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.

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

Since I didnt want to place too many photos in the article, here are two additional pics of Robert Ansani aka Taylor....

Another pic of Ansani (first from the right) with Aiuppa (middle) and Corngold (on the left)

Wow very nice TD.

Thanks @H and in fact, when you made the posts regarding Aiuppa's father, you also reminded me that I had one unfinished project regarding the same gangster.

I’ve read a lot of your pieces. Even the old ones from before I was on here regularly. This is my favorite piece you have written. Absolutely awesome man.

Thanks a lot for the kind words bro, it means a lot. Cheers

Great write up Toodoped.

It is surprising to me really how average of a dresser Aiuppa was on a daily basis. He dressed like he may as well have been living in the country on a farm somewhere in a rural area. If you were to cross paths with him say at a gas station off the highway and you didn't know who he was, no one would have ever thought he was a wiseguy. You would have thought he was one of the local farmers instead.

Yep I’ve always looked at pics of Aiuppa and instantly think of my Uncle as both were about the same age even favored and dressed a lot alike. He definitely didn’t put off the gangster vibes in terms of his dress

Thanks @Rush.

Yeah, I also agree regarding Aiuppa's appearance, especially his pants being pulled up all the way to his neck lol, but believe it or not still during his younger days he was allegedly a "ladies man"

For example, in the following pic he looks quite "cool" for me personally...

Always thought he was an interesting character and under rated.

Yes when he was younger he was a really great dresser. Dressed the part as a wiseguy.

Seems to me that a lot of outfit guys even today don't dress like wise guys. You know how the guys out in New York do? I think lots of the reason is because its the midwest and many of them are extremely blue collar. New York when it comes to fashion is much different.

I think I agree again, although the midwest also had its own share of sharp dressers during certain time periods (Capone, Giancana, Zerilli from Detroit, the Clown Lombardo, Alex etc.) but today its different. And its not just the Mafia, but in huge corporations also. When I got employed almost 16 years ago, me and everyone else who had outside contacts with buyers and business partners, had to wear a suit, tie, belt and shoes. Today, everyone wears what they want since everyone cares only about numbers. They have tattoos on their hands and necks, and they look like they just came in for a beer and few funny chats. I still wear a suit, a vest, a tie with clip, and believe it or not, by the end of the day one of those retards will ask you "how can you wear a suit when its so hot outside?" lol



+1

Toodoped glad you see and share the same experiences.

Let me be clear so someone on here doesn't take my comment in regards to fashion the wrong way. Am I expecting mob guys to dress in suits and fedora hats anymore on a daily basis? No, thats not even the style anymore in 2024 and I don't even expect anyone to dress that way on the streets. Out to dinner at a nice restaurant or going out on a date with your wife or girlfriend, well a nice suit never will go out of style. Don't even have to wear a tie either if you don't feel like it.

But at least have enough care in yourself to put on a pair of clean trousers and a polo or button down with a pair of nice jeans. Just make sure to always remember the pair of shoes you wear is just as important.

Dress shorts in the summer with a nice pair of slip ons are always look good and are practical for daily wear as well.

Nice Gym wear is fine too in my honest opinion if you are just walking around the neighborhood.

Oh and one last thing, a true wiseguy always goes out of the house in the morning with a clean shave! If you want to have facial hair, make sure you maintain it! No one wants to see a wiseguy look like Grizzly Adams.

...and dont forget Harry Riccobene from Philly lol

LOL well there are always exceptions.

For example I remember when they caught Joey Lombardo living in Colorado. He looked like a true mountain man.

But hey keep it simple. Dress the same way as you would if you were spending the day golfing at a nice country club and no one will ever say you dress like shit.

lol thats right, Joey looked quite funny when he got caught while he was on the lam, and he probably did that so he cannot be recognized but I also strongly believe deep inside, he knew that everyone in the Outfit will be laughing after seeing his picture in the news lol. Same as when he walked in court with the paper being cut out only for his eyes so he can see where he's going lol. Sources say that large portion of the Outfit had a good laugh whne they saw him on TV, including the vid on youtube when he is walking between the store rafts and in fact, he was playing the cameraman and later hugged one lady who in turn asked him if he was famous lol The Outfit always had some guys who did funny things in front of the camera or newspaper men.

What a beautiful contribution to the forum. You've once again totally outdone yourself TD. Bravo!! Keep it coming

Thanks a lot @G and also thanks for your constant support brother. Cheers and yeah, Ill try to keep you all "frozen" during the summer

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Also, here are some photos of additional members and associates from Aiuppa's crew that operated mainly during the 1950's and 60's...


Albert Capone aka Rayola (Cicero)


Leo Manfredi (Cicero) - later he was killed on Aiuppa's orders


Anthony DeRosa (Melrose Park)


Anthony Granito (Cicero)


David Myers

It seems Aiuppa's mom died in November 1968, and interesting to note is that her maiden name was Greco. There were Outfit guys who also went by the name "Greco" or "Grieco", especially from around the Cicero and Melrose Park areas (Aiuppa's territory), and so I wonder if there was some connection, while on the other hand the site findagrave.com says her maiden name was allegedly Squardo and also gives the same date of her death.....lots of conflicting info out there....

....also, some additional associates.....


Jacob Berbreiter


Ray Jones


Herb Tarrow

In 1960, the government listed Aiuppa's brother Sam as one of the leading racketeers in Chicago's Local 110 of the Moving Picture Operators union, together with Anthony Circella (Nick Circella's brother), Frank Dolendi and Mauro Montana (son of old time Melrose Park capo Joe Montana). Sam Aiuppa died in March 1983.

Aiuppa's wife died in March 1983....

One of Aiuppa's old associates from his younger days, Angelo DiVito....

From 1985....