The Outfit of today is pretty much the way Ivy described it which is based a lot on the Feds who know a lot more today than they did in 1973. it is also based upon personal observation. The Outfit really changed in the early 1990's. They went From 6 Crews down to 4. Out of those 4 Crews, you really have 2 that are operating like the old Outfit. They are the Southern crews.
As far as Sarno, believe it or not, he was not only a made guy running his franchise but he was also the 'Acting Front Boss'. That's how low the Outfit has sunk from 30 years ago.
Noone said Sarno was a big powerful Boss. All the feds said was that he was the acting Boss of Cicero which made him the 'Acting Front Boss' of the Street racket Outfit.
Noonee claimed he was more powerful than Jimmy Inendino.
As far as the city, There was a bust and investigation about the poker machines a couple of years ago involving 26th St. The bars were in the City, not in the suburbs. Not all of the current mob activity is in the suburbs.
Agreed on most points.
I wouldn't have called it a full scale investigation into the poker machines. There was more than just poker machines going on at the Redwood. It was a known speakeasy for Chinatown soldiers & had been being monitored for years. The poker machine racket is still alive & well throughout the Chicagoland area. The Outfit still have interests within city limits, but post-bob Cooley, their operations are largely based out of the surrounding suburbs.
Also, grand avenue is far from "white collar". They aren't as gritty as Chinatown, but they are still very much street level. You still have the younger guys in that crew doing shit like jacking computers off trucks at Fulton & Wolcott LOL. People assume That because grand Ave is directly connected with elmwood that they are white collar as well.
The article I linked to said 12 taverns were raided. That's pretty much a full-on investigation, unless it's wrong.
One thing about Sarno being caught heading up the B&E ring would indicate that the profits from the gambling are probably not what some people think; only a fool would risk going down on running a stolen jewelry racket when they are already sitting on a gambling fortune.
Twelve taverns throughout the entire city of Chicago? Nah. Maybe a full on investigation in Danville or something lol. They used the machines as an excuse to shut down a few well known crew hangouts.
Also, the sarno family is extremely wealthy, So I dunno what to tell ya about that...
Well, 12 in Bridgeport.
No offense but I doubt the FBI would go out of their way to shut down known mob hangouts just for the hell of it.
I imagine they have better things to do than inconvenience a few wise guys by forcing them to find a new watering hole.
There are other mobbed up spots in the city they could have tried to close if that was their goal.
I don't really know. Feds put the entire Outfit take at $200 million annually a long time ago, at least 10 years ago, as that figure was cited in John Binder's book.
Joe Fosco for what it's worth thought that was way overblown, although I know he isn't really seen as a credible source for various reasons.
