Here's a short article by Bob Wiedrich that suggests that he was in fact the Outfit boss for a short time.

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1971/04/18/page/20/article/tower-ticker

gary, I think he was an old 42 with giancana. I guess giancana made him a captain, and he had a lot of power. I think I read where at one time he wanted to kill tony spilotro.

I think he ranked higher than splitoro, anyway he was feared as any in the outfit. as far as him being boss it must have been temporary, maybe when giancana was in mexico.

Binnie - in his book, "A History Of Violence," Wayne Johnson says he was the Outfit boss from 1969-73. Some folks say yes and others say no. There was an obvious shortage of qualified individuals after Giancana. No one seemed to want the job because of increased law enforcement.

I would agree with you, if he did it was for a short period of time because he was really sick.

I don't think he was ever boss but he ran the entire West Side and parts of the South as most of his contemporaries were being locked up so his reach was pretty vast. However, I am pretty sure that Aiuppa took over as boss once Cerone was imprisoned in 1970.

Good post Garymartin never heard Jame Turk torllo Nick name the Butcher before just shows he was really Deep in the Heavy Work i Bet he Made his Bones plenty of times

I agree completely. Fif's crew was essentially what became the Cicero Crew, only at that point, they ran the first ward, loop and Chinatown. When Fif passed, they cut up his territory. Fif's main lieutenants aside from his brother Frank (who controlled rackets in Milwaukee) were Turk Torello and Joe Ferriola. Torello took the spot in Cicero, then when he passed, Ferriola took over.

Aiuppa was essentially the acting boss by that time. Fif was always just a CAPO and below Aiuppa.