Outfit Bosses Question ?

In Wayne Johnson's book, "A History Of Violence," Johnson lists Outfit bosses as the following starting with Accardo from 1944-1956
Giancana - 1956 - 1966
Sam Battaglia - 1966
Alederisio - 1967
Cerson - 1968
Accardo - 1969
Bucierri - 1969 - 1973
Turello - 1973 - 1979
Aiuppa - 1979 - 1986
Feriola - 1986 - 1989
Carlisi - 1989 - 1992
DiFronzo - 1992 - 2011
Sarno & Cataudella 2011 - ?

I wasn't aware that Cerone, Bucierri or Turello were bosses? I thought Aiuppa took over in 1971? What do I know? I wonder if this is a typo?

Battaglia: 1966-1967
Alderisio: 1967-1971
Aiuppa: 1971-1986
Carlisi: 1986-1993
DiFronzo: 1993-2005?
D'Amico: 2005?-Present

D'Amico is only speculation on my part. Buccieri and Turk were never bosses. Buccieri was having health problems towards the end of his life and couldn't actively be boss. Turk ran the South Side crew from 1973-1979 but this is the only place I've ever seen him mentioned as boss.

Ferriola as boss from 1986-1989 seems to be the most debated, both officially and unofficially. I could go either way but I'll say Carlisi was boss because he was Aiuppa's protege and heir.

Sarno and Cautadella as boss is laughable at best. Sarno may have been acting boss of Cicero at some point but boss of the Outfit? No way.

This really gets discouraging after awhile. Even the so-called experts don't agree. So where do you go to get credible information and facts? Also, is the entire book filled with errors ? I don't know, but it sure is aggravating.

"A History Of Violence" has a ton of information relative to the 1400 mob-related murders. But if the info is not correct, why bother to waste time and read the book?

Just aggravating.

He has tons of great photos. I'd say the books worth it just for that. And he may get that boss info from unreliable sources. Having Ferriola as boss is definitely no outrageous claim but I have never heard of Turk or Buccieri being boss. I don't think the feds have ever said that either so I don't know where he got it from.

He doesn't even have Ricca on that list. A little inaccurate...

Turk was a rising star, but don't think he was ever top boss.


So is this book just a listing of all the gangland murders and a short description?

I can promise you guys that what I said is in the book. The red flag went up when I saw the Bosses' list. He has some good photos and gives a brief description of the murders, who, what, where and when. Good info for sure.

He also lists some things he refers to as "Critical Events." Here's an example that I believe you can identify : " On October 9, 1983 Nick Calabrese and several other Outfit soldiers were ordered to a west suburban restaurant on Roosevelt Road where they appeared in front of the current Outfit Boss Joey "Doves" Aiuppa. At this time Aiuppa and most of the leadership of the Chicago Outfit carried out a ceremony that would give the men "Made" status in the Outfit. While this was a common process in the east coast Mafia, it was rare in Chicago. This information was presented in the Family Secrets testimony and the following men were "Made" that day: Albert Tocco, Jimmy Marcello, Anthony Zizzo, John Matassa, Frank Belmonte and of course the Calabrese brothers Frank and Nick."

No Outfit murders occurred in 1968.

This is the kind of info listed in the book. Lots of dates, especially when Outfit members died and general info that Dr. Johnson refers to as critical events.

Nicky - Ricca is on the list. I just arbitrarily started with Accardo. Dr. Johnson started with Colosimo, Torrio, Capone, Nitti, Ricca.

Sorry, I should have made that clear.

FBI had Cerone as boss or acting for over a year before he went to prison. Chicago leadership is even more of a mystery than the Genovese

This based on your own observations? I think you could certainly be correct.

I thought it was jimmy inendino and solly d who where running the outfit

I thought andriacchi and d' amico were pretty much retired

Andriacchi probably is but D'Amico may be running things now. Who knows, it's purely speculation on my part.

So difronzo is totally out the picture

The guy's 85 years old and a millionaire a few times over - I'd say so. I think Family Secrets spooked him and he's been done ever since. Coincidentally enough, that was around the same time Marco was released.

Yeah I remember that , a lot of people have found it strange difronzo has never been indicted

The same reason Lou Marino has never been indicted - there was no other evidence to corroborate Nick's testimony. Michael Spilotro's daughter testified that Marcello was the one who called the Spilotro household on the day of the murder and in addition to that, the feds also had as evidence the wiretaps disclosing the "hush money" which Marcello was paying to Nick, presumably to keep him quiet about his involvement in the Spilotro murders.

No such evidence exits for DiFronzo or Marino, the only two survivors out of the remainder of the alleged killers.

Yeah I've read all that pal . There was a story on the net saying difronzo could have been an informant which I find ridiculous

Ipyeah I remember marcello paying calabrese money every week while he was in Milan prison

Difronzo and D'Amico run Elmwood with D'Amico running day to day while DiFronzo just makes final decisions. The question is whether Cicero or Elmwood is the current power base.

Maybe this is the main reason he wasn't indicted rather than not enough evidence. If he has got more cash than others, leniency is a natural result.

The idea that bananas is a dry snitch seems preposterous. Probably exactly what Snakes said, no corroborating evidence. My guess is he's assumed an Accardo senior advisor role and Damico runs EP. Seems that the white collar rackets belongs to them along with some various gambling interests, while the blue collar street stuff is handled by Cicero.

Update: listed below is a statement at the end of "A History Of Violence:"

" On March 11, 2011 it was reported by the press based on unsealed federal documents that the two men now leading the Chicago Outfit are Michael Sarno and Salvatore Cataudella. Sarno is in custody from a 2010 federal conviction and was sentenced to 25 yrs in prison which leaves Cataudella as the last man standing. OUTFIT leadership has always been hard to establish as this report is refuted by some Mob watchers."

Well, now we know the origin of the information. And you guys have pointed out that the assertion is incorrect.

I would still recommend the book. It really has a lot of information / data plus some good pictures.

My interest has been primarily the Ricca, Accardo and Giancana era, plus FS. But the research and readings lead to comparisons, etc. Everything I've read indicates just what you've posted about JD assuming a role similar to Accardo.

Those 2 were never in charge overall. Sarno was probably #2 or #3 in Cicero but never #1. Sammy C is probably Cicero's #3 guy today.

And I agree about Ricca. Probably the most underrated boss Chicago has ever had. Had just as much if not more influence than Accardo and Giancana. Had a say in everything from the 30s to 70s and served little jail time.

That was probably the Mutt and Jeff article in the Sun Times.
here's a link:
Mutt and Jeff

A lone disgruntled guy seems to be the source of that info
The article says:
"A confidential FBI informant, who felt abandoned by the Outfit and was motivated to talk, told the feds in 2007 that Mutt and Jeff “were the current Outfit bosses in the Chicago area,” according to the previously sealed federal document."

And

"While one informant put Sarno and Cataudella at the top of the Chicago Outfit, another informant advised the FBI that Sarno was still turning over money to reputed Outfit underboss John “No Nose” DiFronzo, also known as “Johnny Bananas.” Another source of information noted that Sarno was higher in the leadership structure and collecting money from reputed 26th Street crew boss Frank “Tootsie Babe” Caruso.

Marcello himself called the two men “Mutt and Jeff” in one jailhouse conversation, secretly recorded for the Family Secrets investigation."

I think the media is quite silly to take the word if one unknown/unnamed informant. For all we know it was some low level associate in Cicero who had no clue the structure. Not to mention if he felt abandoned, it probably means the guy was shelved for one reason or another.

To be fair, the media reported what was in a fed affidavit and was pretty dismissive of that particular source's claim.

It was Johnson who didn't read the news article all the way through.

Sarno was the "last man standing" in Cicero at one point so I wouldn't be surprised if he ran that crew for a time, but the whole Outfit? I doubt it.

Depends on the time period. I can't imagine Solly D got out of the can and was taking orders from him.

It's rather obvious to me that Mike Sarno was holding down the fort for Solly D while he was away. DeLaurentis & Sarno were both soldiers in the Infelice crew, with Sarno being much younger & lower on the totem pole. It's true that when all those guys went away, the younger next generation (Sarno & his cronies) were the only Infelice guys left on the street. All the Carlisi guys were locked up. So naturally, Sarno took the reigns of Cicero until his superiors got released. I just don't think they expected him to goof up like he did, that obviously wasn't planned.

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I wonder if they expected him to cry in court.

You guys think Sarno will make it out of prison?

Even if he does, he'll be in pretty rough shape, healthwise.

Yeah, I'd be shocked.

during the family secrets trial they showed photographs and had wiretaps

marcello called a couple people and told them they had to meet somebody

marcello showed up with carlisi but he didn't make any calls to carlisi

carlisi was the boss

Yep. I'm not sure why some have found it hard to believe Sarno was acting boss. That's what the FBI had him as, just like they did Marcello before him. And both of them being from the same crew probably isn't a coincidence.

They weren't really necessarily from the same crew though. The Cicero crew is an entity unto itself, in that it is composed of two separate factions: The Carlisi/Marcello Crew & the Ferriola/Infelise Crew. These two factions became even more separated & distant following the incarcerations of their upper echelon members. This became evident when the Ferriola/Infelise faction (DeLaurentis, Inendino, Marino, Sarno) knocked down Big Tony Chiaramonti & Little Tony Zizzo. (Carlisi/Marcello crew members), and in doing so, claimed the entire Cicero/Berwyn/Melrose Park territory for themselves. Prior to this taking place, there were two "bosses" of Cicero. Mike Sarno, who was acting on behalf of his superiors who were incarcerated at the time, and Little Tony Zizzo, who was acting boss on behalf of Jimmy Marcello while he was imprisoned. They were 100% equals.

Mike Sarno was a member of the Rocky Infelise crew. He worked under a guy named Bobby Salerno, who worked under a guy named Lou Marino, who worked under a guy by the name of Solly DeLaurentis. So yeah, it's quite obvious that he was just holding down the fort until Jimmy I & Solly D got home.

People get confused because the Cicero crew is the only Outfit family large enough that it had to be split up into two factions to cover the territory. This isn't the case with any of the other crews, which operate under one boss/panel.

You have to disregard a lot of what the feds put out there for the public. The feds largely go off of information they obtain via low level informants. These informants aren't privy to high level information/hierarchies.

Hope that helps clear some stuff up regarding Mike Sarnos place within the Outfit.

the outfit is so secretive that theyre not privy to the information but you are, yeah right

Pardon?

Hey, I'm just going off of common sense here. It's common sense that Mike Sarno was acting as boss until Solly DeLaurentis & Jim Inendino got out of the can. He was way, way under them on the totem pole in that faction of the Cicero crew. He was the only heavy left from that crew that was still on the street during the mid-90s, had the balls to step up to the plate. It isn't rocket science.

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I think Sarno being an acting boss is something that was lost in translation between the feds and the press. The feds obviously knew that Sarno was acting boss of Cicero but I think the press ran with it and exaggerated him into being acting boss of the whole Outfit - this after months and years before and after Sarno's arrest where the press named DiFronzo, Andriacchi, Lombardo, D'Amico, and Marcello as "boss" in some form or fashion. It's not really something that was necessarily disputed either - busting a boss is a big thing and John Q. Public doesn't differentiate between a crew boss and a family boss, all they hear is "boss" and it sounds good to them.

Correct, and the Outfit has historically been viewed as one single family, when in reality, after Sam Carlisi died, anyways, it could more or less be considered 4/5 separate "families" (Cicero being two factions, as I pointed out).

The public views the Outfit as one family, with one boss, and I just don't believe that's the case any longer. Probably never was the case. Such is America's fascination with one single individual wielding ultimate power. Lol.

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Makes sense to me. So Marino answered to Solly D?

Acting boss over Cicero I agree. But overall boss of Chicago is just laughable. There's no way in hell that the Difronzo brothers and Marco were taking orders from Sarno.

Marino was Infelise's #2 when he ran Cicero. Solly D was underneath him.

when has "the boss" really been "the boss" in chicago?

sarno wouldn't have gotten indicted if they just would've started a fire

a bomb after 9/11 ain't that smart

That's what I was thinking. Going to be interesting to see what happens when he gets released...I would presume he would be very near the top.

He would definitely at the very least be the #3 guy, a good chance of #2 also. Just depends if he wants it or not.

Isn't Marino going to be mid 80's when he's released? I doubt he'll want any part of the life anymore. Unless he's a knucklehead like Franzese.

I wonder how involved his son is? Wasn't he on the Cicero ghost payroll and went to college?

Dino is involved from what I understand. I don't see why people think this is odd, these guys stay involved late in life all the time.

I could see it going either way. You gotta remember he's been in jail for over 20 years and he's in his early 80's. He might just want to live out his last few years in peace. But he very well might pull a Sonny Franzese and be active lol.

Took the words right out of my mouth. And then he back pedals and says he's just going by "common sense." That's the problem with these Outfit threads. So quick to dismiss real intel (the feds) in favor of guesswork and bullshit.

Lol, Christ you two are pathetic. A tandem team of clowndom. Go join a Kickboxing gym or something. You two are the angstiest, most tightly wound clown duo that we've got lurking these forums. Go fuck up a heavy bag instead of dumping all of your 90210 drama on us, creeps.

For the record, I'm agreeing with you, goofball court jester. Mike Sarno was indeed the acting boss of Cicero, LIKE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SAID SO. :P:P:P

How about some stuff that the feds shit Da bed on though: they listed Rocco Lombardo as a made member of the Chicago Mafia.

Rocky Lombardo is a motherfucking half cock tae kwon do instructor.

................................................

derp.

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Again, look at HIERARCHY. Sarno worked under these guys. They were his superiors. It's only natural that he assume position while they were away.

That's what the feds implied when they christened him "acting boss".

..

Solly D was above Lou Marino. Louis Tomatoes was an enforcer, the most ruthless of his era. He was equal with guys like Hatch Chiaramonti. He was a strict enforcer/hard head. His kid Dino is the same way. One of the roughest crews in Outfit history.

I could have sworn Marino was above Solly - Solly wasn't even made for most of the eighties, right?

But Marino was a collector, DeLaurentis was Rocky Infelise's protoge, sort of like what Jimmy Marcello was to Sam Carlisi.

I find it interesting that the street speculation never seems to be questioned in the NYC based threads.

Case in point Michael Mancuso being the boss of the Bonannos. The FBI says he's the boss. The NY posters say that's BS. Yet nobody is questioning the inside knowledge of the NY posters supposedly knowing more than the FBI.

If anyone believes Sarno was boss over guys like DiFronzo, D'Amico, and Andriacci, I don't know what to say. DiFronzo was whacking guys for the Outfit before Sarno was even born.

Besides, the FBI had conflicting information from informants. One said he was the boss. Another said he was kicking up. Does anyone believe DiFronzo was kicking up to Sarno? LOL

^^right, and a lot of informants have biased vendettas toward certain individuals & will say whatever it takes to get them locked up.

And again, in my opinion, Cicero & Elmwood park are separate entities. Neither "kick up" to the other.

Bingo. I've kept my mouth shut because I prefer to not feed into what the trolls appear to thrive on, but fuck does it get annoying.

I asked it in the past, but what is the status of Mike Zitello? Wasn't he part of that crew as well? Interesting to see what happens when all of these guys get out of prison.

From ChiTown in an earlier thread, "Zitello lives in Florida now. I believe he operates a restaurant or two down there and associates with other Florida Outfit guys like Giorango. I'm sure the guy is still booking too".

The feds had Sarno as the acting boss of the Outfit...not just Cicero.



Not sure who you're referring to but, if the feds are carrying Mancuso as the official boss right now - and it was indeed reported that way - then he's the boss as far as I'm concerned.

As for Sarno kicking up to DiFronzo, that may suggest the latter still retains the official boss title (as some reports have said) or some other "elder statesman" type role. What is apparent is that Sarno was the acting boss in the sense of running the day-to-day affairs of the Outfit like Marcello did before him. It's not necessarily conflicting information at all.

^lol

@ivyleague


when in the history of the u.s. mafia has the boss kicked up to a higher power?

meaning that the top guy "the boss" kicked up to someone higher n the food chain

That's right...I want to say his restaurant is somehow connected to a Seminole Indian Casino. Not 100% though. A lot of Outfit guys are down in the broader Naples are now - Rayjo Tominello, Jimmy Yaras, etc.

Hey Chi, any thoughts on Burnsteins write up I posted in the other thread that some of the younger guys in Cicero that may have been made in the last 10 years are pissing off the older guys? It's pretty vague, but interesting nonetheless.

It wasn't directed at you

I don't think it was apparent at all that Sarno was acting boss of the entire Outfit. The only source is one unknown informant who could be a low level associate for all we know. Joe Pistone was in the Sonny Black crew for years and didn't even know who was at the three capos ambush. What you're doing is also speculating. DiFronzo "may" have been the elder statesman while Sarno was acting boss. The informant said Sarno was the boss, not acting boss. If he really was kicking up, then he seems more like a crew boss.

Chicago refers to their capos as "bosses" of territories so I can see where it can be confused. I'm not a Chicago guy and I tend to swing towards the FBI more often than not but I can't see Sarno being boss (even acting) of the entire Outfit in a million years.

Sarno was never the boss. Acting capo of Cicero yes but not overall boss. You really think the difronzo bros and Marco who were soldiers when Sarno was in diapers, were taking orders from him? Not a chance.

Sarno named his son after Marco D'Amico. D'Amico was a local hero when Sarno was growing up in Cicero/Berwyn.

I was going to bring that up too. He was a boss, not the boss. Sarno is a street thug, not even close to Marcello's level much less the DiFronzo brothers and D'Amico.

Marco D'Amico was never on the level of a Jimmy Marcello or John DiFronzo. Marcello was, for a considerable amount of time, the outfit's premier financier & next in line to become the consensus, defacto #1. D'Amico was never even close to any of those things.

Sarno is actually very comparable to D'Amico.

I often wonder whether Jimmy Marcello gave the green light for Sarno to hit his long-time friend Tony Zizzo. Or whether Marcello's juice on the street simply evaporated when he was sentenced in Family Secrets.

I forget, did Zizzo get popped after the FS verdict?

Good call - maybe I'm wrong about my timing. I feel like he was popped right before or after the case came down.

He was hit after the indictments but before the case went to trial.

I really think Sarno (And from behind the scenes, Solly D & Jimmy I) probably wanted to just do away with the Carlisi/Marcello faction & claim those rackets for themselves. The two factions had peacefully shared territory for so long, and by the early '00s, the Carlisi people had next to nothing going for them in terms of manpower & influence. So why not just get rid of their last two big dogs, Zizzo & Hatch, who were constantly trying to go against the grain?

That was my point. Marcello wasn't that powerful if his top guys were getting whacked. He had power when Carlisi was alive. When that crew was busted, Marcello went to prison, which limited his power on the streets enough so that his crew on the streets was decapitated.

Hmmmm, no, he most certainly was THAT powerful. His crew had just either died out or were all locked up. If Johnny DiFronzo's insulation died out/went away, he'd get disregarded as well. Respect/seniority is overrated within the Life.

The same thing could've happened to anyone. It's just the way things go in the Mafia. If the Jeep Daddino/Rainone fiasco didn't go down, Sarno & the Ferriola/Infelise people would still probably be playing second fiddle in Cicero.

Yeah I agree - there were really two factions within Cicero during the 1980s - Ferriola/Infelice, then Carlisi/Marcello.

Sarno, Solly D, Sammy C and the boys were under the Ferriola faction. Jimmy I was in prison. Now they are running the show and the 26th Street faction under Caruso kicks into them.

Pudgy Matassa was under the Carlisi/Marcello faction and is very close to the Marcello family - that's why I think he may have lost some clout to a certain extent.

How much structure there is between Cicero/26th Street and Elmwood Park/Grand Avenue - DiFronzo and Vena - is another question. My theory is that Marco D'Amico is the crucial link keeping it all together. Or perhaps they are completely separate with a working relationship and a few shared rackets.

Do you think Marco is running the day to day in Elmwood? Or is Petey?

Well Marco & Solly D are very close. They are around the same age & came up together down there. They likely have similar roles.

It would make sense. But he's not made

I heard that Peter is sick - not sure if he's around much anymore and would assume he's got someone running things for him.

I would guess the DiFronzo's are using Marco D'Amico as their mouthpiece to the other crews. Everyone likes Marco and HSC you are right - Marco used to live in Barrington very close to Solly when he was living in Inverness.

I wonder whether Rudy Fratto or Tony Dote are really the main "capo" for Elmwood and running the guys in that crew - aren't many left, but guys like Al Mitria and the Giuliano or Cassano brothers are probably still active. Plus we know that Albie and boys on Grand Avenue are still active and they have been "with" elmwood park for a while now.

Do you know the difference between the acting boss and the official boss? As an example, Barney Bellomo and guys after him were acting bosses for the Genovese family while Chin was still the official boss. I imagine they were kicking up to him during this time.

So odd why Fosco continues to spout that BS...I sometimes wonder whether Marco is the guy running the whole show and DiFronzo is merely a beard at this point - and Fosco knows it. I'm not sure we will ever know.