RACKETS EXPERT

Before, during and after Prohibition, gambling was always one of the top three rackets for the Chicago mob, including for the whole mob in general. During his reign as boss, Accardo controlled multiple rackets including extortion, union racketeering, cigarette smuggling, vending machines, prostitution, car theft, narcotics but above all, his favorite one was gambling.

Back in the 1930’s, two Capone associates James Ragen and Moe Annenberg started a nationwide racing wire service in Chicago and St Louis. This wire service was very important for the bookmakers to do their business because each bookie had to have fast, up to the minute information on the horse races running across the country. So during the 1940’s the number one racing service out west was Ragen's Continental Press, which serviced thousands of bookies between Chicago and Los Angeles, and Ragen always gave the Outfit their share.

But story goes that Accardo allegedly wanted the buy off Ragen and to take control over the whole wire service but Ragen refused and also began talking to the cops and the FBI. He told investigators that the Mob warned him either to turn over his racing wire service or get hit in the head. In June 1946, three hitmen, Lenny Patrick, William Block and Dave Yaras fired two blasts at Ragen thus hitting his upper right arm and shoulder. Ragen was still alive but was in critical condition and remained like that until August 14, when he died under mysterious conditions. By the end of the day, Accardo got it all.

The vending machine business was also booming at the time and some of those same machines were filled with Accardo’s cigarettes which he previously smuggled into the country without paying any taxes, or were simply stolen from trucks or hijacking.

Sometime during the early 1950’s, Accardo allegedly met with the capo or boss of the Outfit’s South Side group, Bruno Roti Sr., and allegedly devised a plan to infiltrate some of their own members within the political First Ward. The Chicago mob was always in close relationship with the local political organizations but this time, they had made members within the city’s wards, such as John D’Arco, Pat Marcy, Ned Bakes and Roti’s son Fred. With the help of these guys, besides controlling the leading First Ward, the Outfit also controlled every racket and extorted every legal business from around the Loop area.


South Side boss Bruno Roti Sr.


YOUR BOSS IS THE BOSS

The old areas of Broadway, Diversey and Belmont were mainly operated by South Side leaders Rocco Fischetti and Murray Humphreys. Edward Murphy belonged to the crew which was controlled by Lenny Patrick and Dave Yaras. So, Murphy decided to muscle in on some of the joints controlled by Humphreys and Fischetti, and obviously a conflict occurred between these two factions and the gambling balance of power has been upset and so was the boss, Tony Accardo.


Edward Murphy


Lenny Patrick

A sitdown was arranged between Murray Humphreys, his brother Jack Humphreys and Lenny Patrick. The result of that same sitdown wasn’t very good because in March 1950, Murphy had been shot three times in the back of the head and his body was found by a farmer hanging over a wire fence on a deserted roadside near Hartsdale, Indiana. Later there was another sitdown, but this time between Fischetti and Patrick, and it was chaired by Accardo. After that, the conflict was squashed.


Murray Humphreys


Jack Humphreys


THE FALL

During the early 1950’s Accardo attended meetings in Miami together with Murray Humphreys, Jake Guzik and Gus Alex. Accardo and Guzik were also allegedly holding conferences in Reno and Las Vegas with other bosses from around the country, and sources say that Accardo was making a lot of money both for the organization and himself.

In 1950 Accardo sold his old house at 1431 Ashland Av in River Forest for 80,000 dollars (or around one million dollars in today’s cash) and later bought a huge mansion again in River Forest at the price of 125,000 dollars (or around 1,500,000 dollars in today’s money), with six bedrooms and six bathrooms which was located on Franklin Avenue, and also contained two bowling lanes, an indoor swimming pool, and a pipe organ. Some of the high level members allegedly started badmouthing Accardo regarding this same situation, obviously because he attracted too much attention. When Accardo began receiving pressure from the IRS about his high and lavish lifestyle, he sold the huge mansion and bought a ranch home on the 1400 block of North Ashland Avenue in River Forest and installed a vault.


Accardo's lavish River Forest home

In 1951, many of Accardo’s associates, including one Joe Siciliano, who in turn controlled the multi-million dollar racket through their firms, were arrested and the whole operation was destroyed and was also disclosed to the public around the nation. Then in March 1952, Accardo was also wanted for questioning by the special Cook County grand jury regarding the several beatings of a “mystery witness” whose identity has been kept secret by the state's attorney and also regarding the murder of Accardo’s associate Joel Miller. The whole situation was a product of the infamous “horse meat” scandal in which the Mob sold horse meat instead of beef, and generated millions of dollars.


Joe Siciliano

During the investigations Accardo refused to answer any of the questions and also denied every allegation, and was later released. But still there was a problem because during the questioning, the Outfit’s top administration was also mentioned, including Ricca and Campagna. By now, both Ricca and Campagna were still “haunted” by investigators regarding their early releases that occurred 5 years earlier, especially Ricca who was also investigated for being an illegal alien. Ricca wanted to keep everything quiet and this means that Accardo failed to protect the top leaders of the Outfit and also failed to protect two of their most profitable rackets.

In addition, this was the beginning of the conflict between Ricca and Accardo, a situation which ended with six or seven victims, including the murders of high level members such as Charlie Gioe, Frank Maritote and Paul Labriola. Sources say that during that period several “peace” delegations arrived from New York to Chicago, and one of those delegations allegedly included former Outfit boss John Torrio who in turn succeeded in bringing back the close relationship between Ricca and Accardo.

*Note- the whole Ricca vs Accardo conflict will be explained in details in another article.


Accardo vs. Ricca


DEAL BUT DON’T GET CAUGHT

On March 16 and 17, 1954 FBN agents arrested eleven narcotics dealers, including Joseph Iacullo, Frank Coduto and Tony Pape, and quickly took them into custody. The guys had a huge problem because they brought an undercover agent into their crew and that kind of a mistake in the eyes of the bosses was punishable by death. But their biggest problem was that in a matter of months before the arrests, Iacullo was seen going in and out of Accardo’s home for more than 20 times. So naturally the boss was scared from the bad publicity given by the narcotics trade and Accardo was ready to eliminate anyone at anytime if things went out of control.


So Accardo quickly disconnected himself from the operation by giving a thumbs down. Immediately, “somebody” posted bonds for some of the guys and they were released and on that same year of 1954, Tony Pape and Frank Coduto were eliminated on orders from the Outfit’s top hierarchy.


Tony Pape


4TH OF JULY

Accardo’s 4th of July party in 1954 wasn’t so glamorous, possibly because of the problems that he had at the time but his next party in 1955, was something that even the FBI was amazed on how every mobster from in and around the Chicago area arrived at the scene, obviously because of the peace agreement between the two bosses. Accardo hosted the party at his home by being dressed in blue Bermuda shorts, and over 300 Mob associates, friends and relatives were present at the gathering. Besides the blue shorts, Accardo also wore a blue sports shirt, long blue socks and black moccasins. Some of the guests included Paul Ricca, Sam Giancana, Claude Maddox, Jake Guzik, Ross Prio, Joey DiVarco, Joey Glimco, Rocco Fischetti, James DeGeorge, Frank LaPorte and many others.

About 150 cars, some from out of state, lined both sides of Franklin Av, while two cars, loaded with guards, cruised constantly around the block. In the center of the yard was an electrically operated silver; champagne fountain, from which the guests filled their glasses under the bubbling spout.


Accardo 1950’s


TAKING A STEP BACK

In 1956, there was a meeting between Ricca, Accardo, Giancana, Murray Humphreys and Frank Ferraro and it was decided for Accardo to relinquish his position as boss and gave it to Giancana with Ferraro as his new underboss. With Giancana as chief executive, Ricca elevated Accardo next to him and in fact, Accardo took Campagna’s position who in turn died the previous year.


Giancana’s underboss Frank Ferraro a.k.a. Sortino

It was also up to Accardo to explain to Giancana the national Mafia commission and who were its members and also on who were their allies. Sometimes either Ricca or Accardo accompanied Giancana on some commission meetings, although only Giancana had the right to vote, obviously because he was the official representative for the Chicago family at the time.

From this point on Accardo was constantly seen in Ricca’s company or in the company of other mobsters such as his personal Elmwood Park capo Jack Cerone, followed by mobsters from other groups like Frank Ferraro, Murray Humphreys, Sam Battaglia, Gus Alex or Nick Palermo. They had more than few meeting spots around the Chicago area, although their favorite one was Celano’s Tailor Shop at 620 North Michigan Av.

In 1959 Accardo’s fellow top boss Paul Ricca was imprisoned and next on the government’s list was also Accardo. In 1960, the IRS probed into Accardo’s bank accounts and indicted him for tax evasion. Accardo portrayed himself as legitimate beer salesman and the Outfit even managed to find witnesses who allegedly bought beer from Accardo who in turn allegedly paid his taxes. Still, the government sentenced Accardo to six years in prison and fined him $15,000, but in the end the conviction was overturned after another trial mainly because of prejudicial media coverage that aired during the first trial.


BACK IN ACTION

Even though Accardo managed to beat the government, still he had to take a low profile, an action which was very hard for a mobster on Accardo’s level. In 1962, Ricca again received an early release from prison and by 1963, he mainly helped Giancana with the conflicts that occurred in New York at the time but also affected the national commission on which Chicago had its own seat. On the other hand, Accardo’s job was to advise Giancana regarding their rackets and also regarding their own organization.

Giancana was probably the flashiest boss in the whole U.S. mob at the time and only cared about the Outfit’s income by bringing millions of dollars for the whole organization, meaning Giancana didn’t care much regarding the problems within the criminal brotherhood. The thing was that Giancana constantly travelled around the country and also around the world, but above all he attracted too much attention from the government with his lavish lifestyle. So Accardo had a tough job in keeping Giancana in his place and that’s why the former boss usually solved the internal problems with Ricca’s help and also with the help of Giancana’s underboss Frank Ferraro, Murray Humphreys or Gus Alex.

In 1965, Ricca and Accardo allegedly forced Giancana to step down as boss of the Outfit and again it was up to Accardo in grooming the next boss or Giancana’s successor, Sam Battaglia. According to FBI reports, before Battaglia became the new boss of the Outfit, he and Accardo were seen fishing together multiple times. After Battaglia’s imprisonment in 1967, sources say that both Ricca and Accardo took complete control over the Outfit’s operations and internal structure, and also placed Accardo’s most trusted capo Jack Cerone as the Outfit’s acting boss.


Sam Battaglia


Jack Cerone

In 1969 Cerone was also indicted by the feds and the following year he was sent to prison, and again it was up to Ricca and Accardo to decide on who was going to lead the organization on daily basis during the following decade. FBI surveillance shows us that in 1971, Ricca and Accardo had more than few meetings with legendary Outfit capo Ross Prio and some sources from that same time period speculate that Prio was either the new acting boss for the organization or the most trusted individual who simply transferred all final decisions previously made by Ricca and Accardo, to the rest of the organization. But during the same time, it seems that Ricca and Accardo also had meetings with leaders from the Cicero-Melrose Park and the Grand Avenue crews, such as Joseph Aiuppa and Charles Nicoletti. In September that same year, one time underboss Phil Alderisio died of a heart attack in prison and except for Ricca, almost the whole Chicago Outfit appeared at the funeral but when Accardo and the terminally ill Fiore Buccieri appeared at the chapel, the whole Mafia brotherhood stood up as a sign of respect.

In 1972, both Paul Ricca and Ross Prio died of natural causes, and some news reporters say that during Ricca’s funeral, Accardo was allegedly seen for the first time to cry in front of other people. Accardo obviously knew that this situation left him alone at the top of the organization and it was up to him to maintain Chicago’s Mafia tradition.


Ricca’s successor Tony Accardo


THE NEW “BOSS OF BOSSES”

After the death of Paul Ricca or the former top boss, according to informants and the FBI there are two versions on what really went down. As I previously stated, before Ricca’s death, there were meetings with two leading capos Aiuppa and Nicoletti and so the first version is that Accardo inherited Ricca’s position as the Outfit’s new top boss and placed Aiuppa as the new acting boss with Gus Alex as their advisor and “connection guy”, while Nicoletti allegedly received the underboss position. The other version is that Accardo allegedly relinquished Ricca’s position once and for all, and that he became the new boss of the Outfit and that both Auippa and Alex allegedly acted as his advisors regarding important decisions, while Nicoletti was the one between the top administration and the rest of the capos and his job was to transfer every order, especially murder contracts. Accardo also ordered that at least one of the two top bosses, Alex and Aiuppa, should be always in the Chicago area and if one of them ever needed to leave Chicago, he informed the other boss about the longevity and location of the trip. Accardo even issued an order to the other capos and district bosses that every important decision first must be cleared through either Alex or Aiuppa.

Whatever was the truth, still every single source agreed that by the end of the day Accardo had the last word and that Aiuppa and Alex had to consult him regarding every decision, whether it was regarding some scheme, murder or structural problem. Accardo or “Joe” as his was called by his peers, became the new top boss of the Chicago Mafia and held the whole organization by its throat. Accardo helped the Outfit to continue make millions of dollars while at the same time pushing the organization away from crimes that had previously gotten him into trouble.


NO MORE DRUG DEALING

The 1970’s was a tough period for the Chicago Outfit mainly because they lost many of their prime bosses and they also lost most of their lucrative operations. On the top of that, the 1970’s was an era of narcotics and rock’n’roll music and so some of the older capos saw the future of dope dealing and wanted to take over the racket in the Chicago area, before some of the other ethnic criminal groups. Charles Nicoletti was one of those same high level Mafia members who saw the future in narcotics but the problem was that both Accardo and Alex allegedly said “no”. Sources say that Aiuppa was first open minded regarding the dope trade, but later he was convinced by Accardo and Alex to join them in banning the narcotics trade.

This allegedly made some of the members quite disappointed, especially their underboss Nicoletti who in turn allegedly saw Alex as the main problem regarding the final decision. In fact, the whole situation created some type of “cold war” between Alex and Nicoletti with Accardo in the middle. On one hand Nicoletti complained that Alex wasn’t paying much attention regarding corruption on the North Side, and also complained that Alex was constantly out of town, while on the other hand when Accardo called Alex and told him to spend more time in the Chicago area, Alex complained that Nicoletti and his associates were responsible for many unsanctioned murders.

Old man Accardo was still a strong individual and handled those delicate situations like the original Mafia boss that he was and as I already stated, his word was the last, meaning the problems between Alex and Nicoletti came second after Accardo’s policy decision such as “no more drug dealing”.


Outfit “consigliere” Gus Alex


Outfit capo and underboss Chuck Nicoletti


RAINING BLOOD

The 1970’s was probably the second bloodiest era after Prohibition in the Outfit’s history, by reaching the number of over one hundred individuals being killed on Accardo’s orders. Made members, associates, politicians, cops and even civilians and women were killed in Chicago and all around the country for different reasons, such as unsanctioned murders, dealing narcotics, refusing to pay street tax, holding cash, informing for the government and many other situations. Few of Accardo’s most infamous decisions was the killing of former Outfit boss Sam Giancana in 1975, followed by the 1976 murder of John Roselli and also the murder of Charles Nicoletti in 1977.


Giancana’s murder scene

Many researchers believe that the infamous “chop shop” wars were only because of the control of the car theft racket and also the chop shops in which the stolen cars were taken apart, but instead large portion of the murders were sanctioned because the victims were involved in the narcotics trade. Capos like Jimmy Catuara were killed with the blink of an eye, a sign that old man Accardo wasn’t fooling around.


I’M STILL THE BOSS

In 1976, Accardo chaired a meeting which included most of the Outfits capos and also candidates who were about to receive those same positions. In fact, there’s one famous picture from that same meeting which was held at the Sicily Restaurant on 2743 N. Harlem Ave. Accardo is seated in the front of the picture, followed by Aiuppa, Cerone, Joe DiVarco, Dominick DiBella, Vincent Solano, Joe Amato, James Torello, Al Pilotto and Joey Lombardo. Except for Accardo, Aiuppa and Cerone who represented the Outfit’s top administration, all of the rest of the guys were capos or district bosses from different areas. There were allegedly many agendas on that same meeting, but the main agenda was the sendoff of the dying North Side representative Dom DiBella.

That same year Outfit capo Joey DiVarco, who by now served under the new North Side representative Vincent Solano, told one associate named Richard Arrigo that he was going to be sponsored by DiVarco himself and that Accardo was going to preside over the whole ceremony. This means that even though Aiuppa, Cerone and Alex controlled the organization on daily basis, during the late 1970’s Accardo was still the family’s “Godfather” who inducted new members.

In June 1977, Accardo got out of hospital allegedly because he had some heart problems, and immediately took a plane and went to Bimini on the Bahamas. Accardo was accompanied by Jack Cerone and two other bodyguards, and without his knowledge, he was also followed by the FBI. Once there, Accardo had a meeting with the top members of both the Genovese and Detroit families such as Anthony Provenzano and Tony Giacalone. The meeting occurred two years after the disappearance of the infamous labor leader Jimmy Hoffa and according reliable sources at the time, one of the agendas was allegedly the union racketeering business in which Accardo grew bigger by the day.


Old man Tony Accardo

On January 5, 1978, Accardo’s "modest" 18 room ranch house at 1407 N. Ashland Avenue was burglarized and the people who did it were in fact Outfit associates. Story goes that when Accardo received the bad news, at first he remained calm and told his wife to pack their stuff, took the first plane from Palm Springs to Chicago and quickly arrived at the scene. When the old crime boss saw that everything was gone, he allegedly went crazy and wanted the blood of whoever was responsible for it. Seven or eight people who were connected to the burglary were brutally killed, including Accardo’s long time caretaker and friend Mike Volpe. All of Chicago’s underworld was taught a lesson, which meant that the Outfit under Accardo was still in full effect and was still deadly as ever.

During the early 1980’s, longtime Outfit associate and union leader Angelo Fosco was the president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America and became the fifth highest paid union president in the whole nation. He was the son of legendary union boss and Outfit associate Peter Fosco, who died back in 1975 and was immediately succeeded by his blood protégé. Same as his late father, Angelo Fosco also directly operated under the auspices of Tony Accardo and together they extorted millions of dollars from the unions. In 1981, through manipulation of a union insurance fund, the two bosses managed to scheme more than two million dollars, a kind of theft which was easily compared by the investigators to "purse snatching". Another Outfit member involved in scheme was Alfred Pilotto, a local union president and representative for the whole Chicago Heights Mob. They had an insurance company to obtain the business of the laborers’ union but all of the major decisions were cleared through Accardo and also Tampa crime boss Santo Trafficante, who was also involved in the scheme.

Later the government realized about the operation and charged the racketeers for stealing 2 million dollars through the use of kickbacks and fake commissions. Outfit boss Tony Accardo and 10 other men, including Fosco and Pilotto, have been on trial for seven weeks in the U.S. District Court in Chicago. The prosecutors started using names such as “purse snatcher” in reference of Accardo, but the name-calling was not new to the old man because the longtime boss of the Chicago crime syndicate has been called many names since he landed a job as bodyguard for Al Capone back in the 1920s. So instead, seemingly amused by the purse snatcher reference, Accardo slapped the back of his attorney, Carl Walsh, and smiled. As expected, in June, 1982, Accardo and Fosco were acquitted of all charges, as for Pilotto, he was convicted and sentenced to jail. This was a pure sign that Accardo was still the prime boss and his advancing age did nothing to lessen his interest of being at the top of Chicago’s organized crime.


Angelo Fosco


Outfit capo Al Pilotto