Either way, Sam Giancana became the biggest money maker in the whole organization and the former ruthless 42 gang became stronger than ever. So now the time has come for operation “changing of the guard” and Giancana went for it. Everyone that opposed the new guard was viciously punished. He ordered Nicoletti and Alderisio to take care of the few “stones in his shoe.” The first “stone” that had to go was an old Taylor Street mobster Tony Ragucci. Ragucci was a tough old mobster that denied paying to some youngsters who were still in their father’s nuts when he was out making the big buck during the Capone days. Also, like always, someone said that the old man was talking to the Federal government. Even if he wasn't talking to the feds, every now and then they had to set an example and besides, the old days were gone and it was time to move young blood into the operation. In August 1953 Nicoletti and Alderisio found Ragucci, riddled him with bullets and stuffed him with his head downward in a sewer near 35th st. and Winchester av. His brother managed to identify him by his ring with the initials "AR" since the rest of his body was ravaged by the cold. Next were Charlie “Cherry Nose” Gioe and Frank “Diamond” Maritote. Both were very close to the ruling panel of the Chicago Outfit and also both of them spent time in jail with Ricca over the movie extortion case. Gioe and Maritote were against the “new mob order” which failed to take them and their interests into account. Gioe and Maritote also had problems with the Outfit’s union boss Joey Glimco over the union business and rumours spread, again like always, that Gioe was a cheater and was also talking to the federal tax people about Ricca’s immigration status. It also appeared that Maritote demanded a piece of a new wire service which was established on the near north side by such syndicate hoodlums as Joey “Caesar” DiVarco and Jimmy Allegretti. Their protests at this situation became so voluble that it became necessary to liquidate them. First one to go was Gioe and again Nicoletti and Alderisio were called upon. On August 18, 1954, Gioe was having dinner at a near north side restaurant at Erie St. with former deputy sheriff Vincent Occhipinti and ex-fighter Hyman Weisman. After the dinner, Gioe and his companion Weisman entered their car at the parking lot, when a black car approached them and two hitmen opened fire. Gioe was shot in the head and was instantly killed, but Weisman miraculously escaped unhurt. The cops looked for Joey Glimco but he was nowhere to be found. Three days later, on August 21, Frank Maritote wanted to take his 4 year old son at the movie theatre. As they entered his car, which was parked in front of his house at 710 S. Keeler av., again a big black car showed up and two hitmen started blasting at Maritote as his young boy crouched in terror in the front seat of the car. Maritote also died instantly. Again Nicoletti and Alderisio showed their perfection in executing their murder contracts.


Charley Gioe


Gioe murder scene


Maritote’s daughter learns about her fathers death


Next on the list was another old time Capone racketeer Alex Louis Greenberg. On December 8, 1955 Greenberg was having dinner with his wife and daughter at the Glass Dome Hickory Pit, 2724 S. Union av. As he was leaving, he was shot by two hitmen. Greenberg was a tough guy so he staggered after the men as they fled on foot. Greenberg collapsed about 12 feet of the curb. Again the killers were never caught. Greenberg’s murder was a favour done for Louis Fratto, Alderisio’s cousin and Ralph Pierce but the real reason remains unknown. Story goes that Pierce was sought as a threat because of the statement he made once publicly at Greenberg by saying, "We'll take care of you!'" The threat was made in 1943 at a preliminary hearing in the trial of the Hollywood extortion case. The reason was Greenberg was a government witness. Another story goes that later during a police raid on Greenberg the cops found a piece of paper with Fratto’s name on it with a number of payment which was meant for him. So maybe the Outfit was afraid of Greenberg becoming a government witness?! The “big cleanup” ended with the murder of a known hijacker and burglar of Outfit joints named John Coletta. On December 10, 1955, 38 year old Coletta was beaten to death and his body was poured with gasoline, and then set on fire in his car near suburban Harrington.



Alex Louis Greenberg

On the same day, police Lt. Joseph Morris, head of the police Scotland Yard criminal investigation unit received an anonymous phone call which instructed the lieutenant to go to a certain place if he wants to find the killers of Gioe, Maritote, Greenberg and Coletta. The lieutenant immediately gathered four of his undercover operatives and dozen of armed policemen and led a raid on a large brick garage in the rear of 936 S. Laflin st. which held one of biggest floating crap game in the city. The crap game, which operated every Sunday afternoon somewhere in the vicinity of Taylor and Laflin st. Alternate locations were a pool room and a hot dog stand at the Taylor-Laflin intersection. That Sunday, four undercover cops, carrying sawed off shotguns under their overcoats, were allowed inside the garage building by the lookout and they found that the game was in progress. For 10 minutes they watched the crap game, conducted on the cement floor instead of tables. When the gangsters noticed the cops they ran for the door but were stopped by the rest of the policemen who were carrying submachine guns. The Scotland Yard police arrested 71 men, including some of the most prominent West Side. According to the police records, one of the most important suspects was 42 year old Charles Nicoletti. Some of the other gangsters were John “Johnny Bananas” De Biase, James Cerone( Jack’s cousin), Alex Mazzone, Tony Orlando and William Marzullo, the son of Alderman Vito Marzullo of the 25th Ward. Nine police wagons were needed to take the 71 suspects of the dice game to the old Scotland Yard station, 2075 Canalport av. The cops were seeking information about the slayings but nobody dared to talk and later everyone was bailed out by a professional Outfit bondsman. The cops believed that the evidences they obtained would stand up in court but they were wrong. During that period Chicago’s judicial system was corrupted to the top so most of the illegal gambling cases were thrown out for “the lack of evidences and also the lack of direct testimony from witnesses”.


Nicoletti questioned by the cops

By now Chuckie Nicoletti was considered by law enforcement as one of the main strong arm man for Giancana. Nicoletti has been arrested, investigated, and released after almost every gang style murder that occurred during this period. He was also regarded by the police as being in the front rank of the younger gangsters in the Chicago Outfit. Nicoletti executed his murderous missions professionally with passion and finesse. He also became a big earner because of his reputation and nobody dared to refuse his offers. Nicoletti became a true deadly Mafioso who often said “Once a guy gets in the booth, its like a fuckin’ coffin, he never gets out”.


Outfit enforcer Charles Nicoletti

Thanks to enforcers like Nicoletti and Alderisio, the old guard was gone and everyone that remained from the old Capone era joined the new movement or retired. With that Paul Ricca, the last old time boss, sat safely on the throne of Chicago’s underworld and watched from the shadows how his faithful minions took the organization on a higher level. Accardo was also a very smart guy and shrewd gangster. He saw the writing on the wall which wrote that the young turks were slowly coming up the ladder and also the government was closing in and he was on the most dangerous spot, which was the boss position. He didn’t want to end up like his previous bosses Capone or Nitti. Now the greedy Giancana saw the chance to takeover the boss position and summoned his members of the old gang which was now known as the Taylor Street crew. The crew was formed by Fiore “Fifi” Buccieri, Sam Battaglia, Marshal Caifano, Felix Alderisio, Chuckie Nicoletti, Butch Blasi, Leonard Gianola, Mugsy Tortorella, Willie Daddano and the English bros. Even the Jewish faction of the Outfit supported Giancana since their boss Jake Guzik died from a heart attack on February 21, 1956. Previously Guzik opposed the younger faction but they managed to get him in line after his kidnapping back in the 1940’s. Now the boss of that faction was Edward Vogel, a gambling titan with the skills for making millions of dollars. Other gangsters from that faction also followed Giancana. Guys like Hyman Larner, Lenny Patrick, Hy Godfrey and David Yaras. The whole non-Italian faction by that time was headed by Murray Humphries who also supported the new faction. They were told by Giancana that the time has come for a change. So in 1957 Ricca called all of his main underlings at the Tam O'Shanter restaurant. They voted for Accardo to be replaced as boss and elected their new boss Sam Giancana, or as some sources say, the defacto boss on the streets of Chicago. Ricca, Accardo and Humphries acted as his senior advisors, but Sam’s main advisor and protector was Ricca. Many of Giancana’s old 42 gang members became bosses or overseers of his rising criminal empire, but all of them including Giancana were overseen by Ricca. The were given specific, agreed-upon territories which were overseen by their street bosses and members from different nationalities that handled day to day hustles and murders on the streets of Chicago and parts of the U.S. The new gang was mostly involved in bookmaking, the policy racket, extorting unions, state corruption, prostitution and also narcotics.


Outfit boss Sam Giancana

For example, Sam “Teets” Battaglia became the boss of Melrose Park. Previously Melrose Park was controlled by old time Capone gangster Rocco DeGrazia. But DeGrazia was also one of the bosses who disliked Giancana. So during Giancana’s rise as boss of the Outfit, DeGrazia dropped in the ranks of the Outfit becoming a small underling that worked for the new big shot Battaglia. Degrazia’s Casa Madrid restaurant became the place where Battaglia would hold court and decide which guy would get fatal beatings when they were late in their payments. There was a small restroom at the bottom of the stairs in the club, where the gangsters used to take people to get their attitude adjusted. The Casa Madrid was also a massive gambling joint which generated a lot of cash. Since Battaglia was older, Nicoletti and Alderisio were ordered to work under Battaglia as his main “street bosses” with a job to watch the day to day illegal operations in that area. The Melrose Park crew was one of the most ruthless crews in Chicago, starting with their bloodthirsty boss Battaglia and other ruthless killers like Willie Daddano, Rocco Pranno and money makers like John DeBiase, William Aloisio and Joe Amabile.


Outfit capo Sam Battaglia

In 1958 Nicoletti purchased $85,000 three flat apartment at 1638 N. 19th Ave. in Melrose Park. He owned a club by the name of Cal-Lex at Lexington Street and had a legitimate income from commissions obtained from car dealers like Montgomery Automobile Sales and Denemark Cadillac Agency for referrals given to these agencies by him for making car purchases. He received a new Cadillac every year from the Denemark Agency. He also was employed as a potato salesman and owned a grocery store named La Joys on Taylor Street. He also owned three meat and vegetable markets on the near northwest side of Chicago. On the other side, Nicoletti was involved in bookmaking, extortion and narcotics. According to FBI reports, one of his associates in the drug business was Jake Klein, a huge Midwest narcotics trafficker. Nicoletti also became a gambling boss that oversaw handbooks and wire rooms, mostly on Warren Avenue and Monroe District. Like any Outfit big shot from that era, he also controlled a very lucrative burglary crew that mostly operated in Chicago “Gold Coast” area. With the help of many corrupt police connections, the crew made over $1,000,000 a year from stolen goods. They mostly stole furs and jewelry from Gold Coast apartments, stores and wholesalers. Some times their police collaborators even warned them when special police task forces would be operating in areas where the gang planned robberies. The payoffs ran upwards of $20,000 a year. Together with another Outfit hoodlum named Julius Greco, Nicoletti handled stables of call girls, madams and stag shows on the West Side. Also the policy operations or the numbers racket on the west and near north sides come under the direction of Battaglia and Nicoletti. They were responsible for changing of the "political setup" on the west side so that the crime syndicate could move into the policy racket there with the strongest possible political connections. So by now Nicoletti was riding high in the mob world and looked upon as one of the leading figures in the Outfit. On April 4, 1959 Nicoletti attended the wedding of one of Sam Giancana’s daughters, among other top hoodlums such as Paul Ricca, Tony Accardo, Eddie Vogel, Ross Prio, Frank LaPorte and Sam Battaglia.


Outfit star Charles Nicoletti

In 1960 Nicoletti made partnership with another up and coming Outfit big shot named Gus Alex. Alex was Greek mobster with suicidal tendencies who served as a big money maker and also as “connection guy”, meaning political fixer for the organization. Back in the old days Alex was trained into the mob by the late Jake Guzik and other old timers like Eddie Vogel and Murray Humphries. Nicoletti and Alex ran a big handbook operation at the Arlington Park and Washington race tracks. Their men over there were the Bravos (Bravis?) brothers, Nick and George, who were cousins and close associates of Alex and Nicoletti and the other guy was Nicoletti’s brother-in-law Tony (surname unknown). Tony obtained $250 a week, the Bravos bros obtained $1,000 a week and rest of the thousands of dollars went straight in the pockets of Alex and Nicoletti. One of their obstacles at the race tracks was a former police captain named Frank Pape who became security director. Back in the late 1940’s and early 50’s Pape had a reputation for his aggressiveness against the underworld. During those days Nicoletti was always getting shakedowns from Pape and it cost him hundreds of dollars in payoffs to Pape’s higher ups. Pape was regarded for being impossible to bribe. But that was the old days. Pape knew that no matter what he would do, the guys would eventually get out free. So Nicoletti and the Bravos bros made a deal to pay Pape $1,000 a week so the bookies can operate freely at the race tracks. Every one has a price tag, right? Similar situation was also with another former policeman named Tom Downs who was in charge of the Sportsman Park race track. He owed the Bravos bros $10,000 in bets which were placed in different mob owned race tracks. The Outfit, rather demanding the money from Downs, they let him “ate it up”, meaning that the amount was reduced whenever Downs won, and in the end they never paid him any money which also allowed them to keep him under control. That’s the way how guys like Nicoletti cleared their way at the race tracks. The Bravos bros were in high debt to the mob, especially to Nicoletti. Back in 1958, Nick Bravos was kidnapped by three individuals and was held for $75,000 ransom. George Bravos paid the ransom and Nick was released. Later the brothers complained to Nicoletti, because they knew what he’s capable of. And they were right. Few days later the three individuals, one Greek and two Italians, were found beaten, stabbed and shot to death in a car trunk near Plainfield, Illinois.

On July 2, 1962 the feds recorded a conversation between Sam Giancana and Chuckie Nicoletti that occurred in one of Giancana’s meeting spots. The conversation was mostly about placing pinball and similar coin machines and also about the purchase of a new establishment in Melrose Park. During this time Nicoletti maintained large coin machine operations and was also interested in expanding his investments. One method of channelization of this cash was into a building housing by the name of “Come Back” Liquor Store in Melrose Park. Nicoletti knew that this store had the largest liquor distribution in that area. The “jars” that are mentioned in the conversation were commonly known as a gambling operation which by that time was outlawed by the government whereby the costumer for a price from 25 cents to 1 dollar pulled a paper chances out of a jar with prizes ranging from 1 to 25 dollars.

Here’s the conversation:

Nicoletti: How much would you wanta give him?

Giancana: Well see what it is.

Nicoletti: Well it aint goin’ to be that much Moe. Here’s the way you gotta look at it. They all have about 100 spots over there.

Giancana: They’ll have more than that if they cover everything. They’ll cover the whole country with all legit stuff.

Nicoletti: Well you figure, lets see, 30, 60, 90, well youll have about 120 spots.

Giancana: All together?

Nicoletti: Yeah, except my spot, of course, all I have is about 35 spots. But I’d rather be in there by myself anyway. At least if I go with these jars there, you know what I mean, where they cant go in other towns ill be in better shape. Just so that this guy, I mean I wanted you to get ahold of him, he don’t go around knocking everybody. We all gotta work underneath the bar anyway. Well Sam don’t tell him to come and talk to me just tell him to go ahead because if he has to come and talk to me he gets all shook up. Well, its better if we wind it up with something because I talked to Hy (Larner) already. I got six of them in the store and ive set them up see. And im gonna get another six next weekend. So I just pick about five or six good spots and go with them. And than if theres anything left over I can just give them something a little bit just to keep them quiet.

Giancana: Yeah, Who the mayor?

Nicoletti: Yeah

Giancana: What makes you think that?

Nicoletti: Well we’ll take it off the…

Giancana: Well we are taking care of him

Nicoletti: Yeah, I know ya have. I know you been taking care of him but there aint been nothing coming in. Aint nothing coming in now, but this thing here, lets see, ive got 35 spots open. We gotta pay $5,00 rental on each machine.

Giancana: Than you gotta take in $10,00

Nicoletti: No, we gotta take in $20,00 to wind it up with $5,00

Giancana: Well five for the machine and five for the storekeeper so theres $20,00 a machine

Nicoletti: Ten to the storekeeper and five on the rental and then there’ll be five left over on the machine. But this stuff we aint gonna make nothing, its all amusement stuff. Im trying to work out a…(conversation interrupted by Dominic “Butch” Blasi)

Giancana: (yells) who did you say is coming in?

Blasi: Between two and three. He left word.

Giancana: All right.

Blasi: So he figured he was downtown anyhow

Giancana: Did you call?

Blasi: Yeah

Giancana: Whata you want with him?

Blasi: Well to tell him that everything is all right to go with the game. You know for what he wants