the organization also got involved in bootlegging music records, which also happened to be a very lucrative business. They even created the Chicago Independent Amusement Association or the CIAA. They saw success because the association has grown steadily and their membership numbered almost 100 operators and distributors, which was over one third of the total industry in Chicago. Every operator paid from 1 to 10 dollars per machine weekly, and if someone didn’t pay up, he or she was visited by some of the Outfit’s most feared collectors.

Aiuppa often personally took care of the cops in his own districts, by giving them envelopes on monthly basis. For example, according to one police lieutenant, Aiuppa once allegedly told him “Every month I will see that there’s a c-note ($100) or some worldly goods in your mailbox. You’ll be on the pay roll. All I want from you is information so they will not kicking me with the point of the shoe, but with the side of the shoe. You understand? If I make money, you make money. You have a chance to make a little money now. Do you think the guy with $4,000 or $5,000 job, driving a new car with $100 suits, you think this all is done with his salary? Do you?” With those same statements, Aiuppa simply defined the name of the “game” aka corruption.