The Mayor of Melrose Park Chester Carson and Chief of Police Anthony Iosco were both Battaglia’s pawns. One day Mayor Carson had enough of the Outfit and wanted out of the game but Battaglia informed him that he has enjoyed their profits for a long time and he will continue to deal with their troubles until his term expires out. One of the most profitable deals for Battaglia that involved the police and few politicians was the judicial setup in Oak Park. Under the new judicial system the magistrate court in Oak Park handled all of the cases from a number of surrounding towns, including Melrose Park. Whenever a felony charge was brought to the attention of the judge and the states attorney that were in charge of the magistrate court, a lot of wheeling and dealings went on. Battaglia knew that the only way a case could be fixed was by threatening the judge and the attorney and they usually would’ve reduced the felony charge to a minor wrongdoing. But that was not all. In cooperation with some corrupt policemen, Battaglia also had the power to place some of his rivals in jail. Now because the judge and the attorney made a crime by reducing the felony, they were shaken down usually by the corrupt policemen and were threatened with publicity. So now the judge and the attorney had no other choice but to obey. So both individuals were told that the police had personal interest in some case and that they wanted to see the defendant found guilty. This was the best deal for Battaglia and the police because they all scored points.
On November 23, 1965, Battaglia’s old friend and ally Murray Humphreys died of a heart attack during a raid which was managed by the feds. Before his death, Humphreys was still in charge in establishing and maintaining contacts with public officials, members of the judiciary, local law enforcement officials and also leaders of organized labor so that whenever a favour was desired from the Outfit’s leaders, Humphreys was the guy for the job. So now the Outfit needed a good replacement for the position. Few days later after Humphreys’ death, at a Italian restaurant on Wabash Avenue, Battaglia chaired a meeting together with other top hoodlums, including Charles and Sam English, Joseph DiVarco, Hy Godfrey and Gus Alex. All voted for Humphreys’ underling Gus Alex to take his place.
Like any other family, Battaglia’s family also had its ups and downs. His son Sam Jr. was having marriage problems and divorced his wife Elaine Ruane Battaglia. But his other son Richard was a success. He finished school at the Oak Park-River Forest High School and was an outstanding athlete who was awarded for being an all-state outstanding high school football player during the season back in 1964. Battaglia threw a big party for all the parents and the players after Oak Park won the championship game. There was lots of food and drinks and Battaglia paid for the whole thing. So now Richard he had been offered several football scholarships and wanted to go to the university in Arizona. But because of his father’s reputation he had been turned down. When his father heard about the news, he became furious. He immediately made few phone calls and with the help of his connections, he managed to make a contact with the Dean of Men and Head of the Engineering College at the University in California, who recommended several schools that might accept young Battaglia. The arrangements were made and Richard succeeded in being accepted at the university in Kentucky. During Richard’s stay in Western Kentucky, he was often visited by his father and his companion Phil Alderisio. The two legendary mob bosses usually travelled to Kentucky with Battaglia’s black Cadillac. Back in the days the old time mob bosses never allowed for their children to be involved in the “life”. You see, most of the guys like Battaglia became criminals not because of they choose to be, but because they had no other choice. Their prime goal was to make money so their families can enjoy their lives without any problems or without any criminal activities. These days a Mafia boss often makes wrong decisions by implicating every possible member of his family in crime like his brother, father, mother, wife, kids, dog, fish etc. In other words, they forget why are they doing this and what’s the point of it all.
Phil Alderisio and Sam Battaglia with their wives in the back, driving the black caddy
Now with the backing of Ricca and Accardo, Battaglia became the de facto boss of the Chicago Outfit. He was regarded as the “tightest guy” who was “heavily loaded.” He was considered the most menacing mob boss who closely watched his crime empire so nobody had the chance to getaway with anything. There were always some hoodlums who were looking for some favours or tried to get in good with Battaglia. By the end of the day these punks often got sucked into performing sizeable jobs for Battaglia, thinking that they were going to get his favour. Battaglia called these individuals “dopes”. He also ordered to his underlings to avoid mentioning his name in front of other members and associates regarding any operation. He was considered to be a very hard individual to deal with and he always had to be right. That’s why Battaglia disliked to be used as an arbiter in an argument between members of the Chicago Outfit. Whenever there was trouble between the members, they were steered directly to Nick Palermo or Charles Nicoletti. Because of his scary reputation, Nicoletti was the one who generally settled the disputes with out any further reference to Battaglia. Like any other criminal organization, Battaglia also had few enemies within the Outfit but general feeling was that they all respected him, obviously out of fear. Because of his previous boss, Battaglia also learned to avoid any publicity but deep inside of him he knew that sooner or later the government heat will be focused directly on him.
As boss of the Outfit who tried to avoid the spot light, Battaglia spent most of his time at the Free Meadows farm in Pingree Grove. In those days Pingree Grove used to have population of 150 citizens and it was a place where only wagon loads of hay rolled down the blacktop county roads but now loads of expensive autos sped by, filled with gangsters. In short time Pingree Grove became a hamlet possessed by fear. Everybody talked in whispers of "the Old Man" in the massive, two-story farm- house that sat on a knoll to the north of the village like a brooding medieval castle overlooking a fief. And in the fields where paid workmen once toiled, vassals of the gang chieftain worked off their usurious loan obligations in an environment of sweet clover, a setting far removed from the crime syndicate dives they usually frequented in Chicago. The local people on various occasions witnessed many of the ex-convicts, burglars, and hold- up men, most of them loan shark victims who worked on the nearly 400 acres of the gangster s estate. One day Battaglia invited a band of mobsters out to the farm. A few brave souls who dared to follow at a distance watched in amazement as the hoodlums spilled out of their cars in undershirts and Bermuda shorts. They trotted into one of Battaglia’s fields and then, as if at a command, began to pull carrots from the ground. The gangsters also sparked the economy of Pingree Grove for a few hours as they made repeated trips for cartons of soda pop. Another funny story is when Battaglia’s sidekick Joseph Rocco travelled 12 miles to a pig auction at Huntley. Farmers from throughout Kane County gathered for the auction and they began bidding against Battaglia. The farmers quietly bowed out when the price had been raised beyond reason. Battaglia returned to the farm that day with 20 to 25 hogs. They had cost three times the going price. Also Battaglia once paid twice the value of a Charolais bull, a highly prized breed of bull that originated in France centuries ago and improves the quality of beef.
Battaglia has been acquiring virtually all of the land that lies directly north of Pingree Grove. In a very short time he purchased another 180 acres that front on Reinking road, the hamlet s main thorofare. Battaglia's hoodlum holdings encompassed Pingree Grove from the north and the west. With his latest purchase, he owned nearly a third of the town now. Battaglia's trucks without state license plates rose huge clouds of dust as they pounded down the country lanes. And on both sides of the road that cuts thru the center of Battaglia's land, the dark green beauty of the fields was marred by a litter of rusting truck bodies and battered cars. There was a story in the village that an investigator for the Illinois secretary of the state’s office noted the truck license violations, but his fear of the Outfit boss was too great so he took no action. And for a land that used to be known for its strict enforcement of its laws against dumping, Battaglia appeared to be above the law. One day newspaper men came to visit Battaglia’s farm and to try to get some interview from the boss himself. The reporters waited in front of the main gate at the farm when suddenly Joseph Rocco arrived with Battaglia in a late model station wagon that trailed behind a giant flat bed semi-trailer truck. The truck had pulled into the yard, but Battaglia had rolled on down the road to inspect his visitors. As soon as the station wagon circled into the farmyard on another road, Rocco appeared at the barbed wire fence. He told the reporters "All we want is peace and tranquillity out here, the stuff that they re printing in the newspapers could get somebody killed. In the end, we’re all human beings. The Old Man doesn't want to be bothered . . . he doesn't want to be harassed." Then he boasted of the newly remodeled hog house with its aluminum storm windows and shingle siding and the silo being erected. But he made no mention of the 2-ton truck without license plates that bore the shield of the Twin Food products company that was forced out of business after police I discovered its hoodlum operation. Nor did he made any mention of the green pick-up truck, also without state plates, that roared down a side road, driven by Sal Scudiero, who was a gambling operator in one Battaglia's rackets joints in Melrose Park.
Battaglia was constantly visited at his farm by all kinds of people, including gangsters, politicians, friends and relatives. He sat like a true Mafia don and made deals, gave orders and granted favours. John Wolek, who was one of Battaglia’s oldest friends, often came to help around the farm. By now Wolek was a heavy drinker and was out of the Outfit’s businesses. Plus he was in favour to Battaglia because previously he owed $3,000 to one of the Outfit’s big shots and Battaglia’s partner in the gambling business Rocco Potenza. Because of his addiction, Wolek wasn’t going to pay the money so Battaglia helped him and saved his life. Another gangster who often visited Battaglia was James Mullane. Mullane was the brother-in-law of Outfit member Vincent Inserro. Anthony Cardamone was a relative of Battaglia’s partner Willie Daddano and was very heavily involved in the music business. Cardamone also often came to Battaglia with an envelope full of cash. Also Cardamone opened a west suburban bank account under the name of the Northern Illinois Music Company listing himself, Joseph Glimco and Battaglia as officers of the company. Tony Panzika, who was known Outfit associate and high level burglar, also gave his respects. As boss, Battaglia portrayed the image of a quiet and nice old man who loved to help many people that were related to him in different ways. For example, Antoinette Caifano, who was Marshall Caifano’s relative, also came very often to seek favours from the boss himself. Battaglia even took care of the widows of his former deceased friends, for example Marie Capezio who was the widow of the late Capone gangster Tony Capezio. Battaglia regularly gave money to Miss Capezio. Another quite interesting person that visited Battaglia’s farm was Nicholas Ciaccio. Ciaccio was the chief administrative aide to the Secretary of State Paul Powell. In fact, Ciaccio was the contact between Powell and Battaglia. Ciaccio usually used a chauffeur driven state car to travel to farm and sat with the boss in the main farm building usually for several hours. Another high profile figure who often visited Battaglia was Nicholas Balsamo, who was at the Board of Directors of the Maywood Provision Bank.
But the good times always felt short and it was just a matter of time until Battaglia’s good times were finished forever. My opinion is that Battaglia was very well aware about the situation he was just the front boss from Ricca and Accardo and that he wasn’t going to stay at the top for a very long time. But I don’t think that he ever knew about consequences that were coming his way which were product of his sinister life style. Everything started in February, 1966, when Battaglia was called before a grand jury in Kansas City regarding the murder of Salvatore Palma, a lieutenant of Kansas City mob boss Nick Civella. On February 16, Battaglia arrived at the Municipal Air Terminal by plane accompanied by his bondsman Irwin Weiner and his lawyer Miss Anna Lavin. Battaglia appeared in a gray skin suit and black coat and fedora. FBI agents waited around the exit for Battaglia and they stood in a loose semicircle, about 10 feet between them. As Battaglia entered the Terminal, the FBI agents stood quietly watching. None spoke to Battaglia or his companions. Newsmen at the airport began taking pictures. Battaglia walked slowly among them and kept moving his head as if to avoid the cameras. After Battaglia walked outside he partly obscured himself behind a pillar. When a newsman asked him why he was subpoenaed, Battaglia said “Talk to my lawyer.” and than the lawyer said “There is no comment at this time.” The government became interested in Battaglia because of the meetings that he held with the Kansas City bosses in his home in Oak Park. The next day, the Outfit’s boss spent 50 minutes before the federal grand jury and took the fifth amendment on almost every question. Federal authorities said that Battaglia, by heading the Chicago underworld, was one of the men who also controlled organized crime in Kansas City through a Cosa Nostra decree. The FBI knew that Battaglia must’ve been at least consulted regarding the murder of Palma. After the questioning, Battaglia was released and returned to Chicago the very next day.
Battaglia in Kansas City
Battaglia’s biggest problems began with two of his associates, Rocco Pranno and Joe Amabile. All began when reports began to circulate that village officials and gangsters were shaking down companies for building permits and inspections in Northlake. Back in 1962, William Riley had an idea to stuff a bunch of one bedroom apartments into a two story building that looked like a motel. Then he built 30 or 40 of these around a common swimming pool and then sold the individual buildings to investors that were looking for rental property. Riley named his project The King Arthur Apartments in Northlake. Riley sent his lawyer to meet Northlake Mayor Henry Neri and Alderman Wayne Seidler about getting the necessary zoning changes. Neri tried to extort money from Riley by telling his lawyer that everything is going to cost him around $70,000. So the Outfit guys who were in charge in Northlake Nick Palermo and Joe Amabile met with Mayor Neri and told him that they are taking over the squeeze on Riley and that they could get him $40,000 for his people. Neri asked them for $10,000 good faith money to be delivered before the next Zoning board hearing. But since Battaglia’s partner Rocco Pranno was still the main guy in Northlake he wanted his own cut from every extortion deal that occurred in that area.
The Mayor of Melrose Park Henry Neri
But Pranno was swindled by his associates in the mob, because Battaglia’s underling Amabile had another selfish agenda by not informing Pranno on the deal. So Pranno got wind of the operation and confronted Neri at Alderman Seidler’s house. “You’re not gonna cut me out of this King Arthur deal coming up.” said Pranno. “I want a piece of the action. You cut me out of it and I’ll kill you.”. “I don’t need you anymore.” replied Neri. “Amabile is running the deal and Battaglia is backing him up. You’re all through in Northlake.” Pranno became very angry at Amabile but he chose to keep quiet.
Rocco Pranno
So now Riley paid the extortion money and became partner with Amabile. So he got his permits in Northlake and the apartments were selling like hotcakes. Riley’s projects were doing so good that he decided to make a mistake. He asked one of his long time employees named Dave Evans to be the construction supervisor on the projects. He told Evans to start lining up subcontractors, but to keep the job secret from Amabile. Riley said he can’t make a profit if the boys from Melrose Park are on it. But Riley didn’t know that Evans was also a close friend to Amabile and he spilled the beans. So Riley was summoned to Nick Palermo’s office. At the office Amabile told Riley that they knew where his mother lives and that he will be walking with a candy cane of he doesn’t give them the plumbing contract. Riley had no other choice but to agree. One day Amabile decided to visit Pranno’s D’or supper club in Stone Park and met with Pranno and a buddy of his named Mike DiVito. Divito, who was a sewer contractor by trade, asked if there was any work for him in the Riley projects. Amabile told him “yes”, but informed him that they can’t have DiVito’s name on the contract since he was a known Outfit associate. Pranno and Divito thought about it and together they pick a guy named Henry LaKey as a front man. LaKey had worked as a foreman in sewer construction, so he could talk the talk. More importantly he had a reasonably clean record. So now everybody was making money until one day Amabile decided to make a mistake. Amabile asked LaKey to do him a favour and to gravel some roads at a farm in Pingree Grove. LaKey didn’t know at the time that this was Battaglia’s horse farm. So Amabile took LaKey to the farm and introduced him to Battaglia and also told him that this was the main guy. When Pranno heard about LaKey’s presence at the farm, he went ballistic. Pranno immediately summoned Amabile and LaKey and tried to slap LaKey but Amabile stops him. Amabile said “I took him and the old man says he’s OK”. Pranno was right to be angry because Amabile had taken a low level associate to see the boss. And if you think about it, in this case Battaglia may have been the more naïve person by letting someone who he never knew before to talk business directly with him. So somewhere down the road the business started to fall apart because of greed and now the low level associates such as Evans, LaKey and DiVito knew that they were expendable and could get very easily killed. So when the mobsters like Pranno started loosing money, LaKey realized that he was in hot water and decided to go to Florida.
Pranno was also a shrewd mobster so he decided that he wanted out of the business. He just wanted his money back so he could wash his hands from the whole thing, and when it blows up, he can put all the blame on Amabile. Pranno told Amabile to find LaKey so he can get his money back, but after several days of no results Pranno again informed Amabile that they are going to have a sit down at the farm to see the old man. So they went out to Pingree Grove but this time Rocco made a mistake by bringing Mike DiVito as a witness. Eventually Pranno and Amabile ended up in a shouting match that Battaglia had to break up. Pranno accused Amabile for loosing his money and he also blamed him that there was supposed to be $20,000 for Battaglia himself in the next Riley projects. Pranno knew that this wasn’t a big deal, but he couldn’t resist the opportunity to get Amabile in dutch with Battaglia. But the situation backfired on Pranno because Amabile was way too close with the old man and it just convinced Battaglia that Pranno was just a “cry baby”. But Pranno’s real problems began with his indictment on shaking down the International Paper Company. This was considered a violation of the Hobbs Act, which made it a Federal crime to use extortion to interfere with interstate commerce. In March 1966 the government charged Pranno, Mayor Henri Neri, Alderman Wayne Seidler, and Peter Anderson. Mayor Neri was dismissed because his lawyer proved that Pranno had pushed him away him from the deal. With no money trail, the prosecution failed to make their case against the Mayor. The rest had been found guilty, including Pranno who was sentenced to 15 years, Seidler to 5 years and Anderson to 3 years.
With Pranno in jail, Battaglia gave Amabile his job. This was one of Battaglia’s biggest mistakes because Amabile wasn’t taken very seriously by the other top bosses and plus, this decision made Pranno even more angry. While in jail, Pranno was aware that Amabile was getting in trouble with the government. He also knew that Battaglia and the Outfit were doing the same thing to Amabile as they have done to him. The government pressed Pranno to give his inormations and to testify against Amabile for reduced sentence. Even though Pranno hated Amabile very much, he refused to testify and also said that if gets implicated in the matter he’s going to take the 5th amendment. But Pranno still got his revenge by not giving Amabile any information on the government’s plans. Also the other Outfit members considered Amabile only a “stupe”. Accardo and the other bosses felt that Amabile had no future in the Outfit and they couldn’t see where he could’ve fit in. But they decided not to interfere and just watched. According to some sources Amabile was a total screw up and in near future Battaglia would regret their association for the rest of his life.
Joseph Amabile
In May, 1966, Sam Giancana was released from jail and he was not welcomed with opened arms by his peers. At this point, Battaglia was more powerful than Giancana and turned his back on his old friend. In fact, Battaglia publicly stated regarding Giancana’s release that “this is the worst thing that could have happened to us.” Battaglia felt that because of the situation, new laws would be passed which would curtail the Chicago Outfit to greater extent. Battaglia and the other top leaders of the Outfit also felt that Giancana should be thrown again in jail with no possibility to get out. But Ricca had another less painful plan. He advised Giancana to get out of the country and to spread his international enterprises further than they are. So Giancana had an idea to go to Mexico and join Nick Circella, who already had established few lucrative gambling operations. Circella knew that the Outfit was spearheading the effort to place Giancana in Mexico as overseer of the gambling operations, far away from Chicago.
Even with Giancana out of the way, the government didn’t play “soft ball” on Battaglia. Now the government decided to attack one of Battaglia’s most profitable protections and so in May, 1966 Captain Lewis Case from the Oak Park Police Department, who was Battaglia’s lackey, received two choices. Either retire from the department or face the charges from the FBI. Case chose wise and retired. Three months later Battaglia made efforts through his underling Joseph Amabile, to obtain a state liquor licence for the new night club in Melrose Park, which was called Strangers in the Night located at 4701 Lake St. The night club was scheduled to open on August 3, 1966 but the problem was that Amabile wasn’t able to obtain the license from the Illinois Liquor Control Commission or ILCC. Based upon the background information that was provided by the FBI to Howard Cartwright, chairman of the ILCC, every possible licensee applicants had been rejected. For more than four months the club, a concrete block structure, stood empty. In other words, Battaglia's quarter of a million dollars sat tied up in a pile of building materials instead of making a profit. The only licence that Amabile received was the permit for the place to operate as a dry night club, probably the only one in the entire town. So now Battaglia told Amabile to try and sell the club for $250,000 so they can recoup the previous expenses. There have been no offers and the building remained abandoned. This was a sign that the walls were slowly closing in on the Outfit’s boss.
By the end of 1966, the FBI also launched an investigation on all of Battaglia’s clubs and gambling joints in the Melrose Park area. As I previously pointed out, these clubs were the nucleus of all of Battaglia’s illegal and legal operations in that area and the FBI knew this. So the feds again confidentially furnished informations to the chairman of the ILCC regarding recent violations that occurred at two of Battaglia’s clubs, including the Charm Club and Mary Ann’s Tavern. Both club owners were subsequently given citations and were notified to appear at a hearing to show cause on why their state liquor license should not be suspended or revoked. After this decision, in November 1966, Battaglia was seen twice conferring with his liquor licensee John Zito, at Mary Ann’s, concerning the prospects of more trouble with his Melrose Park joints. During the investigation, the FBI also contacted the Mayor of Melrose Park Chester Carson but he declined to cooperate because he feared of retaliation against himself and his family. Another problem that occurred for Battaglia during the investigation was the dumping of old rusted cars and trucks and miscellaneous farm equipment on his farm in Pingree Grove without displaying proper state license plates. This information was disseminated by the local authorities who apparently were reluctant to act until the Chicago Tribune exposed the situation with a headline article. Battaglia’s farm was referred to as “a cancer on the landscape”. So after that Kane County zoning officials and the Illinois State Police were dispatched and began a crackdown on the use of all vehicles on the farm to ensure that Battaglia cleaned up the place and complied with the law.
In late December, 1966, the attorneys that represented the Strangers in the Night club filed a motion in the Circuit Court of Cook County before a judge who was more friendly to their cause. However this attempt was prevented. License revocation hearings were held on January 3, 1967, regarding the Mary Ann’s Tavern and the Charm Club. Mayor Chester Carson and Police Captain Anthony Iosco were subpoenaed and they testified. The attorneys for the clubs were caught in surprise when by a new ILCC citation charging the club with having a convicted gambler Rocco Salvatore as a corporate officer that was additional grounds for revocation. It was also determined that the Esquire Club in Melrose Park, which was another of Battaglia’s vice dens, was in violation of the state liquor laws. So eventually, the ILCC subsequently revoked the liquor licenses of the three clubs. In the meantime, the FBI placed more pressure on Battaglia’s gambling operations. On January 13, 1967, the feds raided one of Battaglia’s gambling spots at 2111 West Lake, Melrose Park. The raiding party smashed through the heavily barricaded rear and front doors simultaneously to gain entry to the first floor premises. Eleven persons were arrested, including William Del Percio, Elmer Del Percio, Gerald Nargie and Angel Pacheco, all of whom are part of the Sam Battaglia group. Elmer Del Percio was charged as the gambling keeper. The same day, another raiding party smashed through the front door of the Square Deal Auto Wreckers, which was owned by Joe Dom Scaccia. The feds made an entry to the gambling room which was located in the center of the structure, and revealed various gambling equipment, including plush gambling den with after hours bar, along with dozens of decks of playing cards, card table, records of horse race bets, scratch sheets and even slot machines. Scaccia was charged as the gambling keeper. The records that were seized disclosed that this joint operated as a bookmaking operation during the day. On the early morning of January 16, 1967, Richard Derrico, one of Battaglia’s key operators, was observed by the FBI while entering a gambling spot at 2413 West Lake Street. The feds immediately entered the gambling room by smashing through two front doors, one barricaded with two reinforcement bars, revealing professional casino type setup in the back game room, including kidney shaped poker table with elevated platform for dealer, smaller poker table, as well as professional cloth covers for tables. Derrico was arrested and was charged as gambling keeper. Confiscated were numerous horse race bet slips recovered from Derrico’s bag, as well as numerous other sport betting slips, scratch sheets, ledger sheets used for football betting, sports parlay cards and numerous decks of cards and dice, all valued at $2,000. Derrico admitted to the feds that some small type of gambling activities occurred at the place but denied any large scale casino type operations. The feds also found records with the names of many hoodlums that belonged to the Sam Battaglia group.
