The Chicago Outfit is a crime syndicate that has a strong
hold in the City of Chicago. Al Capone
was its most famous leader. Through the
20th century the Outfit had a stronghold on illegal activities in
Chicago. The Outfit manage to destroy
all the other organized crime families in Chicago during the 1920s. Since that time, they took over the City of
Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, and rule the underworld by using street
crews. The Outfit has been romanticized
in Hollywood, it has ruled Las Vegas by fear, and almost destroyed by the
Family Secrets trial.
1. The film Casino
The film starred Robert Deniro, Joe Pesci, and Sharon Stone,
and they portrayed real life people. The
film was loosely based on events that happened in Las Vegas, but in
typical Hollywood fashion they had to create a story to put on the silver
screen. Joe Pesci portrayed the
real-life hitman for the Chicago Outfit Anthony “The Ant” Spilotro. Spilotro along with his brother Michael were
brutally murdered years later in the basement of a home located in Bensenville,
Illinois. The bodies were found in a
farm near the border of the State of Illinois and Indiana on June 26, 1986. In the film, Casino Joe Pesci’s character is
permitted to say a prayer just before he is killed. Frank Cullota a known associate of Spilotro
stated that he believed that asking god for forgiveness was his ticket into
heaven. Spilotro was sent out to Vegas
to keep an eye on illegal activities, to include the skim. The murder of Spilotro brothers went unsolved
until the family secrets trial in June of 2007., where prosecutors revealed how
they were killed. Nick Calabrese
testified that he was one of the six that killed the Spilotro brothers. They were killed in a home that belonged to
Outfit member Louis Eboli on the afternoon of June 14, 1986.
2.
The Skim
The Skim was originated by the Kansas City, Milwaukee, and
Cleveland families, who had control of Las Vegas from the minute that the
foundations were poured. There was a
beef between the families and the Chicago Outfit was called in to solve the
issue, they resolved it and added themselves as part of the skim that ran from
1974-1983. The Outfit controlled the
Stardust Casino using Teamster union funds.
The Outfit had strategically placed made-members to work in the casino
in various roles. Las Vegas was
considered opened in regards to La Cosa Nostra, meaning any mafia family could
operate freely. The mafia families were
from Chicago, Kansas City, Cleveland, and Milwaukee, the skimming netted these
families from $40,000 to $65,000 per month, and sometimes $100,000. Members of the teamster union were also in on
the skim.
Gamblers would place bets at the tables, and the slots. Once the money was removed it was taken to a
secure room in the casino, hotel employees would count the money and a portion
of it was given to made members of the each of the families. Once the mob received their cut the rest of
the proceeds were officially entered as revenue.
The Chicago Outfit officially controlled the Stardust,
Marina, Fremont, and Hacienda casinos. At the end of it all, mob families lost
control of the Casinos because the City of Las Vegas cracked down on how
Casinos conducted business, and if you were a known associate of any mob family
your name was placed in the Black Book.
This would officially ban you from entering any Casino in Vegas. In the end the mob lost and the Government
won.
3.
The 1st ward-Chicago
The 1st ward was controlled by Fred Roti, a man
that had a short stature. His father
Bruno Roti was a member of the black hand crew that ran out of Chinatown. The crew belonged to the Chicago Outfit, and
Al Capone would visit Bruno on many occasions.
From 1968 to 1990, Fred Roti served as the Alderman of
Chicago’s 1st ward. During
his tenure, Roti fixed murder cases, appointed Judges. Fred Roti was a member of the Chicago outfit
with strong political ties. Roti fixed
murder cases, bribe judges, and change zoning laws to accommodate illegal
activities. He was ultimately convicted on Racketeering charges and served his
time in prison in 1999 he passed away from lung cancer.
4.
Operation Greylord
Fred Roti was the Alderman of the 1st ward in
Chicago. A judge in Cook County could
not be assigned to the courts without approval from Roti. The Chicago outfit controlled appointments to
the Cook County justice system. If a
judge wanted to be appointed, he needed to bribe Roti and eventually he or she
would receive the appointment. By paying
the bribe the Judge would be under to control of the Chicago Outfit. Outfit attorneys could get many of its
members exonerated because of crooked judges.
Operation Greylord resulted in the arrest and conviction of
many officials, Judges, law enforcement, attorneys, and court employees. The
FBI ran the sting and it netted 92 indictments.
After Greylord, Cook County judges had to be appointed. Fred Roti and the 1st ward
survived Operation Greylord, in fact they were left untouched.
Sam Giancana was a mobster in the Chicago Outfit, who rose
through the ranks and eventually became boss of the family. In the 1920s Giancana was a young kid who got
involved with a local street gang in Chicago known as “The 42s”. They were running low level street operations
for Al Capone’s Outfit. In the 1940s
after a sting in Prison Giancana took over an illegal lottery racket in
Chicago’s west side. Murders, extortion,
loan sharking followed for the next several years. Giancana took over the family when Accardo
decided to step down from his role as boss of the Outfit. Giancana had a lot of information on the
current members of the Outfit, and it is believed that the bosses were afraid
of what he would say. In the 1960s
Giancana was constantly in the newspapers, this bothered the high-ranking
leadership of the outfit. Giancana was
exiled to Mexico for the next several years. In 1974 Mexican Officials sent
Giancana back to the United States. It
is believed that Giancana was exiled by former boss Tony Accardo who did not
approve of how he conducted business.
On June 19, 1975, Giancana was at home making sausage and
peppers in his basement kitchen. The
same room where he would be killed.
Police revealed that there were no signs of breaking and entering his
home, it is alleged that he knew his killer. Giancana was set to speak with a Senate
committee a few days later in Washington, it is believed to be one of the
reasons for his rub-out. Anyone that could be a suspect in ordering his death
has since been killed or passed away.
Giancana’s daughter believes that the CIA killed her father. JFK assassination files released in 2017
confirmed that the Cia recruited Giancana in a plot to kill Fidel Castro, the
ruthless leader of the Cuban people.
6.
Operation Family secrets
Frank Calabrese Jr. was serving his time in the same prison
with his dangerous father Frank Calabrese Sr.
Junior wanted to serve his time, and be done with the mafia life. He wanted Sr. to also serve his time and
leave his mafia ways after prison.
Eventually Junior realized that his dad would not leave his mob
ways. In 1998 while in prison he wrote
the FBI and soon after became a cooperating witness against his father. Junior says if his father would have released
the control he had over him, the letter to the FBI would have never been
set. Junior wore a wire for the FBI and
secretly recorded his father as he incriminated himself. Calabrese Sr. operated a crew with his
brother Nick Calabrese, and both committed many of their crimes together. Nick had been serving time in a different
prison.
The trial for Operation Family secrets began in 2007 and
lasted for 3 months. In all the leadership of the Outfit at the time, was
convicted and sent to prison. The five
defendants were, James Marcello; consigliere Joseph Lombardo; South Side crew
leader Frank Calabrese Sr.; and the crime family’s West Coast representative,
Paul Schiro, stationed in Arizona since the 1970s, the last defendant was a
corrupt Chicago Cop Anthony Doyle. The
Governments star witness Nick Calabrese testified against his fellow Outfit
criminals. The testimony from Nick
Calabrese and Frank Jr. was enough to convict all 5 defendants. The murders of the Spilotro brothers were
solved, Nick Calabrese was one of the participants.
7.
St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
The incident occurred on February 14, 1929. Al Capone the current boss of the outfit at
the time wanted to rub-out Bugs Moran, the leader of the North side gang. The plan was set for Valentine’s day when
Capone would be out of town in Florida, thereby establishing a legit alibi. The
name on the warehouse was SMC Cartage Co. and it was located on 2122 N. Clark
street in Chicago. The warehouse was
leased to Bugs Moran. The Northside gang
used this warehouse to run illegal booze.
Across the street in a 3rd story apartment,
Capone had placed two lookouts. For several days, they searched for Moran. The only problem was that neither of the
lookouts new exactly what Moran looked like, they just had a physical description. Once the lookouts saw the man they believed
to be Moran they gave the signal to the crews standing nearby the
warehouse. They had outfitted a sedan
with sirens to make it seem like they were police. Four men entered the warehouse, two dressed
as cops and two in regular street clothes.
They forced the seven men inside the warehouse against the wall and
began to spray, killing all of them. The
two assailants dressed as officers made it appear as they arrested the other
two. The only problem was the Bugs Moran
was not one of the men killed that day, he had overslept. Effectively, the massacre ended Bugs control
of the North side illegal booze. This is
one massacre that will never be solved because all parties involved have since
passed away, or have been killed.
8.
Al Capone’s conviction
Al Capone was born and raised in New York City. Al Capone became involved with the mafia at a
very young age. Capone grew up with
Lucky Luciano, and met Johnny Torrio in New York. Torrio would later be the boss of the Chicago
Outfit, and he requested Al Capone to come to Chicago and work for him. Capone rose to the top rank of the Chicago
Outfit in the mid-1920s. In 1929 after
the St. Valentine’s Day massacre Capone and the outfit finally became the
powerhouse of organized crime in Chicago.
Capone ruled Chicago with fear and it was very difficult to convict him
in court. The federal government’s
treasury department was secretly developing a case against Capone for tax
evasion. In 1931 Capone pled guilty after striking a deal with prosecutors.
The trial judge was not pleased and denied the deal. Capone went on trial and in October of 1931
was convicted and later sentenced to 11 years in prison. In 1939 Capone was released from prison
because he was sick. Capone spend the
last few years of his life in Florida, he died in 1947 from complications of
syphilis.
9.
Tony Accardo-Capone era lieutenant
Tony Accardo was the boss of the Chicago Outfit from the 40s
into the 50s. Accardo is believed to
have been one of the gunmen in the 1929 St. Valentine’s day massacre that
occurred on Chicago’s north side.
Accardo was involved with the outfit from the 1920s until his death in
1992. Accardo was the last member of the
outfit to die that had ties to Al Capone.
Accardo had two nicknames that he was known for, “Big Tuna” because of a
4oo pound fish he once caught, and “Joe Batters” because of his preferred
weapon of choice at the height of his career in the outfit. He had been arrested many times dating back
to the 1920s, he spent one night in jail because he was arrested on a holiday
weekend and the courts were closed. Accardo
was succeeded in boss of the outfit by Sam Giancana.
10.
Chicago different from New York
The Chicago outfit is different than New York City. Since the late 1920s Chicago’s organized
crime has been controlled by one family.
New York City is currently ruled by five families. The outfit has stayed away from drugs, they have
made their money the more traditional way.
The family secrets trial destroyed the Chicago Outfit. I believe that because of the 14 individuals
that were convicted and sentenced to life in prison, the outfit has learned to
stop killing people. They rather take
control of businesses because missing bodies bring heat from law enforcement. The outfit today does not wield the power it
once had, but it still exists and they still make money through illegal
activities.
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