Ladies and gents, as always yours truly "ringmaster" is back with another free spectacle, so you can read it while you're making tan during this fabulous summer. So, buy your friends some drinks, instead of throwing your money in "thin air" for paying sites or paywalls, and enjoy your stay at GBB forum....Salut'

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In one of my previous articles, I mentioned the term and also phenomenon of “wasted talent”, meaning some people have such huge potential of becoming successful in the legitimate world but by the end of the day, they still choose the so-called “wrong path” by being involved in crime and also in manipulating both the judicial and political world at the same time. Such individuals can be found in the history or family lineage of Chicago’s Moretti family, or people who had the chance to become righteous and also real protectors of the ordinary citizen, but still they were “blinded” by the adrenaline of committing a crime and above all, by corruption and the power that came with it, which was obviously fueled by the old mighty dollar.

GROWING UP ON THE WEST SIDE

Giuseppe and Carmella Moretti were Italian immigrants who came to the U.S. sometime around the early 1900’s, and later settled in Chicago on the city’s West Side area. The Morettis were a huge family by having ten children, John, Lawrence, Patrick, Michael, Thomas, the twins Vincent and Salvatore, and three daughters, and they all lived at 926 Taylor Street. By the 1920’s and also during the days of Prohibition, the Taylor Street area wasn’t the best place to raise kids but instead it was quite the opposite since it gave “birth” to some of the most notorious gangsters in the history of Chicago.

In October 1929, one 16 years old Joe Fiore mourned the death of his younger brother due to a car accident, the later that night he went out and decided to release his anger someplace else. Fiore stumbled upon Thomas Moretti who was at the same age at the time and was also a senior student at the McKinley high school. The two teenagers first started to quarrel and later started fighting, and so the exhausted Moretti fled to his home. Fiore followed Moretti and stood on the front steps of their house, thus yelling and challenging Moretti’s father Joseph to send his son out and to finish the fight. So, that’s when young Thomas Moretti came out with a pistol in his hand and shot Fiore three times, once in the chest and two times in the back, thus instantly killing him. Sources say that young Moretti, while being scared and confused, allegedly fled the scene and the cops were looking for him. Later he was allegedly found by his mother Carmella who in turn brought him to the police station. In the end or in December that same year, it was decided that Moretti acted in self-defense and allegedly protected both himself and his family. That same night, the brother of the deceased entered in a fight with Thomas’ younger brother Pasquale or Patrick, which almost would’ve ended up with another death but luckily the police arrived on time.


Young Thomas Moretti

Almost 8 years later or in 1937, 24 years old Thomas Moretti and six other individuals were arrested and indicted regarding the raping of two teenage girls and before the trials began, two of the gang rapists pleaded guilty and were instantly sentenced to jail because of their direct contact with the victims, while the rest of the defendants also pleaded guilty but they didn’t have direct contact and were only present during the horrible act. During the main trial, four alleged corrupt cops were accused for destroying evidences for the rape case, which means that someone had specific connections to certain individuals. In the end, Thomas won a separate trial in which his involvement in the direct act was dismissed and he was released on all charges. This situation obviously shows Thomas’ sick mentality which he developed during the years after the murder that he previously committed during his teenage years.

Some reports also shows that their mother Carmella Moretti was allegedly involved in the city’s local politics and probably held some influence and connections, such as many aldermen from the wards from around the West Side, including William Pacelli, William Granata and James Adducci who in turn was allegedly a made member of the Italian Mafia under caporegime Lawrence Mangano also known at the time as the “King of the West Side”. It is possible that Carmella influenced one of her sons, Lorenzo aka Lawrence Moretti, to enter the world of Chicago’s judicial system by working for some of the previously mentioned aldermen. Besides Adducci, sources say that Lawrence Moretti allegedly also knew other criminal members of the so-called Chicago Outfit, including “rising stars” such as Ross Prio from the North crew and Sam Giancana from the West Side, especially the Taylor Street area. In 1942, Lawrence Moretti was one of the candidates regarding the leading seat of the Republican party, but instead several years later he became a deputy bailiff at the Municipal Court. During the one of the trials of his brother Thomas, the older one Lawrence allegedly tried to bribe one of the witnesses with $500. Lawrence Moretti also owned a tavern know as Hornsby’s at 5540 Chicago Avenue, which was a known hangout for both political and crime figures and in fact, “Hornsby” was Lawrence’s personal nickname.


Carmella Moretti (standing in white coat) handing card to another female voter

It seems that most of the brothers were “troublemakers”, like for example in 1943, one of the twins 18 years old Vincent Moretti recklessly drove a car with false license plates together with one Carmen Guido, and so they crashed their auto at the corner of Ashland Avenue and Crenshaw Street. One report says that a massive fight broke out between nearby pedestrians and the two youngsters, and the cops needed eight squads to maintain the peace between the clashing sides. In 1947, again possibly with their mother’s connections, both twins Vincent and Salvatore were accepted as rookies in Chicago’s police force among 50 other candidates, while the following year or in November 1948, their other brother Michael also became a police patrolman.

“PROTECTING” PEOPLE

By 1950, Salvatore and Vincent Moretti worked as Melrose Park policemen, Lawrence kept his job as a deputy bailiff but also got involved in some illegal activities such as corruption and gambling with some members of the North Side mob, Michael began working as a state’s attorney policeman, while their “different” brother Thomas Moretti became a restaurant owner. Thomas’ psychotic temper was still present since in June that same year, he was fined $150 after a jury found him guilty of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, meaning he violently fought with the policemen before they arrested him on the complaint of a woman that he harassed her as she passed one of his hamburgers stands at 2002 Lincoln Park West. Thomas allegedly first hit the police captain in the groin and then resumed fighting with two other policemen and in the end, he was finally taken down by two police squads and one patrol wagon, and was also given the beating of his life before being taken to the station. In November 1951, both Thomas and his brother Patrick started a fight in Lawrence’s tavern with two youngsters who pounded on the windows and yelled “Kill all of the Morettis!”.


Pasquale aka Patrick Moretti

Salvatore Moretti was no different than his twin brother when it came down to driving, because one day he and his colleague almost died in a car accident when their squad car collided with a huge truck, thus rolling over the squad car twice and ending up in a nearby parking lot. Salvatore had back injuries and concussion, while his partner had serious internal injuries and both were instantly taken to hospital, and because of Morreti’s respectability within the police force, the truck driver was quickly arrested and taken to the police station.


Salvatore Moretti

In fact, besides Thomas and the twins, the third largest problem for the Moretti family was also their son Michael who, same his brothers, didn’t have the ability to make difference between good and evil, mostly because for being notorious alcoholic. In August 1951, with no particular reason, policeman Michael Moretti shot three young people, while being heavily under the influence of alcohol. Some of the Moretti brothers, such as Michael or Thomas, were obviously pure psychopaths, but this time or in Michael’s example the main “fuel” for the gruesome murder was hard depression mixed with hard liquor and that’s that, two of the innocent victims were dead and one was wounded. The two dead individuals were 21 years old Edward Salvi and 15 years old Arthur Gambino or Gamino, while the wounded one was Leonard Monaco. When someone reported the incident to the police, in no time at least a dozen of officers appeared at the murder scene, but not for the victims but instead to protect their murderous colleague, and so five or six of his policeman colleagues tried to stop him but Mike Moretti managed to fire one shot in the air, just to scare away his policemen buddies, and then took one of the police cars and drove off in an unknown direction.


Mike Moretti

Later, Mike Moretti was arrested and was taken to trial and in fact, his case became a national scandal for the police departments in general. During the questionings of the investigators, Moretti stated he was allegedly following a narcotics ring in which all three victims were allegedly involved in, and all of Moretti’s brothers and their wives, including Vincent, Salvatore, Thomas, Patrick and Lawrence were called to testify regarding their brother’s violent actions `and its history. All of the brothers kept their mouths shut, but on the other hand witnesses stated that Moretti was walking down the street with a gun in one hand and his other hand concealed behind his back, and allegedly started shooting at the three youngsters. But even though the third victim and also survivor, Leonard Monaco, testified that Mike Moretti was drunk as hell and started shooting at them on purpose and that some of the policemen were later witnesses of the violent product from the whole situation, still it turned out that the other policemen have never been identified and so they weren’t able to testify during the trials, an example that Chicago’s P.D. at the time had similar code of silence as the one within the Chicago Mafia.


Leonard Monaco (right) with his lawyer

Some of Michael’s statements, which were taken three days after the murders, went something like "I don't remember a thing and I don't remember what happened," or "At this time I don't remember. My mind is hurting me." But after his lawyer’s advice, Moretti’s the third statement was a 34 pages report describing his activities in details on the night of the shooting. After that, the prosecutors already had enough incriminating evidences and also many witnesses who saw the violent behavior of defendant, which resulted with Mike Moretti being found guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. On top of that, in 1952 some of his own brothers like Vincent and Salvatore Moretti were suspended from the police force for allegedly giving false testimonies during the trials, followed by their brother Lawrence who almost lost his political connections and later became a “connection guy” or a member of the Ross Prio crew from the North Side.


Lawrence Moretti

Reports say that during those days, one of the twins Vincent Moretti was still a little bit different than the rest of his brothers, mainly because he was a “man of action”. Even though he was suspended from the police force for some time because he falsely testified during Michael’s trial, once Vincent managed to make a citizen’s arrest of a man carrying a loaded .44 caliber pistol. One small-time criminal known as Waldo Gibson was waving his gun and shouting as pedestrians scattered, but out of nowhere Vincent Moretti was coincidentally passing with this car and when he saw the situation, Moretti quickly jumped out of his car and approached the criminal. According to witnesses, only few feet away Moretti suddenly shouted "No, no, don't hit him" to an alleged or mythical assailant behind Gibson, which made Gibson to turn his head, while Moretti made a flying tackle and grabbed the gun from Gibson's hand and placed him on the floor.


Vincent Moretti

This shows that some of the brothers like Vincent and Salvatore had different qualities for being servants for the everyday citizen, while at the same time protecting their brothers who in turn two of them were murderers in “their own right”. In fact, this was the main reason for which the twins Vince and Sal caught the eyes of some of their old pals from the Taylor Street area, such as Sam Giancana and William Daddono. During the early 1950’s Tony Accardo was the official boss for the Chicago Outfit, while Giancana was his second in command or underboss, followed by Daddono who in turn was one of their caporegimes, and these fellas needed every trusted criminal who had the right connections and also the “courage” to kill a man for their organization.


Outfit capo William Daddono

In addition, some researchers speculate that Chicago’s Moretti brothers were allegedly “distant” relatives of William Moretti, high level member of the Luciano-Genovese family in New York, which in fact was a close “cousin” of the Chicago Outfit, although I personally don’t have any type of clue regarding that same claim and so I’ll leave it to other researchers who’s specialty is blood relations.

THE CHICAGO MAFIA

Since most of the Moretti brothers had a violent or notorious reputation all around the West Side and were also dismissed from their public duties, Outfit leaders like Sam Giancana already began gathering their criminal associates from the areas which they previously controlled, including Taylor Street, and it seems that Salvatore Moretti was also one of Giancana’s alleged handpicked choices. At the time, Sal Moretti worked as a "bird dog" in selling autos, meaning he worked as a broker who puts buyers in touch with auto dealers and collects a commission, but his “second job” was being Outfit enforcer. During those days, the so-called West Side group of the Chicago Outfit was in full effect and headed the whole organization, under the rulership of Paul Ricca, Louis Campagna, Tony Accardo and also Giancana, who in turn held a lot of influence over the so-called Taylor Street crew and also represented large portion of the younger and rising generation of the Outfit which also brought many new criminal individuals within the organization.

For example, in the role of the Outfit’s second in command, Giancana tested many crime pals at the time because he was slowly building an army of his own, with the most loyal and subordinative members and associates, including Sal Moretti. It seems that same as his older brother Lawrence, Sal Moretti also had a different criminal mind than the rest of the brothers, meaning it is possible that he saw the “bigger picture” of being connected to local organized crime, especially the Outfit. According to reports, Giancana allegedly regarding Moretti as one of the most devious individuals with a quite scary look, who with just one sight, Moretti was able to create chills up your spine. Some of the investigators later stated that there was something about the way Moretti looked at them while being questioned, allegedly because he looked through you without any type of emotion, which I believe is the real so-called “killer look” according to the actions of other numerous profiles of various killers and gangsters. In fact, the twins Sal and Vince Moretti belonged to William Daddono’s caporegime, since Sal allegedly often acted as Daddano’s personal bodyguard and chauffeur. Once, Daddono was arrested and the cops found a list of phone numbers, including the ones of the Morettis, and other sources also say that Daddono and his wife often used Moretti’s car for holiday travels around the country. By 1955, Sal Moretti was allegedly also involved in a narcotics ring together with one Maurice Castillo, and also extorted taverns, lounges and other similar business from around the Northwest area.


Sam Giancana

In 1957, Giancana became the official boss for the criminal syndicate, and so in March that same year Daddono received an order from the new boss to find Salvatore Moretti and to give him the “murder contract” on one banker and land developer known as Leon Marcus, who in turn was “knee-deep in shit” because he was under federal indictment for misapplication of bank funds and making false entries in bank records, with Giancana behind the whole operation. So, Marcus’ trial was scheduled for September 1957, and there was a huge possibility that he might talk and that’s why one day Marcus was picked up at 2135 West 51st Street, and was taken for a ride by Moretti and two other fellas. When he entered the car, Marcus allegedly said “Leave me alone and I’ll give you anything I got” and struggled with his attackers but in the end, they managed to bring him down and drove off with their dark colored Chevrolet. Shortly after, Marcus’ dead body was found six blocks away from the kidnapping spot, in a vacant lot at 4198 Campbell Avenue, and the victim laid on the ground face up with a bullet hole in the head.


Leon Marcus

Even though the murder was perfectly completed by Sal Moretti, still there was one huge problem because he didn’t accomplish his job to the end. Moretti’s cardinal mistake was that he forgot to check the victim’s pockets for any implicating records, such as the name of the boss himself, Sam Giancana. And that’s what happened, meaning when the cops found some small papers with Giancana’s name on it which further implicated him in the scheme, Moretti’s fate was sealed but it is possible that he wasn’t aware about it. Giancana allegedly gave Moretti a pair of diamond cufflinks as a “reward” for the Marcus job, but the reality was that Giancana wanted to “buy” all of Moretti’s trust so they can easily eliminate him since Moretti was a killer, too. According to reports, Sal Moretti was allegedly seen around West Side joints proudly displaying his new gift that he personally received from the boss himself, which meant that Giancana’s plan was working perfectly fine.

In April 1957, Salvatore Moretti’s strangled and bullet riddled body was found in a car trunk on a country road south of Plainfield, Will County. The coroner report states that Moretti had cigarette burns, cuts and bruises all over his face which indicated that he was tortured before being strangled and then shot twice in the chest and twice in the head. One bullet went through the lower lip and then angled up in the cranium, while the other bullet went through the right cheek, up between the eyes, and out the left front of the skull. Also, when the cops found Moretti’s body, they found nothing in his pockets except a hair comb on him which allegedly was a message left by his killers to indicate that he had been “combed clean”, something which the late Moretti previously forgot to do during the Marcus hit. Giancana’s prime West Side crews at the time were headed by Daddono, Sam Battaglia and Fiore Buccieri, which means that hitmen from one of those groups were probably behind the execution of Moretti’s murder.


Detectives inspecting Salvatore’s corpse

KEEP IT TO YOURSELF

Salvatore’s murder was obviously a shock for all of his family members, especially for his twin brother Vincent. It is possible that the Moretti’s understood the “rules” of the Italian Mafia since nobody did nothing, even if some of them felt the desire for “vendetta” or retaliation. It was expected from the family not to say a word about the whole situation and that’s what all of the brothers did, including Vince Moretti who probably felt anger because he knew who ordered his brother’s murder but still wasn’t able to do nothing about it and had to keep his anger for himself only. Later, the cops allegedly arrested Daddono and questioned him regarding the Moretti murder, including the Moretti brothers, Vince, Lawernce and Thomas. They were held at the police station and all of the members from the Moretti “clan” defended Daddono by saying that he was simply a friend of the late Salvatore who in turn sometimes loaned his car to Daddono for personal issues, while othe2r Moretti family members such as Lawrence refused to give any comment on any of the questions.

Vince Moretti told the cops that his late brother allegedly wasn’t a gangster and didn’t have any money, since they had allegedly “gone broke” while constantly defending their imprisoned brother Michael. In fact, Mike Moretti was also visited in prison by investigators regarding his brother’s murder, and the inmate allegedly told the cops that his late brother visited him sometime around January that same year, and that he didn’t show any fear nor mentioned any threats. Because of the code of silence, as usual, Salvatore’s murder remained unsolved and on top of that, the rest of the brothers even tried to somehow link their brother’s demise to Michael’s case for which they were still fighting against it, something which shows the mentality of some of those people at the time who besides knowing the truth, still they kept trying skimming the system anyway they could.

LIFE GOES ON

Speaking about Mike Moretti, in 1958 he received a retrial regarding his murder case and “somehow” managed to win a “not guilty” for shooting at the young teenagers and also the $15,000 damage for the victim’s families was dropped, but still he remained in jail regarding the bribery case. With his notorious father in jail, Moretti’s son Michael Jr. began following his father’s footsteps by being arrested for carrying a concealed weapon. The cops found a loaded gun on Moretti Jr. and also knew him as a member of a gang of young thieves, and when they questioned him about the gun, Mike Jr. allegedly stated guns were his hobby and that he didn’t know that some of his friends were involved in crime. Later, the young Moretti was released allegedly because he was held without a charge but later was placed on probation in court. Thomas or Tom Moretti’s “bad luck” was also far from being finished, meaning he unfortunately managed to hot one 8 years old kid with the side of his car while driving at Wolcott and North avenues. Luckily for Thomas, the young kid was playing and wasn’t hurt much, and so Tom only received a ticket which was later cleared at court. This is just another example that the Moretti “corruption machine” was still in full effect, obviously because no matter what they did, later it usually ends up in their favor.


Tom Moretti

By 1959, Vince Moretti was no longer suspended and was brought back within Chicago’s police force and again managed to show his true qualities as a cop. In November 1960, Senator and democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy had a rally along Madison Street and later went to the sports stadium for a final speech, and Vince was one of the policemen who guarded the stadium’s gate. As Kennedy’s car neared the gate, one man with a gun started walking towards the senator, and thats when Moretti noticed him and instantly knocked him down and later arrested the suspect. It was one Puerto Rican guy who allegedly came to the states several years prior, and that he allegedly bought the .25 caliber automatic pistol from his brother and that he had no intentions of harming the senator, while previously he was fighting Moretti and five other cops so he can reach the senator’s car. After that, the special security also arrested another gunman who in turn was a priest and carried his .38 caliber pistol in a paper bag and allegedly told the cops that he always carried his gun for protection. Why would a Catholic priest carry a concealed pistol during a political rally? Also, was this the first assassination attempt on John Kennedy, and Vince Moretti somehow stopped it? I personally don’t know but I know for sure that two years later President Kennedy was assassinated under very mysterious circumstances.

Even though he was looked upon as “hero of the day” by the public and his colleagues in the police force, still everyone was fooled by Vince Moretti because he still had underworld connections, which in fact caused him further trouble. He was closely connected to Outfit associates and notorious burglars such as Mike LaJoy and Joseph D’Argento, who were also connected to Willie Daddono by paying “street tax” to him and also planning numerous “jobs”. LaJoy owned a grocery shop and in the basement, he and Vincent Moretti practiced shooting from different weapons numerous times. In fact, the so-called burglary racket slowly became one of Vincent’s passions or was about to.

FIVE MINUTES OF SHAME

By the end of 1962, Vince Moretti had two serious problem who were crucial for his own freedom and also for his own life. In October that same year, the government indicted Moretti in a bribery case and was charged with soliciting and accepting a bribe, inefficiency, leaving his post without permission, and disobedience of orders. At the beginning of trial, first some of the witnesses allegedly failed to identify Moretti as being involved in the bribery, and also didn’t confirm their previous statements. One of the leading prosecutors stated that “If these witnesses are perjuring themselves, then you have other remedies in the law”, meaning the witnesses might end up in prison for changing their testimonies at the last moment. When that same prosecutor walked nearby the court audience, Vince’s older brother Lawrence Moretti was also in attendance and allegedly yelled at one of the prosecutor’s aids who wanted to testify against Vince, by stating “How do you do? Why don’t you sit down and I’ll get you a yo-yo.”, thus creating a general laughter within the courtroom.


Vince Moretti

There was also lots of conflicting information during the trials which was mainly given by the witnesses, including Moretti himself, but the main problem for him at the time was that every statement which was made by the prosecutors, and also every newspaper article which followed the case at the time, always included the names of his notorious brothers such as Thomas, the late Salvatore and also the imprisoned Mike Moretti, a situation which in the eyes of the jury and the public in general made Vince Moretti a “shady” individual who belonged to a notorious family, meaning they started believing that Vince was allegedly no different than his brothers. That’s why in November the police board decided to take the situation in their own hands by first suspending Vince from the police force, and by 1963 he was completely fired from the department. Obviously, his superiors had enough of him and accused Vince of “unbecoming an officer” and also because of constantly neglecting his duty, but above all they also accused him for taking the bribe, even though he was previously -released on that same charge. In fact, this shows on how mad were some of Moretti’s mentors in the police force, and also the possible pressure they received from both the federal bureau and also the narcotics squad.

TERRIBLE MIKE GOES FREE

From the late 1950’s onward, Mike Moretti’s legal team constantly filed appeals and fought for his freedom, while his family and brothers constantly paid for his legal protection. This shows the constant loyalty between the Moretti family members, especially for Mike, which lasted from the 1930’s until the mid 1960’s or the battle between the Morettis and the law lasted for almost three decades. As I previously stated, Mike’s murder case was dismissed but by 1963, all of his appeals were rejected by the state commission. For example, Mike stawrted his fight back in 1957 but in 1960 he was denied executive clemency, and later in 1964 Moretti’s parole request was again rejected by the Illinois pardon and parole board, since the new criminal code provision at the time stated that long-term convicts had to serve at least 20 years before becoming eligible for a parole.


Mike Moretti

On top of all of his problems during that period, Mike’s sons again decided to be involved in crime and further “trashed” their father’s name with their actions, who at the same time was fighting with the law for his own freedom. Back in 1962, Mike’s youngest son Daniel Moretti robbed a CTA bus driver Cicero and Central avenues, together with one William Smith and after the robbery, they were hiding at the roof of a building located at 518 S. Cicero Avenue. The coops and witnesses saw them, and so both of them were arrested and were taken to the station for further questioning. On the young Moretti the cops additionally found a fully loaded pistol and when they told him to drop the gun, the youngster allegedly refused and was shot and wounded by one of the cops. So, besides being shot, he was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon. Later, the two youngsters each were released on $1500 bonds, until their trials which ended up with Daniel Moretti receiving five years probation. During those days, $1500 was a lot of money or something less than $16,000 in today’s cash, and so I wonder which one from the Moretti brothers was able to pull out such amount for two individuals, and if the situation also involved corruption, then the price was obviously much higher. That same year or in 1962, while leaving the court room, Mike Sr. assaulted the newspaper men and reporters who in turn waited outside to ask few questions the defendant.

Another example is when in 1964, Mike’s other son Michael Moretti Jr. was again causing trouble by being held for a grand jury action regarding the robbery of a florist shop at N. Harlem Avenue. The only witness against him was the owner of the shop who in turn allegedly saw Moretti running out from the back door. The owner also added that the only damage which was done was allegedly the broken door, since nothing else was missing from the scene. I suspect that the owner was somehow “protecting” the young Moretti probably because he knew his notorious family, but wanted to teach him a lesson. In the end, 21 years old Moretti Jr. was released on $1000 bond and also paid for court expenses, and so the case was dismissed since the owner didn’t press any charges against the young criminal.

Besides all of the family problems that were going on the outside, still in 1965, Mike’s “wheel of luck” finally begam turning for his own interests, meaning in April that same year the parole board finally granted Moretti’s request for an early release and so, after serving only 14 years out of a life imprisonment, in May Mike Moretti was finally out. Prison authorities stated that Mike has allegedly been a very good inmate who finished his high school and other education, and also worked efficiently as a clerk in the mechanical store of the prison. While wearing a grey gabardine suit, gray hat and wrapped-around black sun glasses, Mike Moretti Sr. strode out of the prison gates like a real “gangster” by yelling “Freedom!” at the press and media, and so he jumped into a car which was waiting for him and also bumped his head during the process, and angerly said to the driver “Let’s get out of here.”, followed by the sound of screeching tires with the chauffeur holding Mike with one hand, while driving with the other. The government even found Moretti a job at the Walbrook Heating Company and also gave him a house at 2821 N. Long Avenue, in which he lived with his second wife Emily.


Moretti leaving prison in 1966

THE TWIN

Record show that by the late 1960’s Vince Moretti’s older brothers such as Patrick, Thomas, Lawrence and the freshly released Michael, were out of the rackets mostly because of their age and also because of the time changing, meaning the following era of the 1970’s simply wasn’t their style and so, they all retired and tried to live the rest of their lives in peace. In April 1974, their mother Carmella Moretti died of natural causes at age of 92, and believe it or not, she was the grandmother of 24 nephews and nieces, and also great-grandmother of 22. The following year or in December 1975, one of her sons Michael Moretti Sr. also died of natural causes at age of 55 from a sudden heart attack, and left behind his widow Emily and three children. Even though the late Mike was a convicted killer, still he received his rites in the Salerno chapel at 6300 W. North Avenue and later was buried at the Queen of Heaven cemetery. This obviously signaled the end of the notorious Moretti family which speared fear on the city’s streets for the last 3 or 4 decades, and also showed the rest of the younger criminal element on how corruption really works.


Tribune article regarding Mike Moretti’s death

But Vincent allegedly thought otherwise, meaning he there was still a lot of money to be made on the streets and since he was one of the youngest siblings, he had a whole criminal career in front of him, meaning he either didn’t learn the lesson with his deceased twin brother or simply had a different plan. As I already mentioned, the burglary business was slowly becoming Moretti’s prime work and income and by the early 1970’s he was already deeply involved in the racket. After the dismantle of the former William Daddono crew, some members and associates joined or were “absorbed” by different crews, especially the ones from the West Side area. So, Moretti allegedly became part of a burglary crew that was mainly controlled by the Outfit’s Grand Avenue crew, which at the time was headed by Joseph Lombardo. Almost all of Lombardo’s contacts to local burglary crews were created by himself, and also by one of his soldiers Tony Spilotro, who before going to Las Vegas, one of his “jobs” was also collecting “street tax” from all burglary crews around the Chicago area. Sources say that Vince Moretti allegedly became one of the leading figures when it came down to burglaries, mainly because he already had the right contacts for it.

This group received “jobs” mainly through Moretti or through one of his closest friends known as Gerald Carusiello. This guy literally brought the 1970’s to a style, since Carusiello was known as a very flashy dresser, while constantly being in the company of beautiful women and female models, all fueled up with high quality cocaine and champagne. Besides his lavish lifestyle, Carusiello also committed all kinds of robberies and burglaries all around the country, especially in Florida where he controlled several burglary gangs. In fact, there was another reason for Carusiello’s expensive lifestyle and that was his deep involvement with the Chicago Outfit. During one period, Carusiello worked as a substitute driver the Outfit’s boss at the time, Joey Aiuppa, and being a driver for the boss was a big thing. One of Carusiello’s and Moretti’s oldest associates involved in the burglary business was one Steve Garcia, another very flashy dresser who loved women, booze, cocaine and burglarizing. Still, John Mendell was one of their most important members who was qualified in using sophisticated electronic devices such as “black box”, usually to bypass expensive alarm systems which were connected to monitoring security services, but Mendell’s so-called “specialty” wasn’t his electronic device knowledge, but instead he was a high-profile jewel thief who brought a trio of burglars or should I say “old-timers” together with him, such as John McDonald, Bernard Ryan and John Borsellino.


Alleged photo of Gerald Carusiello

WRONG SIDE OF THE TRACKS

During those days, Tony Accardo was the Outfit’s top boss and created all policy for the organization together with other bosses such as Joe Aiuppa, Jack Cerone and Gus Alex. The old man continued to rule supreme over his underworld organization and everybody listened to him since he had the last word on all important decisions. Accardo still took his cut from every highly lucrative scheme, including the street tax which was taken from every local burglar, and for the ones who opposed his rules, they were obviously killed. This means that Accardo was still considered one of the most important national crime bosses and commanded huge respect. But if you mix cocaine with “vendetta” or blood retaliation, all of the old rules instantly go down the toilet, and that’s what really happened.

In November 1977, before leaving to Las Vegas, Nevada; Tony Spilotro allegedly called Vince Moretti and informed him about a possible job, like for example one “monster” of a diamond known as “Idol’s Eye,” which arrived in Chicago at the time and was kept at Levinson’s Jewelers Inc., a jewelry store located at 739 North Clark Street. In the end, Spilotro also informed Moretti that if the job gets done, he expected a cut. During Spilotro’s flight to Vegas, Moretti already set the plan in motion since he already knew that the Levinson’s store was equipped with up-to-date alarm systems, which were probably plugged into a monitoring security service, and so he decided to call Mendell and get some advice regarding the alarm security problem. Later, Mendell also brought Bernard Ryan, who in turn was the guy with the equipment such as acetylene torches, and so the trio went to work.

On a very, very cold night of December 17, 1977, Mendell managed to bypass the alarm system of the jewelry store, with a little bit more sophisticated equipment, and after that Ryan climbed up onto the roof and cut through the security bars with torches and they continued with the same activity inside the store, through four wall safes. The burglary started on Saturday and continued throughout Sunday and ended somewhere around the early morning hours on Monday. In the end, the burglars left the “Idol’s Eye” because they weren’t able to get to it, but instead got away with millions of dollars in jewels. When the owner Harry Levinson came to the store, he was stunned and quickly ran to check if his precious diamond was still in place. When he saw that the diamond was untouched, Levinson felt quite relieved but later realized that the stolen jewels cost much more rather than his precious stone. The strange thing was that, according to the police report, Levinson was one of the most uncooperative victims in the city’s history, by refusing to answer almost every simple question regarding the damage which was done to his establishment.


John Mendell

The reality was that Levinson had one small “dark secret” for being old “friend” of the Outfit, since back in the old days he used to work together with one Outfit member known as Hymie Levine, prime lieutenant for former Jewish mob boss Jake Guzik, including Tony Accardo who later also became close friend with Levinson. In fact, this was the main reason for which Levinson decided to keep his mouth shut and took the problem to the city’s “other government”. Even in those days the Chicago Outfit used to keep certain “order” on the streets, and also that’s how they controlled most of the city’s crime and corruption. When Accardo heard about Levinson’s problem, they met at some restaurant which was located on the city’s North Side and during their meal, Levinson explained his problem to Accardo and told him that if he doesn’t get the million-dollar loot back, he’ll be ruined. The old boss tried to calm down Levinson and told him not worry and that he’s going to get his jewels back.


Harry Levinson

After the lunch, Accardo immediately sent a message to Tony Spilotro in Vegas, to find out on who might’ve been involved in the Levinson robbery. Spilotro obviously already knew the answer since he was the one who ordered the “job”, and later told some of his people back in Chicago to contact Vince Moretti regarding the stolen loot, who in turn was pressured to return the jewels to its owner. Sources say that Moretti and his men were furious regarding the requirement and at first, Moretti reportedly said that he had sold the loot but later he was reminded by Spilotro to stop lying and to tell truth, or else. With no other choice, Moretti met with Mendell and Ryan and they all agreed to return the jewels. Moretti was forbidden to contact directly with the bosses of the Outfit but instead first he had to give the stolen loot to Carusiello who in turn gave it to Accardo. Then the old crime boss returned the jewels to Levinson, just in time before the Christmas holidays, and some of the burglars wondered if Accardo kept some of the jewels for himself as a “reward”, no questions asked.