Alex was involved in tons of other legal operations, which reminds me of the many people who usually ask the question on why individuals like Alex are involved in crime when they have the brains for the legitimate stuff? On first sight, Alex was really involved in numerous legitimate enterprises but in reality he never knew how to run a restaurant or run a big company or big legit business. The only way that he ran or took over these operations, was with the help of fear. Everyone in Chicago knew who Alex was and to whom or what he pledged his allegiance to, so it was very easy for him to put his finger in one quarter of all the restaurants, bars and companies in the city where the Outfit ruled with an iron fist.
But as some people say, life is good until someone dies. In January, 1964, Frank Ferraro was diagnosed with cancer and the doctors told him that he had less than a year to live. This was devastating news for the organization since Ferraro was considered a member of the Outfit’s commission. Like always, at the beginning everybody had hopes but when Ferraro’s health deteriorated, the Outfit’s leadership called upon an urgent meeting in the Cart Restaurant at 601 S. Wabash Av. Those who attended the meeting were Paul Ricca and Tony Accardo, Murray Humphreys and Jack Cerone, Lester Kruse, Hy Godfrey and Ralph Pierce with Ferraro who sat at the head of the table. Giancana and Alex did not attend the meeting, probably because of their constant travels. In general this was a farewell meeting but there were also few things to discuss. One thing was who was going to replace Ferraro as the boss of the First Ward and also who was going to take his place as the number two guy. In the end the bosses decided that Pat Marcy was going to take Ferraro’s place as the main Italian “connection guy” and leader in the First Ward and Humphreys and Alex would continue to be the bosses of the South Side along with Frank Caruso. Now Marcy became direct with Giancana, who was the boss of the organization. As for the number two position, it was decided to remain vacant although everybody in the underworld knew that Sam Battaglia was in fact the “unofficial boss” or the next in line. In the end, everyone at the table rose their glasses filled with red wine, and made one last toast with Ferraro. As additional info, the restaurant where the meeting occurred was owned by Humphreys and Alex.
On August 23, 1964, Frank Ferraro died in the Wesley Memorial Hospital at the age of 52. Few days later, extra precautions were taken by Ferraro’s relatives and friends to ensure privacy at the funeral services. Two huge guys were stationed at the doors of the funeral home, and permitted only relatives and close friends inside for brief services. Few reporters followed the procession of about 30 black limousines that left the funeral home. An old woman dressed in black who was riding in one of the black limousines, leaned out of the car window and spat in direction of a group of newsmen. About 150 persons lined up on the sidewalk outside the mausoleum at Queen of Heaven cemetery, as the bronze casket was carried into the marble crypt. Sam Giancana, dressed in dark sport jacket and grey sport shirt, appeared together with Gus Alex and Sam Battaglia. A Chicago Tribune reporter tried to follow the crowd when suddenly one bodyguard stopped him and said that they didn’t want any reporters around the funeral. Giancana walked by the guy and told him to stop it with the hostility.
So now the Outfit’s top boss Paul Ricca was very much concerned about Alex’s knowledge regarding the hierarchy and cash flow within the Italian element of the Chicago Outfit, obviously because he wasn’t one of them. After the imprisonment of Al Capone, Ricca was the one who made the Outfit more of an Italian type of organization but deep inside Ricca knew that Alex was very much loyal and extremely capable individual, if compared to some of the Italian top guys. Ricca also noticed that at the same time the old and younger criminal generations were showing more respect to him than usual so in other words, Ricca and Accardo had no other choice but to accept the reality of Alex knowing almost every dirty little secret of the Italian crime faction, which made him almost equal as any other member of that same faction. In fact, Alex was involved in the illegal affairs of the Italian community in Chicago since the late 1930’s.
According to one FBI report, after the death of Ferraro, his close friend and associate Alex was allegedly asked if he had a chance to take Ferraro’s place in the Outfit and he said “No, I can’t go any higher. I’m not one of them, I’m king of the Greeks.” With this statement we can see that Alex was very much aware of the “made” status within the Outfit, meaning that he wasn’t Italian which prevented him of becoming boss of that same organization. Alex thought that this was the level as high as he could go but he wasn’t aware of the very much different future that was coming down his way. As additional info, on some wiretapped conversation Alex refers to the Italian faction or mob as “they” or “them”.
By the mid 1960’s things were changing drastically for the Outfit. The government was hunting down the mob on national level and so many top mobsters went to jail or their operations were simply crushed. So now a lot of these guys started feeling nervous and started looking at each other. For example when I previously stated that Kruse considered the late Frank Ferraro as a “weak individual”, well by that he suspected that Ferraro was an informant for the government. Kruse was from the “old school” so like the rest of the old timers, he never before experienced such a pressure from the government so he was also “infected” by this menacing paranoia that floated around Chicago’s underworld during that period. He always stated to his close friends that someone from the top must’ve been giving information to the feds. But now since Ferraro was dead, Kruse also suspected Louis Briatta probably because of his retirement from the mob but also because of his knowledge about the Outfit’s inner workings since Briatta was a member of the Chicago mob. Kruse was obviously wrong and luckily no one was ever accused in front of the Outfit’s administration. Kruse once openly stated that “This is the beginning of the end for the rackets. Everybody is a stool pigeon, even our own guys are leaking the information, and the feds are over zealous. Everything is locked up.” Now most of these high profile mobsters always suspected members from the First Ward to be the informers because, as I previously stated, they were the “top” of the organization because they knew about everything that went on in both the upper and under worlds. So during this period a lot of mobsters that previously had some health issues, true or fake, started getting treatments more often outside of Chicago, obviously with the intention to elude the law in their home area. For example, Kruse had allegedly had some kidney or bladder problems so he went to New York and stayed there for more than a month.
Besides everyone being the suspect, other mobsters also clashed with the fact that they would never bring their operations in Chicago in full effect ever again. For example, Louie Arger was very much concerned because of the constant police raids that were made over his strip joints and if the problems continued he was planning to go legit. He even complained that Alex wasn’t devoting much of his time on the Outfit’s operations. Arger also realised that now there was no more danger for him of getting killed by his peers if he decided to leave because he didn’t generate any more large income for the organization, and the best thing was that it wasn’t his fault. Plus Alex wasn’t very much satisfied with Arger and the whole attention, so he also advised Arger that maybe its time to close down all of his operations for a while, before the government could obtain any evidence to link the top criminal administration with illegal activities. Also Frank Caruso’s lucrative crap games were extremely on the downfall so by now he mostly made his income from the few remaining handbook and loan sharking operations on Maxwell Street. By now Alex’s collector in the Loop, Sam Gearis established a vast handbook operation which didn’t last long. His main clearinghouse was raided by the feds and arrested two of his prime operators Sam Rugerio and Ralph Navarro, in connection for possession of gambling records. During the search, the cops also found clothing with the name of Sam Gearis, which instantly connected him with the illegal operation. When Alex heard about the bad news, he went ballistics. He mostly blamed Gearis’ son Arnold for not paying attention and so, in his own style, Alex ordered Gearis to temporary close down his operations in the Loop. Also by 1965, all of the Outfit gambling operations in the Dominican Republic were closed down due to the revolution that occurred over there. So Alex’s main guy Les Kruse packed his bags and also took all of his gambling equipment and sent it to Las Vegas.
All of that pressure continued to cause a lot of health problems mainly for the older generation of mobsters such as Murray Humphreys. On November 23, 1965, “Curley” as he was known, died of a heart attack. With his death, the South Side crew had lost another important and influential member. To make things worse, Giancana got himself locked up in jail for contempt of court. So out of the shadows came Ricca and Accardo to restore the order, which they have maintained it for more than 30 years. As expected, Battaglia became the “acting boss” for the Chicago Outfit and Gus Alex became the boss of the non-Italian faction of that same organization. Now Alex had supreme control over the First Ward and whole South Side but he also had control over Rogers Park and parts of the Cicero area. Now Alex’s prime lieutenants of his faction were Ralph Pierce and Les Kruse. On the same level were also Hyman Larner and Eddie Vogel and right beneath them were Lenny Patrick and his outside connection Dave Yaras. Besides Nathan Ladon being Alex’s chauffer, now Hyman Godfrey also took that position for time to time but he also acted as his advisor. This was the highest honour for one non-Italian member of the Chicago mob such as Gus Alex and now he was the one to set the rules for his organization.
By now 51-year old Gus Alex still looked handsome because he was always careful about his body weight and his lovely girlfriend Suzanne always took care of his meals and diet. He was the Outfit’s jet setter. Alex always wore expensive clothes such as the $1,200 mink lined Vicuna coat which he mostly used it for his trips to Europe and he was driving a blue 1965 Thunderbird with Suzanne right by his side. Besides their travels to Europe, during the winter period the pair also visited the Doral Beach Hotel in Miami Beach and stayed in a $100 a day suite. In the evening hours he visited the clubs, sometimes with his lady but sometimes with numerous other ladies, probably when Suzanne was out of town. According to some FBI surveillance reports, Alex always had those beautiful high class models for his own entertainment, and if he made a mistake like to impregnate some of the girls, he always relied on the services from his old friend Dr. William Nestos, a known abortionist among mob circles. Alex and Suzanne lived in huge apartment or as the Chicago Tribune put it “Looking down from his elite 10th floor suite in the sweeping curve of 1150 Lake Shore dr., playboy Gus Alex, sports car buff, and horse bet czar, finds the work-a-day world beneath his notice.” When he was not doing tours around Europe, in Chicago Alex regularly met with his tax lawyer Eugene Bernstein and lawyer Mike Brodkin at the Randolph Town Barber Shop. He also regularly held court with Kruse and Pierce in some of the city’s restaurants such as the Stouffer’s Restaurant on Wabash and Randolph St. or the Trader Vic’s Restaurant in the Palmer House Hotel, but one of the most visited joints by Alex was the Pete Fish’s Restaurant at St, Clair and Ontario St.
Boss of the First Ward: Gus Alex
But since he became a known big shot in and out of Chicago, also came along the unwanted publicity. The same year one of the most terrible news that struck the Outfit’s hierarchy was the ban which was issued by the government of Switzerland for Gus Alex. Alex was banned from getting anywhere near Switzerland. I don’t have any information whether the Outfit and Alex lost some cash from their Swiss bank accounts or somebody simply replaced Alex, but one thing was for sure that Alex’s adventures in Switzerland were finished for good. After that it became an on-going battle between the U.S. government and Alex. The Chicago Crime commission, Better Government association, and the Chicago police have furnished Swiss authorities with reports on Alex, in an effort to preserve the ban and to curtail his annual overseas jaunts. All three agencies furnished the information to Ernst Theiler, the Swiss consul general in Chicago, pointing out that although Alex had no record of convictions, he was well known as a high ranking mobster and honoured guest at many mob festivities. The U.S. officials feared that the Swiss government might relax on the order which was issued in barring Alex from Switzerland for 10 years. On the other hand, Alex’s lawyers had furnished letters to the Swiss government from respectable individuals such as Senator Everett Dirksen and U.S. Congressman William Dawson on behalf of Alex in regard to his efforts to get the ban lifted. Other individuals that wrote the Swiss officials on behalf of Alex were many famous Chicago lawyers including Maurice Walsh. As additional info, Congressman Dawson was a very close friend of Outfit boss Paul Ricca and the late Jake Guzik.
One day Alex was visited by a group of reporters regarding the Swiss ban. Alex and his lawyer Eugene Bernstein explained to the press that the intercession of Dirksen and Dawson was a routine and that political channels were normally used in such matters. Speaking of Dawson’s intervention, Alex said “The congressman said he’s known me for 25 years. I think it would be closer to 35 years. I was raised in his district.” The reporters also asked Alex about the speculations that he wished to go back to Switzerland because he had a hidden bank account there and Alex replied “I don’t have a quarter in Switzerland.” Furthermore he also explained that a person with money in Switzerland could make arrangements to obtain it without going there personally. Alex became angry at the statement about him being a mob courier and said “How could I be a courier when I’m under surveillance night and day by the FBI in Chicago and every place else that I go, and by the police in Switzerland?!” Alex also added “And don’t forget, I’ve never been convicted of a crime. I want this ban removed whether I ever go to Switzerland or not.” He admitted to the press that he had been arrested numerous times, mostly as a kid, but stressed that he had never been accused formally of a crime or put on trial. Alex described himself as a skiing buff and said that he pursued the sport in Italy, France and Austria as well as in Switzerland. But no matter how hard Alex tried to resist the pressure, in the end the ban was never lifted. And to make things even stranger, after the ban and numerous investigations over Alex’s travels in Switzerland, out of nowhere his alleged contact over there, Virginia Hill decided to commit suicide.
In 1966, Alex’s older brother Sam came back to the Chicago area, since his little brother became top echelon member of the mob. Sam bought himself a luxurious $75,000 house at 900 North Kenilworth in Oak Park. Sam’s house was built by the Van Corbin Construction Company which was owned by Sam Panveno a.k.a. Van Corbin. On July 20, 1966, for unknown reasons, Panveno was shot and killed by two masked men. Anyway, the brothers also became partners in the Henry Susk Pontiac Company. Susk was a mob associate and front man for the Outfit, who not only provided the gangsters with all kinds of Pontiac cars, but he also obtained different cars on the Outfit’s behalf. According to one FBI report, a confidential informant reported that the Alex brothers were “nobody to fool with and you can’t reason with them because they are crazy.” If you try and research the Alex “crime family” you will find numerous statements such as the brothers being the “torpedos” or main hitmen for the Outfit, which is obviously false because they were never found guilty or at least found closely connected in any murder case. The Alex brothers were natural corruptors and if somebody stood in their way, that’s when they usually asked someone else to remove the “obstacle.” That’s how things go in the Mafia. As I previously said, “where’s smoke, there’s probably a fire”, which means that Alex was a killer but he was not a serial killer like some of his associates. Some of the more bloodthirsty members of the Outfit, each had over ten bodies “in their backyards.” Also by now Sam Alex was 100% legit because his brother Gus was buying houses or cars in Sam’s name as “Sam Taylor.”
But even with his lavish life style, Alex was still a nervous wreck and always worried about everything. Suzanne always told Alex that there was no need to be worried about anything but he always replied in the same manner that it was in his nature to be worried. One night Alex and Suzanne had a conversation regarding the government heat and what would’ve happened if Alex went to jail. Suzanne comforted her man that the government had nothing on him and that he was safe, but Alex told her that “If they really want you, they’ll set you up.” Because of his current situation, Alex went for a week at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and was advised by the doctor to watch out or he might develop another nervous breakdown.
His health wasn’t the only problem, which was mostly caused by the everyday pressure, but that particular pressure was the real problem. For example, in May 1967, the current Outfit boss Sam Battaglia went on trial for extortion. As boss of the First Ward, it was Alex’s job to mastermind the strategy to get Battaglia out of jail. Through his contacts Alex managed to obtain the list of jurors and planned an approach. So someone influenced a female juror from the list, who agreed to vote for a not guilty verdict. But the problem was that at the end of the trial, the female juror became fearful and decided to vote guilty. It was a disaster for the Outfit. Alex expressed his deepest anger at the hoodlums who were assigned for the job, and also expressed his deepest apologies to Battaglia’s lieutenants Phil Alderisio and Charles Nicoletti. With this example we can see that by now the public had more fear from the government than the mob. The government really showed its ambition and continuing struggle against the Outfit, so maybe some of the people began to think twice before doing any important decision such as this one. Battaglia was the boss and he was a quite big fish in the eyes of the government so there was no chance for him to get out of this one.
After the death of Rocco Fischetti and Battaglia’s imprisonment, Alderisio, Fiore Buccieri, Les Kruse and Ralph Pierce fought for control of territories on the Southwest Side and South Side. One of Buccieri’s confidants Joe Ferriola had a close cooperation with Pierce and Kruse on the South and Southwest Side and Alderisio, who also had his own operations in the same area, was left out of this one. So that was only one part of the problem and the other was that Alderisio considered Ferriola as low-ranked hoodlum and pushed him out of the South Side rackets. Alex immediately took his role as mediator, since there was no one else left to hold control over the Outfit’s “street” bosses. According to some sources Alex, Kruse and Pierce wanted to squeeze out Alderisio from the operation but by now Alderisio was one of the most powerful mobsters within the Outfit and he wasn’t going anywhere. But according to numerous FBI surveillance reports, Alex and Alderisio were very close and met on daily basis, so probably Alderisio was backed by Alex. This comes from another report where it says that Alderisio was a very loud and violent individual, but when Alex spoke, Alderisio kept quiet. I’m pointing this out because guys like Giancana, Alderisio, Buccieri or Battaglia were very tough to handle. They were “one way street” individuals. There are numerous wiretapped conversations between members of the First Ward such as Pat Marcy, where they discussed the violent nature of these guys and that the only guy that was good in reasoning, was Alex. When Alderisio sat on the same table with Alex, he listened because deep inside he knew that the gun pointing or pistol whipping days were over and now the less violent tactics were much more preferable, for which Alderisio had no clue on how to do it. Here’s what Pat Marcy, John D’Arco and Benjamin Jacobson had to say about the Giancana administration and their control over the aldermanic elections:
JACOBSON: You can’t argue with these guys, John! I told you what he (Giancana) told Pete Fosco. Fosco wanted to quit and he (Giancana) said, why you fat f*ck! You quit and I’ll hit you in the head! These are funny guys. Same thing with Frank Annunzio. He (Giancana) said tell him to quit, if not he’ll be picked up off the pavement.
MARCY: They’re all alike. You talk to Moe (Giancana), you talk to Teets (Battaglia), you talk to Marshall (Caifano), they’re all alike. These f*cks all got a one track mind, John, you can’t reason with these guys. The only guy that you can, that is half way sharp is Gus (Alex). But he’s strictly organization, no sh*t about it.
By now the leading crews for the Chicago Outfit were the Melrose Park crew, now headed by Alderisio since Battaglia was in prison, and the Cicero crew, which was headed by Joey Aiuppa. Both crews, especially the Cicero crew, had business relations with Alex. On October 11, 1967, the boys from Cicero scheduled a huge lavish party for Alex at the MGM Lounge. At the last minute, the group changed the location of the party to Martin’s Restaurant on Roosevelt Road. Obviously the gangsters changed the place in the last minute just to avoid any government surveillance. Those who attended the party were Alex and Aiuppa, and Bucky Ortenzi, Larry Rassano, Tony DeMaio, Sam Rizzo, Phil Tolameo and Don Dimitrious. As additional info, the Cicero area was divided between Aiuppa and Buccieri.
The same year Willie Messino, who was a big time loan shark and extortionist for West Side hoodlums Jack Cerone and Joe Gagliano, was charged for extortion and was sent to a trial. When Alex heard about the news he became infuriated with Messino because according to some sources, he did not have the “ok” from Alex to act violently. According to one FBI report, Alex told Cerone that Messino cost the Outfit a great deal of money in times when the last thing that the organization needed was another destruction of a lucrative enterprise. And so Alex informed them that he had no intention on getting Messino’s case “fixed.” Alex already had the jury in his pocket because five jurors were members of unions which were under the influence of Alex but he decided not to interfere. So if Cerone or Gagliano ever had something against Alex’s decision, they kept it for themselves.
Alex also took interest in trial of Richard Cain a.k.a. Scalzetti and William Daddano, both high profile members of the Outfit. Alex made sure that the two gangsters received good lawyers, such as Harry Busch, because they had no chance of getting out. But at least Alex managed to pull few strings and the trial was postponed to September, 1968. In the end both Cain and Daddano received jail sentences. As additional info, Cain answered to both Pat Marcy and Gus Alex.
A year later, in October, 1968, Gus and Suzanne were about to be married. They previously organized everything in the Chapel of the Bells in Reno, Nevada. That faithful day, the organist played "O, Promise Me" while Alex nervously adjusted his cummerbund, squared his chubby chin, and then walked into the chapel with a measured step that reminded some observers of a mourner at a gangland funeral. He was about to take the plunge for the second time after a whirlwind, six-year courtship that spanned several continents and plunked the Loop vice and gambling boss right smack in the middle of the international jet set. In the chapel, Alex was joined by his beautiful bride Suzanne, who had a special light in her eyes as she recalled those wild nights with Alex on the Riviera in a bikini and those wild afternoons on the ski slopes of the Swiss Alps. Yes, it had been worth it all. In the end the couple exchanged vows and then embraced.
