HUNTING DOVES & HOME INVASIONS

Aiuppa also continued living the life through his two biggest passions which was travelling and of course, hunting. During this time Aiuppa was known for his regular visits to the thermal baths at the Maurice Bathhouse in Hot Springs, mainly because recently he had surgical operation on his abdomen. In September 1962, the feds arrested Aiuppa in Kansas and while searching his car, they found over 500 dead doves and so, he was arrested for violation of the Federal Migratory Bird Act. Following a series of appeals, Aiuppa was eventually sentenced in August 1963 in the United Sates District Court of Kansas City, on two counts of illegal possession and transportation of mourning doves, thus receiving a three-month jail sentence and a $1,000 fine.


Dove hunting in Texas

On top of that, Governor Otto Kerner sated “I feel that the mourning doves should be protected. If a protective measure should pass the House and Senate, I would be delighted to sign it.” The media and newsmen were already making jokes about the whole situation by stating that “the mourning doves may have stronger political clout than ever before.” Later, some sources speculated that it was much more than 500 dead doves, or something like 1400 doves, which were hunted down by a 12 men party during their ridiculous safari. The feds stated that Aiuppa was allegedly joined by two business men from Pittsburg Kansas, and also several men from Chicago and Missouri, Nebraska. According to the report, the two guys from Pittsburg were owners of restaurant from where 900 of the doves allegedly disappeared from the refrigerator, right after the big hunt. As a result, Aiuppa gained various monickers such as "Joey Doves" and "Mourning Doves".

That same year, while waiting to do his time, Aiuppa together with one influential member of Accardo’s Elmwood Park crew, John DeBiase, were arrested on gambling charges at Aiuppa’s Towne Hotel. Another known hoodlum who was arrested together with Aiuppa and DeBiase was Jack Eisen, brother of infamous Chicago hoodlum Maxie Eisen. The cops found several poker games being in progress, including taking horse bets over the telephone, and later charged the three gangsters for being keepers of an illegal gambling den, and also 32 other individuals for being patrons. Later, Aiuppa, DeBiase and Eisen were released on all charges and the case was dropped.

With all of the problems on his mind, Aiuppa’s home in Elmhurst was also burglarized by two teenagers who in turn managed to steal eight shotguns, three rifles, and 500 rounds of .22 caliber rifle ammunition from the house basement. Aiuppa and his wife were not home at the time, but their maid was who in turn saw, thus scaring the two burglars and ran away. Shortly after the two young criminals were caught by the cops in their car, not far from the Aiuppa home. All of the weapons and ammunition was restored and later returned to Aiuppa, who decided not to press charges because all of his stuff was returned and also they probably reminded the Outfit capo of his younger days, but if it was up to another mobster from the Outfit, the situation was probably going to be quite bad for the two youths.

TIMES ARE CHANGING

In 1965, Giancana was sentenced to one year in jail regarding the same situation for which Aiuppa was previously almost jailed, or for contempt, and so the new acting boss for the Outfit became Sam Battaglia, another of Aiuppa’s long time associates from around the Melrose Park area. The situation within the Outfit slowly began changing for Aiuppa and his crew, mainly because bosses like Battaglia, Accardo and Ricca changed their opinion regarding Giancana and didn’t want him around anymore. Other capos like Elmwood Park’s Jack Cerone, Charles Nicoletti from the Grand Avenue crew and Fiore Buccieri of northern Cicero, started creating numerous joint operations with Aiuppa and his cohorts who were previously ignored by Giancana.

In the fall of that same year, Accardo and Aiuppa together went on a hunting trip in South Africa, and their safari alleged cost $20,000 or around $200,000 in today’s money, and later when they arrived in U.S., they were permitted to bring 24 cases or 3,300 pounds of dead meat duty free. The crates included skins and skulls of zebras, elephants, lions, wart hogs, eland, reed buck, impalas, water buffalo, ostrich plumes etc. Reportedly, both Accardo and Aiuppa allegedly bragged to their peers in the Outfit that the safari was not undertaken without considerable risk to their health.

Aiuppa was making money again with numerous Outfit moneymakers, such as James Torello who in turn worked for Outfit capo Fiore Buccieri. In fact, before becoming a made man in the Italian criminal brotherhood, Torello allegedly started his criminal career under Aiuppa’s long-time associate Joe Corngold as collector for his gambling and loan sharking schemes. Aiuppa already knew Torello for quite some time, same as other mobsters from both the Cicero and Melrose Park areas, which means that during that period all “doors” were opened for Aiuppa and his crew, something which was long desired by Aiuppa himself.

One day in October 1967, Torello visited Aiuppa’s Towne Hotel, and in the lobby, Aiuppa made one quite interesting tour to his guest by showing him all of the animal trophies which Aiuppa hunted down himself or together with Accardo. According to two treasury agents who were also present in the hotel’s lobby and overheard their conversation, besides talking about their operations in Cicero, while looking at his trophies, Aiuppa told Torello “A kudu is hard to bring down, and a wildbeeste ain’t no pushover, either.” Later Aiuppa allegedly noticed the agents and so he and Torello slowly kept edging towards the rear door of the lobby and stepped out.


James Torello

That same month, on October 11, the boys from old Cicero crew scheduled a huge lavish party for Gus Alex at the MGM Lounge, for unknown reasons. At the last minute, the group changed the location of the party to Martin’s Restaurant on Roosevelt Road, obviously because the gangsters wanted to avoid any government surveillance and potential informants. Besides Aiuppa and Alex, those who also attended the party were Anthony Ortenzi, Larry Rassano, Tony DeMaio, Sam Rizzo, Phil Tolameo and Don Dimitrious. Except for Alex and Dimitrous, the rest of the guys were Italian and belonged to Aiuppa’s crew and so I personally believe that there was previously a possible Cosa Nostra or Italian Mafia induction of a new member or members, for which Alex was called to meet the new member and also to celebrate the whole situation with dinner and drinks. I personally don’t have any information if Alex or Aiuppa had something to celebrate that same year, but instead there’s information from other crime families that also had similar situations in which non-Italian associates attended secretive parties or dinners after the inductions of new members of the U.S. Cosa Nostra organization.

BACK IN THE GAME

Aiuppa began acting as one of the Outfit’s most powerful elders and also had the swagger of a real gangster, and in reality, he really was one. In October 1968. Aiuppa demonstrated his power and influence when the State Conservation Department literally helped him in the development of a 1000-acre private hunting and animal breeding area in Kankakee County, which was named as the Yorkshire Quail Club. All of the breeding permits were issued to Aiuppa’s brother Sam and his son Sam Jr., who in turn also worked as a manager for one of Chicago’s movie theaters, and Aiuppa was listed as “assistant” to his nephew in club operations. The state’s conservation director allegedly investigated the licensing of the club and stated “They keep very good records, some of the best in the state.” Reginald Clark, supervisor of state shooting preserve areas at the time, also stated “I know Joey Aiuppa. I’ve known him for a good number of years. I’ve read about him in the newspapers, but I choose my friends that I want to associate with. He is very interested in quail propagation.”

Two of Aiuppa’s crew members, Kaspar Ciapetta and Leo Filippi, were constant “guests” at Aiuppa’s club, which in reality their job was to take care of the whole place. When reporters from the Chicago Tribune visited the place, after being refused permission to enter by one of the guards, one of the newsmen managed to witness the interior of the clubhouse which was filled with framed photos of Aiuppa in hunting grab accompanies by hunting dogs and also by various individuals. Besides hunting, Aiuppa also trained various types of hunting dogs whenever he found free time for it, because by the end of the day he was still a syndicate leader with lots of responsibilities. That’s why the feds constantly watched Aiuppa’s hunting club, mainly because it was the main place for many gangster hunting parties which always included many of Chicago’s high-profile racketeers and hoodlums.


Kaspar Ciapetta

In August 1969, the feds decided to harass Aiuppa by arresting him on an alleged gun charge, by confiscating 29 rifles and shotguns at his Oakbrook residence. The arrest allegedly came after when two feds, while doing surveillance, saw Aiuppa standing in front of his house with a shotgun. In no time the agents acquired a search warrant and after arresting Aiuppa, they did a detailed search on his home, thus finding all of the weapons in the basement. Obviously, the agents were already aware regarding Aiuppa’s stash and they also knew that he had permit license for every single weapon, but those were the days when the FBI used every tactic, legal or not, against the Chicago Outfit in accomplishing their goal by placing constant pressure over the gangsters.

JOEY GOES UP

From 1967 until 1970, both Ricca and Accardo still controlled the whole organization but with Jack Cerone as the Outfit’s acting boss, followed by Fiore Buccieri as his underboss. The problem was that in 1970, Cerone was imprisoned while Buccieri was diagnosed with a terminal cancer. So, according to FBI surveillance reports, both Ricca and Accardo had multiple meetings at various places with the leaders of the “Melrose Park crews”, such as Charles Nicoletti and Joey Aiuppa. The reason behind those same meetings was to elect a new leader and also a leading group for the organization, and both Aiuppa and Nicoletti were the bosses’ best candidates, mainly because they were only few of rare Outfit capos who still operated under the governments radar to an extent, or in plane words, they and most of their crew members were still free on the streets, and were also in good health. There was also another caporegime, Ross Prio and the North Side mob, who was constantly seen in Accardo’s and Ricca’s presence and allegedly transferred all decisions to the rest of the organization, or in plane word Prio possibly acted as some type of front boss.


Ross Prio

In the end, it was decided that both Ricca and Accardo will continue to bring all important decisions, while the day-to-day operations were going to be executed by Aiuppa and Nicoletti. According to some reports, in no time, the new leading group under Aiuppa and Nicoletti transformed almost the whole Outfit membership mainly into killers and enforcers, and some of the other leaders like Prio and Gus Alex didn’t agree with that. In fact, Alex once complained to Accardo that many Outfit members were executing unsanctioned murders, and it was quite hard to protect those same individuals.

In September 1971, one of the Outfit’s main representatives for the West Side and capo for the Grand Avenue crew, Phil Alderisio died in prison and most of the Outfit’s membership was present at his funeral, including both Accardo and Aiuppa. The situation became worst when in 1972, the Outfit’s top boss Paul Ricca died of natural causes, followed by the leader of the North Side mob Ross Prio and Frank LaPorte, the boss of the Chicago Heights group.


Surveillance pic of Accardo and Aiuppa being present at Alderisio’s funeral

So, with most of leading echelon being gone, Accardo was the only one left at the top and decided to elevate Aiuppa, Alex and Nicoletti as his personal overseers of the whole organization. Some sources say that after Ricca’s death, Accardo allegedly nixed the “top boss” position, while other reports say that Accardo took Ricca’s former role as the Outfit’s “boss of bosses” and placed both Aiuppa and Alex as his messengers and day-to-day bosses, followed by Nicoletti as their acting underboss or a powerful caporegime who in turn was between the leading administration and the rest of the capos, soldiers and associates.

According to three different informants, Accardo became the Outfit’s new top boss and placed Aiuppa as the new acting boss with Gus Alex as their advisor and “connection guy”, while Nicoletti allegedly received the underboss position. This means that Accardo had the last word on all important decisions, with both Aiuppa and Alex allegedly acting as his advisors regarding, while Nicoletti’s job was to transfer every order, especially murder contracts, to the rest of the capos or soldiers. Accardo also ordered that at least one of the two bosses, Alex and Aiuppa, should be always in the Chicago area and if one of them ever needed to leave Chicago, he informed the other boss about the longevity and location of the trip. Accardo even issued an order to the other capos and district bosses that every important decision first must be cleared through either Alex or Aiuppa.

Whatever was the truth, still every single source agreed that by the end of the day Accardo had the last word and that Aiuppa and Alex had to consult him regarding every decision, whether it was regarding some scheme, murder or structural problem. Accardo or “Joe” as his was called by his peers, became the new top boss of the Chicago Mafia and held the whole organization by its throat. Accardo helped the Outfit to continue make millions of dollars while at the same time pushing the organization away from crimes that had previously gotten him into trouble. One source stated that Alex allegedly had “more brains” than Aiuppa, so he very often gave advices and sort of held certain control over Aiuppa, allegedly because Alex didn’t want his new “job” or position, and used Aiuppa’s Cosa Nostra membership for his own purposes, or in plane words Alex wanted for everyone to think that Aiuppa was making all decisions on his own, and not together with him. But still, Accardo was the top boss and they both were forced to obey his every decision and order.


Tony Accardo

During the first half of the 1970’s, most of the Outfit’s rackets were on the downfall, thus loosing many territories and rackets to certain and different ethnic crime gangs. For example, the African-American gangsters stopped sharing their profits from the lucrative numbers racket with the Italian syndicate, same as the Latin population and their Bolita operations. The Outfit’s prostitution racket was also divided between several different crime syndicates, same as the narcotics trade which during that period Outfit leaders like Accardo and Alex had a huge problem with it. There was a huge dilemma within the Outfit’s leadership on whether they should control the local narcotics trade or not. On one side, Accardo and Alex were against it, while opposite of them, high-level members like Nicoletti and Prio’s successor Dominick DiBella allegedly voted “Yes”. Sources say that everyone waited for Aiuppa’s opinion, and story goes that at first, he was allegedly open minded but later Aiuppa went with Accardo and Alex and banned all of the Outfit’s members and associates from dealing drugs. In fact, this was one of the main reasons on why Accardo and Aiuppa ordered more then one hundred murders, during the 1970’s or during a ten-year period, which in fact was the Outfit’s most bloody era since the days of Prohibition. Also, after this situation, Nicoletti allegedly developed huge hatred towards Aiuppa and Alex for destroying his future plans.

By this time Melrose Park was still one of the most lucrative territories for the Chicago Outfit and so Aiuppa and Nioletti were the prime forces. In December 1972 the new acting mayor of Melrose Park, since the death of Jake LaSpisa, was August “Augie” Taddeo. Taddeo was the godson of Joey Aiuppa and close associate of Nicoletti. Vic Taddeo, Augie’s father, worked as a dealer in Cicero gambling games and also worked as a muscleman for Aiuppa. Nicoletti and Aiuppa played major role in placing Taddeo as the new mayor, while Nicoletti had other nominates for the mayor spot. One was Ralph Serpico who served as the Democratic Committeeman for Proviso Township, but the problem was that he did two stints in prison and was also discovered by the media as the connection between the Outfit and the Democratic Party, and so Nicoletti washed his hands of Serpico by refusing to intercede, thus clearing Taddeo’s path in becoming a mayor of Melrose Park.

In February 1973, there was a big meeting which was held at the SAC club in Melrose Park, at the request of certain members and associates of the Chicago Outfit. Main figures at the meeting were Aiuppa and Nicoletti, followed by Tony Mastro, Tony Ortenzi, John Romano, Louis and Frank Karris, Rocky Montagna, attorney Vito Dalleo and mayor August Taddeo. There were also two unknown individuals who were brought by Montagna and also a cop only known as “Slim”. Montagna brought those two guys, who in turn allegedly came from the west coast, to purchase a quarter of a million dollars in stolen securities. After the deal was done, Aiuppa personally handed a brown paper sack filled with cash to the cop, who shortly after that departed from the meeting. Next on the agenda was the quarrel between Ortenzi and the attorney Dalleo who thought that Ortenzi was far beneath him mentally and socially, so he didn’t want to take orders from him. Suddenly some hard words were exchanged at the table but all ended when Aiuppa ordered Dalleo that he was to take orders from Ortenzi or else.

Later, Aiuppa, Nicoletti, Taddeo and the Karris brothers discussed the new pub that the brothers wanted to front, and Taddeo was ordered to protect them from any trouble from the Melrose Park police. Another issue on the meeting was the discussion between Ortenzi and the two unknown people about Nicoletti’s and Aiuppa’s desire to purchase a building, that recently burned down, for $75,000. They wanted to open a club which would be fronted by the Nikolas brothers and so again, the deal was done. Last on the agenda was the loan sharking or “juice” operations around Melrose Park, and all of the present members at the meeting were informed that they were all on their own, mainly because the Outfit’s bosses were afraid that the government agents were allegedly forcing people to go on “juice” so they can trap the loan sharks. The meeting lasted for half an hour and in the end, everyone disappeared in different directions.

During this period Nicoletti probably filled Aiuppa’s mind with ideas that Gus Alex wasn’t devoting much of his time as a part of the ruling panel because they started having many problems with “City Hall”. The problem was that Alex spent most of his time in Florida and often travelled to Europe. So, both Aiuppa and Nicoletti told Accardo that he should prevail over Alex and to make him stay in Chicago, permanently. During a meeting between Accardo and Alex, the latter stated that he had no intentions of staying in Chicago nor that he had any intentions of taking greater responsibilities. Alex also tried to “sweet talk” old man Accardo in retiring in Florida and into buying a house next to his.


Gus Alex

Later, Alex also became very critical of Aiuppa and Nicoletti and became enraged because by now Nicoletti and Aiuppa allegedly divided the Chicago Outfit in two factions. One faction was the “Management” which was formed by Aiuppa and Dominic DiBella, and the second faction “The Blazers” which was headed by Nicoletti with members from his own crew like Joey Lombardo, Frank Schweihs and Tony Spilotro. The main issue was Nicoletti’s grudge towards Alex, followed by his and Aiuppa’s desire for more money since they also suggested that Alex should take more active part around the Northwest side, which was one of the most profitable areas during that period.

According to one FBI report, in May 1974, Aiuppa suffered from a serious affliction that involved arthritis in his knees, and has been unable to function due to his lack of capacity to move around. At the same time period, Accardo also spent some time in Palm Springs, so during this brief period Alex was the only leader of the ruling panel who transferred all of Accardos and Aiuppa’s orders. The report says that Alex’s brother Sam was the one who delivered the messages between his brother and Aiuppa. In fact, Sam Alex resided approximately one mile from Aiuppa’s residence in Oak Brook, Illinois.


(from left to right) Pat Marcy, Tony Accardo, Jack Cerone, Joey Aiuppa, Gus Alex and Sam Alex (sitting in the middle)

By 1974, Aiuppa’s long-time enemy and former boss, Sam Giancana, was back in Chicago and on top of that, Accardo’s capo and former acting boss Jack Cerone was already released from prison. According to one informant, there was some alleged friction between Aiuppa and Cerone, especially after Ricca’s death, and I personally believe that Aiuppa held a grudge against Cerone for previously implicating the Outfit’s former top boss in a government case which almost sent the late Ricca to prison. As for Giancana, after pushing around Aiuppa for years and almost making him broke during his reign as boss, now it was Aiuppa’s time for “vendetta”. Some researchers believe that Giancana allegedly plotted to take back his old position as boss, while other say that his old CIA connections and the government wanting to question him, was allegedly quite dangerous situation for the former boss. On top of that, many believe that Accardo allegedly had some personal confrontation with Giancana, but my personal belief is that Aiuppa was probably the one who pushed for Giancana’s demise, out of “obvious” reasons. In July 1975, Giancana was killed in the basement of his home and the executor was his long-time assistant Dominick Blasi, while the gun was provided by crew members of Aiuppa’s old associate and Outfit capo James Torello.

OFFICIAL OUTFIT BOSS

Sources speculate that Giancana’s demise was the main point when Joey Aiuppa officially became the Outfit’s new boss or the day-to-day “chief executive”, mainly because the late Giancana allegedly never officially relinquished his position before leaving the Chicago area and the U.S., but the situation obviously changed after his death. Previously, when Cerone was released from prison, Alex wanted for someone else to take his position as advisor and messenger, and he told both Accardo and Aiuppa that Cerone was the right man for the job. As I already stated that there was allegedly some problem between Aiuppa and Cerone, still Accardo was the top boss and ordered for the two men to work together, with Cerone as Aiuppa’s official underboss. According to some informants, even though Aiuppa became the official representative for the Outfit, it seems that Accardo was still the top boss by having the last word and also still presided over every induction ceremony of new members, information which came directly from North side capo Joey DiVarco and one informant. This means that Accardo was the “Man” which was an Outfit slang for top boss, followed by his “chief executive” Joey Aiuppa and his underboss Jack Cerone, and Alex as their “connection guy” and advisor.


Chicago Outfit boss Joey Aiuppa

During this period, besides their operations in Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas, Arizona and other places around the country, Aiuppa also had to take care of their interests out of the country or around the world. One of the Outfit’s prime international operators was Hyman Larner, who in turn started his criminal career under Aiuppa’s long-time associate Eddie Vogel. After the retirement of his boss, Larner later answered to Alex and was also in close association with Aiuppa’s crew, mainly because Larner belonged to Cicero. Larner brought in the Bastone brothers, Carmine and Sal, who worked as the Outfit’s couriers and overseers for the world-wide schemes, and also had interests in Cicero and Melrose Park. But since Larner was out of the country most of that the, Aiuppa appointed his crew member Tommy Russo to assist him during Larner’s absence.


Thomas Russo

Aiuppa often held court at the “Yes It Is” restaurant that was located on 12th Street, east of 17th Avenue, together with his main assistant Larry Rassano, The problem was that Rassano died of natural causes in April 1975, and his position was taken by Anthony Ortenzi, who in turn was a capo for Aiuppa’s personal Cicero crew. Aiuppa’s personal chauffeur and bodyguard was James Buonomo, who also accompanied his boss on numerous hunting trips. Besides shooting birds and animals, Aiuppa also loved fishing trips and one of his buddies was Sam Carlisi, Alphonse’s brother.


Carlisi and Aiuppa on one of their hunting trips


Aiuppa and James Buonomo

According to one newspaper guy, who coincidentally met Aiuppa and asked him about his fishing trips, the Outfit’s boss allegedly told him “You know, I caught the world-record muskie.” At first the reporter thought that Aiuppa was probably joking, but later he realized that the crime boss was very serious about it. “No, I mean it. I caught the world-record muskie. I sold it to Louie Spray for fifty bucks.” The reporter stated that “When a man like him says in that way that he did something, it’ pretty hard not to believe him”. Aiuppa said that he caught the fish beneath the Winter Dam, and the reported said that it was a restricted area, on which Aiuppa answered “Yeah I know. That’s why I fishing there at night.” In fact, Louis Spray was an alleged old-time Capone associate who was also known for his fishing adventures.


Aiuppa on one of his fishing trips

In 1976, Alex complained to Accardo that some of the members still dealt with narcotics, obviously because Alex still had all of the contacts both in the police and Chicago’s political world, and was able to receive that type of information. So, Accardo advised Aiuppa that he should take care of his men a little bit better and to keep them “clean”, meaning no narcotics, so Alex can safely return to Chicago. In March 1977, the House Select Committee on Assassinations wanted to question Nicoletti about his alleged involvement in the JFK assassination and his CIA contacts. Nicoletti wasn’t aware of the situation but “someone” else was and I believe that “someone” was Alex. Shortly after that, Nicoletti was shot in the back of his head while being at the wheel of his car, probably by the same “wild guys” from his own crew that he previously controlled.

That same year, after all of the murders of important members, the Outfit had a very important gathering at one of Chicago’s local restaurants, which included Accardo, Aiuppa and Cerone as the Outfit’s top administration, followed by the leaders of the North Side crew such as Dominick DiBella, Vincent Solano and Joey DiVarco, the capo for the Grand Avenue crew Joey Lombardo, Al Pilotto the boss of the Chicago Heights group and also James Torello and Joe Amato from the Cicero-Lake County group. Sources say that one of the agendas was DiBella’s retirement because of his bad health, and placed Solano as the new boss of the whole North Side group with DiVarco as his second in command. After this particular meeting, the organization changed to an extent, especially within the territorial and structural formations, and also adapted more traditional Cosa Nostra influence, since after all bot Accardo and Aiuppa had Sicilian blood running through their veins, besides being born in the U.S.


The Outfit’s “Last Supper”


Aiuppa, DiBella and Accardo being pictured together at the same occasion

Since the Chicago Outfit represented the interests of several Midwest crime families, Aiuppa was both respected and feared by most of the bosses but not all. After being the boss of the Rockford Mafia for nearly five decades, Joe Zito died of natural causes in June 1981. The funeral was visited by many crime bosses including leaders of the Kansas City Mafia, the boss of the Milwaukee crime family Frank Balistrieri and most notably, Joey Aiuppa the boss of the Outfit. Reports say that there were several attempts made by the Chicago mob in the past to takeover Rockford’s leadership, or to place one of their own guys, and it seems that one of those same attempts was also made after Zito’s death. But in the end, all of Chicago’s efforts ended up being fruitless and the Rockford faction continued to pick its own crime boss.

In 1983, Aiuppa presided over an induction ceremony of new members from several different crews, such the North Side, Elwood Park and Chinatown-Cicero groups. Sources say that Aiuppa wasn’t accompanied by Accardo, mainly because the latter already had some serious clashes with the law, thus had to remain low-key. So, Aiuppa’s was assisted during the ceremony by one of his most trusted and at the same time, very elusive member Al Tornabene. Even though he allegedly didn’t hold a high-level spot within Aiuppa’s Cicero crew, some researchers speculate that Tornabene possibly knew the traditional Sicilian procedure in making new members, allegedly because old time members like Aiuppa himself were probably made in non-traditional way.

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS…

I believe the main reason behind the new inductions was because Aiuppa, through his political connections, already received information that members of the Outfit’s leadership and also other bosses from different families, were about to be indicted by the government for skimming millions of dollars from Las Vegas casinos. In May 1984, the feds officially announced the indictments against Aiuppa, his underboss Jack Cerone, the South Side boss Angelo LaPietra and the imprisoned capo for the Grand Avenue crew Joey Lombardo. That same year, Aiuppa and the rest of the bosses were questioned before a U.S. Senate subcommittee in Kansas City, and all of them took the 5th Amendment and didn’t say a word. Later, Tony Accardo was also called before the committee and he was constantly questioned regarding his associations with both Aiuppa and Cerone, but the old man refused to say anything, except for his statement that the last time he saw Aiuppa was in Palm Springs, but the problem was that Aiuppa wasn’t allowed to associate with known felons and so he could’ve violated his bond, unless they were indicted in the same case as he was. The fact was Accardo wasn’t indicted in the skimming case and he was only called as a witness but on top of that, the old man was never recorded as ex-felon which means that Aiuppa was in the clear.


Old man Aiuppa going at the hearings

The 77-year old boss of the Outfit already realized that his days as leader of the organization and also as a free man were coming to an end, meaning during this period Aiuppa was presented by law enforcement to the public as the Mob’s “mastermind” behind the Las Vegas scheme. That's why Aiuppa decided to make some changes within his personal crew and also on the Outfit’s leading administration. Since most of Aiuppa’s old lieutenants were dead, in jail or were having serious health issues, for example Aiuppa’s long-time capo Anthony Ortenzi who was constantly seen going in and out of hospitals. So, Aiuppa decided to give chance to the “younger” generation of his crew which at the time was headed by Sam Carlisi and James Marcello. These two gangsters already showed their loyalty to Aiuppa multiple times, but it seems the old boss had one last request for them.

During the 1985 trials regarding the Las Vegas scheme, the government continuously played tapes made from hidden microphones and also constantly pulled out witnesses during the investigations. David Helfrey, chief of the Justice Department`s Organized Crime Strike Force in Kansas City, told the judge: ”There is nobody in this country who is higher in organized crime circles than Aiuppa. Top bosses in this country accepted his decisions. He was the man.” An apparently pleased Aiuppa smiled when he heard the description of himself. In the end, in March 1986, both Aiuppa and Cerone were sentenced each to 28 years in prison for their role in conspiring to steal millions of dollars from a Vegas casino, while Angelo LaPietra was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Lombardo received additional years on his previous conviction which also resulted with the amount of 16 years imprisonment.


Aiuppa being taken to prison

However, the old boss was eligible for parole after serving only 120 days if his health deteriorates but, U.S. District Judge Joseph E. Stevens Jr. ordered that the U.S. Parole Commission not consider releasing Aiuppa unless his health deteriorates to the point that his condition becomes ”terminal. If his health remained in its current state, Aiuppa was going to serve a third of his sentence before he was able to seek parole. One of Aiuppa’s lawyers, Santo Volpe, told the judge that any long prison term for Aiuppa, who suffers from heart problems and phlebitis, was tantamount to a ”life sentence.” Another Aiuppa attorney, Allan Ackerman, said future motions would be filed to seek his client`s release from prison while the conviction was being appealed. In the end, the Judge reminded Aiuppa’s lawyers that their client could have received a maximum prison term of 40 years. When the trial finished, Aiuppa, smiling and waving to his friends in the courtroom, was escorted to the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas.

While in jail, all of Aiuppa’s and Cerone’s successors had to show one last sign of loyalty to their imprisoned bosses by all being involved in the June 1986 murders of the Spilotro brothers. Those present during the brutal executions were John DiFronzo, Louis Eboli, Al Tocco, Joe Ferriola, Rocco Infelise, Jimmy LaPietra, Nick Calabrese, Sam Carlisi and Jimmy Marcello, among others. The involvement of high-level members in a double murder shows the complete loyalty towards their bosses by killing two of their own, since they all participated in the same crime. The brother were later buried in a cornfield in Enos, Indiana, five miles from Aiuppa’s property near Morocco, Indiana.

That same year, Aiuppa’s successor Sam Carlisi officially became the new boss of the Outfit, followed by Cerone’s capo John DiFronzo who in turn became Carlisi’s underboss. James Marcello became the new caporegime for Aiuppa’s and Carlisi’s crew and it seems that this was the third time in the Outfit’s history that the Cicero-Melrose Park group was at the top of the organization.


Aiuppa’s successor Sam Carlisi

THAT THING OF OURS

With the constant thought on his mind that he might die in prison, and also with the sudden change of his life, meaning no more hunting or fishing, no more operating a legion of criminals and also, no more killing people and no more cash, old man Aiuppa never said anything about his organization, nor about his associates, by always keeping his mouth shut. According to reports, Aiuppa was a very “good inmate” and also very respectable one by both prisoners and prison guards. The old man allegedly told stories about his hunting and fishing trips from all around the country, and also talked about beautiful women from his younger days and also about boxing. But whenever he was asked about his old and former friends like Al Capone and Tony Accardo, old man Aiuppa usually only said that they were just simple friends of his, and never continued to talk about it.


Imprisoned former Outfit boss Joey Aiuppa

In 1991, the Chicago Tribune published the story regarding the newspaper guy known as Spence Petros, who in turn worked as editor for the Fishing Facts magazine, and previously talked with Aiuppa about he catching the word-record muskie and that in reality, Aiuppa was the one who held the world-record but they didn’t have any hard evidence to support their story. They even tried to interview the imprisoned Aiuppa regarding the same matter, but he always refused to meet anyone from the media. This means that even from jail, Aiuppa managed to shake America’s “fishing world” with his story.

Some sources say that, from time to time, Aiuppa was allegedly visited by some of his Outfit associates who in turn acted as messengers between their imprisoned boss and his men on the outside. I personally don’t believe that Aiuppa had much to say about things on the outside, mainly because the organization still had a lot of trouble with the law and also with inside informants, so the old man’s “job” was to sit in his jail cell and to watch on how his organization was slowly crumbling down. In 1993, Aiuppa’s successor Carlisi and their capo Marcello were sentenced to prison, including their top lieutenants Frank Zizzo and Tony Chiaramonti. So, Aiuppa’s only powerful guy who was still free on the streets and also still held some respectability withing the Outfit, was Al Tornabene.

By the end of 1995, Aiuppa allegedly received a stroke and was transferred to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons Federal Medical Center at Rochester, Minnesota; and after hearing his final appeal, in January 1996, the committee decided to release Aiuppa after serving nearly 10 years of his sentence. Aiuppa was back at his home in Oak Brook and since he didn’t have any children of his own, he was often visited by his relatives to help him around the house, since at the time he was barely walking and was often in a wheelchair. According to some “non-government” sources, Aiuppa was also allegedly visited by some members and associates of the Outfit at the time, like Tornabene, one of Marcello’s sons or Nick Ferriola who in turn was the son of the late caporegime Joe Ferriola, and besides helping the old man, some of those guys were probably there to see if the former boss lost his mind or if he was talking about “stuff”.

Obviously none of that ever occurred, since old man Aiuppa was simply waiting for his final hour, and that moment finally came on February 22, 1997, when Aiuppa died at the age of 89, at the Elmhurst Memorial Hospital in Elmhurst, Illinois; and later he was buried in Hillside, Illinois; in mausoleum at the Queen of Heaven Cemetery, which in fact was a private affair only for family members. Some researchers speculate that most of Aiuppa’s money went to his nephews and nieces, but there’s still no evidence regarding that same claim, although even today we can still hear the name “Aiuppa” in some of Chicago’s unions like the IATSE Projectionists Local 110 union.


Aiuppa’s grave

One month before Aiuppa’s death, his former successor Sam Carlisi also died of natural causes while still being in prison. Later or around 2001, Al Tornabene allegedly became the Outfit’s acting boss and kept the throne for his real boss, which was the imprisoned Jimmy Marcello. In November 2001, one of Tornabene’s lieutenants Tony Chiaramonti was gunned down on the Outfit’s orders, and some sources speculate that the late Chiaramonti allegedly wanted to bring back his crew’s old interests from around the Melrose Park and South Side areas, but the problem was that during that period most of the interest around the southern suburbs were controlled by the former Giancana-Buccieri or the northern Cicero-Chinatown group, which by now was controlled by notorious members and capos like Mike Sarno and Frank “Tootsie” Caruso Jr.

But in 2003, Marcello was finally released from jail and immediately took the reigns from Tornabene and became the Outfit’s official boss. In August 2006, Marcello’s prime lieutenant and alleged caporegime Tony Zizzo suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth and was presumed dead. The following year or in 2007, the famous Family Secrets trials began in which Marcello was indicted among other mobsters, and in 2009 he was sentenced to life in prison. That same year, Tornabene died of natural causes at the MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, Illinois. In fact, Zizzo’s murder, Tornabene’s death and Marcello’s imprisonment, literally marked the death of the original “Capone” crew from around Cicero, the South Side and Melrose Park areas, which was previously maintained by their infamous predecessors like Al and Ralph Capone, William Heeney and Claude Maddox, and above all, Joey Aiuppa.

EULOGY

During his whole life, Aiuppa lived in his own “world” and ideas, and simply followed the wrong path by constantly enjoying in the adrenaline of doing a crime or something “less” deviant, like shooting everything that flies, swims or walks the grounds of this planet. I don’t know if he was dissatisfied with society, but I can obviously say that Aiuppa was quite resistant to popular ideas and institutions in society. Even though he somehow acted recklessly during his time, still it seems that the late Aiuppa had specific focus and obviously knew on what was going on around him. Like the professional hunter that he was, Aiuppa waited silently for the right moment, and when his chance came in the same direction as his “muzzle point”, Aiuppa always took the shot and that’s how he managed to stay at the top of Chicago’s most notorious crime syndicate. In fact, Aiuppa is remembered as one of the Outfit’s most deadly bosses, probably in second place after his mentor Al Capone, which means that someone should never mix hunting animals and birds with killing people, obviously because the situation may become quite bad, especially for the Chicago Outfit itself.

The End