There were two posters on ANP that seemed to be very informed on the past and current outfit. They were Black Angelo and The Don. They could have been 100% full of shit, but they seemed to know a ton of stuff and had tons of info.

One of them, can't remember which, said that D'Amico had become the boss when he got out in 2005 and that DiFronzo had become the chairman. That D'Amico had been put in charge of the day to day stuff. I don't remember where he had The Builder, but I think he was in an advisory role.

He said that they were down to four crews, and that each crew had a #1 or chairmen and a #2 or street boss, that was in charge. The #2 handled the day to day stuff and the #1 was able to earn.

These guys all had runners that helped them communicate between the crews and the administration.

He also said D'Amico was the reason behind Zizzo disappearing, that he wasn't or didn't want to go along with the way things were going to go with Marcello being gone and D'Amico being in charge.

I will check again and see who he had in charge of the crews.

While online information from other people can be both useful and interesting, I always take it with a grain of salt. Because, obviously, there's no way to verify who they are or how they know what they claim to know.

From what I've read on the Zizzo disappearance, it was due to disagreements with the Marcellos and Sarno. Which would make more sense, since they were all part of the Cicero/Melrose Park crew, than a beef with D'Amico; who I believe is more aligned with the Elmwood Park crew on the North Side.

As for the crews, it's true that it was revealed during the "Family Secrets" case in 2005 that there were four crews - the Elmwood Park/North Side crew, the Grand Avenue/West Side crew, the Cicero/Melrose Park crew, and the 26th Street/South Side crew.

At least at that point, it was said that, while John DiFronzo and Joseph Andriacchi had over all oversight of the Outfit, they still maintained oversight of the Elmwood Park/North Side crew; which they did through Peter DiFronzo and Rudy Fratto.

It was said Joey Lombardo had continued to maintain over all oversight of the Grand Avenue/West Side crew; through Anthony Centracchio until he died in 2001. More recently there were rumors that Joe Cullotta was running the crew. And now the latest rumor is that Albert Vena is.

It was said that Jimmy Marcello had run the Cicero/Melrose Park crew before he became part of the administration. Afterward you had Tony Chiarmonti and Tony Zizzo in the mix. And later Mike Sarno, who apparently eventually became the new Outfit boss (at least one of them) after Marcello was behind bars.

It's been long said that the Carusos continue to run the 26th Street/South Side crew.

To add to the information that has come in recent years, a few years ago it was reported that the Outfit was being run in "northern and southern sections." And that, while Joseph Andriacchi oversaw the north, Al Tornebene oversaw the south. There really wasn't any explanation beyond that. Was it something similar to having 2 area bosses, much the same way there used to be 3 area bosses? Did the north side area, under Andriacchi, consists of the Elmwood Park and Grand Avenue crews? And did the south side area, under Tornebene, consist of the Melrose Park and 26th Street crews? One can only guess.

To add to the confusion, another article around the same time said that Andriacchi had oversight of all four crews. And he was sort of the underboss or street boss for DiFronzo.

Beyond that, one FBI official made a statement in a more recent article that the Outfit was down to "two or three crews." But he also didn't expound beyond that.

Needless to say, it's often hard to add everything up because of the conflicting information. But, in my opinion, it wouldn't surprise me if we were now looking at 2 or 3 crews. DiFronzo, Andriacchi, and the rest of the Elmwood Park crew are reported to be involved more in legit businesses and not so much in the street rackets. Meanwhile, you have the Melrose Park and 26th Street crew who are more into the gambling, loansharking, burglary rings, etc. And, after former Melrose Park crew boss, Jimmy Marcello, eventually became the boss; Sarno then followed him into that position. And it was reported that the Carusos were paying tribute to Sarno. Meanwhile, you don't hear a lot coming from the Grand Avenue besides internet rumor.

Yeah, all internet sources should be taken with a grain of salt or alot. But these guys seemed to know there stuff, alot of it. One of them, forgot which one, was "outed" by Fosco as, I think, The Clown Lombardo's nephew. The posters started attacking Fosco and his claims of extortion, so he got upset and let that out there.

From what they said, was that Zizzo either wanted the top spot or didn't want to be under D'Amico. So D'Amico had him go because he wasn't going to play along.

They all said that Sarno wasn't a crew boss, that he was just a made guy. That he was under Zizzo. Just what they said.

I believe Fratto was shelved and I think he was only a solider, not a crew boss.

From what they said, the crew bosses were Pete DiFronzo/The Builder, Jimmy I, Caruso, and Solly D.

I know Vina is in there somewhere, but I'm not sure where. Could be someones street boss. They said the crews each had a boss and a #2/street boss.

I had heard/read the rumor about the split to North and South as well. Would make sense, but who knows.

I had not heard the rumors of Caruso paying Sarno. That would be very surprising to me.

As always, who knows. This is why I find Chicago so fascinating. Just seems that there is so much less info out there about them and even to this day there old stuff is less well known.

Now if only Nick Calabrese would write a book or somebody else flip so that we can get some straight answers.

Despite what these internet insiders say, and there's always a legion of them, the feds pegged Sarno as not only a crew boss, but as one of the top bosses overall.

And there shouldn't be any question which source holds more weight.

And Caruso kicking up to Sarno wasn't just an internet rumor. It was mentioned in an article, the information coming from an unnamed informant.

Damn, that makes Sarno far more of a power house than I previously thought, and I know far more about Sarno than I know about Caruso. Shit, I've seen one picture of "Toots" and it's him looking like a university professor in Rome.

It seems to me that Sarno followed in the footsteps of Marcello. First in charge of the Cicero/Melrose Park crew. Then one of the overall bosses of the Outfit.

Caruso and his brothers was kicked out the Laborers Union back in 2001. Here's a couple photos.

I didn't know there were so many other ethnicities present in the Outfit.
Judging from the associates' names they have a load of Greek, Irish, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Jewish and Yank associates.

On the modern Outfit chart we all use (which in other ways is already outdated) I remember Frank Caruso as a capo and Mike Sarno as a street boss for Pudgy Matassa. Which doesn't make any sense. I wonder if Matassa ended up kicking up to him as well? On ANP they mentioned he was never too respected, but he got made around the time Frank Calabrese did.

Anyway, he succeeds Marcello and he still isn't made. Unfortunately for us crime historians, he was sentenced to 25 years before we could figure out what the hell really happened. Maybe some day another informant will tell us.

Sarno is considered a "made member" of the mob according to federal law enforcement officials, because he participated in an official "making" ceremony.
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/iteam&id=7609408

And, again, that chart you're referring to isn't official. It was simply compiled by two Real Deal forum members.

I know. But the fact is those charts are often seen as fact and I was pointing out why you can't view it as such.

I'll look in to the Sarno thing, thanks. I guess my info was a bit outdated. I was referring to how at one point he asked Marco D'amico to get made and D'amico declined.

Marcello and Sarno partners. Marcello reached out from custody and had Zizzo killed?

Supposedly Zizzo had a very heated argument with Mickey Marcello and Frank Schweihs a short time before he disappeared. Plus the beef with Sarno, which was probably related. And this is all in the same crew. So, yeah, I'd bet that Jimmy Marcello gave his OK for it.