Melrose is probably 20 to 25 percent Italian and the rest is Mexican. It's a shame, another good neighborhood that changed. And grave ave is not defunct, still many active guys around.

@Chicago


what do you know about the Caruso's and their southside crew?

You know how it was his kid who beat that poor black kid half to death years ago, right? A lot of people surprisingly don't know that.

Looks like the Boys went at it today arguing about the Current status of the Outfit.

1) Nobody ever said there was any current animosity between Elmwood Park and Cicero.
2) Elmwood Park Retreated years ago.
3) DiFronzo doesn't have anything to do with the street rackets.
4) DiFronzo does not receive any tribute from the street rackets. This isn't New York.
5) After DiFronzo dies, it's anybody's guess as to what will happen with Elmwood Park and Grand Ave
6) Most probably, Relatives of these men will be running legitimate businesses and own property through inheritance.
7) Will all the businesses be owned in part by a 'Parent Company so it is like a White Collar Outfit? Possibly. May be in place right now?
8) The old First Ward that the Outfit controlled was broken up years ago and is different.
9) The Outfit is alive, but only a shadow of itself.
10) Jimmy Inendino and Solly DeLaurentis are respected guys and are connected to the Southern Blue Collar Outfit. They are the real deal. They did a lot of time and were loyal.
11) DiFronzo would not be seen meeting with those guys. There is no reason for it. They are free to pursue Poker Machines, Bookmaking and Loan Sharking. They can make anybody they wish to run franchises. He doesn't care.
12) John DiFronzo, Pete DiFronzo, Marco D'Amico, Joey Lombardo (Before he went to prison for a murder he commited in 1974) and his cousin, Joe Andriacchi don't care about the Old Blue Collar Outfit. If anything, they MAY HAVE ESTABLISHED a White Collar Outfit that could continue after they are dead and gone.

However, if push comes to shove, I doubt it. What they own is already in other relatives names and is really not an 'Outfit' anymore. It's more like shady white collar businessmen who are partners in legitimate things with some white collar crime attached to it.
Can you still call this the Outfit? I don't think so. What are you going to call it when their relatives inherit it? They are not Outfit people.

You know how it was his kid who beat that poor black kid half to death years ago, right? A lot of people surprisingly don't know that.

YEP!!! And then his old man donated a shitload of $$$ to black churches on the South Side so that they would not come out publicly against his son. He bought Lenard Clark's family a house and there is a pic somewhere of Lenard Clark visiting Frank, Jr in the joint.

No one ever thought Mike Sarno was ever the boss of anything outside of his own crew, what a ridiculous statement.

No one in lockup would ever think of fucking with Frank, Jr., he was fine & was subsequently jumped into Chinatown after his stint.

No one ever thought Mike Sarno was ever the boss of anything outside of his own crew, what a ridiculous statement.

Phbhbhbhbhbhb... someone beat the crap out of John Gotti in prison.

Teflon Toots Jr. is lucky he doesn't walk like a cowboy to this day.

The feds were carrying Sarno as the acting boss.

The Outfit isn't going anywhere. It never went anywhere. They're doing the same thing they did to the 1st Ward to the western/southwestern suburbs.

The big thing that people don't understand is That the Chicago Outfit still functions as a SECRET SOCIETY. In Philly & NY it is well known in the press, in popular culture, guys let their nuts hang out like idiots. Apart from a few major hiccups (the calabrese clowns, etc), the Outfit is still largely shrouded in mystery. This doesn't mean that they're gone, it means these guys are great at What They do & show Chicago heart & loyalty.

Again, a ridiculous statement. The feds have never been correct on anything regarding the Outfit, or very, very little.

JI & Solly D would never, ever be so naive/idiotic as to put that fat shit in charge of anything outside of his own crew of flunkies.

No one in lockup would ever think of fucking with Frank, Jr., he was fine & was subsequently jumped into Chinatown after his stint.

Largely shrouded in mystery? I've replied to this kind of nonsense more times than I can count. The Outfit has suffered the same fate from attrition, prosecutions, etc. as the other families have, especially the smaller ones outside New York. It's gone from 6 crews down to 2 or 3 crews. It has less than half the membership it did in the late 1990's; losing nearly 20 made members since 2000. It has nowhere near the scope and diversity of activity it once did, nor does it have more than a fraction of it's old political clout.




Says who? You? What puts you in a position to know more than the feds on Sarno specifically or the Outfit in general?

You may not be aware of this but, before you came along, these forums already had one Outfit cheerleader after another come along, pretending to have the real scoop on things, including claiming they know more than the feds.

Who here refuted any of that? Who said they were the same Outfit of the 60s/70s? You're grasping for straws. All I said was that they shifted their operations from the city limits to the surrounding suburbs, which is not untrue.

Regarding sarno, again, no one ever thought he was the boss of anything. Ever. No one ever thought this lol.

The Outfit of today is pretty much the way Ivy described it which is based a lot on the Feds who know a lot more today than they did in 1973. it is also based upon personal observation. The Outfit really changed in the early 1990's. They went From 6 Crews down to 4. Out of those 4 Crews, you really have 2 that are operating like the old Outfit. They are the Southern crews.
As far as Sarno, believe it or not, he was not only a made guy running his franchise but he was also the 'Acting Front Boss'. That's how low the Outfit has sunk from 30 years ago.

Noone said Sarno was a big powerful Boss. All the feds said was that he was the acting Boss of Cicero which made him the 'Acting Front Boss' of the Street racket Outfit.
Noonee claimed he was more powerful than Jimmy Inendino.

As far as the city, There was a bust and investigation about the poker machines a couple of years ago involving 26th St. The bars were in the City, not in the suburbs. Not all of the current mob activity is in the suburbs.

Forget the 60's and 70's. The Outfit isn't the same as the 90's either. Anyway, you were trying to come from the position that Chicago is somehow different from the other families, when they're really not. At least not in the big scheme of things. And them operating more in the suburbs today is old news.



You keep saying "no one." First, since when did you speak for everybody? Second, as I've already told you, the FBI considered Sarno to be the acting boss. Third, what puts you or anyone else here, in a position to dispute that? I honestly wouldn't be surprised if you and others here simply read a few articles on him, saw his old mugshot with the long hair, weren't impressed, and just assumed he wasn't boss material so you claim he never was.