LOL. That Anthony Calabrese mongoloid.

With how difficult it is to get a loan these days I'm surprised sharking is gone in Chicago , that seems strange to me in a business that has good margins . Although I guess if the outfit uses no violence these days and no one is scared of them I guess no ow was paying them back .

The same logic probably applies to bookmaking

In NJ this is the mobs bread and butter will and likely will always be

Especially if a wise guy can Borrow funds from one of his legitimate companies at very low rates and lend it out , he could generate a very high margin business .

Sharking is still pretty big in the NJ bar , strip bar and italian restaurant scene , alot of bartenders and like still rely on it ( paycheck to paycheck workers ) , I know several of my friends do this $500 to a $1k here and there and with 1 good tip might they can pay it off.

If the mob was smart , they should of cornered the pay day loan market as they basically started it .

Btw Chicago you are the best and most realistic outfit poster on here , I very much welcome your addition to this forum and I'm very sorry for your loss

Come to think of it, there really hasn't been much in the way of loansharking charges in Outfit cases over the past decade.

These are the Outfit-connected bookmaking busts over the past decade, that I'm aware of...


April 2000 - 7 people, including Anthony and Carl Dote

February 2002 - 8 people, including William "Billy D" DiDomenico

July 2002 - Joel Glickman (paid street tax to Frank Calabrese)

August 2003 - Joseph "Pooch" Pascucci and Mary Daddano (daughter of Willie "Potatoes" Daddano)

June 2004 - 5 people, including Joseph "Pooch" Pascucchi and Demitri "Jimmy" Stavropolous

April 2005 - bookmaking among the charges in the Family Secrets indictment

February 2006 - 9 people, including Frank "Gumba" Saladino (Rockford)


Not sure about these...

July 2002 - 4 people, including Peter "Cuz" Demondo, Richard Demondo, and Frank "Knuckles" Mattelli

February 2012 - Anthony Buttitta and Dominick Buttitta

DB, Thank You. I'm still recovering 28 years later. The Outfit's tremendous strength years ago really started to dwindle in the late 1980's and rapidly continued in the 1990's. The RICO Act that put Auippa, Cerone, Lombardo & LaPietra in prison was devastating to the Outfit. This happened around 1986. They basically lost Las Vegas because of these actions. This all happened in the late 1980's. By the time the Family Secrets Trial came about, the Outfit was already mostly crippled, operating at about 1/4 speed. I'm not saying the Oufit is dead, but I'm comparing it to when I was growing up. There is simply no comparison. The 5 New York Families and the Chicago Outfit were it during the 1950's, 1960's,1970's and about 1/2 of the 1980's. The Rico Act, Attrition and retreatment of the top current talent has all been equally devastating over the last 25 years to the Oufit.

what do u think about the recruitment pool for Chicago?

Hi Cook County, Where do you live in the Chicago area? The recruitment pool in Chicago is still there but the desire is diminished. I'm sure there are enough Italian American men who want to belong to the Oufit, but once they really see what it is, they usually are not too interested anymore. The relatives of former Outfit active members are slowly inheriting the legitimate part of their predecessor's assets. So, if they are handed something legit, making decent money, use their former relative's connections to further their legitimate interests, why would they want to join the Oufit? See what I'm saying?

Quick question for Chicago: Was Paulie Schiro ever made?

No. He was a West Coast Associate centered more around Arizona. He used to report to Spilotro. He was a Member/Associate of the Grand Ave Crew. He belonged to Lombardo.

He grew up in Chicago alongside Spilotro and was very close to Mario DeStefano's son Sam. He was involved in the Hanhardt crew.

Yes Chitown, I forgot about that burglary crew. Very good. That burglary crew was controlled by Lumpy also.

i'm in the south suburbs

in the city of al capone there will always be somebody willing to join the mafia

there are plenty of guys out there who are earning who may not be made but are certaintly connected to the outfit doesnt make alot of guys anymore but they got alot of guys with them who arent just italian

Hey LittleNicky, Did you ever see the story I told about Elmwood's Uncle?
Anyway, what you said is true enough, but the overall general desire and admiration for belonging to the Oufit as a made man or some Associate of some sort has diminished. It's still there, just diminished. All the guys I know personally would rather have nothing to do with the Oufit. But that's just me and my friends. Plus, I have a very personal reason to never have anything to do with the Outfit, but that's neither here nor there.

I haven't, any chance you could send me a link or at least the title of the thread. Thanks, i enjoy your posts you're clearly a level headed Chicago poster on this site that's unprecedented

Thanks Camarel, I think you read it already. You commented on it. It's under 'Most Power Boss' thread.

Chicago, are people still kicking money up in the Outfit? I thought there was a thread about this where it thought or presumed that there was no longer any money moving up.

Do people still kick up to DiFronzo? Do people on the southside kick it up to DiFronzo? Is there anyone on the southside getting money kicked up to them?

Or has that stopped, in hopes of not being labeled a criminal organization?

As others have said, thanks for your input. Much appreciated.

Yea, great story. Dude was a loud-mouth that literally knew nothing about the modern outfit.

You forgot to link to AmericanNewsPost Joe

Now tell us why you feel Marco is not made.

And are you paying Michael yet for his stories?

Chitown, Don't quite understand your posting? Marco D'Amico is made and has been for a long time. He simply retreated with DiFronzo etc.
Joe Fosco from American News Post is a con man. His story about his alleged extortion was all bullshit to cover up the fact that he never received any of the money he helped Cerone Jr. and Fratto con out of his friend Vasselli. Fosco changed his story. First he said his family was conned out of $500,000 Dollars, then he said Vasselli actually put up $400,000 Dollars of it and his family lost only $100,000.
I explained this to Ivy in a personal message last week.

PP, The South Side is operating like normal. The North Side is not involved with them and as far as I can tell, receives nothing. DiFronzo Brothers, Andriacchi & D'Amico are all extremely wealthy and do not want to spend the rest of their lives in prison. It's like the Star Quaterback (DiFronzo) quit the team to go play golf instead of risking injury and then a few of the other good players on the team quit with him. Now, the second string team is on the field.

There was a link here to some of the video poker receipts used in the trial against Marcello.

Someone here familiar with those kind of operations said they were laughably low.

And that was a long time ago, probably from like 04 or 05.

I remember seeing those transcripts. The totals did seem low because they were not the full amounts really received. There are always 2 sets of books for the Poker machines. One is for taxes and the other is reality.

The receipts I saw were chicken scratch... they were the gambling receipts. That's why they were presented as evidence in court.

Who would declare any amount of taxes on illegal gambling earnings from video poker?! LOL!

I find it hard to believe there's no gambling or loansharking up north

the northside is where all the money is at and has been for years

not too mention that they can legally obtain money from poker machines

Jonnynonos, Maybe I'm thinking of something else I saw which was some kind of tax return. Mob guys do make tax returns. Mob guys do report SOME kind of income from poker machines. Poker machines are not illegal. The only time they become illegal is when the FEDS CAN PROVE PAYOUTS FOR WINNINGS were made.

Only the most desperate among mankind would be so unwise as to take a loan out from a loanshark these days. Even the userous interest rates from the payday loan companies is the bargain of the century compared to the vig!

As far as gambling, I imagine most of it has also moved online.

Harry Aleman in his last interview said there was no bookmaking left in the city and if there was any, it was with a few old Jews on the north side.

Of course that is coming from Harry Aleman, so must be taken with a grain of salt, but I still thought it was an interesting comment.

Cook County, I didn't say there was no gambling or poker machines on the North Side. I said there were none in Elmwood Park. As far as that activity being done on the North Side, it exists. But again, DiFronzo etc. have retreated from the Outfit which means any activity on the North is being done independently or is controlled by the South Side. If you choose to believe those guys never retreated then that's fine with me. No problem.

Right. These were the receipts from the gambling.

That was an interesting post. It was all the raw files from Secrets. Very interesting, particularly the recorded conversations of Marcello as he realized he was in trouble.

Funnily enough several of those convictions came somewhat close to being overturned on appeal!

I doubt there is any video poker on the north side. In all the bars listed in the indictments, etc., it was all in the south and the grimy suburbs.

Most of these bars were pretty much the bottom of the barrel. Old, decrepit places from another era, and many of them have gone out of business since FS.