Never much said about him, from what I have read he seemed to be a well respected boss?

I look at him as the "leftover" for the Chicago mob.He and Cerone were the worst mob bosses in Chicagos criminal history.They were constantly groomed by Accardo and inherited most of the criminal operations from the previous administration and without the Las Vegas rackets they were nothing but Accardo had no other choice.

Why do you think they were the worst? Give some examples of what they did or did not do to deserve the title

The Outfit was generally well run during their reign and their street crews were headed by competent captains. I'm somewhat puzzled by that statement as well.

I seem to recall that both aiuppa, and cerone were convicted of skimming form hotels in vegas. I don't know about how good or bad they were, but, clipping giancana, the spilotoros, roselli,
destefano, and putting some taylor st, boys on the shelf, was all that a bad thing.?

Binnie I don't think Aiuppa would have been convicted if not for Spilotro's whole fiasco in Vegas. I think he even blamed Tony and that was the reason he was clipped.

yeah Dixie, he [spilotro] was responsible for the heat coming down on the bosses, he should have been clipped sooner.
aiuppa was right whacking him.

I don't want to speak for anyone, but I do recall reading in the FBI files that Aiuppa was not considered a particularly smart individual. But as Snakes said, things did seem to go fairly well during his reign. He apparently relied on Accardo for advice/help. Law enforcement surveillance revealed numerous meetings, etc. There was also the three "A's"- Accardo, Aiuppa and Alex. This is another situation where there are different versions relative to Outfit operations.

I also read somewhere that Aiuppa voluntarily gave up power in the early eighties (I believe) because of health problems. But for the life of me I can't remember where I read it. Others said the power change didn't occur until the skimming deal and Aiuppa went away. If I find the link I'll post it.

There was a Tribune article that hinted at it. It said Cerone had taken over as boss.

The Aiuppa/Cerone regime dropped a lot of bodies but it was done to consolidate the Outfit's power. The organization didn't really begin to crumble until the late eighties as RICO began to decimate it as it did every other family in the nation.

He shouldn't have sent somebody like Spilotro at all, regardless of his friendship with "the golden jew."

I have heard from people in Chicago that Spilotro was pretty much a nobody and would have never been known if it wasn't for Casino (and the book). I just think they could have sent somebody more responsible and/or trusted to oversee such a big racket.

I always wondered about that myself, he never had the class or the brains to handle the interest of the outfit in las vegas,
from the moment he got there he had them in hot water. he was a horrible choice, who put him there?

Here's the article:

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1979/07/01/page/3/article/display-ad-321-no-title

Spilotro was most definitely qualified to head the Outfit's interests in Vegas; he was relatively young and was chosen over other guys with more seniority which shows the confidence that the Outfit had in him. Nobody figured he would be as reckless as he was, though. Someone like Angelini may have been a better choice but he wasn't a guy who was particularly feared on the streets (aside from his connections) and he was too important to the Outfit's bookmaking interests back home to be sent out west.

I'm a little puzzled at the feelings people seem to have towards the three. I disagree that Aiuppa and Cerone were the worst bosses and that Spilotro was an odd choice for Vegas. I also disagree with the assessment that he wasn't intelligent.

Aiuppa was a bit heavy-handed and quick to use violence but he was no idiot. Both he and Cerone were greedy but no more than many of their contemporaries.

I have no idea where you heard that. Spilotro was one of the more infamous Outfit enforcers in Chicago long before he went to Vegas.

Joey Aiuppa was a major power long before he took over the Outfit. He ran the Cicero Crew - the Outfit's largest and arguably most profitable crew - for years before he assumed leadership roles. He was also the major power behind the Cicero and Calumet strips.

He was a proxy for Accardo and Gus Alex and meeting with Outfit bigwigs and poles throughout the 50s and 60s.

I'm pretty sure I heard a fed tape of the Clown stating that the Spilotro brothers were his boys and he wouldn't have allowed them to be clipped. But he was in jail at the time.

Not sure how that would've happened since it's pretty obvious Joey Doves (and I'm sure Accardo approved) gave the order.

Whether the feds thought Auippa was not bright is irrelevant. He ran it with an iron fist and didn't rat.

Based on what you guys are saying, apparently he did very well. I did get the impression he was " quick on the trigger." I have the FBI file on Aiuppa and it goes back to the 30's . He had investments in several businesses besides the jukebox co.

I have no idea why the FBI made reference to Aiuppa's intellect, but one thing history allows is a "look back" at what occurred and draw some conclusions. It appears Aiuppa was in the same fold as Ricca, Accardo and Giancana. But he did stay under the radar.....as much as possible. And yeah, he didn't rat. Considering the increased law enforcement scrutiny, he apparently did a good job while running a criminal organization.

One other question. I'm not from Chicago so my knowledge of geographic areas is limited. Is Calumet City considered part of Chicago Heights? I remember seeing Calumet City mentioned a lot while reading "The Boys In CH." I could Check-out a map but it's easier to ask you guys.

Cal City is right on the boarder with IN and would definitely been in the Heights boys domain, along with all the stuff they were doing in Indiana.

The book about the Chicago Heights crew is a must read.

I don't agree that spilotro was a good choice for las vegas. he started his own crew there, commiting burglaries all the time.
he was constandly being watched by the Lvpd, he was running with lefty rosenthals wife, always threating people, and I don't think Rosenthal was a good choice either. if you are representing the outfit, do you have your own t.v. show?

neither one could keep their heads down, and aiuppa, and cerone were convicted because of their screw-ups. who in Chicago was watching the store, they let spilotro run wild.

Cal City would have been Heights Territory yes, but I do believe that Aiuppa ran the Owl Club and 21 Club down there. I may be wrong on that.

Joey Lombardo was responsible for Tony Spilotro. He was his boss. Not Aiuppa or Cerone. They were responsible for Lombardo.

It didn't help that Lombardo was having legal problems of his own when Spilotro started screwing up, either.

Regardless of how it ended, there was no reason for them to believe he was a bad choice to send to Vegas.

Did Spilotro not fall into the same behavior pattern as many OC members: he became all powerful and thought he could do what he darn well pleased ?

Too much attention is always bad. These guys will get enough attention w/o going out of their way to attract more. When you begin operating as though you answer to no one, you're eventually going to have problems. Threatening police, forming your own crew and sleeping with another member's wife are all in conflict with procedures established by OC enterprises. But for some reason these guys just can't resist the urge to fuel their insatiable ego. Just an old story that is repeated over and over in OC.

He was pretty much out there on his own. These type of people with free reign over a territory can be a bad thing.

gary, snakes. well, both of you are right , but, when a mob associate sent to vegas from Chicago, instead of keeping his head down.

the idiot starts his own t,v, show, [lefty Rosenthal] he's begging for attention. and he drew the wrath of the gaming commission while making himself a target.

and Chicago as far as I know never called him on it. now that tells me that no one in Chicago is paying attention.
the outfits man in vegas has his own t.v. show!

Absolutely. And hindsight is many times better than foresight. Just looking at Spilotro's mo before going to Vegas, he would have been Imo, a logical choice. But sometimes these things just don't work out.

Based on the telephone transmissions during the FS trial, don't you think Spilotro
suspected he was in trouble even before he returned to Chicago ? Obviously his brother was concerned before going to "the meeting." But Spilotro had to know he had "messed-up" royally. These guys know how the system works, but what can they do? Risky business.

Huron's is correct. Tony Spilotro was under Joey Lombardo, and Lombardo was responsible for Vegas for the Outfit during this time period.

If we are going to look back, and analyze the decisions and what happened....in my opinion, Spilotro was a good choice for the "outside man" Vegas role for the Outfit. He had the violent resume, had followed orders and had successfully run a profitable book. It was time for him to leave Chicago because he had become a suspect in several murders, and had the contentious relationship with Chicago law enforcement, especially Roemer. Lefty was a good choice for the "inside man" role because of his excellence at setting betting lines and his administrative skills.

Lombardo should have reigned in Spilotro, especially when it was obvious that LVPD was watching him. As far as I can tell from what I have read, Lombardo did not try to get Spilotro under control, so it seems either (1) Lombardo was complicit, or (2) Lombardo did not know all the shit Spilotro was pulling. I lean toward #1. We know that Lombardo was greedy, and it is possible he was getting a cut from the Ant. I also understand that Lombardo was a "hands on" style manager, and I find it hard to believe that he did not have a good idea of what was happening. I believe that Lefty made it clear to Lombardo that he objected to some of Spiotro's activities.

At the same time, the FBI and LVPD were investigating how the skim money got back to Chicago. Lombardo knew that the money and bag men were being surveilled. Instead of changing things up, or cooling it off, he toyed with the Feds and LVPD when he had 2 bagmen from KC get pulled over with donuts in skim bags.

So, I would place the responsibility for the Outfit's loss of Vegas casinos and skim on Lombardo.

Regarding Auippa, I understand he had a horrible temper. When issues arose, Auippa would blow up, yell at people and then fume. After a while, he would cool off and start reasoning.