Paul Ricca,when he arrived in the U.S. as a young man he worked for Diamond Joe Esposito where he met a lot of future gangsters.Paul connected with young immigrants with criminal backgrounds under the bloody Gennas smugling moonshine.Ricca was always at the restaurant Bella Napoli,once owned by the Gennas,thats where he got the nickname "The Waiter".There was a sayin about the place"A guy can play a husband at home,but at the Napoli you were a man."The place was also once owned by Diamond Joe.Ricca was described like an enigma by the ppl around him,handsome guy with a firm square jaw and that he clenched when got angered.He had the talent to cloak his criminal nature when in company with high class people.He was said to be a man of “refinement,” well read,an interesting speaker and a cold blooded murderer.He was also actin like a watch dog,ppl had to be calmed infront of him cuz rumours are that he used to react very bad on jumpy and shifty persons.At sit downs Paul didnt want to see emotions.Ricca had a big temper,if some1 said somethin worng to his face,that person always had the taste of a hot lead in his mouth.He was also good with knives.There was this story that Ricca had a argument with some guy in New York,this guy was insulting Ricca and after that he's torso was found in a suitcase with the head,arms and legs removed from the body.
After some time with climbing the ladder to win Joe Diamonds favour,Ricca became a close friend with Al Capone.At sometime he was a theatre manager of sorts,managed a striptease joint, owned by Capone.He was soon acting as Capone’s “emissary” to the New York crime families.In 1927 Al Capone was “best man” at Ricca’s wedding.After Diamond Joe's death(there are rumours that Paul subsequently set up “Diamond” Joe Esposito),Ricca used his "old school" skills and went on low profile.While Al Capone became an obstacle to "free enterprise",a guy who every1 in the world was looking for him.Ricca respected Capone a lot but business is business.Ricca wasnt happy with Capones sentence and maybe Al was his close friend but they had some real action goin on and biz to run and with Capone out of the way there was no stopping Ricca.
The media says that Frank Nitti was the boss but that was all good with Ricca.He wanted to stay under the radar and confuse the government power.Rumours r that when there were major business deals,Nitti was nowhere to be found.Nor people like Guzik or The Camel took orders from Nitti.
During his rise Ricca had numerous meetings in New York and Atlantic City with the East Coast families.While Nitti was still actin as a front boss for the general public and with the end of prohibition,there was a meeting in Chicago at the Bismark Hotel,with men like Lucky Luciano,Rocco Fishetti,Harry Ducket and Sylvester Agoglia.Meyer Lansky was also ova there but wasnt let by Ricca to attend the meeting.The meeting was mostly about the takeovers on the unions from coast to coast.
In 1936 the Chicago outfit took over the movie unions and many known stars from back in the days were sponsored by the mob,people like Gary Grant,Clark Gable,Jimmy Durante,George Raft and even the Marx Brothers.The Chicago outfit took over many unions and Ricca was the top guy.For examle,the barbers union he handled pretty well.He have sent Mooney Giancana to kick the shit out of every barber in the state with the help of young people like Mad Sam DeStefano,Turk Torello and Fat Leonard.
The most ruthless mobsters were under Ricca's rule,men like Sam Giancana were his bodyguards,drivers or hitmen.They looked at him like he was their "general".Rumours are that he had some enforcers or hired killers as a special breed,with no territory and can only be called by members of the hierarchy or by the Boss.Hes two best advisors and financial cronies were The Camel and Guzik.
Under his rule were his lieutenants such as Tonny Accardo,the Fusco and the Fischetti brothers,Sam Hunt,Louis Campagna,Johnny Roselli,Cherry Nose Gioe and main enforcer from the old days,Sam"The golfbag"Hunt.They were given specific territories with soldiers/associates under their rule,who hustled on the streets.Money from unions and many other illegal activities were taken and distributed up the ranks.
It’s been said that Ricca had much respect for "decent" women and that he rarely used any curse words,but thought nothing of using them as prostitutes in the Outfit's whorehouses.Theres a ruour that he was once a dinner guest at the Roosevelt White House.Police authorities state that Ricca was also suspected in more than 55 murders during his rise as top guy in the Chicago outfit.
Ricca made a sucesfull push to power in 1937 and the new direction of the Outfit was taking towards infiltrating legitimate business.There were many rumours that every local or state politician was eating out of Ricca's hand.
And here's an article about how Ricca got out of prison and the extension of his power in the 40"s:
http://www.ipsn.org/ricca_paul.htm
