I had this convo with some guy on another forum so I thought about posting this interesting timeline regarding the Outfit's most "mysterious" member Gus Alex...
1.During the 1900's, Nikolaos “Nick” Alex (born 1874?) and his wife Christina Cipra Alex (born 1877) arrived from the Island of Crete and settled on 2050 Cottage Grove Avenue on Chicago’s Near South Side. They had eight children, including four girls and four sons, all born in the U.S. The oldest one of the four sons was James, then Sam born 1907, the third George born in 1908, and Gust “Gus” Alex born on April Fools or April 1, 1916 (according to some of Alex’s personal claims in front of the feds, he was born in 1914)
2. During Prohibition, one high level member of the so-called South Side "Mafia", Bruno Roti opened up his headquarters which was a tavern known as Phil’s Liquors which was located at 26th Street and Wentworth Avenue. By this time the father of the family Nick Alex became a close friend of Roti and together they opened a restaurant at 2604 South Wentworth. The place quickly transformed into a mob hangout, since Nick was allegedly a great cook so a lot of gangsters like Jake Guzik and Sam Hunt visited the place so they can taste Nick’s specialities. Nick became so close with these individuals and he even received a mob nickname “Little Nick” and that’s why he was considered by government agents as mob associate at the time
3. By the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, during Prohibition and the era of Al Capone, story goes that Sam “RIP” Alex obtained his start in Chicago’s underworld under Willie Heeney, who was a chief of staff for Capone’s security and also one of his main guys in the Cicero area. Don't ever forget that the Cicero area was the second stronghold for the so-called Capone mob since the first one was the Loop and South Side. Sam Alex was one of revolutionary Capone members who began infiltrating the union rackets and he was also allegedly one of Capone's main executioners at the time which obviously explains his nickname "RIP".
4. George Alex worked as a city employee in the hoisting engineers union which was secretly controlled by his brother Sam. George worked with two other hoodlums known as James Cuba and James Clark. Cuba, who had a very long police record, worked as a president of the hoisting engineers, and Clark was the vice president
5. Gus Alex was first time arrested in on September 24, 1933, at the age of 19, together with Frank Ferraro, Nick Biondi and Louis Paletto regarding a bar brawl which ended up with one guy dead on the floor. The police seized Alex and his crew as they entered their car which was parked in front of the saloon. In the car they found three sawed off shotguns. This is the first information for the cops about Alex being a part of Chicago’s underworld
6. In 1936, Sam Alex decided to leave Chicago and bought himself a big farm in Cassopolis, Michigan. There also some reports saying that Sam Alex in fact was ordered by the mob bosses to get out of Chicago and stay out of the limelight which was formed by the press and the government, regarding the shooting of the states attorney and one other individual. In fact, the Chicago Crime Commission revealed information about Sam being very “nutty and unmanageable” and so he was exiled from Chicago and the reports stated his younger brothers George and Gus became his eyes and ears in Chicago’s underworld
7. On October 22, 1937, Gus Alex and Frank Ferraro were arrested regarding the murder of Frank Locascio and the numerous robberies. First the gangsters were brought in front of the victims of the robberies but out of fear, they failed to identify them. Later they were questioned regarding the murder but as usual they all kept their mouths shut and later were released
8. During the late 1930's, Gus Alex started working as a truck driver for Antonio Munizzo, who was a powerful businessman with mob connections. Munizzo also had a son named Thomas “Tommy” Munizzo who since young age was involved in Chicago’s politics. Alex and Munizzo formed a close relationship which years later would become very profitable for both individuals. Alex became so close to the family that Munizzio’s mother Rose very often posted bonds for Alex and his associates such as Frank Ferraro, whenever they got arrested during the 1930’s. After working for more than six months as a truck driver, Alex required a new job at the Urba Auto Sales and Service Company at 5100 West 25th Street in Cicero.
9. On February 22, 1940, Gus Alex and Joseph Vinci, who was a mobster and also worked as a Democratic captain of the 52nd precinct in the 11th Ward, were driving recklessly along Archer and Kostner avenues when suddenly a 65 year old man Adam Zabielski, who was crossing the street, was struck by the duo. None of the offenders came out of the car to see if the old man was still alive, but instead they sped off. On April 17, 1940, both men were freed of the charges by the Coroner’s jury
10. In 1942, Gus Alex opened up his own gambling establishment at 2136 South Michigan Avenue, but on April 12, 1943, the place was raided by the cops and arrested Alex. At the time of the raid, the cops found three roulette wheels, a crap table, and other valuable gambling equipment. On May 6, 1943, Alex was brought to court and was represented by two syndicate lawyers Sy Herr and George Bieber and so the case was dismissed and all of the illegal gambling equipment which was confiscated by the cops was ordered to be returned to Alex
11. In 1943, Gus Alex and two of Jake Guzik’s lieutenants Hyman Levin and Gus Liebe, and two other gamblers and collectors Phillip Katz and Jim Mullen owned one of the most notorious gambling establishments called the Dome at 7466 West Irving Park Road
12. On October 31, 1943, Robert Bock was heavily wounded by a shotgun blast as he stepped into his car near his home. Almost a year later the cops received information that Gus Alex was involved in the shooting and so on November 2, 1944, Alex was arrested and was brought in for questioning. As usual, 31 year old Alex kept his mouth shut and the cops didn’t have any real evidences to lock him up so he was subsequently released
13. On August 2, 1947, Vincent Bozic sat on the front steps of his house at 3348 South Union Avenue while chatting with his brother-in-law Tony Kalbic, when suddenly two men got out of a car and walked near the steps and fired two times from their shotguns, fatally injuring Bozic. Kalbic remained uninjured while the assassins sped off with their car. Bozic was taken to he St. Bernard’s Hospital and on his death bed he told Kalbic that Gus Alex was responsible for the shooting. But Bozic also advised his brother-in-law that he shouldn’t mention Alex’s name to the cops because if he did so, he would be killed also. However, after the death of Bozic, Kalbic told the investigators about who was responsible for the murder and soon Alex was brought to the police station and was later released, again
14. In 1947, Gus Alex was already employed at the Atlas Brewing Company which was divided between ex-bootlegger Joe Fusco and Alex’s mentor Jake Guzik. The company was controlled by the Chicago mob since the bootlegging days of John Torrio and Al Capone. In a police record dated October, 1947, Alex was also described as one of the underworld figures directly involved in the Chicago Teamsters Union Local 705 and also directly involved in the Tile Setters Union in Chicago
15. On March 18, 1948, Nick Alex passed away and it was a huge and lavish funeral with mountains of lavish floral pieces crammed Coletta’s Undertaking Parlors at 2600 Wentworth Avenue. Few of the biggest mob names that attended the funeral were Nick’s son Sam Alex, Jake Guzik, Sam Hunt, Bruno Roti, Ralph Pierce, Murray Humphreys, Claude Maddox and Eddie Vogel
16. By the end of 1948, Alex got a job as a general manager at infamous joint known as the Turf Nighclub
17. On November 24, 1953, Gus Alex, Jake Guzik and Murray Humphreys were arrested at the Celano Tailoring Shop at 620 North Michigan Avenue and later they were questioned about the whereabouts of their other associates that attended the meeting and as usual they were released
18. During the mid 1950’s Sam Alex visited an old mob legend known as Owen “Owney” Madden, a former New York mobster who was retired in Hot Springs and formed an “unholy alliance”, which made the area one of the wealthiest, politically corrupt illegal gambling towns in the U.S. long before Las Vegas really started up
19. On July 31, 1958, at 10:30 a.m. Gus Alex appeared before Senator John McClellan and Robert Kennedy in Washington. Alex dyed his hair gray at the temples to look older and wore custom-made oversized dark glasses. After almost a decade long expensive chase for the elusive gangster, in the end Alex refused to answer almost all questions by taking the 5th Amendment
20. In July, 1959, the Outfit’s oldest leader Paul Ricca was on trial regarding charges of income tax evasion and before the trial, Murray Humphreys and Gus Alex apparently had a detective agency, which placed surveillance on practically all the jurors in the case in order to develop information
21. In its issue of June 10, 1959, the “Chicago Daily News” quoted Robert Kennedy as follows: “Gus Alex and Frank Ferraro are two of the most ruthless and vicious hoodlums with complete control over Chicago’s First Ward.”
22. On November 5 and 6, 1960, Moe Dalitz had a meeting in Chicago with Sam Giancana, Gus Alex and Les Kruse allegedly regarding the Las Vegas interests
23. In December, 1962, Gus Alex began travelling extensively around Europe regarding the Outfit's international interests and money laundering operations. According to some reports from Interpol, for only two weeks, Alex shelled out more then $25,000 (or $200,000 in today’s money) during this specific European tour and also the cost of furs and gems were estimated at another $20,000
24. During the mid 1960's Gus Alex was employed at the Ajax Phonograph Company and at the same time at the Deluxe Inc, for a double salary of $26,000 a year, which explains his close connection with Jewish Mob boss Eddie Vogel at the time
25. In 1965, Gus Alex was banned by Swiss government since 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 in behalf of Alex in regard to his efforts to get the ban lifted but it never really occurred
26. In 1966, Sam "RIP" Alex 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 and the 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
27. By 1971, Gus Alex's main guys were Les Kruse and Ralph Pierce, and they had “message drops” or local places which were used for leaving messages or payoffs to the bosses such as Celano’s Custom Tailors at 600 block of North Michigan Avenue and the offices of Outfit lawyer Maurice Walsh located at 39 South LaSalle in the Loop area. As usual, it was from great importance to everyone in the organization, never to mention Alex’s name in front of outsiders. During this time Gus Alex bought for him and his wife $50,000 (or $300,000 in today’s money) condominium in the Regency Towers South in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to spend their Christmas holidays
28. According to numerous FBI files, From 1971 until 1975, Gus Alx was the member of a top ruling panel which controlled the whole Outfit and included also Joey Auippa and Tony Accardo
29. In November, 1972, Gus Alex, Dave Yaras, Lenny Patrick, Les Kruse and Gus Zapas appeared in front of a special federal grand jury regarding the racketeer’s involvement with politicians and the police
30. According to one FBI report, in May, 1974, Aiuppa suffered from a serious affliction that involved arthritis in his knees, and has been unable to function due to his lack of capacity to move around. At the same time period, Accardo also spent some time in Palm Springs, so during this brief period Gus Alex was the only boss of the ruling panel that took care of day to day operations. The report also says that in fact Alex’s brother Sam was the one who delivered the messages between his brother and Aiuppa. Sam resided approximately one mile from Aiuppa’s residence in Oak Brook, Illinois. By now, except for Accardo and Aiuppa, there was almost no one else in the Outfit who rated more respect than Alex
31. By the late 1970’s, Tony Accardo and Gus Alex continued to meet and made important decisions around Chicago’s joints. For example, the duo was once seen at the La Festival Restaurant at 28 West Elm Street in the company of Chicago attorneys Carl Walsh and Arthur Masser. When old man Accardo was brought to the St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago for a series of tests related to a possible stomach aliment, Alex was the one who accompanied his boss all the time. As for Aiuppa, they usually met at the Rodity’s Restaurant at 222 South Halsted
32. By the mid 1980's, Gus Alex took a cut from the illegal profits o he so-called Lenny Patrick’s crew which allegedly extorted nearly half a million dollars year from legitimate businessmen and bookies and another half a million from loan sharking. He allegedly took 20% from the gambling proceeds and 25% from the loan sharking activities
33. In 1987, Alex’s older brother Sam was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx and so on February 11, 78 year Sam Alex was found by his younger brother dead in the bedroom were a .38-caliber revolver laid nearby and a note that said simply, "I am Sam Alex." since he had his name changed for quite a long time period. The police and the Du Page County coroner reported that the death apparently was caused by self- gunshot wound to the head. Sources close to police investigation reported that the detectives also found 600 in cash in a shopping bag
34. In 1992, thanks to Lenny Patrick's testimony, Gus Alex, Nick Gio and Mario Rainone received prison sentences of 188, 137, and 210 months, respectively. Alex was also fined $ 250,000, and both he and Rainone were subjected to heavy forfeitures. Alex even had to pay $1,400 a month for the cost to the taxpayers for his prison cell
35. On July 24, 1998, Gus Alex died of a heart attack at the age of 82, while confined to a federal prison medical center in Lexington, Kentucky
Looks like Alex's criminal career went from a simple robber and killer and then to gambler, corruption, financial deals, and then to a boss level, and in the end to long time street boos who took his "street tax" from one single crew
