Caught this nugget on Chicago TV this evening...

The New Mob Order

Here's a story from earlier in the week...

Mob boss dies

And from The Bright One, the Chicago Sun Times...

Former mob chief dies

It's "light reading" but that's not surprising since little is known about "Pizza Al" and his name only surfaced during the recent Family Secrets investigation and trials. However, if you have an older "scorecard" from Chicago, you'll find his name on the chart. It's just not as high on those charts as these stories would lead you to believe.

tony b.

Tony B, great post. Glad to see another Outfit guy on the board. The Chicago way...nothin' like it! Whatta you say we keep this thread going as the official Chicago mob news updates? Longneck, you out there?

good articles!

Reputed Chicago mobster, cop, 5 others indicted
By MIKE ROBINSON

CHICAGO (AP) — A reputed mob boss, a police officer and five other men were charged Thursday in a sweeping racketeering indictment that alleges eight years of armed robberies, burglaries, jewel thefts and arson based in the western suburbs of Chicago.

Michael "The Large Guy" Sarno, 51, of Westchester allegedly masterminded much of the group's illegal activity, including a February 2003 pipe-bomb explosion that wrecked the storefront offices of a company distributing video poker machines.

Prosecutors say the bombing was a message from organized crime to stop intruding on its $13-million-a-year video poker gambling business.

Sarno, 51, went to prison in the early 1990s as a member of an organized crime family based in the western suburbs headed by Ernest Rocco Infelice.

Federal agents searched Sarno's home last July and also raided the headquarters and various hangouts of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. An alliance has developed between the violence-prone club and the Chicago mob, prosecutors say.

Sarno's attorney, Terence P. Gillespie, did not return a message for comment. But he said in a previous interview with The Associated Press that Sarno was not a mob member and was "a legitimate businessman."

Attorneys for the other defendants were not reached immediately. Messages were left at the offices of four defense attorneys whose names were learned.

Two men arrested the day of the July 2008 searches and later indicted, Mark Polchan, 41, an acknowledged member of the Outlaws, and Samuel Volpendesto, 85, were also charged in the fresh indictment. They are accused of setting off the bomb that demolished C&S Coin Operated Amusements of Berwyn, a video poker device distributor.

At the time, a video poker distributing company controlled by members and associates of the Chicago mob had a grip on the market for the devices, experts say.

Video poker devices are legal in Illinois if they are not used for gambling, but bartenders often pay winners under the table in many places and experts say the mob frequently takes a healthy cut of what the machines take in.

Gov. Pat Quinn is deciding whether to sign a bill to make video poker gambling legal to finance public works — something good government forces deplore. They say the machines are addictive and some breadwinners have gambled away their paychecks.

Also charged in the indictment:

_James Formato, 42, a former Berwyn police officer accused of serving as a courier for stolen money, taking part in an attempted robbery and other crimes.

_Mark Hay, 52, described as taking part in the robbery of jewelry stores.

_Anthony Volpendesto, 46, son of Samuel Volpendesto, who also is alleged to have taken part in robbing jewelry stores.

_Dino Vitalo, 40, a Cicero police officer since 1991, accused of searching law enforcement data bases and using the information to tip off criminals and searching for electronic surveillance equipment around a jewelry store operated by Polchan. Cicero officials on Thursday placed Vitalo on administrative leave.

Prosecutors are asking the court to force the defendants if convicted to forfeit $1.8 million — a possible measure of the amount taken in the robberies.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press

Good post, DC. I just got that story in my yahoo news alert this a.m. Thanks for keeping the Chicago Outfit thread up to date! All of my mother's family is up around Cicero...we went there every weekend. Great memories!

ALFONSO TORNABENE 1923-2009

Alfonso Tornabene, 1923-2009: Pizzeria owner and an alleged leader of Chicago Outfit
Pizzeria owner had longtime mob ties, officials have said
By Bob Goldsborough | Special to the Tribune
June 1, 2009
Suburban pizzeria owner Alfonso "Al" Tornabene was reported to be a high-ranking member of the Chicago Outfit who at one point helped run the criminal organization while one of its leaders was in federal prison.

A longtime resident of Stickney, Mr. Tornabene, 86, died of complications related to peptic ulcer disease Sunday, May 17, in MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn.

Mr. Tornabene opened Villa Nova Pizzeria in Stickney in 1955. The pizzeria has expanded to Orland Park, Lockport and Michigan City, Ind., and is now owned by his daughter and her husband.

"Al was a fairly nice guy," said a neighbor, Raymond Mirous. "He kept to himself and never bothered nobody."



Although authorities said Mr. Tornabene had been a member of the Chicago Outfit for decades, he was not publicly identified as being part of the organization until 1997, when the Chicago Crime Commission published its "New Faces of Organized Crime" handbook.

The book identified Mr. Tornabene as a lieutenant for the West Side Crew, which at that time was run by Anthony Centracchio, according to the commission.

In testimony at the 2007 Family Secrets trial, a mob informant told federal authorities that Mr. Tornabene helped run the Outfit while James Marcello was imprisoned from 1992 until 2003.

Court records also showed that Mr. Tornabene presided over a 1983 ceremony that made several mobsters full members of the Outfit, including Frank Calabrese Sr. and his brother, Nick, who later was the star witness in the Family Secrets trial.

In September 2007, James Wagner, then head of the Chicago Crime Commission, told the Tribune that Mr. Tornabene, whose nickname was "the Pizza Man," at that time was behind Outfit activities in the south suburbs.

Survivors include a daughter, Mary Adamczyk, a sister, Concetta "Teena" Donofrio, and a granddaughter. His wife, Betty, died in 1988.

Services were held.

2 plead not guilty in mob-linked racketeering case


CHICAGO (AP) -- Two men have pleaded not guilty to federal racketeering charges linked to organized crime in Chicago.

Forty-one-year-old Mark Polchan and 85-year-old Samuel Volpendesto have been in federal custody for more than a year. They appeared Tuesday before Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier.

Both men are accused of touching off a February 2003 bomb blast in Berwyn that wrecked the offices of a suburban Chicago video gaming company.

Prosecutors say it was a message from the mob warning the company to stop horning in on the video gaming business.

The two were among seven men recently charged in a sweeping racketeering indictment that outlines a wave of robberies, burglaries, arsons and other crimes.

Jun 3, 2009 11:41 am US/Central Beer Ad Pulled After Italian-Americans Complain
Chicago Italian-American Community Takes Issue With Mafia

Miller Lite beer's new "Protection" campaign, prominently featuring actor Frank Vincent from the HBO mobster hit "The Sopranos," is being pulled after Chicago representatives of the Italian-American community lashed out over the stereotypical mafia depiction of Italian Americans in the ads.

In one commercial, Vincent and his sidekick enter a convenience store and ask the clerk if he needs "protection." The clerk, pointing to a Miller Lite container, says he's got all the protection he needs, which prompts an exaggerated "oh!" from Vincent and his sidekick. In a commercial set in a bar, Vincent asks -- in a threatening tone -- if the bartender needs protection. When the bartender says "no," Vincent asks if he's a wiseguy.

"We seem to be the last breed in America that ad agencies think they can take a shot at," said Lou Rago, founder of the Italian American Human Relations Foundation of Chicago, who helped spearhead the effort to force the new Miller Lite ads off the air. The campaign, created by DraftFCB/Chicago, was to run through the summer, but MillerCoors said it will remove the ads within a week.

On Monday, Rago participated in a conference call with MillerCoors executives who indicated they might consider running fewer of the "Protection" commercials. But when Rago and Anthony Baratta, the Chicago-based national chairperson for the Commission for Social Justice, said that was unacceptable and that they would call for a boycott of MillerCoors by Italian Americans, the brewery had by Tuesday decided to dump the entire campaign.
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)


What a shame...these ads were hilarious! It was Frank Vincent and the big guy who played "Frenchy" in Goodfellas.
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/weird/NATL-Angry-Italians-Say-Basta-to-Miller-Lite-Ad.html

dammit i luved those ads!

Last August I posted these links to an interesting story from the Chicago Tribune. Not only do you get some interesting background information about Mr. Rago, but there's also a connection between his family business and Al Capone as well.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-funeralhome-0827aug27,0,317581.story

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-funeralhome-timeline-0827aug27,0,2042274.story

If they don't appear as links, you'll have to copy-and-paste into the address bar of your browser.

By the way, the article references a funeral parlor on the 5100 block of West Fullerton in Chicago. My grandfather once owned a tavern right across the street.

tony b.

The good news is that they are still running the Miller Lite "protection" radio spots! They play them a lot during the White Sox games on WSCR 670 AM - great Chicago sports radio...however, I do miss Mike North! Any way, in the radio spots, Frank Vincent voices a character named "Frankie Two Shoes" and the guy who played "Frenchy" in "Goodfellas" plays a character named "Mikey The Hand"...OOHH!! Funny stuff! Great posts, YoTonyB.

Miller Lite pulled ALL the radio mafia "protection" ads from the White Sox games. Not one ad played last night during the broadcast. Which brings me to this question...Is anyone on this board offended by the ads? http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/weird/NATL-Angry-Italians-Say-Basta-to-Miller-Lite-Ad.html

What's 'Basta' mean?

doesnt it mean like "go away" or dissapear"

The Italian word "basta" translated in English means "enough".

I liked the ads...

Personally, I thought they were hilarious. Italian heritage or not - the humor and creativity are superb.