John Kass right after Secrets wrote of a coming "tsunami" of indictments against the remaining guys but it never happened.

Some guy on ANP (for what it's worth, which is obviously very little ) was also saying "someone he knows" is predicting a big case against Cicero in 3-5 years.

I agree completely about Calabrese.

It's also interesting to note that they now have a fair amount of very high-up Chicago guys doing life or what amounts to life.

I'm sure they're working on something...

Evidence? Come on ivy, he's a tough guy from Chicago, what more do you need?

The feds may have greater priorities than organized crime in Chicago (or any major city these days), but I think they care a great deal about Hatch’s murder, along with Ronnie Jarrett’s shooting and Zizzo’s disappearance. Jarrett was under surveillance at the time of his shooting, and an FBI agent was on the scene before any first responders. The feds also care enough to keep tabs on Rudy and the likes of Paul Carparelli. The feds are clearly interested. There is going to be another big case, certainly. It will be interesting to see if it involves DiFronzo and Toots—two people whose names came up in open court during the Family Secrets trial but who avoided indictment. Also of interest to me (for personal reasons) will be the fate of Solly DeLaurentis and Jimmy Inendino.

You probably remember during Secrets it came out that the FBI has what they described as "two high-level informants."

Of course speculation has run wild.

Ivy has posted the exact number of agents working on the Outfit/OC in Chicago before... or if not the exact number, it was a very logical/probable conclusion based on statements the FBI has made.

Just thinking out loud, it would seem the Hatch's murder would be the easiest to get to the bottom to. Jarrett was dealing on the side and ostensibly could have been killed by drug dealers as well. (Although I think people usually point the finger at Montelone.) Zizzo... like Hoffa, but will never get half the resources. Sounds like a probable cold case!

StonePark , if there was another big case like family secrets , would the outfit be able to recover and regroup from that ( business keeps going on with the new crop), or would that type of a case result in the beginning of the end for the outfit , ( not enough new leaders to keep the illegal activity money flowing ) ? Thanks

SP....or anyone with any real knowledge of the situation....what kind of importance do people in Cicero (Inendino or Solly D) place on the organization as an institution? Do these guys place a hight value on that? As opposed to JD who appears to be content with staying out of prison.

@Nicky, those numbers are very skewed. Elmwood park is half the size of suburbs like Lombard, and considerably smaller than suburbs like Addison. And Elmwood is rapidly losing it's IA population to Hispanics & Poles, this cannot be denied. Those places I mentioned are not. If anything, many of the young folks that grew up in Elmwood are headed that way.

Cicero & Chinatown take the Chicago Outfit very seriously. The difronzos know Elmwood park/grand Ave are all but done.

I could definitely see a big indictment coming down on the southside over the next few years. Don't think it will involve the Carusos or the inendino crew. But delaurentis & his people are certainly on the chopping block. The Cicero crew is pretty large, made guys down there have big teams. Carparelli alone has a big crew.

I don’t know. All I have is my opinion. If there is another big RICO case focusing on recent activity that took out both Sollys, Jimmy I, and Toots, it would be hard to imagine the active street crews staying afloat. A case targeting the upper echelon would leave Cicero/Berwyn and Chinatown with a few younger capable guys without any competent leaders. (At this time, we can set our watches to a few people who will rush to defend the Caruso Family Honor by foolishly arguing that Bruno or Leo Caruso would steer the ship.)

People do not realize how much power and influence Johnny DiFronzo has locked up. Even though he loafs around like an old hump, he still is what he was twenty years ago, but he is resting on his laurels. As long as he is around (and to a lesser extent, his brother Pete, and to an even lesser but still significant extent a few of their immediate “confederates”) the Outfit exists, though it won’t resemble organized crime or the mafia to most of the people reading this. Maybe that is significant, and maybe it isn’t. In my opinion, it is. We will see what happens.

Also, it won’t take actual convictions of current leaders to dramatically damage the organization. Indictments and the trial process can accomplish the same thing, especially considering the age of some of these guys.

Thanks and your opinion makes sense in that it matches what the FBI says regarding Outfit size and active crews post Family Secrets.

Regardless there will always be guys bringing in cash from the stables of gambling , sharking and video poker .

To me the lack of indictments and violence has been surprising but it's possibly due to a reduction in activity and crew size today from years ago

The only people who can give you an honest answer to this question are the Cicero people themselves, like Inendino and DeLaurentis. You're asking how particular people "identify." In this sense, I don't have any real knowledge of the situation, and no one on here does. My observation, though, is that they both have a mafia "aesthetic" and they both did time for the organization without informing...that we know of. That speaks to something.

Agree with SP that all we can do is guess, but my guess would be that they indeed do place importance on the institution itself. That is what allows them to extort, etc. They still want people fearful of them.

Without naming names, as I don't want to get anyone whacked, what do you guys think is the number one reason some guy looking at a life sentence doesn't flip when they have the opportunity?

1. The organization still financially supports their family

2. Fear of violent reprisal for them or their family

3. Sense of loyalty

I would guess one and two. I would also guess that people don't have the opportunity to flip as much as one might think. You would in many instances literally have to be able to show where the bodies are buried, or something else that would eventually lead to concrete convictions.

When it comes to the Outfit, this reason may be the most important: given how much the current leadership is intermarried, they not only flip on their criminal associates, they flip on the fathers of their daughter/sons spouse, or cousins or nephews or uncles.

I also agree that the Outfit supports their families and they do it probably better than most borgatas. Hence why they have had only one made member ever flip in their history.

I would say loyalty. Snitches don't really get killed anymore(to many examples to list of snitches living out in the open) and for the most part the whole your family gets taken care off while your away, is pretty much a falacy.

Jimmy Marcello was giving Nick Calabrese's family $4K a month while he was away, thus why Nick protected him at first.

Great point ChiTown.

I can understand being a good soldier if you're looking at 10 years. When you're looking down the barrel of a life sentence with no chance of seeing the outside until you croak... I have to think there are other reasons besides "being a stand-up guy" for not flipping.

I can't think of any Chicago guys who flipped really living out in the open. Like ChiTown says, Calabrese is the only made guy who flipped. And he sure as hell ain't living out in the open.

Sure people like Frank Cullotta who was involved 100 years ago, they are not going to waste their time clipping him. And Calabrese Jr. was never formally involved.

There is probably a certain amount of sophistication at play as well, knowing that these men have already done all their damage and flattening them wouldn't do a damn thing.

didint know you asking exclusively about chicago

Though I do find it interesting....in the ANP comments Fosco talks about LaValley who flipped in the 90s I believe. Interesting that he heard he was found murdered a few years back. Dunno if it's related, but it's suspicious for sure.

I'd love to know whether or not that is true...I do know that while Jimmy the Panda was active, he was close with Bill Daddono III and originally worked for Bill's father. I'm not sure why Fosco would make that story up. I would assume Jimmy changed his name, so perhaps no way of ever knowing the real story.

Fosco knows, or at least knew, some feds. Word about LaValley began circulating about four years ago. I once asked him about it, and he said "a fed" told him, and he did admit it was not definitively Outfit related.