On March 16 and 17, 1954, FBN agents arrested eleven members of the crew on narcotics charges, including Iacullo, Coduto and Pape and quickly took them into custody. Now, this is a quite “interesting” or different situation, where the “middle men” such as the three main defendants had direct contacts, not only with some members of the Outfit, but also with some of the top level guys such as Accardo and Giancana. Both bosses knew that all three middle men were stand up guys, with no kind of ideas to say even a word to the cops, and that they were going to take their prison sentences like a real future “Mafiosi”. But there was one problem and that was the making of a fatal mistake by bringing an undercover agent into their crew and that kind of a mistake in the eyes of the bosses was punishable by death. In fact, Accardo was the one who was knee deep in shit, because in a matter of months before the arrests, Iacullo was seen going in and out of Accardo’s home for more than 20 times. So naturally the Mob boss was scared from the bad publicity given by the narcotics trade and avoided any government heat that might jeopardize his vast gambling operations, meaning Accardo was ready to eliminate anyone at anytime if things went out of control, like in the current situation.


And that’s when Accardo and Giancana quickly disconnected themselves from the operation by giving the thumbs down. Immediately, “somebody” posted the $25,000 bonds for all seven members and they were released and the trial was set for April 22, 1954. On the day of their release, April 10, 1954, Tony Pape together with his brother James got into their car and drove home. While driving down Flournoy Street, suddenly another car with two masked men blocked their path. James Pape, who drove the car, apparently made a wild effort to elude the hit squad by turning his car around. During the car chase, the hit squad managed to get near their target and that’s when one of the assassins managed to fire few shotgun blasts, thus hitting James in the head and also fatally wounding his brother Tony in the head and shoulder. Their car went out of control, struck the corner of a building and crashed on the sidewalk. James’ body was found sprawled face down in mud with his brain missing and with his legs still under the steering wheel, while Tony was quickly taken to the Garfield Park hospital in a critical condition and died two days later.


The deaths of the Pape brothers were a scary reminder of what can happen if someone brings a cop to the “party”. Both Accardo and Giancana loved making examples of their “soldiers” and they also loved sending death threats. Whoever received their threats, he or she knew that these guys were always serious and anyone, including women, had the chance to become their victim. So the trial was postponed because of the recent murders and during that period, the Outfit placed a lot pressure over Mendino’s junk crew. All of the remaining members, including Mendino himself, DeMarie and Coduto, started receiving death threats from “unknown” sources and every one of them started living their lives in constant panic and fear. The first death threat occurred way even before the arrests or in other words, the moment when Mattera was pulled of the streets. The so-called “death threat” was in a form of a bomb which exploded right in front of the Mendino’s huge residence and shattered his attractive house window. Some of the guys became so frightened that some of them were forced to complain to the feds. But the problem was that everybody from the crew knew that the only way that they would receive help from the feds, was by spilling the beans. So Coduto and the gang started pushing for their imprisonment because they knew if they stayed out too long, it was going to be the end for them. And to tell you the truth I believe that Coduto was right because on May 14, 1954, while parking his car near his house, suddenly Coduto was shot three times in the back of the head and once in the shoulder. According to his wife Antionette, who was waiting for her husband at the window, there was another man on the back seat of Coduto’s car and after the shooting, a black sedan came behind Coduto’s car, picked up the alleged assassin and sped off into unknown direction.


So after the Coduto murder, in June, 1954, the government finally decided to take the remaining defendants to trial. As expected, the “star witness” was undercover agent Mattera who gave the jury every possible situation in which he was involved in, all in clear details. He testified before the grand jury that he received heroin packages from the late Coduto and Pape, who in turn gave certain amount of money to Pinna, Schullo or Iacullo. Here’s a portion of his testimony:

"Q. Tell the Court in your own words what transpired from the time you first saw the defendant Iacullo that evening.

“A. The car in which they were riding pulled up parallel to my automobile, which was parked on the lot. I commenced walking across the street. The car backed up and began pulling out of the lot. At that time, the car stopped momentarily to permit pedestrians to cross.

"Q. How far were you from the car at that point?

A. Approximately ten feet.

"Q. Did you observe the Defendant Joseph Iacullo?

“A. Yes, I did.

"Q. He is the same Joseph Iacullo that you have pointed out here in court this morning?

“A. Yes, he is.

"Q. What, if anything, next occurred?

“A. I went to my automobile.

"Q. Tell the Court in your own words what, if anything, happened?

“A. I examined the interior of my automobile, came out of the automobile, picked up a package from the ground, placed it in my pocket, started my car, and drove out of the locality.

“Q. Where was the package picked up?

"A. Outside of my car, your Honour.

"Q. You mean on the ground?

"A. Yes, sir.

"Q. Was it next to your car?

"A. Yes, sir."


On top of that, William Sheehan, who was a special investigator for the government, found one fingerprint on one of the many newspapers which were used during the heroin transactions and that particular fingerprint belonged to Iacullo. In his own defence, Iacullo testified that he asked why he was under arrest and stated that he did not want his "prints" taken. He was told that "it is customary when you are under arrest." He said that the United States marshal read the charge to him the next morning. Government witnesses testified that a warrant had been issued for the arrest of Iacullo but that it was not in the possession of the agents when the arrest was made. There was also no physical force used to procure Iacullo's fingerprints, since Sheehan testified that Iacullo made no objection when asked to come to the stand for fingerprinting. Agent Cass testified that when brought in to have his fingerprints taken, Iacullo did not object and was not handcuffed. In the end, Schullo received 60 years, Ponzi and Pinna received 15 years separately and since he was considered the top level member of the whole gang, Iacullo was sentenced to 30 years in prison. So again the Outfit bosses succeeded in protecting themselves by “silencing” the only people who had the chance to connect them with one of the dirtiest business in the underworld. After the deaths of Frank Coduto, the Pape brothers and the imprisonment of Iacullo, the crew was succeeded by two of their associates known as Joe Bruno and Freddy Coduto, brother of the late Frank Coduto.


The “undercover” tactic of the feds proved to be quite useful in catching the drug peddlers on the city’s streets. Just one month after the infamous narcotics trial, another one of the Outfit’s runners was arrested by the cops, again with the help of an undercover agent. The guy’s name was Albert Roviaro and this fella was real so-called street dealer, who mostly operated around the South suburbs, under the jurisdiction of the Chicago Heights crew. Roviaro had a very “interesting” way of selling his product usually by leaving the package with heroin next to a tree or some bush, where he would wait nearby and if a costumer came, Roviaro would simply proceed to the tree, stoop down, pick up a package, take it to the costumer, and throw it in his car. And that’s how he also managed to sell few packages of heroin to an undercover agent. In August, 1954, Roviaro was taken to court and his was represented by none other than Mob attorney Carl Walsh, who by “coincidence” was a personal friend of Outfit boss Tony Accardo. Although the prosecutors argued for a 6-year prison term, in the end Roviaro received only two years in prison, thanks to his quite experienced criminal lawyer.


The federal “saga” continued for the next three years and many dope peddlers from various nationalities were arrested and placed in jail. During this period the U.S. government fought a real war against the narcotics trade, and by “real war” I mean bullets flying around and people getting hurt. For example in June, 1957, four federal narcotics agents led by two other agents John Ripa and Jack Love were conducting an undercover operation on Carlo Urbinati in a roadhouse known as Triangle Inn Tavern, which was in fact Urbinati’s headquarters. The deal was for the two undercover agents to buy $9000 worth of heroin from Urbinati, and after the transaction, the plan was for one of the agents to alert the rest of the group and stage a raid. As for the four agents, they sat on one of the tables and ordered sandwiches, but the problem was that the bartender and co-owner, Dominic Argentine, apparently recognized them. So as agent Ripa proceed to talk business, he failed to notice that he was spotted by Argentine, who in turn slowly crept behind him, pulled out his gun and fired one shot in the agent’s back. Agent Love quickly rushed to aid his partner, but he was also shot in the abdomen by Urbinati, who in turn continued to fire his gun at the rest of the agents. In a matter of seconds the whole place turned into a living hell and in all that chaos with bullets flying all around, both Urbinati and Argentine managed to exit the tavern and started fleeing towards their cars. But while entering his car, Urbinati was wounded in the head by one of the agents who somehow managed to stay close to the assailants and take a shot from his pistol. After that the rest of the agents called for aid and some 100 state, county and suburban policemen rushed to the scene. The police strafed the building in the belief that Argentine might still be inside but later he was arrested without resistance at his home.


All of the wounded men were rushed in the Bridewell Hospital for treatment since all of them were in critical conditions. Federal agents later charged that the gangsters were using "dum-dum" bullets, which were doctored to make them splash on contact, thus causing gaping wounds on their targets, but somehow, or should I say miraculously, both agents managed to survive. But later one quite interesting and at the same time, funny situation occurred when Urbinati, who also survived the “head-shot”, together with his buddies was taken to trial but he managed to defend himself by refusing to take out the bullet which was still stuck in his head and kept him in critical condition. That same bullet was very important for Urbinati’s conviction since it was the only proof that he was shot by the agents because he claimed that he wasn’t present at the tavern and that he was allegedly shot outside by one of the gangsters during the shootout. So the bullet was the only evidence for Urbinati’s presence inside the tavern, but the problem was that he also had a doctor’s agreement that if the bullet was taken out, he might loose his life. So when his attorney asked for the defendant to be transferred into a private hospital, the agents felt suspicious that Urbinati’s was planning to make a private operation without anyone’s knowledge and to get rid of the bullet. His request was denied and in no time, he was placed under constant guard. As time passed by, Urbinati’s clock was slowly ticking and so he had no choice but to make an operation, under the watchful eye of the feds, and to remove the bullet. In May, 1958, Urbinati, Argentine and another associate Tommy Matas, each received 5 years in federal penitentiary.


So even though Mendino was a close friend of Giancana, still after all of these incidents the “poor” guy was in a tough situation which might’ve ended with fatal consequences. The main problem for Mendino wasn’t his fellow members within the organization but instead the people from whom he or the organization in general received the dope. As I previously stated that the Mendino group received its shipment straight from New York or from Montreal, Canada, and since they were the main distributors, they were the ones held responsible for the problems. According to one Mob informant, by the end of 1958, one of New York’s main representatives in the dope business and at the same time, member of the Bonnano crime family, Carmine Galante visited Chicago regarding few unknown problems. Story goes that Galante first visited Calumet City, an area under control of the Chicago Heights faction, which by now was led by one of Jim Emery’s protégés known as Frank LaPorte. And again, according to the informant, after that Galante went to Cicero for another meeting and later went straight back to the east coast. Now I don’t want to indicate on anything and also I don’t want to say that Galante visited Chicago strictly regarding the Mendino problem but I’ll only use the word “possibly”.


The so-called informant was an alleged killer for the east coast Mob known as Harold Konigsberg who was close to many members from the New York crime families and according to his story, he was the one who allegedly drove Galante to Chicago. And so according to him, besides Galante and members from the Outfit, other individuals present on that meeting were also members from the Genovese crime family, long time allies of the Midwest Mob. Konigsberg also claimed that during the meeting, the Genovese faction strongly defended the Chicago “family” on some unknown subject and so in the end, the sit down between Galante and whoever sat on the other side of the table from the Chicago boys, ended in favour of the Outfit. Even though he did not attend the meeting, obviously because he wasn’t Italian, Konigsberg also claimed that later Galante allegedly revealed some of the details of the meeting but too bad since Konigsberg did not want to share that particular information with the federal agents.


So I can only guess on what was the subject during the Mafia meeting but as I previously stated, that “possibly” the subject was narcotics because of various reasons. First of all, most of the Mob-researchers know that Galante was huge in the dope business and also had close connections in Canada, which I believe had his own crew over there at the time. And that particular year, which was 1958, after being indicted on drug conspiracy charges, Galante went into hiding and my point is that, it was quite possible for him, since he was considered quite a lunatic, to visit Chicago during that time period. And it was “only” a coincidence for him to visit the “Windy City” at the same time when all the problems regarding the narcotics trade were going on. Another “coincidence”, were the many urgent travels and meetings which occurred right after or before the Galante meeting, which included some high profile Outfit members and also indicates that there was obviously some kind of problem. For example, Accardo and one of his long-time buddies and also Police lieutenant, Anthony DeGrazio took a an alleged European trip, which quickly ended in Rome, Italy, where they met with Dominic Roberto to allegedly discuss the narcotics problem. Proof for their meeting were the names of the hotel rooms in which they stayed, and right across Accardo’s room, was the apartment of “Dominic Roberts” which was Roberto’s alias. Shortly after Accardo’s visit, Guzzino and LaPorte again travelled to Italy, but this time they took a flight from New York, instead of Chicago. Next thing you know Galante got arrested and in 1960 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.


So right after the alleged meetings, according to some government reports, Mendino was pushed to a lower level within the organization, almost like an associate. Story goes that by 1959 his health also suffered from the consequences and started having a lot of heart problems, which was the main reason for his demise two years later. So now Accardo and Giancana had to fill up the empty position, which previously belonged to Mendino, with more serious member. By “position” I do not mean such as the one as “capo” or area boss, but instead the position of a narcotics overlord for the organization, which was directly connected to Giancana. It occurs to me that Giancana needed a trusted but at the same time, more experienced criminal on that position since the whole operation was very “sensitive” out various reasons. According to one confidential government informant, the crime boss has decided to divide the crews to few of his main confidants at the time, including Fiore Buccieri and Sam Battaglia. These two fellas controlled almost the whole West Side area with additional territories in Cicero, South Side and the North Side. On top of that, Battaglia already had quite “good” experience with the dope peddling business since the days when he used work with Rocco DeGrazia, and as for Buccieri, well this dangerous fella was also a long time hoodlum from the West Side who was one of the most lucrative loan sharks in the state of Illinois.



Fioravante Buccieri


Even though he inherited one or two of Mendino’s remaining “junk crews” such as the one which was led by Dichiarinte and Mastro, still the problem was that Buccieri needed more people for the job. Two of his main overseers of the dope racket were Angelo LaPietra and James Torello, known enforcers and also collectors for Buccieri’s loan sharking business. But the main problem was that he couldn’t “transform” all of his ruthless collectors into drug peddlers. I mean, how the hell a murderous tough guy was going to handle a situation with a harmless and at the same time, mindless junkie? So, Buccieri quickly found a solution to the problem by mobilizing some of his robbery crews, such as the ones led by two quite different thieves known as Carl Fiorito and Nick Guido. I stated “different” mostly because Fiorito was a professional burglar and killer with a crew who always managed to hit the big scores and on top of that he was considered a high level associate of the Outfit, or particularly Giancana and Buccieri. And as for Gudio, he controlled a huge gang of reckless criminals who loved to torture their victims during home invasions or bank robberies, and on top of that they loved killing people. But the best thing was that both gangs operated in the same area where Mendino previously peddled drugs and so it was easy for them to connect because they already knew and worked with the same individuals.


As I previously stated that Carl Fiorito was one of the most professional burglars in Chicago’s criminal history but the thing was that he also controlled his own drug peddling crew. Some of the best “middle men” in the drug business were his long time partner in the burglary business Ted DeRose and William “The Saint” Skally, ex-bootlegger and personal friend of both Giancana and Accardo mostly because he controlled a multi-million dollar counterfeit ring for the Outfit. Also, by now Tony Dichiarinte, Mastro and Pisano all worked as “runners” under Skally and DeRose. One of their main suppliers was one Jewish gangster known as Jacob Klein, who in turn received the dope shipment from members of the Genovese and Lucchese crime families in New York. Now you would ask yourself who the hell is this guy? Well Jacob Klein was a long time associate of the Mob who was born in 1903 in Brooklyn, New York and by the mid 1930’s, arrived on Chicago’s North Side with “preferences” from Luciano crime family members on the east coast. And from day one, he was involved in narcotics, which was the main reason for his 8 year long prison sentence in 1938 for peddling dope. He controlled a small but very lucrative drug peddling crew which was formed mostly by Jewish gangsters such as Harry Lerner, Hyman Rubin and Irving Kushner. And so with the help of the Jewish criminal element, Klein became one of the most important syndicate drug dealers on the city’s streets and in time, he also became close associate of both Fiorito and Skally. In fact, Klein has worked with almost every previously mentioned narcotics trafficker from the Chicago and New York areas. During this period, Klein provided heroin from New York mobsters John Ormento, the guy who previously supplied Joe Bruno’s crew, and also Tony Mugavero, big time narcotics trafficker and member of the Luciano a.k.a. Genovese crime family. After receiving the dope, Fiorito usually divided the stash between DeRose and Skally, who in turn later re-sold it on the streets, either by them or by some of their “runners” such as the ones from the Dichiarinte crew. So in other words, this was another quite powerful group, with many underworld connections and also workers on the streets. In addition, according to one FBI document, by this time Klein was allegedly the so-called “overseer” for all purchases and payoffs for the Outfit regarding the narcotics business.


The interesting thing was that this group did not receive their heroin shipments only with the help of the New York crime families, but instead they also received it directly from the crime group which was based in Florida and was known as the Trafficante crime family. The connection was established with the help of another Jewish mobster and member of the Outfit known as Dave Yaras. During that period, Yaras and Fiorito pulled a lot of jobs in the Florida area and on top of that, Yaras was closely associated with the boss Santo Trafficante Jr. One of Trafficante’s guys was William Dentamaro who frequently travelled back and forth to Chicago and was closely associated with Fiorito in the burglary business. Another guy who constantly travelled between Tampa and Chicago was Louis Coticchia a.k.a. Lou Brady, a “mysterious” Mob courier for many high profile criminals around the country, especially between Giancana and Trafficante. In fact, Dentamaro was in charge for transporting the product and and Coticchia was the main individual who made the money transactions between Chicago and Tampa regarding the narcotics traffic. Now, this is quite proven and my personal belief is that this particular connection was in fact a newly formed so-called narcotics “channel” between Chicago and Tampa, because during Trafficante’s reign, Florida became known as the nation’s major entry point for illicit drugs, which also supplied Dallas, Kansas City, St Louis and Milwaukee.



Santo Trafficante and Dave Yaras


As for the Guido gang, they received their stash through a “different channel”, meaning through Torello and LaPietra. For example, LaPietra’s connection was one member from the Anastasia a.k.a. Gambino crime family known as Frank Pasqua and as for Torello, besides having various connections through his peers, he mostly extorted drug peddlers around the Chicago area and sometimes even stole their stash and later re-sold it. It was easy for him since he was considered a very scary and dangerous individual. Torello and one other Outfit associate and known dope peddler Ernest Infelice were once arrested with $100,000 worth of allegedly stolen narcotics and later the case went nowhere. As for LaPietra, he was more organized, meaning he was connected to a large dope peddling ring, including Joey Pacella, James Cordovano, Joseph DiCaro, Anthony Annerino and Frank Panatera, who flooded the city’s streets with “misery”. For example, Panatera was LaPietra’s main go-between guy, between him and the Gambinos in New York. Story goes that one day Panatera allegedly has “shortened” LaPietra and the Gambinos on some dope deal, so he was savagely beaten personally by LaPietra himself. As for Cordovano, same as LaPietra, he was also considered high level associate of the Outfit, with lots of connections on the South Side, such as DiCaro and Annerino, who in turn controlled a large group of African-American runners through one Marvin Moses. In fact, this particular crew might’ve been the strongest evidence for the Outfit’s role in the national dope smuggling ring.



So after receiving the dope shipment, the main “players” for the Guido gang were two of Nick’s brothers known as Louis and Don, who in fact besides being robbers they were also professional killers, and also Louis Vasselli, one of Nick Guido’s best sadistic torturers and robbers and another low level criminal known as Joseph Gaynor. The obvious connection between individuals such as Torello and the Guidos was the mindless torture games over their victims. So the Guido gang also had their own “runners” who usually received and directly re-sold the product on the streets. For example, Gaynor or Vasselli would sell large quantities of heroin to one Stanley Miller who in turn would divide the stash to two of his close associates Albert Sakal a.k.a. Al Sacko and Tommy McGarry so they can sell it on the streets. Since they received sometimes stolen stash of drugs, which possibly was already mixed, these guys were known for selling almost every kind of heroin, meaning in quality, and other various drugs.