Bridgeport probably not more than 10 percent; Melrose and Elmwood probably well less than 50. Not sure about the exact stats but you can look them up on line.

Can't know bridgeport because it's part if Chicago and they dont do specific demographics like that. Elmwood is probably 40% and Melrose probably 25%.

And 123joe Chicago has the 3rd highest Italian population in the country today so there's still people wiling to be involved

Bridgeport is only 35 percent white, and their are a lot of Poles, LIthuanians and just other Caucasians down there. 10 percent would be generous IMO.

IMO the Outfit is for all intents and purposes closing down for business.

Exactly, and this is the most important point. I think a lot of Outfit guys are basically turning into the Todaros. This will make them very soon what Detroit is like now and then Buffalo shortly thereafter. I don't even't think it will take that long. 10-20 years maybe, probably no more than that.

Very well put guys. Jonny your comments above would make a good closing paragraph for an Outfit history book.

Sometimes you'll hear people say "but there are still lots of Italians in (insert city with dying mob family here)" and that says it all. In Chicago, there are still hundreds of thousands of Italian-Americans, but not too many of them seem to want to become gangsters. The lack of mafiosi in spite of the continued presence of lots of Italians shows that it's not the preferred line of work for the assimilated.

I do think this was really moved along by GAMBAT and Strawman I and II ("Strawmen"?). Probably sped up the death of the Outfit by 20-30 years or so.

Now I'm not quite sure how important Family Secret was; I've heard comments ranging from "the feds were picking on a bunch of dinosaurs and wasting taxpayer money", through "Marcello really was the guy who was going to put it back together and taking him out was crucial for the feds". I don't know much about this so I yield the floor on this matter.

Hi Ivan,

Regarding Family Secrets, I don’t know if Marcello would have been a big influence in bringing the Outfit back to strength. He was in prison from 95-03, then back to prison for FS in 05. From what I’ve read his rackets appear to have been the same old, same old, so nothing new there. In terms of the other guys, Frank Sr. had been in prison since 95. Hard to say how involved Lombardo was at that point, if I was a betting man, he appeared pretty gun shy and had been trying very, very hard to not go back to prison. Schiro and Doyle of course were basically non-factors.

One thing I occassionally wonder about is the possibility of any of the above flipping. Some of the mobsters of course talk the talk and walk the walk, but I have to say it seems like if you were literally facing the rest of your life in prison with zero chance for parole, it would be pretty tempting to start singing.

From a purely selfish standpoint, I think it would be amazing to read, for instance, Lombardo’s completely unvarnished life story—if he really told everything he ever knew and everything he had ever heard. He must know nearly everything about the Outfit.

You guys don't know shit about Chicago

I live in the city and there is not much that i can say other than a couple guys that are making book and lending short money, i know a couple younger guys who sell a shitload of pills and im not talking just painkiller, cancer meds, dick pills, and they also move alot of weed. Also burglerys are always a money-maker there's not alot of news but they happen all the time, but its nothing like it was in the 90's or even early 00's. There's some activity in the surburbs too and the chicagoland area just seems to be wide open.

SsWaue86,

Do the names Giachinno, Anthony Catalano or Michael DeFilippis mean anything to you.

Just the same shit you probably heard. The pill doc, a murder vic, and a missing person right? Dr's like giachinno are a dime a dozen so that is nothing new. i dont know how Anthony Catalano or Michael Deflilppis were tied to the outfit though.
Why?

There was an article over on ANP hypothisizing that they were pushing pills for him. Apparently Fosco had a "source," if I remember correctly. The implication was that they were going to flip and Giachinno had them murdered.

No idea if there is any truth to it. Except Giachinno does seem like a real nut.

Yeah he does but Fosco has his own adgenda and i dont see the doc having a enough juice to get that done, but i know anyhing's possiable. What are your thought's on it?

The same as yours. I can't picture DiFronzo signing off on that. And they also made one guy disappear while bludgeoning the other to death, which would be pretty sloppy.

And you are right, Fosco always has an agenda and even though it's a very interesting site you always have to take everything with a grain of salt. (Or, rather, was an interesting site.)

You know they say marco got shelved an Vena's been the "Blue-collar boss".

Maybe shelved is the wrong word, maybe he didnt want the heat but i heard he's just enjoying the later years of his life and that al vena is the street boss or whatever is left out there, have you heard that?

Haven't heard that about Marco but it would certainly makes sense as he has kept his name out of the papers for a long time.

And yes on the other thing, several times.

Well from what i heard Joe A, is sick and living out his days in florida, joe kong is also sick and chris spina got what he had let, i guess toots is still makeing money, and at this point i think that its pretty rough out here for these guys not alot of money and alot of headaches, i know there's still some sort of pecking order but i wouldnt say it a heriarchal thing cause i know guys who do what they want and worry about the fallout later. What do you think is left?

Dont know much about Chicago, however anyone trying to fill Accardo's shoes would have had a tough time! The guy was so many things. Ruthless, genius, stradegy etc.

Sounds like you have your ear more to the ground than I do. Definitely heard that about The Builder.

Would make sense that Toots is still making money, in Family Secrets the little current activity that was mentioned taking place in the city was all in Bridgeport (ie Talarico admitting he still had a book and a couple other things like that.)

I guess sense Sarno went away for it you have to figure that they still have some of the video poker stuff, although in another thread on this forum there is a link to all the FBI docs from the trial, including Marcello's take from the video poker stuff, and someone who was familiar with that biz in NY said the take was pretty low/not very good.

It was mentioned on ANP that the real money for DiFronzo is the Aruba casino, which makes perfect sense.

Basically from what I've heard they have the offshore casinos, the video poker thing, a limited amount of bookmaking and a limited amount of loan sharking, and that's about it.

Obviously the Internet has cut into their bookmaking, as payday loans, high APR credit cards, etc. have cut into their loansharking.

I've heard between D&P, the car dealerships, and Aurba he's out of the game. I know that their book and loansharking is still intact and a profitable one at that, there also banking of the poker machines shit there in every bar between here and Rockford. Speaking of Rockford i've spent some time there they gotta nice book and theres still money out there granted its not alot but i think for the 5 or 6 guys it a modest money maker. I heard something about solly d maybe having some juice but i dont belive it the guy is a OLD man. Nick F hasn't been heard form since he was realeased but i know he had some cash put away so it would make sence but then agian he could be under the rader. It's really just a guessing game i know there's a pecking order but as far as a herarchial orginagtion i just dont know between the different crews and what not i think alot is been up for grabs since FS, but please if you know anything im all ears its nice to have a convo with another windy city poster without talking about the Outfit being all powerful and 100+ Made guys on the street.

Bout time we got a couple Chicago posters who know what they're talking about lol except for Mark.

Joe,

I think a big part of the problem is just that there is so little going on with the Outift there isn't a lot to talk about... but this forum is a great place to talk about stuff with other mob enthusiasts!

SgWaue86,

Yes, great speaking with you as well. The guys who think the Outfit is stronger than ever, etc. are crazy.

I would definitely agree about it being "wide open." I once asked Fosco how, if you don't have guys like Harry Aleman running around killing people every 10 minutes, the Outfit prevents other people from starting books, etc. My exact question was: "Why can't a kid with a cell phone just set up a book?" He said that there are people who do that but that nobody gets paid, which is what keeps the Outfit bookies in business. (ie the other guys are amateurs and don't have a big enough bank.) I suppose that sounds plausible.

Ha... it would be an interesting experiment, to see if you could just set up a book somewhere around town, or put money on the street. I would guess that nobody would f**k with you, but who knows.

I have no way of knowing but I would guess it would be like, if you tried to open a book in Bridgeport, you would hear from someone. If you tried to do it in Lincoln Park? Probably not.

But I really don't know.

You guys are obviously talking about a person or family with lots of money. I have a question that would apply to anyone in such a position. Why on earth would anyone with millions of dollars continue in an enterprise or business that could eventually cause them to lose their freedom ? I understand greed could certainly be a reason, but given the advanced age of some of these guys and the risks involved, it just seems to me that common sense would prevail. Get out and let the younger guys do whatever they need to do.

I know very little about this particular matter, but it would seem to make sense or apply to anyone in a similar situation.

Power and duty!

Interesting question Gary. I have often wondered that myself: Why on earth would someone like DiFronzo do #anything# criminal these days? He's 85 and rich! What could be worth the risk?

I think a lot of them did get out as quick as they could essentially. But for those who didn't: 1) In the past you simply were not allowed to 2) They were in so deep that it was probably better to try and stay involved to keep your eye on things since if they went south you were in all likelihood sunk

They say that CEOs share more psychopathic traits with killers than any profession. I imagine, as Harlem says, just can't give up the power

Some of them are not as wealthy as you would imagine. They have a lot of money, but maybe not so much as to just be able to totally walk away

And some of them are just loonytunes and probably love it.

But I think you're right, that any sane person would, particularly in this day and age, leave it behind at the first opportunity.

Sometimes you think about these guys though... they are nuts. Jimmy Marcello would probably seem like a nice guy if you knew him casually. In reality he's someone who has, probably multiple times, beaten other men to death.

A lot of these guys are cut from a different cloth.

Did you watch those "Iceman" interviews with Kuklisnki?

The pyschiatrist's analysis of him was interesting.

Yes, I did watch the Iceman interviews and it was chilling to say the least. I actually ordered the video and had a friend of mine,who is a psychologist, watch it. He totally agreed with the psychiatrist. He also said something similar to your comment about "cut from a different cloth." His comment was, " he swings from a different limb."

I did do a little "homework" on JF and found basically what was stated in an earlier post about the garbage/trash business and auto dealerships. Also, I did hear that his net worth was between 50-100 million. Is this accurate? Sounds really high.

It just seems to me that with the increased govt. surveillance and the risks involved, these guys, or any person involved in a criminal enterprise, would want to spend their remaining years in a non - restrictive environment.

Anyway, you guys know a heck of a lot about the goings-on in Chicago. Being from East Tennessee limits my knowledge of..........just about everything !

Thanks for the info.