By 1985, the face of the Outfit again took a new form and I believe that this is the point where Larner started to think about retiring from the organization. Aiuppa was in jail, Accardo was still at the top and the only guy who left and was close to Larner, was Gus Alex. But the thing was that by now Larner didn’t owned anything to nobody and nobody ever owned anything to him and everyone knew that he was too old to get involved in big actions. So maybe Alex still received monthly “postcards” from Larner but just as a sign of respect towards his old time “captain.” By the late 1980’s Alex had so much trouble that I personally believe that he didn’t care anymore if Larner did or did not send his regards.

But right after his alleged step-back, you shall see the true power that Larner accumulated through the years as member of the Chicago Outfit and close associate of the C.I.A. So during this period there were a big number of informants among Outfit members so word came down to Larner that somebody talked about his activities and whereabouts. And Larner heard right because his alleged former underling Mike Corbitt decided to cooperate with the feds while in prison, just to reduce his sentence regarding his involvement in a previous murder. But Larner already had an “ace in his sleeve” because he had everybody who was anybody in Panama and they were all eating out of his hand. I mean he was an old and very wealthy and quite influential American mobster with a long and ruthless reputation and so this means that he also had newspaper editors in his pocket and so in 1991 the Panamanian newspapers announced that Hyman Larner had suddenly died of natural causes. Everyone was shocked and even the FBI could not believe the news and so the feds decided to send few of their men to investigate the matter. The agents looked all around Panama for any evidence regarding Larner’s death but they had no luck. They didn’t even found a grave with Larner’s name on it and so that was it. The agents returned home and obviously did not believe the story and so they left the case open.

And so, as expected, few years later in 1995 rumors surfaced that Larner was very much alive and resided in the U.S. or to be specific, in Flathead County, Montana. In reality, Larner played it very smart because at first he faked his own death by using corrupt Panamanian newspaper editors to publish it, and also he had suspicion that the U.S. government will send their agents to check out the news and so he decided to come back home quietly to his own country, where nobody will be looking for him. It was one of the oldest tricks in the book.

In his early 80’s, Larner’s health was slowly failing because of his old age so the time for the FBI was running out. Government informer Mike Corbitt decided to testify against Larner and so in 1997 the FBI wanted to make a move against the old mob boss but suddenly the State Department had intervened and stopped the whole investigation. To be perfectly honest, for me this is the most mysterious event in all of Larner’s criminal history. Nobody ever gave an answer regarding the situation and so I believe that this is the right proof regarding Larner’s immunity which obviously came from his former connections to the secret intelligence community, hidden by their shared interests.


Michael Corbitt

In an alleged act of revenge, Corbitt began writing down his own, allegedly true memoirs, and decided to publish a book with the help of the late Sam Giancana’s nephew Sam Giancana Jr., the author of a previous written book about his uncle’s criminal life called “Double Cross”. Corbitt’s book had a similar name which was called “Double Deal” and it mainly shows Larner’s alleged involvement with the CIA and his international criminal operations. But by reading the book you can feel Corbitt’s hatred against the Outfit and Larner so that’s why I believe that the book should be taken with a “few grains of salt”. Very interesting thing was when Corbitt’s book came out, the Central Intelligence Agency or the CIA immediately rushed and assaulted the book. "The allegations about the CIA are a potpourri of yarns that don't bear any resemblance to reality," said Mark Mansfield, a spokesman for the CIA. Who knows, maybe Corbitt’s book did reveal something that made the CIA a little bit nervous?!

Anyway, just when the book started printing, the Miami Herald announced that Hyman “Red” Larner had died of a sudden heart attack on October 12, 2002, and was going to be buried in Skokie, Illinois. Larner died at the age of 89 and was later buried in another place or in a crypt in Waukegan, Illinois. I’m not quite sure on why he was buried in Waukegan but all I can find is that at one time the town had become the largest Jewish community between Chicago and Milwaukee, and Larner came from the far North Side. And so, years later, some conspiracy theorists claimed that in reality Larner was a member of a political movement of Jews and Jewish culture that supported the re-establishment of their Jewish homeland and this movement was known as Zionism and its followers were known as Zionists. Of course, there are no real evidences for this kind of claim regarding Larner’s involvement in such activities.

In the end, I personally want to say that there’s probably a lot more to say regarding Larner’s criminal activities, obviously because his life story represented one quite mysterious “saga” and represented a straight line because by the end of his criminal career, luckily for him, he was convicted only once which was a very small conviction. He never opened his mouth and never posed for a picture. In his prime time, Larner made a lot of money and spent it all lavishly and during the process he also developed many lucrative connections, both in the underworld and in the upper world, which gave him his real protection on both sides of the same “coin”. But we have to understand that we’re “looking” at a rogue, out of control, international criminal with access to limitless cash funds, high level connections and personnel for the ruthlessly violent tactics. Larner used the U.S. government and other countries as camouflage to hide or to disguise his illegal activities and during his whole life time he made totalitarian power plays and that’s why powerful international factions allied with his interests, but by the end of the day his complete loyalty was towards the Chicago Outfit. As I already said at the start of this story, Larner was the very rare type of villain “disguised” as an Outfit “member” or associate and was remember as the last old underworld “big league” who also took a lot of Chicago’s darkest secrets and bloody history to his grave.

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THE OUTFIT’S BULL - ANGELO LAPIETRA


"The primary weapon of emotional abusers is the deliberate infliction of guilt. They use guilt the same way a loan shark uses money. They don't want the 'debt' paid off because they live quite happily on the interest." - from Gavin de Becker's book "Gift of Fear"

INTRO

The current world is driven mainly by the ideology of capitalism and financial uncertainty and so with the need for quick cash, many unlucky individuals find themselves in bank loans up to their necks and later with nowhere else to go, they usually turn to street loan sharks as a last resort for their financial debts. The loan sharks usually operate beyond the borders of legality and prey on every individual who is desperate for financial assistance. Loan sharks, also known in the city of Chicago as "juice men", thrive on the opportunity to lend money to those who are unable to access traditional forms of credit, or to place them on "juice". However, sometimes the consequences of dealing with criminal loan sharks extend far beyond interest rates and crippling debts, meaning in some cases people get killed.

Angelo LaPietra, is a known name within so-called "underground" circles, especially in Chicago. Some consider LaPietra as the prime example of how one criminal loan shark operated decades ago and in fact, they are not far from the truth. LaPietra learned from the "best" on how to use intimidation, threats, and violence to install fear in his victims, making it nearly impossible for them to escape his "clutches". In fact, LaPietra had so many "clients" on his list, that he literally forced the Federal Bureau of Investigation to lost count. Even today there are many myths and legends floating around regarding LaPietra, like the one in which he allegedly placed debtors on meat hooks, something which is far from the truth. Still, LaPietra's criminal profile is worth examining during the following story.

FIRST CHILD OF IMMIGRANTS

Born October 30, 1920 to Italian immigrants Joseph Lapietra and Mary Clementi Lapietra, their son Angelo LaPietra was the first generation of family members being born in the U.S.A. By 1940 the LaPietras lived on West Grand Avenue, but later or by the early 1950's they transferred on West 37th Street, near Bridgeport and Chinatown. Angelo's mother was possibly some distant relative to another "crime family" from the West Side such as Louis and Pasquale Clementi, a connection which might've started LaPietra's criminal career. During the late 1920's and early 30's Louis Clementi was allegedly a soldier for Outfit capo from the West Side known as Lawrence Mangano, while his younger brother Patsy Clementi was an alleged member of the infamous 42 gang which included many future Outfit heavyweights such as future Outfit boss Sam Giancana. In fact, this is probably the reason for which many researchers also labelled LaPietra as former member of the 42's, or youngsters which were used as a "farm team" by many Outfit members including the Mangano crew.

Angelo was followed in the life of crime by his seven years younger brother James LaPietra who in turn wasnt different at all than his older brother. Sources say that both brothers had short temper, especially Angelo who in turn was known for his violent outbursts and also the "courage" to pull the trigger from a gun. By the mid 1930's, young Angelo LaPietra was mainly involved in the car-theft and burglary schemes but when some of his older peers became members of the Chicago Mafia, he began entering more serious illegal operations including murder. In 1939, LaPietra was arrested on charges for carrying a concealed weapon, followed by his younger brother James who in turn was arrested in 1941 on burglary charges and also for carrying burglary tools.

CONNECTIONS ARE EVERYTHING

While living on the Northwest Side, Angelo LaPietra never relinquished his old West Side criminal connections and when one of his older mentors Sam Giancana became a capo in 1943, LaPietra began operating both around the Near West Side and also the Cicero area thus becoming an associate of Giancana's crew. LaPietra's violent temper was quickly recognized by one of Giancana's close associates known as Fiore Buccieri who in turn operated mainly around Cicero.

Buccieri was a very brutal individual, something which completely fitted with LaPietra's personality but still, Buccieri was different. For example, when Buccieri's younger brother Frank Buccieri was caught for ten dollar robbery, Buccieri himself asked the Judge for approval to whip his own brother with a rubber hose and his request was granted and in fact, later the whole act became a huge scandal. Besides his younger brother Frank, Buccieri also had other blood relatives involved in the life of crime, such as George and Albert Buccieri. On top of that, Buccieri's criminal record dates back to the late 1920's but by the late 1930's he worked as a "union organizer" by using violent tactics such as breaking windows of undertaker establishments and members of the Embalmers' union, and also sent threats. The reality was that Buccieri was never official member of any union at the time but instead he worked as organizer for young hoodlums for the purpose of executing violent actions over certain individuals.

The Buccieri family was related through marriage to the Laino family which was also from the West Side and already had close connections to the Outfit, especially Frank, Louis and Joseph Laino. Same as LaPietra's relatives, the Lainos also belonged to Managano's crew, especially Frank who in turn was one of Mangano's main connections to younger hoodlums such as Buccieri or the LaPietras. During World War II, the Buccieri "clan" owned gas stations and were also involved in illegal transfer of gas coupons by violently forcing other gas station owners to buy their coupons. By 1944, Fiore Buccieri worked as precinct captain for the 27th Ward and smuggled huge numbers of counterfeit coupons for thousands of gallons of gasoline, a racket which brought a lot of money and was overseen by the Chicago Outfit at the time. Also, as I previously stated that sometime around 1943 or 1944 Giancana became a capo for the Taylor Street-Cicero crew, but by 1946 he became the Outfit's number two guy or underboss. Also, by that time former Outfit capo Lawrence Mangano was eliminated for betraying the leading administration and so many of his younger associates ended up under Giancana.

This was probably also the time period when Buccieri became a made member of the Chicago Mafia under Giancana's regime, which means that Angelo LaPietra had "open doors" to the brotherhood of the Mafia, if he was able to obey every order and rule that was required by his superiors. By the late 1940's Giancana's crew was headed by Leonard Caifano who in turn was also one of Buccieri's old associates, followed by Caifano's younger brother Marshall, William Daddono, Charles and Sam Inglesia aka English, Chuck Nicoletti, Leonard Gianola and others. From this point on, all of LaPietra's criminal activities were stationed and directed from the Taylor Street and Cicero areas.

CLIMBING UP THE LADDER

Besides Buccieri's previously mentioned rackets, during the late 1940's one of the Outfit's "new" lucrative rackets was loan sharking and above all, collecting. Older Outfit bosses like West Side leader Paul Ricca or Jake Guzik from the South Side crew began lending huge amounts of cash to many younger members and associates who were able to spread it and later to double it, but they also lent money to other individuals and so someone needed to collect the interest and one of the perfect guys for the job was Angelo LaPietra. In fact, one non-Italian Outfit associate from the Cicero area known as Joe Corngold played a major role in teaching Italian criminals like some of Buccieri's men regarding the loan sharking racket and also collecting. So LaPietra started working as a collector for Corngold who in turn shared the profits with Buccieri and the Outfit, and so during his "ventures", LaPietra was introduced to another of Corngold's collectors, James Torello. Same as LaPietra, Torello was also very vicious individual who loved to torture and also enjoyed killing people.

In 1951, Outfit capo Leonard Caifano was killed during an assassination attempt of another individual, and so the following year LaPietra's mentor Fiore Buccieri became the new capo for Giancana's personal crew. From that point on LaPietra was watched closely by his new capo and fellow members, mainly because he became professional collector and also enforcer for the organization. Meaning, sooner or later he was about to be made by the Mafia.

Joe Corngold also made a connection in the loan sharking business between Guzik's South Side group and the newly formed Buccieri crew from the West Side, an introduction which would last for the following several decades. For example, in 1952 LaPietra's younger brother James was arrested on burglary charges together with South Side member from the Chinatown area Charles Bertucci, while another member from the Near South Side known as Louis Briatta was also in partnership with Buccieri in the loan sharking business. In fact, most of these guys looked for enforcers and collectors, and so Buccieri was their main guy for the job in finding those same profiles.

So during the early 1950's Buccieri became heavily involved in the loan sharking business and LaPietra collected for him, thus receiving knowledge on how to operate the scheme and also slowly becoming his favorite racket. Giancana's Cicero area was divided on two parts. north and south. The northern part of Cicero was controlled by Giancana and Buccieri, while the southern part was controlled by John Moore aka Claude Maddox and Joey Aiuppa. The so-called Maddox/Aiuppa crew was heavily involved in the union racketeering business and so they also needed collectors and that's when LaPietra again played a major role in collecting the proceedings. So besides the loan sharking racket, Buccieri used LaPietra as enforcer in every other scheme such as burglary, union racketeering and also in other more sophisticated rackets like gambling and narcotics.

By the mid 1950's two of Buccieri's main overseers of the narcotics racket were again Angelo LaPietra and James Torello, and their main supplier was allegedly Frank Pasqua from New York's Gambino crime family. Besides having various connections through their older peers, both LaPietra and Torello also allegedly extorted drug peddlers around the Chicago area and sometimes even stole their stash and later re-sold it. For example, Torello and one other Outfit associate and known dope peddler Ernest Infelise were once arrested with around $100,000 worth of allegedly stolen narcotics but later the case went nowhere. As for LaPietra, he was more organized, meaning he was connected to a large narcotics peddling ring which included Joey Pacella, James Cordovano, Joseph DiCaro, Anthony Annerino and Frank Panatera. This was a mixed crew because some of those same associates belonged to the old South Side mob, such as Cordovano and DiCaro, and they knew LaPietra from around the Chinatown area. Panatera was LaPietra's main go-between guy between him and the Gambinos in New York. Story goes that one day Panatera allegedly has "shortened" LaPietra and the Gambinos on some dope deal, so he was savagely beaten personally by LaPietra himself.

In 1956, the Buccieri crew began expanding by inducting several new made members within their crew, such as Joe Ferriola. I also believe that Torello was possibly one of those new inducted members but still Im not quite sure on who were the rest of new members from the Buccieri crew and so I cannot say on whether LaPietra was also inducted during that same ceremony since he was still involved in many rackets which were usually forbidden for made members, although in 1957, LaPietra's friend and former capo Sam Giancana became the new boss for the Chicago Outfit, meaning all rackets were allowed.

Same as his long time friends, Giancana was also very brutal individual and so LaPietra needed to show his own skills and so whether or not he was a made member, in 1958 LaPietra managed to leave a mark in the Outfit's history as one of the most violent members. During those days the Chicago Outfit was entering the lucrative Bolita gambling racket which was mainly controlled by the Latin community. Two of the main Outfit capos who were involved in taking over the Bolita racket were North Side capo Ross Prio and Fiore Buccieri from the West Side, and every operator who refused to give percentage to the Outfit or refused to relinquish his whole operation, met the most gruesome faith.

One of those Bolita operators was Santiago Gonzalez who was looked upon as a "big man" among his peers in the Latin community. After refusing to give part of his proceedings to the Mob, the Outfit sent for one of Prio's associates Ken Eto to go and talk to the guy. But Eto was chased out by Gonzalez and few other Puerto Rican hoodlums armed with metal pipes and baseball bats. Later, Eto was again ordered to set up a meeting with Gonzalez, together with one of LaPietra's associates John Fecarotta. On January 29, 1958 Gonzales was lured to a meeting in an industrial area and LaPietra together with his henchmen grabbed him and tortured Gonzales for few days. On February 2, his body was found on a parking lot. He was brutally beaten, slashed, stabbed, and gutted so severely that his intestines spilled out of his body.

LaPietra obviously had to show some ruthless skills, mainly because he belonged to one of the Outfit's most ruthless crews. For example, in 1961 LaPietra's capo Fiore Buccieri and his lieutenant James Torello were involved in one of the most gruesome tortures and also murder in all of the Outfit's history. Buccieri and Torello, together with Jack Cerone, Sam DeStefano and Dave Yaras, for several days brutally tortured Outfit loan shark William Jackson who in turn was wrongfully labelled as informant, although other sources say that Jackson was killed because he allegedly raped the wife of one imprisoned Mob-connected guy. Whatever was the reason behind Jackson's brutal murder, Outfit boss Sam Giancana allegedly posted photos from the crime scene to some Outfit members, just to install fear among the rest of the Outfit's criminal brotherhood.

"JUICE" IS THE WAY OF LIFE

During Giancana's reign as boss, the Buccieri groups was divided on several distinct loan sharking or "juice" crews which were overseen by Buccieri's top lieutenant James Torello, with one being headed by Buccieri's brother Frank, followed by Ferriola's crew and in the end, LaPietra's crew. In fact, one informant and collector for LaPietra and the Buccieri crew, stated that LaPietra's and Ferriola's crews are the leading loan sharking groups for the Buccieri group at the time. Few of LaPietra's most prominent loan sharks and collectors were his brother James, Steve Annoreno, Louis DeRiggi, Angelo Severino, Al Milstein, Frank Teutonica and John Monteleone. LaPietra's headquarters was the S.A.C. Club on West Roosevelt Road, Cicero and on top of that, LaPietra also bought a two flat building at 5303 West 30th Place, Cicero; as his new home. LaPietra also visited another joint for collecting his crew's loan sharking proceedings known as the Sportsman's Billiard Parlor at 5142 West 25th Street, Cicero.

LaPietra's violent nature preceded him and so he also received several nicknames like any other mobster, such as "Moustache Angie", "Nutcracker" and "The Bull". Some sources even reported another nickname which allegedly went something like "The Hook", a street moniker which is often confused with LaPietra's violent character but in reality, it was given to him because he precisely knew on how to "hook" people on "juice" and to receive huge interest.

On top of that, every time when some Outfit district boss or crew leader needed some assistance regarding the lack of enforcers or collectors, they usually asked for help from LaPietra and the Buccieri crew. For example, in 1963 non-Italian South Side leader Gus Alex and Buccieri had a meeting in some hotel in New Mexico and on that same gathering, Alex allegedly asked Buccieri for help, meaning Alex needed to borrow few collectors or enforcers for his operations around the Loop and Chinatown areas, mainly because most of his previous prime lieutenants were either retired, imprisoned or "shelved" by the Outfit. Buccieri agreed to help for some "small" percentage from all of the collections and so "out of nowhere", Buccieri suddenly also received interests around the Near South Side, an area which was already known by none other than his crew member Angelo LaPietra.

So two of Buccieri's personal enforcers Sam Gearis and his son Arnold, were sent to look out for Alex's gambling and loan sharking interests and collections from around the Loop area, while LaPietra was instantly sent as Alex's collector around the Chinatown area. LaPietra quickly connected to one capo from the Chicago Heights crew known as Jimmy Catuara, who in turn was also an old resident of the Chinatown area and in fact, Catuara still had a lot of influence in that same territory. Besides Catuara, another prominent Outfit member and LaPietra's long time associate was also Tony Maenza, who in turn answered to Frank Caruso, the original capo for the Chinatown area at the time who also answered to Alex and Giancana's underboss Frank Ferraro from the South Side mob. These men were also quite notorious and hardened criminals who had been arrested for all kinds of criminal activities, including murder.

NO RESPECT

Story goes that LaPietra began making so much money from his loan sharking operations, obviously followed by huge everyday pressure, a situation which brought one of the worst addictions like alcoholism. Sources say that LaPietra was heavy drinker and mixed together with his short temper, it created a "monster". FBI surveillance shows that one of LaPietra's best "drinking buddies" was Outfit capo for the Elmwood Park crew, Jack Cerone, who in turn was also known alcoholic among Outfit and government circles. According to one informant, LaPietra was a individual who rarely smiled and never talked to anyone who he was not acquainted with. LaPietra's addiction slowly became his own obstacle in moving up within the Outfit's organization, thus losing trust from some of his peers by being considered as unstable individual, something which also worried LaPietra's capo Fiore Buccieri very much. In fact, when Buccieri allegedly realized that LaPietra had a problem with alcohol, his statement was "No wonder he acts nutty at times."

Same as LaPietra, Cerone also lost trust among some of his peers and that's why he wasn't able to receive the underboss the position after Ferraro's death in 1964, but instead it was given to Sam Battaglia. In LaPietra's case, by the mid 1960's Torello was already considered as Buccieri's future successor, and sources say that Torello began going up in the organization while LaPietra remained on the same level allegedly because of the previous reasons. Sources say that Torello was more "polished and smooth" in his operations, while LaPietra was "too rough and too crude". This shows us that no matter if someone was a captain or a soldier in the Chicago Outfit, if that same individual had some personal and serious issues or addictions, that same member wasn't going anywhere until he proved himself in front of the top bosses such as Paul Ricca, Tony Accardo and Giancana. So during this period LaPietra remained as one of Buccieri's most lucrative and also most violent crew members, but also being closely watched by his fellow members regarding some of his actions which might bring unwanted attention.

MIND OF A BUSINESSMAN

In 1965, LaPietra and Joe Ferriola became partners in the J & R Cleaners Company at 6240 West Cermak Road in Cicero, and LaPietra also became the owner of the Shoo-Shoo A-Go-Go Club at 4628 W Cermak Road, which in fact was a front for LaPietra's prostitution racket. By 1967, LaPietra's club received lots of unwanted attention both from the media and the government and so this was the time period when investigators for the first time publicly listed LaPietra as one of the leading Outfit members, especially in the loan sharking and extortion schemes. According to some of the local low level criminals, the two LaPietra brothers and Torello were known as the "Three Rats of Cicero", meaning they were "eating" everything which stood in their way.

During this period the new acting boss for the Outfit was Sam Battaglia, followed by his Melrose Park a.k.a. Grand Avenue crew. Reports say that by now LaPietra spent most of his time around the Melrose Park area and also acted as the main messenger between Battaglia and Buccieri, especially regarding the "juice" racket. LaPietra owned the Stop Light Tavern located at 12th and Cicero avenues, which was a place where most of LaPietra's "juice" payments were dropped off and in fact, that same place was also used as LaPietra's "torture chamber" for all of the victims who weren't able to pay their debts. For example, one truck driver who visited LaPietra's tavern wasnt able to pay off his debts and so one day he was viciously beaten almost to death by none other than LaPietra himself. Another of LaPietra's joints which was also used for loan sharking was an apartment located at 14th street which was near 50th and Cicero avenues. In reality, it was guys like LaPietra, Torello and Ferriola who created the "badge" for their capo Fiore Buccieri as the city's most notorious loan shark and extortionist.

LaPietra also controlled many floating crap games around the Cicero area, while being in partnership with other mobsters from different crews such as Joey Aiuppa, including one which was operated by one of LaPietra's associates located in Alsip, Illinois; at 127th Street. Both Angelo LaPietra and his brother James relaxed and also had daily meetings with other high level Outfit mobsters like Aiuppa and Robert Ansani at the Luxor Bathhouse on North Avenue, which was allegedly owned by non-Italian "members" Lenny Patrick and Dave Yaras. During this period the LaPietra brothers always looked tanned, well dressed and also drove expensive cars, which means that they lived the so-called "high life".

Because of that, during this period LaPietra's capo Fiore Buccieri was considered by law enforcement as the prime loan shark whose operations allegedly extended from the Chicago River west to Harlem and from north of 22nd Street to the northern part of the Cicero area. Bucceri was the "real deal", meaning he was a gangster who made a lot of money by controlling all of the crap games and loan sharking operations and tortured or killed a lot of people during the process. In fact, Buccieri once said "I dont need any money, I have more then I can spend in three or four life times".

Buccieri usually held court at the Spot-Light Grill restaurant located at 1205 South Cicero, and Buccieri's constant "guests" were his brother Frank, Torello, Ferriola and LaPietra. After their meetings, Buccieri's driver was either Torello or LaPietra, which means they were his most trusted crew members at the time. Another of Buccieri's meeting spots was the Town Barber Shop which was located at 5900 block W Roosevelt Road. LaPietra also spend a lot of time at Buccieri's residence at Lake Geneva in Wisconsin and also sometimes took care of transferring Buccieri's day-to-day orders.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD

In 1967, Outfit boss Sam Battaglia was sent to prison and so his position was inherited by Jack Cerone, who in turn instantly placed Buccieri as his number two guy or underboss. According to one informant, Ricca, Accardo and Cerone were the ones who made all final decisions and later transferred it to Buccieri who in turn also transferred it to the so-called "board of directors" which represented the Outfit's four factions, such as the North, West, South and Chicago Heights crews. Since Battaglia's Melrose Park-Grand Avenue crew was removed from the top, including his former underboss Phil Alderisio, the Outfit's top bosses Ricca and Accardo decided to give Alderisio a seat on the board as representative for the West Side faction, just to prevent any further conflicts between him and the Buccieri crew.

Besides all of the so-called precautions, that same year Buccieri allegedly gave the approval for one of his crew members, Joe Ferriola, to "invade" some parts of the South Side area, a deal which was previously made between Buccieri and Alex. But there was problem with Alderisio who previously also received interests around the Loop and South Side as former underboss for the Outfit. Sources say that Alex and his prime South Side operator Ralph Pierce backed Buccieri in the conflict and wanted to throw out Alderisio from the whole picture, but Alderisio held much higher stature within the organization then Ferriola, and during one meeting Alderisio allegedly threatened to kill Ferriola and took over all of his new operations around the city's southern part.

In 1969, both Cerone and Alderisio were indicted in different cases and so by 1970, both of them were placed in prison by the government. This was a huge opportunity for Buccieri and his crew to take the Outfit's leadership in their own hands, obviously because Buccieri was the next in line after Cerone. According to one informant, Buccieri was an individual who never bought anything or anyone, but instead anything that he wanted it was given to him, or else. But the problem was that in 1971, Buccieri was diagnosed with cancer and his leath was failling fast. That same year Alderisio died of a heart attack while in prison, and so during his funeral the whole Outfit showed up, including Accardo, Aiuppa, Buccieri, Torello, the LaPietra bros etc. Sources say that when Accardo and Buccieri entered the chapel, all of the Outfit's membership stood up as a sign of respect for their leaders.

In 1973, Buccieri died of natural causes and during his funeral both Torello and LaPietra acted as members of Buccieri's personal family. Story goes that three of the main candidates for Buccieri's replacement were his brother Frank, Torello and LaPietra. By 1974, investigators concluded that Torello officially became the new capo for the former Buccieri crew, and was also one of the four main representatives on the Outfit's board of directors, by having interests around the Lake County, the Near West Side, northern Cicero and also parts of the South Side area. During this period both Ferriola and LaPietra controlled various crews and also worked with other Outfit crews from different areas, but under Torello's jurisdiction. For example in January that same year, LaPietra was arrested together with members from the North Side crew such as Joe Arnold and Joey DiVarco regarding a loan sharking operation and so both Arnold and DiVarco received prison sentences, while LaPietra was released on $50,000 bond. But when the government's main witness found out that the Outfit placed a "contract" on his head, he refused to further testify and so the case went nowhere and all charges against all three defendants were dismissed.

CAPOREGIME

By 1974, former Outfit boss Sam Giancana was deported from Mexico to Chicago by the government and was wanted regarding his former CIA connections, especially about the alleged assassination attempts on Cuban leader Fidel Castro. By that time most of Giancana's supporters were either dead or in jail, and so the Outfit under the leading triumvirate Tony Accardo, Joey Aiuppa and Gus Alex decided not to take any chances and in the end they issued a contract for Giancana's life which was executed in July 1975. According to some sources, it was allegedly up to Angelo LaPietra's men such as Frank Calabrese Sr. to provide the gun which later was given to Dominic Blasi who in turn fired the six shots into Giancana's head and neck. LaPietra's indirect involvement in the murder of former boss probably bought him another "badge" within the Outfit's hierarchy.

During the 1970's the top leadership under Accardo, Aiuppa, Cerone and Alex issued a ban for their underlings to get involved in the narcotics trade, and some sources say that both Torello and LaPietra were also firmly against the racket, besides both of them being previously known regarding their involvement in narcotics, same as some of their crew members. Both Accardo and Alex needed more high level members who were able to maintain the order within the Outfit's brotherhood and both Torello and LaPietra were perfect for the job. In fact, less then a decade later one of LaPietra's associates was caught on a FBI wiretap saying "They talk about how the Mob deals with that drugs. That's a lie. Not in this town. I dint care what anybody says, the Mob don't deal with dope in this town."

In 1975, LaPietra was constantly seen holding court at Giannotti's Restaurant in Forest Park Illinois; and he didnt move much, mainly because he developed a medical problem due to his excessive drinking of alcohol. LaPietra already developed diabetes and some people with that same type of decease are known to develop poor blood flow which often causes complications on the legs and feet, in the form of blisters, sores or cuts. So undetected and untreated wounds can quickly become infected, leading to complications which sometimes need surgical assistance. This was probably the main reason on why LaPietra was limping during the rest of his life.

By 1976, old time Chinatown capo Frank Caruso Sr. began having serious health issues and so he decided to take a step back from the whole "Life". As I previously stated, Caruso inherited the position as capo from previous leaders such as Bruno Roti Sr. and Phil D'Andrea, but later was placed under the jurisdiction of Ferraro and his "secretary" Gus Alex. Right before Ferraro's death, Alex made an alliance with the former Buccieri crew regarding the lack of enforcers from around the Loop and Near South Side, including the Chinatown area. In addition, some sources say that before he handed down the whole Chinatown area to LaPietra, including his whole crew, Caruso Sr. allegedly made a deal with LaPietra that if anyone tried to kill Caruso's son Frank Jr., the old man was going to eliminate everyone.

Later, we already saw that former underboss, the late Phil Alderisio, had conflicts with the former Buccieri crew regarding interests around the South Side, which obviously means that by this time or by the mid 1970's, the former Buccieris such as Torello, Ferriola and LaPietra already received almost all interests from that same area, mainly because of the decline of the former South Side crew. In fact, they previously also began "invading" the Chicago Heights area which was also on the downfall at the time, thus creating a conflict between the two crews. Speaking about downfalls, Caruso's retirement marked the end of the old South Side crew, with Alex as member of the Outfit's top administration followed by "leftovers" from the old South group who still answered to him, such as Pat Marcy and Fred Roti, leading members of the political First Ward and also known as the "connection guys", including old time non-Italian crew boss Lenny Patrick.

This means that in 1976, the Outfit's top leadership headed by Accardo, Aiuppa, Cerone and Alex decided to give the former Buccieri aka the Torello crew, the whole Chinatown area, including jurisdiction over the First Ward. Since Torello was already the territorial boss of northern Cicero, Lake County and the South Side, LaPietra received the capo position for the new Chinatown or 26th Street crew, but under Torello's jurisdiction. FBI surveillance and also information from few informants shows us that during this period LaPietra still met with Torello on weekly basis and also gave him envelopes full of cash, same as Ferriola and Frank Buccieri.

There's also one infamous photo from that same time period, labelled by the media as the "Mob's Last Supper", in which we can see the leading administration formed by Accardo, Aiuppa and Cerone, followed by Torello and LaPietra and the rest of the Outfit's board representatives and capos. In fact, the close connection between Torello's Cicero crew and the newly formed LaPietra's Chinatown group always existed, even today, mainly because they were "born" from the same former Buccieri crew, thus making them one of the Outfit's most powerful groups or in other words, Torello and LaPietra represented the new South Side faction. During that same gathering, it was allegedly decided for crew boss Joe Amato to relinquish most of his operations around DuPage and McHenry County and to literally hand it down to Torello's group. During that period, Amato was arrested on gambling charges with members of his crew, who by now belonged to Torello's group such as Sal DeLaurentis, and later Amato was again arrested for committing arson and fraud, which in fact was a clear sign regarding Amato's "retirement".

LaPietra's Chinatown crew was formed by his brother James LaPietra, James Cordovano, Charles and Frank Bertucci, James DiForti, Frank Caruso Jr., John Fecarotta, Frank and Nick Calabrese, Gino Martin, Ronnie Jarrett, Fred Barbara, John Monteleone, Joe LaMantia, LaMantia's son Aldo Piscitelli Jr., Frank Furio, Frank Santucci, Frank Saladino who in turn also had close ties to the Rockford crime family and also took care of LaPietra's business relations with that same group, and also Nick Ferriola, the son of Cicero capo Joe Ferriola. All of these men already closely collaborated in many business ventures and also murders with their "cousins" from Torrelo's and Ferriola's Cicero crew, such as Donald Angelini, Dominic Cortina, Harry Aleman, Rocky Infelice, Joseph Scalise, Gerry Scarpelli, Butch Petrocelli, Tony Borsellino, Mike Sarno, Sal DeLaurentis and Jimmy Inendino.

In 1977, LaPietra celebrated his new position by building one huge fortress-like house at 30th Street and Princeton Avenue in Cicero, circled by a 6-foot high brick wall and at night, several huge lights covered the whole area. LaPiera's display of power probably didn't satisfy everyone in the Outfit, especially his bosses, but he was making a lot of money for them and so they kept quiet. Because of that, LaPietra's influence didn't just extend around Chinatown, Cicero and the South Side, but instead he also had many allies and interests from around the Chicago Heights area and some other southern suburbs.

For example, Jimmy Catuara was a capo under the Chicago Heights group, which at the time was represented by Al Pilotto, but Catuara wasnt liked quite much by most of his peers. LaPietra knew Catuara since the old days, mainly because Catuara grew up around the Chinatown area and later they worked together, and Catuara allegedly still had some "action" around Chinatown. But since by now LaPietra had a higher stature within the Outfit then Catuara, story goes that LaPietra allegedly "pushed out" Catuara from the Chinatown area allegedly because LaPietra wanted the whole territory for himself only. It seems LaPietra already knew that Catuara was slowly losing power and allegedly used the moment when Catuara was told to retire but the old man refused. In 1978, Catuara was killed by hitmen from the Chicago Heights crew and most of Catuara's former interests were inherited by LaPietra, especially in the auto-theft racket.

LaPietra also inherited and shared with Torello all of the contacts and interests from the Las Vegas casinos, which were previously "bought" by their former leader the late Fiore Buccieri since the late 1950's. That's why LaPietra together with his old friend Jack Cerone were also seen having meetings with representatives from other families, allegedly regarding the Vegas scheme. For example, in October 1978, Aiuppa, Cerone and LaPietra had a meeting in an apartment on the city's North Side, with the boss of the Kansas City crime family Nick Civella regarding their interests in Vegas and some sources say that complications occurred with one of the Outfit's frontmen over there, and story goes that because of it some tension was created between Aiuppa and Civella. Also, what was left of the Milwaukee crime family at the time, also had meetings with LaPietra and his bosses regarding the same subject. By now the Chicago boys were in charge of the Vegas scheme and so both the Kansas and Milwaukee crime families were to follow orders, a situation which also gave LaPietra unlimited power in the world of union racketeering and legitimate enterprises, such as the garbage scam.

In April 1979, James Torello suddenly died of a heart attack and sources say that some type of friction allegedly occurred between LaPietra and Ferriola regarding Torello's former position as representative for the new South Side mob, including the Cicero crew. Story goes that Ferriola allegedly was making some problems at the time, like unsanctioned extortions and the usage of unsanctioned violent tactics, but whatever was the real reason behind Ferriola's alleged "poor" reputation at the time, in the end it was LaPietra who became the new representative for the South Side mob, including the Cicero crew, and also remained as capo for the Chinatown street crew. Ferriola remained as district boss for the Cicero crew, but now under LaPietra's jurisdiction.

TOGETHER WE KILL FOR THE OUTFIT

Besides being one of the most lucrative groups, both the Cicero and Chinatown crews were involved in numerous murders and in fact, they became two of the most feared Outfit crews which also included other quite violent groups such as the Grand Avenue crew under Outfit capo Joey Lombardo and also the Melrose Park crew under Outfit boss Joey Aiuppa and his capo Tony Ortenzi. During this period the Cicero area was still divided between the LaPietra and Aiuppa crews, something which again gives us a full picture of the close connections between the two groups. Back in 1978, the Chinatown crew alone killed around four victims and continued killing anyone who stood in their way.

In 1979, Cicero crew member Butch Petrocelli blamed missing revenue on Tony Borsellino and also blamed him for being an alleged informant. Story goes that Borsellino was quite disappointed from the whole situation and sought help from Frank Calabrese Sr. who in turn asked his capo Angelo LaPietra, if Borsellino was able to switch crews from Cicero to Chinatown. But the problem was that LaPietra stated that the only way for Borsellino to be saved, was for Calabrese to sacrifice himself in his place, meaning LaPietra wanted Borsellino dead. In May that same year, Borsellino was murdered by one of his Cicero associates and long time friend, Gerald Scarpelli.

In July 1980, Chicago Heights associate and hitman William Dauber and his wife Charlotte were killed together on the Outfit's orders and the individuals who executed the "contract" were Chinatown associates Frank Calabrese Sr. and Ronnie Jarrett, together with Cicero crew members Butch Petrocelli and Gerald Scarpelli. In September 1980, Petrocelli himself got into a trouble with his superiors and story goes that he was allegedly called by both Angelo LaPietra and Joe Ferriola to come in for a sitdown. When Petrocelli arrived at the scene, LaPietra's crew members Frank Calabrese Sr. threw a rope around Petrocelli's neck and later slit his throat. Petrocelli's corpse was thrown in the trunk of his car, while Clabrese's brother Nick tried to burn the car but the fire went out too early, thus leaving Petrocelli's body half burned, although some sources speculated at the time that Petrocelli's face was allegedly burned with a acetylene torch.

Michael Cagnoni was an associate of both the Cicero and Chinatown crews but in June 1981, on LaPietra's orders Cagnoni was killed when a bomb exploded under the seat of his Mercedes. Sources say that it was Frank Calabrese Sr. who was responsible for the Cagnoni murder by planting a bomb under Cagnoni's car, which was detonated by an automatic radio-controlled device. In July 1981, the capo and representative for the Chicago Heights crew Al Pilotto survived an assassination attempt on his life which was orchestrated by one faction from his own crew. Story goes that two members of Pilotto's crew, Nick D'Andrea and Sam Guzzino, were allegedly behind the botched hit and so a "contract" was quickly placed on their lives. In September 1981, D'Andrea had been lured to a garage in Chicago Heights where he was killed by LaPietra, Nick Calabrese and high level member's of Aiuppa's personal crew, Sam Carlisi and Jimmy Marcello, while LaPietra's crew associate John Fecarotta was waiting outside. Story goes that the prime Outfit members who were previously sent to investigate the whole conspiracy, were old time Indiana capo Frank Zizzo, South Side boss Angelo LaPietra and Sam Carlisi. So before being killed, D'Andrea was first beaten at a warehouse and then they were going to take him to Pilotto's future successor Dominic Palermo. Carlisi was allegedly hitting D'Andrea with a shotgun on the way, but they discovered that the victim was dead once they got to the house.

Besides surviving an assassination attempt on his life, In June 1982, Chicago Heights boss Al Pilotto was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in jail regarding the skimming of millions of dollars from the Labors International Union of North America. Pilotto's "unofficial" successor was Dom Palermo who in turn was less powerful then his predecessor and so the leadership of the Chicago Heights crew and its membership became quite vulnerable. Some government sources at the time believed that there was a much larger picture behind the assassination attempt on Pilotto. Sources say that the dead Chicago Heights members who tried to kill their boss were possibly backed by Palermo, Joe Ferriola and LaPietra and in fact, the whole situation already had a long history. As I previously stated, since the late 1960's the former Buccieri - Torello faction "eyeballed" both the South Side and Chicago Heights areas, and it seems that this was the right time for them to accomplish their long desired goal.

That same year or right after Pilotto's imprisonment, the feds reported that a "platoon" of enforcers allegedly headed by Ferriola and LaPietra, invaded some of Pilotto's south suburban areas allegedly by "taking everything away and beating up anyone who doesn't go along". Sources say that their enforcers were going on a "wholesale throwing out of vending machines and electronic games" belonging to firms owned by Pilotto and the Chicago Heights crew.

LONG LIVE THE BROTHERHOOD

In 1983, LaPietra allegedly "sponsored" both Frank and Nick Calabrese to become official members of Chicago's Cosa Nostra family, followed by Rocco Infelice from the Ferriola's Cicero crew. LaPietra sponsoring three members from two different groups, meaning the Chinatown and Cicero crews, is one of the main evidences regarding the existence of one official representative for one, two or even more Outfit crews. The boss who presided over the induction ceremony was Joey Aiuppa himself, followed by one high level member of his own crew known as Al Tornabene. Some speculate that Tornabene knew the traditional Italian procedure of making new members, mainly because previously, or before the 1970's and 80s, the Outfit was known for making new members without any type of traditional customs.

It is possible that LaPietra realized that his days as Outfit capo were already numbered, meaning during this period LaPietra was looked upon by law enforcement as one of the Outfit's most powerful and feared leaders under Aiuppa, Cerone and Accardo, and so he also began receiving a lot of pressure from the government. That's why LaPietra decided to bring "new blood" within his own crew, and the Calabrese brothers were perfect for that role.

THE DOWNFALL

Back in 1980, Angelo and James LaPietra together with Joe Ferriola briefly appeared before a Milwaukee federal grand jury regarding the Mob's infiltration in Las vegas casinos. Also, in 1981 two of LaPietra's crew members Frank Saladino and Ronnie Jarrett were indicted in a burglary case and so the government quickly connected them to LaPietra's name which also "exploded" in the newspapers. For example in 1982, the Chicago Tribune posted a chart which allegedly explained the chain of command within the Outfit and LaPietra's name was on it, and the following year his name appeared again when one of his enforcers Joe LaMantia was arrested and indicted for making threats to one victim who in turn was an undercover informant and was secretly taping all of the conversations that he had with LaMantia. During one of their conversations, LaMantia told the informant to scare one of their victims by saying "You tell this guy...the guy I'm with, he's a gentleman, but he'll cut your heart out. You scare him 'cause he don't mean a thing to me. I'll stick him the head with an ice pick".

Finally, in May 1984, the government officially announced the indictments against Aiuppa, Cerone and LaPietra regarding the skimming from Las Vegas casinos and in June, all of the bosses were called to testify before a U.S. Senate subcommittee in Kansas City, including the local crime bosses from that same town. As usual, all of them stood hidden behind the 5th amendment and the greatest spectacle occurred when Tony Accardo also arrived at the hearings. The old man confirmed knowing Al Capone and also confirmed his long time nickname "Joe Batters" but refused to say anything regarding Aiuppa's or Cerone's daily activities besides being socialized with them for quite a long time period. The bosses were out on bond at the time while Accardo stated that he and Aiuppa saw each other in Palm Springs right after the indictments were disclosed, meaning 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 thing was that 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 off the hook.

During the 1985 trials Aiuppa was accused by prosecutors as being the so-called "mastermind" behind the Las Vegas scheme while being backed by Cerone, LaPietra and Grand Avenue capo Joey Lombardo, by constantly playing tapes made from hidden microphones and also constantly pulling out witnesses during the investigations. 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, who was described as the one who oversaw the information and illegal income from the scheme between Las Vegas and the bosses, was sentenced to 16 years in prison, followed by Lombardo in April that same year, who in turn received additional years on his previous conviction which also resulted with the amount of 16 years imprisonment.

Before going to jail, Aiuppa, Cerone and LaPietra had to make few final decisions, such as which member was going to inherit their crews and also on who was going to get "whacked" next. Sources say that Anthony Ortenzi should've continued his role as Aiuppa's capo for his personal crew but the problem was that Ortenzi already had serious health issues and so LaPietra's long time associate Sam Carlisi was allegedly the guy who inherited both Aiuppa's crew by placing Jimmy Marcello as the crew's new capo, and also became the acting boss position for the Outfit. On the other hand, Cerone handpicked the capo from his own crew, John DiFronzo, as the new number two guy or underboss for the organization, followed by Louis Eboli who in turn represented Lombardo's successor. As for LaPietra, he placed his brother Jimmy LaPietra as the new capo for their personal Chinatown crew while Joe Ferriola finally became the new representative for the whole Cicero/South Side mob. Same as his predecessor, Ferriola also displayed his power by building one huge $500,000 mansion in Oak Brook and also becoming one of the Outfit's most important leaders. In fact, some government sources at the time though that Ferriola was the Outfit's boss, an information which was obviously wrong.

All of their successors needed to show loyalty to their imprisoned bosses by all being involved in the June 1986 murders of the Spilotro brothers. Story goes that the Spilotro brothers were swindled, meaning Tony was given a promise for becoming a capo while his brother was going to become a made guy. 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 loyalty between them by killing two of their own, since they all participated in the same crime. Three months after the Spilotro murders, LaPietra's crew member Nick Calabrese also received the contract to kill one of their long time associates John Fecarotta and after the murder, Nick Calabrese made one small mistake which will haunt him and his associates decades later.