I am not a fan of ANP or its authors but feel Fosco is right on with his assessment of why John DiFronzo stepped away. As the 1990's began, Johnny was the Underboss of the Outfit and the boss of Elmwood Park. In 93 he was convicted for attempting to muscle into some Indian casino in California. In 94 his conviction was overturned on appeal and he found himself the acting Boss with Carlisi being imprisoned. Then in 96 his old boss from Elmwood Park - Jackie Cerone - died. In 97 Aiuppa and Carlisi died. In 99 Angelo LaPietra of 26th Street died. Marcello was in prison. Lombardo was released from prison I think in 92 or 93 and had been shelved. Accardo died in 92. Jimmy LaPietra had died in 93. Basically apart from Andriacchi ( who was with him ) all of the old guard was basically gone and there was no one with the credibility or the power to prevent DiFronzo from doing whatever the hell he pleased. I think that stint in prison in 93-94 made him realize that he didn't want to die there and that he was rich enough so why involve himself in the street shit anymore??? When Marcello got out of prison, Johnny let him and Cicero do as they pleased. He didn't care what they did, who they made, who they killed, and didn't want a nickel from them. He and his top guys ( his brothers Pete and Joe, Andriacchi, D'Amico) were rich enough and didn't need to risk dying in prison so what was the point??? The speculation that he is a dry snitch DOES have some merit though, I believe. You have to admit it is strange he wasn't indicted based upon Nick Calabrese's testimony regarding the Spilotro murders, but then again, the already incarcerated Louie Marino was not indicted either though Calabrese stated that he too was there. In the last 10-12 years only Cicero guys ( Marcello, Inendino, Sarno, Spano ) have been indicted and convicted whereas the old Elmwood Park guys ( apart from Fratto )have lived carefree lives. Why would what is left of Cicero and 26th Street make a move on DiFronzo when he has allowed them to do the fuck as they please and when a move against him would bring down the ire of the Federal Government ???? Fellas, your thoughts ???

I agree with you. Why die in prison and lose everything? Better to go legit, stay free and leave something to your family after you die.

I agree he retreated and may likely be a dry snitch with the FBI dangling him over a fire, forcing him to feed them info or else they will charge him with murder. Otherwise, why wouldn't he just retire and move to Florida with his millions instead of staying in Chicago.

But what info is he handing over?

Almost gotta admire the guy...I don't think the FBI is hanging shit over him though..The man is no dummy and I think dry snitch or no they would have JUMPED at the chance to indict him in Family Secrets if they could have done so.

I think the Feds were afraid Nick C was lying is some of his testimony in that trial and didn't want to open that can of worms and discredit the rest of what he said about other things.

I agree. I didn't think they wanted to have one guy who could get off and possibly influence the other charges. One guy getting off, because the only testimony they have is Nick C, could influence the other charges. If DiFronzo's lawyers could show that Nick C may not be correct, it effects all the other testimony.

IIRC, every other charge had a collaborating witness or evidence to back up Nick C's testimony. Read that somewhere, can't remember where.

DiFronzo's good fortune with the overturning of his conviction on appeal in 94 combined with his retreat in the ensuing years made him THE perfect candidate in the eyes of many as a possible snitch. The Feds just capitalized on that and hoped to stir a shitstorm on the street. Do they really have a snitch, then??? Well if John DiFronzo were one then hypothetically we would have to assume that his 2 brothers AND D'Amico AND Andriacchi are too as they all have escaped any new indictments. Nick C couldn't protect Marcello why would John DiFronzo be allowed to not give up HIS men??? I find that scenario highly unlikely. Hopefully Ive League can shed some light with those scenarios...Am interested in Chicago's take, also...

12th St., Excellent. Agreed 100 % with your FIRST posting on the top.
Lombardo retreated with him. He wasn't exactly shelved because he was a BOSS Himself.
John DiFronzo, Pete DiFronzo, Joey Lombardo & Joe Andriacchi all retreated. Then when Marco got out of prison, He retreated with them.
Cicero wanted Marco to go with them but he politely refused. Fosco said Cicero offered to make Marco. He's a lttle mixed up. Marco was already made by Johnny back in 1986 when Cerone went to jail.

its interesting that you guys dont think lombardo became involved with the outfit at all once he was released. I believe Frank Calabrese sr said on the prison tapes that lombardo took over as boss for a while after Difronzo. I wonder if that is false or if it was after he was off parole and let marcello take over once he was out ? I think everyone agrees that marcello took over briefly after being released.

DiFronzo would not retreat without Lombardo. They were basically equal. They were very close. Lombardo was only a figurehead in the late 1990's. He was not the active boss of anything on the streets. I do not believe Frank Calabrese said Lombardo was a Boss. He said that you WOULDN'T BELIEVE who are the real day to day Bosses. He also said Elmwood park were the real earners with Real Estate, Construction ETC., White Collar stuff, NOT STREET RACKETS.

I find it hard to believe cicero and 26th street aren't white collar to an extent

shit gangs are white collar now-a-days so I don't see why they wouldn't be

I think it's REDICULOUS for Fosco to say that D'Amico wasn't made. What do you disagree with, Chicago??? Do you believe DiFronzo is potentially a snitch? Didn't Nick Calabrese say something to the effect that Rocky Infelise was at the Spilotro murders as well when we was under FBI surveillance like 15 miles away or something like that???

12th St, First and foremost, I'm not sure if Johnny has given the Feds information about Cicero & 26th St. as part of some deal to be left alone. He might be left alone because they know he retreated years ago and they could not convict him on NICK CALABRESE'S WORD ALONE.

Secondly, If he did give them some information, his brother would be the only one to know about it. That is a very, very sensitive thing IF IT'S EVEN HAPPENED AT ALL.

I HIGHLY doubt that Johnny is a snitch...The Feds would have DEMANDED his brothers, Joey A, AND Marco as part of ANY deal..To this date have any of them been charged??? NOPE !!! I'm sure the Feds have a guy or 2 somewhere but NOT in that group..

Just to be clear, who were the participants in the Spilotro killings? Calabrese, DiFronzo, who else?

Well, according to Nick Calabrese, there were several guys there. I don't remember all the guys he mentioned. It was supposed to be a making Ceremony. They were pretending to make Tony's Brother into the Grand Ave Crew. That's why Mooch Eboli was there. The Boss of Grand Ave, Lombardo, was in jail.
Since Auippa restarted the Ceremony thing, the Top Boss, Underboss & sponsor would have to be present. It made sense that Carlisi & DiFronzo would be there.
However, In a Criminal trial, you cannot convict a man ON THE WORD OF AN INFORMER ALONE. You need to have something else to go with it.

Incorrect Chicago.
The Boss, UB, consigliere would only have assumed to be there by the victims, who were incorrectly under the impression it was a making ceremony.

They walked into a room full of killers, not a false sitting of the hierarchy.

The complete list is mentioned in the Family secrets book by Nick Calabrese.
I don't have it at hand and cannot recall but the list is there should anyone wish to know.

Yes, but Nick Calabrese SAID that DiFronzo was there. You or I don't really know WHO was there.
And, Nick also said HE THOUGHT Rocky Infelice was there. We found out later, that the Feds were watching Rocky and he indeed was NOT there.

All I was trying to point out was that it would have made sense that DiFronzo would have been there if it was a making ceremony.
But you're right, those two brothers walked into a room of killers. Who knows who was really there.
I doubt all those guys were there that Nick Calabrese said were there. It's possible, but I doubt it based upon all Outfit hits that are usually a small team of men, maybe three or four, not 8 or 10 guys.
Too many would be involved in a serious murder conspiracy. I don't believe EVERYTHING Nick Calabrese said like it was coming from the word of God. Overall, though, he was a good witness for the Feds.
Anyway, that's just my opinion so don't get on me for it. LOL.

From memory the names NC dropped did raise suspicion that the murders were conducted by such high end guys.... THOUGH, one could go tow ways with that...
1) it's unlikely such high end made guys would all associate in one place for such a crime
OR
2) that it was seen as 'family' business and high end guys are those which are most trusted.

Either or I have to go with NC that there were 8/10 guys and disagree that there were only 3/4 because its know they were beaten/strangled not shot and if you're knocking off Tony S (tough as shit motherf***er) AND his brother, you want more than 3 guys in a room with a rope. If you catch my drift.

And I have to be the devils advocate every now and again, otherwise your fan base is in danger of getting too big

Hey Sonny, You may be right. Maybe there were more than 3 or 4 guys. Maybe there were 6 guys to kill the two brothers. I'm just saying I doubt there were 10 guys there to kill two guys. I find that hard to believe.
You are right about one thing. Made guys carry out murders. Many times a soldier/associate in a Made Guys Crew would be involved in the hit and then at the right time, he would move up later.
Not everyone had the stomach for murder. You could assist with setting up the murder and that would count for a new man. You didn't actually have to pull the trigger. Some guys enjoyed it. Sammy DeStefano, Phil Alderisio, Chuckie Nicoletti.
Some guys got a pass and slid by like Cortina and Angelini.

The evolution of the Elmwood Park Crew is also very interesting.
Since this thread is about DiFronzo, He is Mr. Elmwood Park.

He was brought into the picture by Joe Gagliano. Gagliano sponsored DiFronzo into the Outfit a long time ago.
Gagliano (Joe Gags) was not only a made guy in the Elmwood Park Crew but he was the power behind Cerone on the street level. Joe Gags was a junior partner and underboss to Cerone.

He helped Cerone run the whole Crew. Often, when direct communication came from Taylor St, it was given to Gagliano.

The Taylor St men liked Joe Gags very much because MOONEY LIKED HIM. The juke box racket in Elmwood Park's territory was run by Gags more than Cerone. Cerone was a good Political fixer because of Accardo.

Willie Messino, John DiFronzo, Lee Magnafichi, Joe Andriacchi were all brought into the picture by Gagliano.
He died in 1970 at the age of 56. Had he not died, in 1986 He would have been one of the Two Top Bosses in the Outfit.

Even Cerone admitted that without Joe Gags he would have been in trouble. There would have been no Jack Cerone without Joe Gagliano on the street level.
Gagliano was DiFronzo's Chinaman. (Mentor)

The evolution of all the Crews is interesting to me..How Grand Avenue begat EP, the splitting up of Taylor Street, the vastness of the Cicero Crew under Aiuppa, etc... Gagliano was well-liked whereas Cerone wasn't lol..DiFronzo is a guy who was always well-liked also I think. He's a politician who knows how to work people and has been successful all his life because of it. I think Calabrese said that Michael Spilotro had a gun on him at the murders. Can you imagine if Tony did too?? LOL They walk in and there is Carlisi, DiFronzo, Eboli, Ferriola, LaPietra and here come the Spilotros blasting?? I find it hard to believe that all those guys were there also. Carlisi and Eboli make sense, sure. Probably DiFronzo too but much of that scenario doesn't sound right to me. I do agree though that Nick Calabrese was a compelling witness for the Government despite his white lies lol.

Here's an article about the Spilotro murders. I have no idea about the validity of the article.

If there is truth to the story, Spilotro may have been lucky that Buccieri didn't take him out.


http://tablet.oakpark.com/News/Articles/8-14-2007/Details-of-Spilotro-murders-revealed-in-mob-trial/

The feds had no evidence to back up Nick's testimony in DiFronzo. With Lombardo and Marcello they had some corroborating evidence. With DiFronzo all they had was Nick's testimony.

I don't think Clabrese Sr ever said that Lombardo was boss.

I do remeber him telling his kid that if you just took out about 7 guys you could take the whole thing over. Then he added "That's what it's come to."

According to his kid, by the time they got to the basement it was clear what was going to happen to Tony S. Everyone was wearing gloves.

They just needed to get him downstairs.

Personally I see no reason not to think Marcello, Nick or DiFronzo weren't there. Who else would do it?

I guess they could have hired people or something, but why?

Nick also originally didn't name Marcello because Marcello was paying his family four grand a month. But I think he to caught lying and then flipped on him too.

Interesting passage from GaryMartin's article. It helps complete the picture of exactly why Aiuppa and Cerone were outraged enough with Tonyto do what they did.

Unfortunately for Tony Spilotro, he managed to invoke the ire of his superiors when five of his underlings chose to become government witnesses. Three testified against Aiuppa, Cerone and other ne'er-do-wells named in the government's Pendorf and Strawman indictments," wrote Roemer.

Also good:

Sure enough, instead of promotions, Calabrese testified, he and around 10 other outfit killers, including James LaPietra, John Fecarotta, John DiFronzo, Sam Carlisi, Louie "The Mooch" Eboli, James Marcello, Louis Marino, Joseph Ferriola, and Ernest "Rocky" Infelice were waiting as the two brothers entered the basement.

If Auippa was in prison, who was the acting boss? Both Ferriola and Carlisi were reputed to be at the murder scene. Would it be likely that a boss, acting or interim, would be at the site of a murder? It's already been stated that Infelice was not present, so what about the others?

I am reading the book right now. I believe that the entire top echelon of the Outfit was there because it was too big of a hit to be entrusted to a small group of guys, particularly ones that may not have been trustworthy.

Remember that earlier in 1986, Frank Calabrese Sr., John Fecarotta and a few others camped out in Arizona and Las Vegas for a couple of months trying to get the Spilotros. There was too much heat to get it done.

Tony was still incredibly powerful on the West Coast in 1986 (despite his myriad legal issues) and there were rumors he was trying to take over the whole Outfit. The only way Tony would get in a car with other Outfit guys to an undisclosed location was if he was summoned by the top bosses. Otherwise, he would know it was a setup. Even though he likely suspected it here, there wasn't much he could do because it was the top bosses who summoned him to appear.

After the several attempts to hit Spilotro out West, Ferriola, DiFronzo, etc. probably wanted to make sure the job was done properly since they feared repercussions (hence why they took out the brother too).

Also bear in mind that strength in numbers was important too because of the ages of many of the top Outfit guys at the house in Bensenville. DiFronzo and Ferriola were both 60, Carlisi and LaPietra in their 60s, Calabrese Sr., Marino were in their mid 50s, Eboli was 51. Spilotro was 48 and his brother 41 so they needed the numbers in case there was a big fight.