ButtonGuys Exclusive: The Chicago 'Outfit' Chart

Once again, ButtonGuys has tackled a major organized crime research project. And this time around, if you don’t mind us saying so, it’s a real doozy. Over the course of many months, we have dug deep and painstakingly researched, gathered up, sifted through, and vetted the true hierarchical structure and awesome power of the infamous Chicago “Outfit.”

And we think what we’ve been able to recreate is gonna ‘knock ya socks off'

ButtonGuys has structured and artistically designed an in-depth membership chart that truly depicts and represents the full hierarchical breakdown of this iconic underworld network. No doubt, it is a rare re-creation indeed.

To my knowledge, this is the first time that anyone has been able to dig deep enough to uncover the full scope and breathe of this massive rank and file. We have researched and catalogued the entire membership of the “Outfit.” Not only naming hundreds of their formally ‘inducted’ Cosa Nostra soldiers, but a virtual laundry list of many hundreds more multi-ethnic ‘associates’ who were affiliated with the Chicago Syndicate.

This one-of-a-kind chart is a holiday “Exclusive” from ButtonGuys of The New York Mafia.

https://thenewyorkmafia.com/the-chicago-syndicate-chicago-outfit-membership-chart-1950-1970/

*Special thanks to Dushan (Toodoped) Dzonov for his contribution to this project.

We hope you enjoy this piece as well as your ‘4th of July’ holiday weekend…”The Other Guy”

This turned out great. Cheers

I have agree my friend. A job well done. Lol

Absolutely awesome job, guys! Fantastic write up.

I think I speak for everyone when I say thank you BT. We're glad you enjoyed this so much. We worked very hard to try and make this the very best intro we could, and the most accurate Outfit hierarchy chart, available anywhere, to date. I like to think we accomplished that goal. So its nice to receive "thumbs up" from people such as yourself. It means a lot to us. So thanks again for your nice comments.

Just purchased a membership. Thank you for providing such great insight into this.

First of all RushStreet, I wanna thank you for subscribing to our website. I also wanna welcome you aboard as our newest "button guy" member. Lisa and I thank you for your patronage.

Secondly, I'm happy that you are enjoying our ButtonGuys content, especially our new Chicago "Outfit" hierarchy chart. We're very happy with how the chart turned out also.

I don't know if you're only interested in reading about the Chicago Family, per se, but just to let you know, we've also researched and designed several other really cool hierarchy charts for the other Illinois Families, The Joseph Zammuto Family of Rockford, and The Frank Zito Family of Springfield.

For that matter, we've also deeply researched and designed hierarchy charts for many other midwestern Families including The Joseph Zerilli Family of Detroit, MI; The Anthony Giordano Family of St. Louis, MO; The Civella Family of Kansas City, MO; The Frank Balistrieri Family of Milwaukee, WI; and even the tiny little Carlo Caputo Family of Madison, WI.

These rare charts list hundreds and hundreds of Mafia soldiers of their respective borgatas (many of whom were previously unknown to the general public), and many hundreds more of their crew associates.

If you haven't done so already, as you navigate through our website you'll notice links that run across the top of all pages. Just click the "Charts" link for full access to all our charts (which currently number almost fifty.)

As a subscriber, you now have full access to ALL our content. So clear your schedule, go grab your favorite snacks and drink, and get prepared to immerse yourself in all things gangland. Lol. Because from this point forward, ButtonGuys of The New York Mafia is gonna be keeping you very busy!. Lol

And once again, thanks for your subscription!

Best regards..."The Other Guy"

RushStreet,

I forgot to mention earlier that I also wrote extensive historical exposes for each of the above named Families that you might also enjoy. Just click the "Friends of Ours" link to scroll down an A-Z list of Cities/Familes until you find the ones you like.

@Big T thanks a lot bro and as NYM already said, we always appreciate your support.



@RushSt thank you also for your support and stay tuned.

Thank you for the kind words as they are much appreciated.

Id Love you guys to do one of your future special exclusive features on Angelo "The Hook" LaPietra. Hes a guy that is deserving of one in my opinion.

A testament to two great minds collaborating. Way to go guys!

I completely agree. LaPietra would be a good guy to do. An interesting guy. But a deadly guy.

LOL. JimmyTT, thats some testimonial you just gave us. What can I say, except to thank you very much for that tremendous vote of confidence in our work.

Thank you for following us and reading our content. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that your kind words are greatly appreciated.

You're always welcome RushSt and as NYM already said, thats one interesting idea regarding LaPietra. I covered a lot of the brothers' history in several of my old articles and so I think we already have lots of info on them, meaning we can make one project about it.



Always love your comments Jimmy and thanks a lot. Stay tuned.

Excellent job again, NYM.
Lawrence Bergreen, author of a good Capone biography, says that Frankie Yale, Capone's early Brooklyn mentor, was Colosimo's assassin. He says Yale did it to expand his foothold and influence in Chicago, but he offers no evidence of that--the next mention of Yale in Bergreen's book is when Capone had him whacked in Brooklyn several years later. John Kobler, IMO the author of the best Capone bio, says that the Outfit never had a monopoly on the booze trade and was constantly at war with competitors large and small.

Thank you very much TB. Glad you enjoyed our piece on Chicago.

And I agree with your assessment.

Although we'll never know for sure, young Al Capone was more than capable enough to whack out Colosimo on his own. I seriously doubt they, (Torrio and Capone), needed, or called in, Frankie Yale all the way from Brooklyn for this job (especially that Yale was a top power at that time in his own right.)

I also agree that although they were, in fact, the top power in the Windy City, there were many other active gangs, big and small, who powerful in their own right, who moved liquor and fought the Capone Gang for control of that territory. So I think John Kobler's assessment would be correct.

I would like to add that Yale and Polaccia arrived all the way from Brooklyn regarding the O'Banion hit.

Also besides Torrio, two other guys who played a major role in Capone's "power" were allegedly Tony Ricci (from the Genoveses) and Robert Vanella.

It is not known why was Colosimo killed and who did it, and yeah Yale was allegedly brought up as a suspect by some old researchers but as you already said, theres no evidence about it, although again we must not forget the O'Banion hit. Colosimo was allegedly connected to Chicago Mafia boss at the time Mike Merlo.

Back in the days I heard or read regarding another theory in which Colosimo allegedly angered the Moresco brothers because he dumped their sister or his first wife who in turn was deeply involved in the prostituion racket, and her brothers belonged to Colosimos crew. In fact, Colosimos white slavery racket went on a much higher level once he married "Madam" Victoria.

The word "vampire" from the letter which was found on Colosimos corpse, gives me an idea that either this guy wanted too much and was taking everything for himself or was holding out...just my two cents

Yeah, Bergreen also mentions Yale as one of the O'Banion assassins. But, the question still remains: Why wouldl a pezzanovante from Brooklyn like Yale take a contract from the Gennas to whack O'Banion in Chicago?

Kobler, an honest writer, doesn't say who killed Colosimo--he writes only that "shots rang out" in the lobby of Colosimo's nightclub/gambling salon and he lay dead on the floor. But, he prefaces that description by noting that Big Jim, infatuated with Dale Winter, a singer at his club, was neglecting business. He was also failing to pay attention to Torrio's entrities about cashing in on the looming opportunities from Prohibition--making Torrio the obvious beneficiary of his uncle's murder.

I agree with you (and Bergreen) once again on this issue.

Frankie Yale was a top Brooklyn power, maybe "the" top Brooklyn power at the time, for the non-Sicilian (Calabrian-Napolitani faction of the NY underworld.) But, remember too, that many of his men and top leaders later became affiliated with what became the Luciano Family (modern day Genovese Family.)

So IMO, regardless of who actually pulled the trigger on Colosimo, the reason he 'went' (not withstanding any 'collateral' benefit others might have also gained, like the Genna brothers), was for the direct benefit of that faction, the original NY-based Capone-Torrio-Yale-etc. faction.

After Yale's murder, in the coming years, top crew bosses and racket guys drawn from that same faction, who later gained mob-stardom as top Genovese Family figures were Anthony (Little Augie Pisano) Carfano, Giuseppe (Joe Adonis) Doto, and Generoso (Toddo Dell) Del Duca, among many others. These fellas rose to top capo status for decades to come....But their original power and influence started back with Francesco (Frankie Yale) Ioele.

If anyone is interested in reading more about him, awhile back I researched a relatively extensive biography about the life and times of Yale for TNYM. Here's a link;

https://thenewyorkmafia.com/francesco-frankie-yale-ioele/

Many hitmen were known for constantly travelling around the country while executing contracts, meaning I dont see anything strange regarding Yale travelling to Chicago to execute a hit on one non-Italian boss. On top of that, we already know that Yale, Torrio, Ricci, Vanella etc. all arrived from the Brooklyn area, which means they were just another crew in Chicago. Maybe O'Banion already knew most of Torrios associates and so it was a good idea to bring someone from out of town.

I think that from 1920 until 1925/26, Merlo, Yale, Torrio, Capone, Esposito, the Gennas, Aiello etc. belonged or kicked up to the Salvatore D'Aquila "boss of all bosses" regime since we have evidence regarding Capone sending money back to New York before he became a made member and also a capo decina later in 1928. Story goes that previously D'Aquila separated from his old crew and created his own regime, and so in 1928 the same thing happened to him, meaning that same year D'Aquila, Tony Lombardo, Yale and Joe Esposito were all killed by Capone who was in alliance with the rising Joe The Boss Masseria "boss of all bosses" regime. Capone separated from the D'Aquila group and joined Masseria who in turn brought Capone into the Mafia as made member.

TD, I'm not familiar with a fellow you mentioned by the name of Robert Vanella. Who was this? And how did he figure into the scheme of things?

Robert Vanella aka "Rocky or Rocco Vanilli" aka "Roxy Vanilli" was Torrio's companion when they arrived in Chicago and so he and Torrio allegedly killed more than few guys for Colosimo. Vanella brought a lot of attention on himself and sometime around the early 1920s (dont remember the exact year) he went back to New York. Theres one nice picture of Vanella and Torrio, from Torrios wedding I think, or maybe it was Vanellas, cant remember..

Now that you mention the nickname "Roxy Vanella" that sounds more familiar to me. I've heard that name. But I wasn't familiar with him. Thanks TD

You're welcome bud.

TD,

There was an early member of what later became the Gambino Family by the name of Antonio (Big Tony) Vanella, a notorious gunman and mafioso. I'm wondering if there is any connection between the two of them. I believe Tony came from the Downtown Manhattan area.

Vanella is a somewhat uncommon surname.

I personally don't have a clue about it. If the guys I previously mentioned were under the D'Aquila regime (future Gambino family) during that same time period when Robert Vanella allegedly returned back to NY, then there might be some connection. I don't believe in coincidence especially when we are talking about the Mob. You are way better than me in finding blood connections between these fellas, since I'm mostly about the "street stuff" lol

Well, we all have our strengths. But, regardless TD, we certainly compliment one another, thats for sure.

Thats respect buddy cheers

--
No doubt...same here

This family's membership size seems to be a hotly contested topic, I find it very hard to believe that the men in charge let it dwindle down to 12 buttons, however some knowledgeable researchers seem pretty convinced that the family is on its last legs. If there really is only 12 made guys left, than whoevers running that family must of never been schooled that "You gotta keep recruiting guys or this thing dies". Interestingly it was only a few years ago that most people believed that Buffalo was on its last legs as well, and it turns out that family is thriving, so i wouldnt be surprised if its the same situation in Chicago

"It's just an outfit of gamblers. If it was any other business, we'd be the Chamber of Commerce."

-Solly D Laurentis

That number of 12 is only the confirmed members. If you add in all the probable members you're looking at more like 20-25 and like every Family there's some unknowns. The Family is probably sitting somewhere around 30 on the low end and 45 on the high end. The Family was never that large to begin with compared to NYC having only 50-75 members.

You're right to an extent. Back during the 70's and 80's lots and lots of members were either killed or died of natural causes, including old timers from the Capone days, and so before their deaths the organization was huge but as I already said, the number went down out of various reasons. The Outfit bosses rarely had their own family members inducted in the family, but instead they made them legit. We have evidences regarding the Outfit making people during the 80's and possibly 90s, but still most of the old members thought about going legit, which they really did. Starting from the garbage and food businesses, to traffic signs and real estate. Yes, they probably still have some loan sharking, gambling, prostitution and extortion rackets here and there, and probably even some burglaries here and there, but thats just a "drop in the whole ocean" compared to the old days. But the main thing is...I think they NEVER relinquished their political and police contacts. I mean, with the help of constant donations to various politicians around Melrose Park or any other area, their companies still receive most of the legit and quite lucrative contracts, or even working positions. The Chicago Outfit infiltrated all of Chicago's politics like no other family in the whole country, and thats why even today we still have some "known" surnames involved in Chicago's political agenda and also within the legit world. Who knows, maybe they are also still making guys but for what purpose?!

Your knowledge of all things Outfit is unmatched, but I'm going to disagree with your last point here regarding the current Outfit in politics. While yes, there are still some suburban mayors (Skip Saviano, Brad Stephens come to mind) who may have some Outfit connections, their political influence these days is pretty much nothing. Having spent the last decade in government and politics in the state capital and Washington D.C., they are pretty much a nonfactor over the last decade plus I've been involved. And trust me, I've dug and dug.

The recent corruption indictments in Chicago and Springfield haven't even had a mention of the Outfit, minus some of the red light camera bribery cases, and that was only minimal connections. Changing demographics in the Chicago city council and among the Chicago/suburban delegation in Springfield probably has a lot do with that as well. Greylord and GAMBIT pretty much put an end to their decades of controlling the courts and the old First Ward was literally eliminated.

Someone may point out the picture of Toots Caruso sitting with the Comptroller and Congressmen Davis, but that was completely random and if they knew who he actually was, they wouldn't have been sitting there.

That being said, I have no idea their ties to the police in 2023.

Thanks for the kind words but believe me I like these type of discussions, since I trust you because it seems that Chicago might be your local area and you obviously know some of these stuff. I also agree that most of the recent gambling indictments were somehow "independent", although its still tough to say because of the numerous past connections.

Also I agree that Gerylord and GAMBIT gave a good slap in the face of the Outfit's corruption but dont forget that in 2004, Daddano Jr. (still alive I think) was quite criticized by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and according to her, Jr. was described as "reputed member of organized crime" and the allegations came from Jr.’s connection to Rosemont Mayor Donald E. Stephens, allegedly through Mob associates Nick Boscarino and Joseph Salamone and state documents show one local firm, with alleged organized crime connections and with campaign funds linked to Mayor Stephens. On top of that, Boscarino was a partner with the mayor’s son in different cleaning company which had contracts for the Rosemont convention center and the Allstate Arena.Thats what I was previously talking about.

Also, in 2012 Daddano Jr.’s previous partner Richard Simon was the owner of a cleaning company known as the United Maintenance Co. and with the help of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the company was awarded a $99.4 million O’Hare Airport janitorial contract. After that, Daddano Jr.’s name popped up in every news article around the country and so many union airport workers were holding a prayer vigil outside the Mayor’s house, while asking him to reconsider the decision to hand custodial work at O’Hare International Airport to a new company.

Eight years ago Daddano Jr. was still receiving all kinds of contracts in different places, especially around MP, mainly through his sister's name.

I also agree, meaning I also dont have any idea on whats going on from 2020 onward.

Great comments on this subject.

Let me tell you, getting in legit businesses is exactly what these mob guys got into and yeah they do a little illegal activity for pretty much a hobby. Look at Gigi Rovito for a perfect example. Owns a very very successful restaurant full time, sets up some extortion and loan sharking shit on the side when necessary to help pay for his Land Rover.

It really surprised me the recent Gagliano case...

Next up, will be another racketeer from the State of Illinois. But to change it up a bit, this next fella hailed from the City of Springfield. In fact, he was considered to be a 'soldier' in the Frank Zito Family.

And although documented many times by both local and federal authorities as a racketeer and mafioso, his life and career largely remained a mystery during his years in the mob. He also had a tragic ending...

Coming next week...only at ButtonGuys of The New York Mafia.

My old man and wife are from Springfield, and my old man (owned a construction company) knew Frank and his brother, Tony very well way back when. The town of Springfield has unfortunately become quite a dump!

I heard that BT. But years back, it seemed like a pretty solid little city. And Zito and company seemed to have a very good thing going for themselves for many years.

My hometown! I drive by Franks old house on Illini Road almost daily.

Looking forward to it.

Good ChiCubs. I'll do my best not to disappoint you. Lol....But I think you'll like this one. Not too much, if anything at all, has ever been written about this mafioso. At least nothing I've ever read.

This was written by a local historical website. Some good stuff.

https://sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/?p=6456

Born and raised in Springfield and I think I know someone related to every name I've ever read associated with the Springfield LCN family. And most of them are upstanding families, business owners, elected officials, etc.

This was a good article Chicubs.

https://sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/?p=6456

A bit of trivia for you. Several years back we (ButtonGuys of TNYM) were contacted by the Sangamon County Library because of an expose I had written about the life and times of Frank Zito and the Springfield Mafia Family he headed.

They had seen it, loved it, and wanted to know if we'd please consider providing them a designed hard copy of the article so they could offer it on display in the library's historical section about the City.

We were flattered, of course, and ended up sending them a copy for the records.

ChiCubs, if you wouldn't mind, send me a DM. I know a ton of people from Springfield.

Next up, will be another racketeer from the State of Illinois. This next fella hailed from the City of Springfield and was considered a 'soldier' in the Frank Zito Family. Although documented many times as a mafioso, his life and career largely remained a mystery. He also had a tragic ending...Coming next week.


UPDATE:

Keep your peepers peeled folks! It looks like we'll be releasing this tomorrow, instead of next week.

I don't like giving surprises away. But I will reveal this one clue about the subject of tomorrow's bio, ok? For those who like these types of challenges, it might be fun.

His initials are B.B.B.

At first it may seem like an far-flung innocuous clue at best. But for those familiar with the Springfield, Illinois Family, it may very well be enough to identify him. Lol. We'll see

Have at it fellas!

No guesses?

Come on guys...I know you can do better than that. Lol

Take a shot at the brass ring

The new biography about that 'soldier' for the Frank Zito Crime Family of Springfield, IL. will be up in a few minutes. We'll start a separate thread for him. Enjoy!