Originally Posted By: Bugsyvegas1930
Originally Posted By: Toodoped
THats cool.I told you they all had shares,but some had bigger than others.Do you know what im sayin.

I also remember the story about the Flamingo.THis is a part from an article that i wrote...

One day Chicago's chief fixer, Murray Humpreys,visited and told Siegel to fold up Trans-America wire service.They didn't need it anymore. Because by now the Outfit owned the Continental Press.But Siegel sent Humpreys home with a message for Ricca and Accardo that if Chicago wanted Siegel to fold up Trans-America in Nevada, Arizona and Southern California, it would cost them $2,000,000 in cash.Even though Ricca didn't want Siegel working for him, at the same time,he didn't want Siegel working for New York either. Crazy or not, Siegel was smart, ambitious and ruthless. They had to watch him, so Paul Ricca told Charlie Fischetti to send out a spy.Fischetti found a woman spy,with the help of Jake Guzik,and the woman they chose was the same woman Bugsy came to call his Flamingo,Virginia Hill.Virginia reported every conversation she had with Siegel back to the Fischetti’s .Still, the boys back in Chicago never trusted Hill, or anyone else for that matter, and when Paul Ricca told Johnny Roselli to start an affair with Hill so he could keep tabs on her,Roselli did it.The Flamingo opened on December 26, 1946 and after two weeks the Flamingo's gaming tables were $275,000 in the red and the entire operation shut down in late January 1947. Virginia Hill had already reported Siegel's plans to Paul Ricca in Chicago, and even though the Chicago mob was skimming Siegel in the Flamingo by sending in professional gamblers to break the bank.

Siegel had a second chance,he cracked down and did everything possible to turn the Flamingo into a success.The hotel reopened on March 1, 1947 and began turning a profit.However, by the time profits began improving the mob bosses above Siegel were tired of waiting.So on the night of June 20, 1947, as Siegel sat with his associate Allen Smiley in Virginia Hill's Beverly Hills home and while reading the paper,a hitman fired at him through the window with a .30-caliber military M1 carbine, hitting him many times, including twice in the head. No one was charged with the murder, and the crime remains officially unsolved.One theory posits that Siegel's death was the result of his excessive spending and possible theft of money from the mob.Also some sources say that the hitman was a member of the Chicago Outfit,but other sources say that it was from L.A.crime family. Virginia Hill continued working for the Chicago outfit as a courier for several more years before they replaced her in 1950. She married a guy who wasn't involved with the Outfit and had a child, but that ended in divorce.

After Siegel's murder in June 1947, Gus Greenbaum brought the struggling casino out of debt within several months, controlling several other Outfit casinos and bookmaking operations in Arizona within several years. Greenbaum planned to retire to Arizona and rejected offers to run the Riviera for Ricca and Accardo.So after Greenbaum's sister-in-law was murdered, he accepted the job.By now Las Vegas became the prime cash resort for the mob.Vegas and Reno were open cities,but it was clearly understood in the National Mob that Chicago controlled everything west of the Mississippi.

Also Ricca’s old pal,Gus Greenbaum,Gus was known for gambling, womanizing, and doing narcotics which eventually caused him to begin skimming from casino operations. On December 3, 1958, Greenbaum and his wife Bess were found dead in their Phoenix home. Their throats had been cut with a butcher knife.The story goes that Paul Ricca found out about Greenbaum stealing from the scheme at the Riviera in Vegas.Gus stealed from the scheme that was the split between Chicago Outfit and the five New York Families.Later Ricca sent word down to Gus Greenbaum,that he expected a cut from the steal.So Greenbaum paid Ricca and than,for unknown reasons,got stupid and stopped sending in his payment.That's when Marshal Caifano went to Vegas and orchastrated the murder of Greenbaum.

Thats the way of how the Outfit controlled other families...


Toodoped,

I agree that Chicago was a "very powerful" family. I've never said anything to the contrary. In fact, I love reading about Chicago and their history of OC. I have decided to work with several authors on a project that explores some of the more influential smaller families to see how far their power really extended and I am blown away by how smaller crime families were connected to larger ones through blood relatives and how they got into business with each other and so forth.


THats nice to hear and belive me i cant wait to read some of your stuff.Good luck with your projects.Btw check your pm

Last edited by Toodoped; 08/05/14 07:36 AM.

He who can never endure the bad will never see the good