What’s up fellas?! Few months ago, one member from another board who goes by the name of Confederate, and I decided to create a chart or a “family tree” regarding one specific era from the history of the infamous Chicago Outfit, which was ruled by one of the most infamous crime bosses known as Sam “Mooney” Giancana. Before we begin, we would also like to thank another foreign board member Eline2015 for finding some of the rare pictures and helping in the creation of this chart.

The main reason for which we chose Giancana’s term of leadership is the specific type of structure that Giancana oversaw and was possibly created since the days when his predecessor Al Capone managed to unite many gangs around the city of Chicago and created the Outfit and it was somehow different from the one that the New York or other families had, which made Chicago’s syndicate a unique organization. You see, Giancana’s followers were known as the up and coming younger generation or the so-called “Young Turks”, who helped their leader in becoming the boss at the same time when most of the old guard was gone, or in other words, when the old Capone faction began fading away. For example one of his sponsors and mentor Louis Campagna died in 1955, followed in the next couple of years by legendary racketeers such as Tony Capezio, Jake Guzik, Sam Hunt and Bruno Roti Sr. On top of that, all of the high level leaders such as Paul Ricca and Tony Accardo had huge legal problems during the whole 1950’s, and so Giancana and his band of followers had the chance of taking over the 30 year old criminal organization and placing it under their jurisdiction.

Now, according to numerous reports which we gathered during our research, Giancana’s organization was probably divided on four subdivisions or in plane words, four “crime families” who were controlled by four so-called territorial bosses, who in turn were under the jurisdiction of one top administration, which included a top boss, one senior adviser, followed by the boss. Right after the boss there was the number two guy or generally known as the under boss, who in turn he and the boss both had another adviser, who was directly involved with most of the members and in some of the most lucrative rackets and important decisions. Giancana took a cut from all four factions and also shared or kicked up a part of everything that he received with his superiors Accardo and Ricca.

The four territorial bosses answered to the previously mentioned top administration and they controlled the largest territories around the city of Chicago, which included the North Side, West Side, South Side and Chicago Heights or the southern suburbs. The West Side faction or the so-called Westsiders were the leading group at the time since the top three members belonged to that same crew, such as Ricca, Accardo and Giancana, followed by the second most powerful faction the South Side group headed by the second adviser Murray Humphreys and the under boss or number two guy Frank Ferraro. The interesting thing was that all four “crime family” bosses were close to Giancana or their superior, with Ferraro being first among equals and also being the next in line if something happened to the boss.

So the four crime bosses who controlled almost all crime in the city of Chicago for the Outfit’s top administration were Sam Battaglia on the West, followed by the so-called acting territorial boss Gus Alex on the South Side, the Ross Prio “crime family” on the North and the Chicago Heights faction which was headed by Frank LaPorte. Under every territorial boss, there were the so-called crew’s or street bosses, which ranged between 4 and 12, differently in every group. Under the crew bosses there were the street lieutenants and their own underlings, who in fact represented the largest part of the Outfit’s membership, or in plane words they were the street soldiers which differed in their ranks and their ethnicities.

Now this is also where the Outfit’s “crime families” again differed from the ones in the New York area, since not all crew bosses answered directly to the territorial bosses. For example, there were some old Capone members in the West and South factions, who were direct with the top administration, same as some of their representatives in other cities or states. Also the crew bosses commanded control over maximum two or three areas while the territorial bosses controlled larger territories with up to ten areas. As you can see, another thing which made the Outfit unique was the non-Italians who were placed in the top administration such as Humphreys and Alex, since there were two types of members within the organization. The first type were the ones that possessed Italian descent and were also known as “made men” in the National Cosa Nostra organization, and went through some sort of ceremony. While the second type of members were individuals from all kinds of ethnicities, including Jews, Greeks, Irish or Polacks whose levels or positions within the syndicate were determined through their skills for bringing illegal or legal income or infiltration in the highest circles of the political and business societies. Even though they obviously couldn’t enter the Cosa Nostra organization, still they were able to go up in the highest circles of the Outfit’s own hierarchy and command respect over the rest of the members. In addition, some Outfit members or even crew and territorial bosses sometimes had direct contacts with Black criminals from all around the city of Chicago, regarding various rackets.

The other interesting thing was that any crew boss who belonged to one faction and decided to spread his operations in different faction’s territory, he had to kick up cash both to his legit territorial boss and also to the one in whose territory he decided or was allowed to operate. For example, if crew bosses who answered to the South Side administration needed to transfer on the North Side, first they need to receive an “ok” from the Outfit’s boss and then another “ok” from the original territorial boss whose territory they wanted to share. Since the West Side faction was the leading group which controlled the Outfit at the time, they had their own representatives in almost every territory around the city of Chicago, especially the North and South sides. The main point is that even though many crew bosses operated in different territories under various bosses, still those same imported or “invading” crew bosses answered and still kicked up to their originally appointed territorial bosses.

The West Side faction under Battaglia controlled the Near and Lower West Sides and in between is the Taylor Street area, which was the so-called Outfit’s stronghold at the time. They also had jurisdiction over Elmwood Park and the West Grand Avenue area, also West North Avenue, followed by the western suburbs such as Melrose Park, Riverside, Stone Park, Franklin Park, Schiller Park, Northlake and the heart of their operations the Grand Avenue. Their influence was also expanded in north and south Lawndale and also the territory of whole Cicero, especially the northern part. During the old days the lucrative Cicero area was always controlled by the Capone faction and Southsiders but during the early 1940s Capone members from the Taylor Street area or the so-called Westsiders began entering in the northern part of Cicero and completely divided the whole territory until Giancana became the boss. So according to numerous FBI reports, the Italian leading members such Joseph Aiuppa and Robert Ansani mostly hung around with the West Side group and answered only to them and even shared some of their operations in their own territories, while some old Capone big shots such as Rocco Fischetti and Joseph Fusco, and also high level non-Italian members such as Joseph Corngold joined the Southsiders. But since that occurred during the end of our specific timeline, we’ve decided to leave the non-Italians under the jurisdiction of the West Side group under Sam Battaglia. Proof for Aiuppa’s close connection to the West Side crew was his long standing operations in the Melrose Park area, which in fact was Battaglia’s stronghold. Another strong proof would be Accardo’s three main fishing companions who he often took on his frequent forays for fish, including Aiuppa and Battaglia.

Other areas in which they had their own representatives were the Near North Side or Rush Street area, also Lake County, Niles and Wheeling; Illinois. Also since sometimes other factions “rented” their enforcers, the West Side crew also had interests in the Loop area, Chinatown and the South Side. In the end they also had their own representatives in other states or cities such as Des Moines, Iowa and also in Las Vegas, Nevada. The West Side crew was mainly involved in all kinds of gambling operations and also in loan sharking, prostitution, union racketeering and narcotics. Battaglia was directly connected to several crew bosses, including Felix Aledrisio, Charles Nicoletti, Marshal Caifano, Louis Fratto and Rocco Pranno, while the rest of the bosses such as Fiore Buccieri, Jack Cerone, Sam DeStefano, Charles English and William Daddono were mainly direct with Giancana but still they were obliged to pay tribute to Battaglia also for operating or having interests in some of his territories and operations. In addition, even though Battaglia was Giancana’s prime territorial boss, still he was the boss’ second in line, right after the under boss in case something happened to him.

The Southsiders or as they were known as the “South Side Mafia”, were the second most powerful group within the Outfit that controlled the lucrative Loop area and Near South Side, followed by Chinatown and the large South Side. They also had jurisdiction over the First Ward and its politics and they also had the last word on most important union matters. Besides corruption and unions, the South Side group was mainly involved in all kinds of gambling operations and also in the prostitution business. The most interesting thing about the South Side group was that the leading members were the non-Italians who gave their loyalty and respect towards the organization same as, if not more than any other Italian Cosa Nostra member around the country at the time. So since he wasn’t from Italian decent, Gus Alex was the acting, not official, territorial boss for the under boss who in turn was Frank Ferraro, and they both answered or advised with Murray Humphreys, the real boss of their faction and also member of the top administration. Other areas in which they had their own representatives were Lake County, Cicero, the Near North Side, Calumet City and they also had interests all around the West Side and even in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Ferraros and Alex’s closest crew bosses were Pat Marcy, Louis Briatta, Ralph Pierce, Lenny Patrick, Louis Tornabene and Frank Caruso. The rest of the crew bosses such as the old Capone members Eddie Vogel, Rocco Fischetti and Joseph Fusco had more seniority than the previously mentioned crew bosses and maybe even more than both Alex and Ferraro, and even though all three guys were mostly located on the Southwest Side and the southern part of the Cicero area, still the old Capone days were long gone and they had no other choice but to join the newly formed South Side administration. In addition, some of the crew bosses from the South Side were also direct with Giancana, including Marcy, Vogel and Patrick, who in turn received instructions to answer to Alex.

The North Side group under Ross Prio, controlled the whole North Side and its suburbs and were one of the oldest crews, since Prio took the throne back in the late 1940’s and was the oldest territorial boss. They had jurisdiction over the lucrative Near North Side, North Avenue, Lake County, Rogers Park, Evanston and all northern suburbs such as Niles and Waukegan Ill, and even though they had a small number of crew bosses, still the Northsiders represented as one of the most lucrative groups at the time. It seems that during the Outfit’s history, the North Side group never had the chance to take over the top administration, but still Prio held huge respect among those same top members, obviously because he always kept their pockets full of cash. Other areas in which they had their own interests were the so-called Northwest Side territory and also on West Grand Avenue and the Near West Side. This group was mainly involved in all kinds of gambling operations and also in prostitution and narcotics. Prio’s case might be the most interesting, meaning he directly connected to every crew boss obviously because they were in a small number at the time and they were rarely connected to Giancana himself, but instead Prio was the one who was the boss’ “third in line” or after Ferraro and Battaglia.

The Chicago Heights crew was headed by Frank LaPorte, who in turn was allegedly made by Al Capone himself, meaning he had the same respect as Prio on the North. LaPorte’s faction also might’ve been one of the oldest, since his previous mentor was on the throne for more than two decades and on top of that they were in alliance with the Outfit allegedly even before Capone became the boss. They controlled the Chicago Heights area, the lucrative Calumet City and Blue Island, Joliet and whole Will County, and also they even went out of the border, meaning whole northwest Indiana including Gary and Hammond. According to some FBI files and informers, LaPorte’s faction held between 30 and 40 made members, which we think were probably Italians, but the naked truth is that we couldn’t find so many guys from that same decent, which doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. Other areas in which they had interests were the South Side and Chinatown. LaPorte’s main rackets were gambling and prostitution but he also had his fingers in the union business. Same as Prio the boss on the North Side, LaPorte was also directly connected to most of his crew bosses and street lieutenants, except for Anthony Pinelli who in turn used a so-called messenger or bagman between him and his boss. In addition, LaPorte also had role of being one of the main messangers for the top administration and also one of the main contacts with crime families from around the Midwest and the west coast.

In the end, we would like to say that during this particular time period, or between the years of 1957 and 1964, some members died of natural causes and some were murdered, some members were shelved or went to prison, and some were deported by the government or fled the country on their own choice. In addition, we are also obviously missing many members of the Outfit, but still we managed to obtain a large part of the prime membership and associates of one of the oldest crime syndicates in the world.

Enjoy!


Top Level Administration (click and zoom)




West Side (click and zoom)




South Side (click and zoom)




North Side (click and zoom)




Chicago Heights (click and zoom)