How is Albert Vena still a free man? Wtf?!!!

This guy has ran over police cars, going absolute ape shit to kill cops and detectives. The courts know hes murdered people and he keeps walking free. There was a rumor going around he would eventually go down in the Family Secrets case but nothing materialized at the time. More than likely because he was not involved with the Frank Calabrese Chinatown street crew.

Do you think he will eventually get put away in a Family Secrets part 2?

I personally dont think there ever will be Family Secrets part 2 since most of the guys who allegedy were the targets are now dead. There might be some future indictments such as the recent one with Gagliano but I doubt there will be some huge trial with alleged bosses and stuff.

I completely agree. I think its mostly over in Chicago...just like in a lot of other U.S. cities. The Mob's presence and influence has either completely died out altogether. Or its been reduced to a trickle.

If the NYC crews (5+) are hovering on near empty, imagine lesser cities and towns where the mob was never as large a presence to begin with.

+1

What the fuck, are you a federal agent yourself, or a rat? You sound like that neighborhood snitch always looking out of your blinds with a telephone in your hand and 911 on speed dial. If you feel that strongly about it, start a petition.

Who cops was killed by Vena?

Btw some "street" sources say that Caruso Jr is allegedly the Outfits current boss

Yes and Im coming for you!!!

Possible Chinatown but overall boss? I find that hard to believe.

I thought Nick Ferriola aka Nicky Spoons and Caruso Jr were tag teaming the Chinatown crew recenty....i know they both were getting groomed to take over but who got the official spot im curious to know as well.

Nick Ferriola is acting Capo of the Chinatown street crew. Caruso Jr reports to him I'd imagine.

Who's left to do the grooming and groom people for what?

Ive already said this around 100 times and so ill say it again.

The Cicero/South Side and Chinatown crews were in close alliance with each other since the days of their "Godfather" Fiore Buccieri. In fact, both groups were "born" from the same crew and thats why they were/are usually represented by one boss with one or two capos beneath him. When Skids retired back in 1977 and completely relinquished his crew, it was for Buccieri's and Torellos guy LaPietra to take over the Cicero/Chinatown aka South Side faction, with Ferriola as capo in Cicero, but still both were under Torello. The tradition or the close connection between the two crews continued during the 80s, 90s and so on. When LaPietra (Chinatown) was imprisoned, his crew was succeeded by his brother but the main rep for the two crews was Ferriola (Cicero, hence the info which investigators thought that Ferriola is the new overall boss). Later Monteleone (Chinatown) became the overall boss, followed years later by Sarno (Cicero). Years later we have Solly D (Cicero) etc. On top of that we have Cicero guys made into the Chinatown crew, or the other way around...such as Nick Ferriola (Cicero) who was made in Caruso Jr.'s or Chinatown crew.

My point is that after the downfall of the Marcello/Tornabene/Melrose Park crew and also the DiFronzo/Elmwood Park/Grand Av crew (yes, the EP and Grand crews had/have the same close connection as Cicero/Chinatown) becoming more legit, the Cicero/Chinatown faction became more powerful and probably took control over the top admin (even today), especially after the deaths of the EP leaders and thats why I personally believe that Vena is possibly the main remaining and still powerful West Side leader.

Now, regarding today...as I already said that some of my sources say that the Cicero/Chinatown group is allegedly still holding the top spots and Im not trying to sound like Scott B here but if my source give me the green light, ill mention his name.

Story goes that two Cicero fellas Lenny DeGrado and Frank DiPaolo are currently two of the main fellas on the streets for the Cicero/South Side group. DeGrado is allegedly a thief who runs a jewlery store and did time back in the early 90s for a larger Outfit-run cartage theft ring. He was allegedly close to Mike Sarno, while DiPaolo I was told is actually from Rockford but works for Caruso Jr and Nick Ferriola (Cicero/Chinatown always had close ties to Rockford, hence Gumba Saladino). Again, my sources say that Caruso Jr (Chinatown) is allegedly the original heir-apparent now for Sarno (imprisoned) and Solly D, while Cautadella (Cicero) is allegedly under Caruso as his number two guy or underboss.

Just my "two cents" lol

Why would Caruso Jr have authority over Ferriola? Just curious.

@Rush Im not saying that you're wrong...maybe my source used Caruso's name as "label" for the Chinatown crew and who knows, maybe Caruso is retired and maybe Nick is running things for the group, BUT that same source named Caruso as being the leader of the Outfit, possibly with Nick as capo for his personal crew....just saying.

Even though Nick's dad was one of the most powerful capos during the mid and late 1980's and also a rep for the whole Cicero/Chinatown group, still I look at Caruso as more senior member mainly because he was/is a capo since the 90's and also comes from a long bloodline of Outfit members such as Bruno Roti Sr., Sam Roti, Alderman Fred Roti, Tony and his son Fred Bruno Barbara, and above all his father Skids Caruso who in turn was a capo from 1957 until 1976/77 and was the successor of Roti Sr.'s original and former Chinatown crew which was later absorbed by the new Chinatown group such as the Buccieri/Torello/LaPietra crew from the Cicero/West Side.

Is the Caruso Jr. discussed here Frank "Toots" Caruso or his son that beat up the kid in Bridgeport?

Frank Tootsie...the old man

Oh thank you for clearing that up! I thought you were referring to his son Toodoped! My apologies! Yes Frank does in fact still have authority over Nick until he decides to step down.

Thanks for the clarification.

Frank's been around forever and comes from a very powerful Outfit/political family.

So much $$$ is donated by him to the black community on the south Side. Ever since that thing happened with his son back in the 90's.

No problem and its also my fault to an extent because I "live" in the old days lol, meaning Caruso Jr for me will always be Skids' son. I dont ever remember Jr's kid who in turn beat up that young black man. Interesting to note is that the old or fomer South Side faction under Ferraro and Alex, which Skids also belonged to, was always connected to the African-American criminal element from around the south. South Side leaders Sam Hunt, Ralph Pierce and the Manno bros were connected to black policy racket since the late 1930s or early 40s. During the late 50s and early 60s Skids Caruso had a black "lieutenant" known as Nolan Mack, who in turn was a very notorious individual and ended being killed by the cops or something like that. There was another South Side black gangster Anderson who besides being operator and collector, he also did hits for the Outfit. Anderson was allegedly involved in the 1963 murder of black alderman Ben Lewis, allegedly on the orders from Outfit guys Lenny Patrick and Dave Yaras.



You're welcome. As I already said, he is the newphew of Bruno Roti Sr who back in 1951/52 officially succeeded Phil D'Andrea as boss of the Chinatown crew and the whole South Side faction, including the Loop and First Ward. Roti Sr also inherited all of D'Andreas political contacts and thats why he (Roti Sr) together with Guzik and Outfit boss Tony Accardo made a deal to infiltrate new faces in the leading political First Ward such as John D'Arco, Pat Marcy, Buddy Jacobson and Fred Roti, mainly because most of their old connection guys were already known by the government and also by the media, or died of natural causes.

I was always under the impression that D'Arco, Marcy and Roti were Outfit guys that were placed in the First Ward, and not guys that were there and then infiltrated. Marcy has a criminal record going back to long before he changed his name and entered politics. D'Arco grew up in Little Italy and was also involved with the Outfit before entering politics. Roti's Dad was Bruno "the Bomber" Roti, so I figured all three were basically groomed and inserted into the First Ward to do the Outfits bidding, and not there and infiltrated.

I understand what you're saying and I agree with you to an extent because some of those fellas started as precinct captains for many Outfit-connected aldermen and in fact, many of Chicago's precicnt captains were either members of the Outfit or associates. Previously guys like Dennis Cooney, Fred Morelli, or Dan Serritella represented a part of the "connection guys" for the old Outfit under Phil D'Andera and Jake Guzik, but previously most of them started as court bailiffs or precinct captains in certain wards. Even Big Jim Colosimo started as precinct captain for the Irish political crime bosses during his era. Benjamin Jacobson started as enforcer for Phil D'Andrea and Bruno Roti during political or union elections especially around the old powerful 20th Ward, but later became one of the main reps for the First Ward. So again, most of these guys worked for many political crime bosses with legitimate jobs but their real work was to beat up or kill people. We can say they were always there or were infiltrated, but to me it doesnt make much difference.

....in addition, I forgot to mention that D'Arco, Marcy, Ned Bakes and Fred Roti were made guys of the Chicago Outfit which made them different then most of their predecessors in the leading First Ward, and they were the legacy of D'Andrea, Roti Sr, Accardo and Ricca. Some of them even changed their names such as Bakes whose real name was Ignatius Spachese or Pasqualino Marciano aka Pat Marcy, and Joseph or James (dont remember the first name) Bulger aka Imburgio, another alleged made guy.

looking to see if i have this pecking order correct.

26th street crew (2023)
boss/capo
frank caruso-father of frank jr.

soldier/ alleged acting capo
nicholas ferriola

soldier
frank caruso jr.- son of capo/boss of crew.

and the 26th street crew would be under authority of as yet unknown cicero/south side area boss. this i assume would be whomever has taken over since death of james inendino...OR as stated above that position has been filled by frank caruso. making him currently both the area boss and capo of 26th street.

i may be confused on all this. the current state of the outfit whatever it is has become a little hard to follow...which would be the point for an alleged secret organization. however i am of the belief that the structure and operations of the outfit has changed more and with greater speed than any other mafia group in the u.s. they have not kept a static unchanging structure like almost every other mafia family on east coast. if i had to guess they have a current structure as follows...

BOSS

2 STREET BOSSES

with capos, soldiers reporting to the 2 SB'S.

now as for what names these 2 street bosses refer to geographically i dont know. the outfit at present does not appear to have set geographic areas that they dominate as in years past. also they are completely outnumbered by dozens of street gangs and cartel groups. they have also been completely outflanked by the political class in the state of illinois as far as gambling goes. all i mean is if the outfit is still operating as a criminal org they likely will take what rackets they can wherever they can.

one SB would be responsible for what remains of the elmwood park and grand avenue crews...and this likely is ALBERT VENA.
the other would be responsible for the remnants of cicero and 26th street crew...was inendino now possibly frank caruso but this has not been confirmed.

i once followed the outfit almost exclusively but have not been as up to date lately so this is best guess.

Good points.

Back in the days or few years ago I made one last chart for the Outfit regarding the 2020/21 era and came to a "conclusion" that there are still two factions out there, meaning the EP/Grand and the Cicero-South Side groups. And since then I wonder if there's still a top admin for the two groups OR there are simply two representatives for each group and they still collaborate. If there is still a top admin, my bet will be Caruso/Cataudella with Vena as rep for the EP/Grand group, and Nick for the Cicero-South Side crew.

....in addition, the Chicago Mafia started with two families which collaborated with each other and since history often repeats itself, it is possible they are back in the same or old formation.

Toodoped do you have a chart of the Outfit?

Sort of, meaning I need the fix my previous PC because its in there.

Ok,don't worry it's not urgent.

Btw, anyone heard of Charles Loverde III who is or was involved in the union business? Some say he was an Outfit guy....

It seems they are still present in the unions...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/liuna1001.org/2021/06/20/newly-elected-local-1001-officers-sworn-in/%3famp=1

The mob's infiltration of labor unions, where they serve as "union officials" or even work in a given labor union as card-carrying union members has been reduced to a trickle....99% of ALL labor unions throughout the entire United States have been purged of any organized crime affiliates. Thats a well-worn established fact.

And it's been that way since the mid-1980s, when the Federal Government dismantled, purged, and then banned all Cosa Nostra connected figures from the American labor movement.

It fucking sucks because the labor movement is still corrupt as fuck but without the mystique of Mafia involvement. If we're going to have corruption and crime anyway, I'd rather it be interesting and intriguing and that's what the mob offered.

The Unions in Illinois and Chicago are very corrupt, always have been to this day.

IF there is one city that still has plenty of organized crime working in Unions its Chicago.

I agree. There was so much corruption in both the unions and politics for over a century, something which I believe that the city of Chicago wont be able to get rid of it so easily. Possibly never...

He's a scammer that's forsure. His father was a judge I believe - Skokie kid who had it easy Local 1001 is Vic Roa's union - anyone can research that guy. He's been on Outfit charts multiple times and is a Bridgeport Prince.

Thanks for the additional info @ChiTown. And btw stick around more often bud I also wonder if he is related to some of the Loverde families from the old days.... Salvatore Toto...or maybe Butch...

Frank DiPaolo - I think is who was on those tapes along with Dominic Montagna and Toots Caruso at the Sarno trial. I think the spelling is wrong - could be deppolo - if anyone knows, let me know.

Ill check it out

https://abc7chicago.com/archive/7821987/

found this with what looks to be correct spelling.
any idea who montagna is? worked under sarno?

Maybe someone can correct me but I believe Montagna was Cicero/South Side...

I believe the Caruso's are partnered in a trucking business in the far south suburbs - Dominic Lamontana or LaMontagna may be the name on those transcripts. I believe people call him Dom Montana. I've heard the name Dominic Montagna thrown around by the BokaBreeze and have seen it listed on charts but I am not 100% what the real name is.

Here is the mug of another guy who is very active - brother of Vince who testified against Sarno. He runs Dearborn Gaming LLC - he is partnered with owner of Villa Napoli Pete Pavone who is in Norridge politics.
https://chicagoil.mugshots.zone/pasquale-e-dublino-mugshot-01-04-2023/

Thanks for the info @ChiTown, although I personally have problems in opening the pic. Also, it seems theres no question that the Cicero/Chinatown group still control all important rackets even today, or whats left of it, but I also believe that until the end of days they will never relinquish their union, political and gambling contacts.