The next year, in May, 1994, all of the defendants, including the ones who shared their information with the government, were sent to jail. The main reason for that was the government’s argument that there was no indication that Girardi's conduct affected the grand jury's decision to indict in any way and had no improper influence over the other grand jurors. In other words, there was no need for the rest of the defendants to tell on each other since the irony of the informants’ requests that their indictments should be dismissed because of the conduct they participated in, has not escaped the prosecutors. For example, Mike Coffey was sentenced to 10 years in prison including Joseph Duenser, Mike Fusco, Theodore Kotsovos, Anthony Sanello, Bruce Ventura, and David Wutzen were all expecting about 10 years with no chance for parole. Since the government was quite angry at him since his leaks led to entire different indictments being thrown out of the window, Girardi was sentenced to 8 years and one month to prison. Joe DiFronzo remained as fugitive and the prosecutors stated publicly that he may have vanished as a result of Girardi's possible leak about charges that were to be brought against DiFronzo for involvement with the Inverness drug operation.The only guy, who received lesser sentence because of his cooperation but in a different case, was Richard Lantini. He received only 5 years in return for his testimony against Marco D'Amico, another high level Outfit member, who also had a personal financial investment in the marihuana-growing operation. D’Amico was one of those Outfit guys who rarely took a conviction and was also connected directly to JohnDiFronzo and the rest of the brothers and allegedly headed the Grand Avenue crew. In fact, Lantini belonged to the crew which was under the auspices of D’Amico and worked as one of his loan shark collectors and also as a bookmaker. In less than a year, thanks to the extensive efforts of the feds, D'Amico along with eight other members from his crew were indicted for running an illegal sports bookmaking operation, using extortion to collect gambling debts and juice loans and conspiring to commit racketeering. Others indicted include Tony and Carl Dote, Robert Abbinanti, Roland Borelli, Frank Catapano, Frank Marnato, Robert Scutkowski and William Tenuta. All have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to the federal penitentiary in 1995.



John DiFronzo and Marco D’Amico (behind the guy with the beard)


As you can see, by now the old code of silence was long gone, especially among the syndicate members and their associates. I believe the main reasons for that were the non-existent hierarchy which was previously presented in the past and also the punishments which they used to give to those who disobeyed their orders. Back in the old days, if one of the middle guys brought an undercover agent to a dope deal, he usually kept his mouth shut or in some cases, ended up dead on the street. Also, members or associates went on the lam like it was the 1940’s or 50’s, which obviously tripled the government heat. After the imprisonment of his marihuana growing crew, four years later the feds managed to arrest Joe DiFronzo who in turn enjoyed the sunshine in Boca Raton, Florida, but immediately was sentenced to a 10-year prison term. Now, I don’t believe that the top criminal administration was pissed about the whole situation mainly because his brother John DiFronzo kept his position somewhere at the top and so did the dope business, especially cocaine.


Now don’t get me wrong, during this period many of the top crime bosses still financied the narcotics trade but they also still controlled their primary rackets such as video poker machines, loan sharking, extortion and prostitution. The current crime bosses did not want any more trouble and so they again placed their own trusted guys in charge of the operation. Their cocaine deals were financied mainly through their old associates, who already had quite good and also long experience in the drug trade, such as the Messino brothers. In fact, these guys flew under the radar for over a decade, while dealing dope under the nose of the federal government and the thing was that their whole family, including relatives, were involved in the business. According to the feds, Clement and Chris Messino were dealing Colombian cocaine throughout the 1980’s and early 90’s, with the help of the same old method, meaning transporting their stash from Florida to Chicago with the help of stolen cars or auto parts or even in expensive racing cars and other vehicles. The thing was that Chris Messino was a proud racer and also owned several race cars, including a Pro-Mod 1957 race car which was named "Shake, Rattle and Run" and he also owned few racing boats and a 1991 Harley Davidson motorcycle. And as for Clement, he was the “intelegent side” of the duo, who was mostly involved in trafficking with illegal weapons and also controlled a money laundering scheme by purchasing real estate in Monee, Illinois.



Dope hidden inside an automobile


Now, the so-called Messino “crime family” or dope peddling ring had its own hierarchy with both Chris and Clement at the top and an “army” of middle men and runners under their rule. For example, the next guy in line or their “right hand man” was George Thorpe, who allegedly directly participated with the Messino brothers in financing and overseeing the transportation, storing, distribution and the cash collection. The first link of the chain was Michael Homerding who was the mian "initial broker" of the cocaine transported into the Chicago area, mainly because he had the right contacts with the south Florida Colombian drug cartels. Donald Southern was the main individual who arranged for delivery of the cash and cocaine and in turn received large amounts of cash from the Messino organization. Another of his guys was also Chris Messino's "gofer and houseboy”, Thomas Hauck who allegedly have been directly involved in the transportation of the cocaine from Florida to Illinois. Once the product arrived in Chicago, the next guy was William Underwood, an alleged addict, who had been involved in the storage of the cocaine. They usually stored the stash in few of their joints around the South suburbs, such as a bar or an automobile shop in Harvey, Illinois, and later it was divided between their runners such Chris Messino’s sons, Chris Jr, Blaise and Paul, who in turn were alleged to have been involved as the main distributors and couriers for the dope peddling ring and on top of that, they had the main street peddling contacts such as Lawrence Thomas, Gray Chrystall and Daniel Shoemaker. Story goes that all three of Messino’s sons also used cocaine, which was a quite dangerous situation for them since many Outfit associates in the past were killed because of the addictive activity. So while couriers delivered the cocaine in stolen cars from Florida at great risk, the Messinos flew in comfort in planes on their return to the Chicago area. Also, another interesting story was that if someone did not pay up, Chris Messino was the guy for picking up all drug-related debts, which was something that his “predecesors” in the dope business would’ve never done. According to some reports, he was a very scary individual when he choosed to be and managed to beat up many debtors. In addition, after the imprisonment of Al Tocco, during this period the Chicago Heights faction was overseen by Dominic Palermo until 1991 and later it went allegedly under the rule of Chinatown crew boss James LaPietra or John Monteleone.



James LaPietra


According to the feds, this particular dope ring made between $20,000 and $30,000 per month and sold over 100 kilos of cocaine for a period of 10 years. Even though they were highly organized, according to the numbers you can obviously see that the crew’s main operation wasn’t dealing cocaine, since during that period there were other local crime groups who sold the same amount of cocaine on the streets in a matter of few weeks. Again, this is a good example which shows that the Outfit’s highly lucrative international dope peddling operations were long gone and the whole operation slowly became just a business on the side. In other words, if their loan sharking operations were coming short, they would simply sell few ounces of cocaine here and there so they can send their monthly envelope to their boss. In fact, like in most cases, that same “short cut” was the main start for all troubles to come.


The problem with the Messino group did not occur from within the group, but instead it came from the outside. You see, there was this crew member and enforcer from the Cicero area, known as Joe Granata, who came under the auspices of Joe Ferriola and Ernest “Rocky” Infelise. His father Frank Granata Sr. was allegedly a full fledged member of the Chicago Outfit and his brother was a member of the Elmwoof Park crew. According to one source, before he became a member of the Cicero crew, Joe Granata also worked for the late Charles Nicoletti. But when Infelice got locked up back in 1990, the Cicero crew began to destabilize and the next thing you know, Granata became an informant for the government. One day, Granata wore a wire to a meeting with Chris Messino, who in turn endlessly talked about his dope operations and also about his brother’s dealings. And there you have it, which again was the same old problem, or in other words, the late Tony Accardo was rolling in his grave. So one thing led to another, and Messino managed to sell an Uzi machine gun with a screw-on silencer, a sawed-off shotgun and a pound of cocaine to a government informant, who possed as a gang member. In no time, he somehow managed to flee from federal custody during medical treatment at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in July 1992, but the next month he was arrested in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, as he tried to ship a car to Costa Rica.


On November 18, 1993, a federal grand jury returned an indictment made up of 13 counts, with count one charging Chris, Clement, Chris Jr., Paul and Blaise Messino, Mike Homerding, Donald Southern, William Underwood, Thomas Hauck, Gray Chrystall, Daniel Shoemaker, and Lawrence Thomas with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine. The government seized the Auto Abbey shop in Harvey and Michelle's Lounge in Crestwood, Chris Messino's home in Oak Forest, $315,000 in drug profits, and also more than 20 pricey vehicles, two offshore racing boats and several motorcycles. During the trial, the “star witness” Joe Granata did not appear personally but instead the prosecutors just played his tapes, which infact were quite enough for a conviction. But just to make things even worse, some of Messino’s “runners” began to “sing” for the prosecutors, including two former girlfriends of Messino's both testified under grants of immunity from the government and both confirmed that they had been enlisted by him to help in the cocaine distribution. In the end, in 1995, both of the Messino brothers were sentenced to the same prison term, such as life without possibility of parole. Also, Christopher Jr. and Paul were convicted and each was sentenced to 19 1/2 years in prison and as for the third son, Blaise, he was acquitted. At the finishing of the trial, Clement Messino, in disgust, allegedly commented directly at the prosecutors and said "God help all of you." But the “war” was not over, since two years later, in 1997 a federal appeals court in Chicago threw out the convictions because of a mistake in selecting the jury, thus freeing the two brothers. Even though by now they were out of the illegal business, still the government wasn’t finished with the duo. In the year of 2000, the feds again took the brothers to court on the same old charges, including on narcotics conspiracy, money laundering and tax fraud, and this time, they again managed to sentence Clement Messino to life in prison for dealing narcotics, but failed to convict his brother Chris. According to his attorney Joseph Lopez, his client admitted at the trial that he used and sold cocaine before 1985 but quit the business after coming down with cancer, which in reality was his ticket for getting out of the case. Though unable to reach a verdict on the narcotics conspiracy charge against him, the jury convicted Messino on two tax fraud counts and acquitted him of obstruction of justice for allegedly intimidating a government witness. In addition, by 2009 both brothers were released from prison, including their former dope peddling colleague John Cappas, since they all attended the opening of Cappas’ new legitimate business which was the Johnny’s Wee Nee Wagon.


As I previously stated, that both cases, meaning the marihuana growing operation and the Messino case, were quite lucrative operations and professionally organized but the problem was that the proceedings were too small compared to the ones in the past, for example during the 1960’s or 70’s. To tell you the truth, there was this funny coincidence, meaning right after the death of Tony Accardo and the incarceration of Gus Alex, the alleged prohibitors of the dope racket, people expected for the rest of the members of the Chicago crime family to explode in the business. But as you can see, things were quite the opposite or in other words, the dope racket went on even lower leven rather than before. Obviously, two of the main reasons for this phenomenon were the federal government and the various dope peddling gangs but still, it is funny and at the same time quite interesting situation. And speaking about “funny” situations, by the late 1990’s, again, one Outfit member “tried” to bring the narcotics involvement to main picture. The guy I’m talking about is Joseph Scalise, a known burglar, extortionist and also a killer for the Mob but the thing is, he’s most famous for his “job” in England and stealing of the precious Marlborough Diamond. After serving a decade in English jail for that same job, he returned to Chicago and from that point on, he constantly tried to get back in action. The main problem was that by now Scalise was in his early 60’s and he was no crime boss, but instead he was a simple “soldier” and to be in that position, one must have a lot of violent energy, something which Scalise has lost long time ago. On top of that, it was a different time period with different type of criminals with no honor and no respect. So the old man foolishly took the bait and managed to get himself quickly in trouble.


In 1998, Scalise made a contact with one dope peddler and money launderer known as Ronald Waddy, originally from the Calumet City, but the problem was that Waddy was a very untrustable individual. This guy mainly operated around the Los Angeles and Detriot areas and had connections to all kinds of criminals, from Mexican drug lords to corrupt narcotics agents. Back in the 1980’s, Waddy with the help of few corrupt DEA agents, managed to conduct a secret dope trafficking operation out of Los Angeles throughout the Midwest, including Chicago. So when an old timer such as Scalise met someone like Waddy, the old man’s eyes quickly shined and sign of the old might dollar appeared in a glimpse. You see, even though many of his associates ended up in prison mainly because they were involved in the dope racket, still old man Scalise did not learn the lesson. And really don’t have any idea but somehow the old mobster managed to gather $269,900 in cash in exchange for 44 pounds or almost 20 kilograms of cocaine, which was about to be provided by Waddy personally. Now, I personally do not believe that a low level member such as Scalise can pull out that kind of cash out of his personal “piggy bank”, but instead this might’ve been another Outfit-finacied operation. So Waddy iformed Scalise about one Columbian cocaine dealer who was only known as “Danielo” and operated around the Los Angeles area and allegedly his product was the best. So while being thirsty for cash, this is the point where Scalise made the wrong decision by going back to his superiours, collected the cash, quickly packed his bags and went straight to Los Angeles to make the transaction, personally.


In April, that same year, Scalise, Waddy and two other associates Harvey Woods and Andrew Theodorou met in the “City of Angels” and together they went to meet their Columbian contact. According to the report, “Danielo” knowingly or unknowingly introdued Scalise and the rest of the guys with a government informant who was posing as a drug dealer from that area. After a short time period, Scalise again met the undercover agent in a restaurant parking lot, while carrying 27 bundles of $10,000 each in his car, expecting to pick up 22 kilograms of cocaine. At about the same time, Harvey Woods showed up at a near hotel, also expecting to pick up 20 kilograms of cocaine. Instead, Scalise, Waddy and Woods were all peacefully arrested by a team of federal agents. So again, like any other drug-related case, some of the defendants began to unravel the whole picture, such as Waddy himself. The game was simple, meaning if Waddy did not turn any evidence, he faced life in prison if he had been convicted. So during the trial he testified that he was forced at gunpoint into finding a narcotics supplier for Scalise, allegedly because Scalise blamed Waddy for having his previous cocaine stash stolen and threatened to kill Waddy if he didn't locate a new source of supply. Whatever was the truth, in the end Scalise pleaded guilty to intent to distribute cocaine and for that crime he served six and a half years and got out of prison in 2006, at the age of 69.


So this again shows that the Outfit’s involvement in the dope racket was either very professionally hidden from the government’s radar or things were simply falling apart, meaning the boys did no longer consider the dope racket as one of their prime “getaways” in collecting “easy” money. To tell you the truth, I believe it is the second choice mostly because by now the Chicago faction was making ends meat in the illegal business. Some of the top guys such as the DiFronzo clan were mainly involved in semi-legitimate enterprises and they probably stayed away from the “dirty” business, such as narcotics, mostly because they did not want any disruption of their “legal” money flow. But the problem is that there always be a younger generation who looks upon the world with a different view and the dope racket is always there for making a quick buck. So my point is that if the younger generation of the Outfit decided to get involved in the racket, big time, the doors will always remain open. In fact, nothing has changed since the days of Prohibition and the Capone Mob, when guys like Willie Heeney used to shoot heroin in their veins while killing people on their boss’ orders, and almost a century later, by 2013 some Outfit enforcers still consummated narcotics, especially cocaine. On July 23, that same year, an alleged Outfit enforcer Paul Carparelli was arrested by the feds as he drove up to his home with his son in their car. According to the report, Carparelli had cocaine and also tested positive for it, and the agents also found two guns and $175,000 cash in his home. According to the feds, this guy is a very nervous and violent individual, who love to throw threats and intimidate people and so if this guy was snorting cocaine, there are no doubts that some day, the Outfit might again become big in the dope business, since the opportunity is always right around the corner.


Until heroin, cocaine and marihuana are considered illegal by most of the governments around the world, and also while some countries continue to produce the plants for these illegal narcotics, organized crime will be always there to support the business, mostly because it’s fast and easy cash and the customer flow is endless. These days, the latest evolution of the dope racket doesn’t fall very far from the way of the rest of the business world is evolving, and in fact it’s getting much bigger. The so-called modern day drug trafficking rings are homologous to flexible and agile businesses, and also can adapt quickly to the routine. There’s nothing new in the way of smuggling of the drugs, with couriers constantly overseeing the transportation of drugs and cash by land, air and sea, and financial wizards with an intricate knowledge of how to launder proceeds in the global economy, and on the other side are the hitmen, street gangs, corrupt security forces, and local crime bosses who control their territories by constantly taking out their rivals. For example, today Mexico is still considered one of the world’s largest narcotics producers and also the host of few of the most ruthless organized crime groups which managed to infiltrate even in the highest circles of society, thanks to the huge amounts of cash.


For the last two decades, there are even new rising syndicates in the dope trade such as the Albanian clans, which flood almost whole Southeast Europe with their own products and on top of that, they are highly connected to the Italian crime syndicates such as the Camorra. But the thing is that most of these criminal groups are too violent, and so they constantly bring the attention from both the public and the government and so my personal opinion is that today’s most elusive dope peddling ring is located, again, in Bolivia. According to some reports, the Bolivian crime syndicates lowered their level of violence and murders almost down to nothing, thus making the country’s murder rate of 11 per 100,000 inhabitants, which is quite safe territory by today’s Latin American standards. Right now, these Bolivian sophisticated narcotics clans can put together up to 3000 kilograms of coca base, and deliver them to Brazilian organized crime syndicates, which slowly made Brazil the number one consumer of illegal drugs in the world. Meanwhile, Europe is also experiencing huge drug consumption, particularly cocaine which is usually produced in Latin America, which again is mainly brought by Italian and Spanish crime syndicates. My point is that today’s transnational organized crime likes new opportunities and little resistance and so currently many states around the world provides both and find themselves at the heart of a new criminal dynamic that threatens every citizen. For example, right now Burma remains the world's second largest poppy-crop grower and opium producer after Afghanistan.


As for future drug trends, the UN report suggests that cannabis will remain the most widely used illegal substance, but the biggest increase is likely to be seen in the use of synthetic drugs including "legal highs" and the non-medical use of prescription drugs diverted from legal supplies. But as I previously stated that the main problem is not with the crime syndicates but instead it’s with the everyday citizen. Meaning, until our planet vanishes from the cosmos, people will want to get intoxicated and there will be nothing there to stop them. It doesn’t matter wheter narcotics like marihuana or cocaine are legal or illegal, since the massive epidemic is always there, but few things can change, meaning with legalization, such as the decrease in the crime rate and also a decrease in citizen incarcerations. Slowly we came to end of this long criminal saga, which lasts even today, and it’s carried by many criminal societies from different ethnicities but the reality is that this particular “saga” is far from over. According to some reports, the American “Cosa Nostra”, especially the New York faction such as the Gambino crime family, is allegedly still connected to their cohorts in Italy and they still bring dope to the states. As for the Chicago Outfit, I personally believe that its only a matter of time but until then, we can only kick back and wait for some new reporter’s story or a federal case in which we’re going to see their involvement in some new “dope adventure”, obviously on some higher and more dangerous level.


The End