American Mafia History Website

In the late 1920s, a young hoodlum from New York City moved to Chicago and became associated with the local Mafia organization called the "Outfit." He made a living as a "confidence man," a jewel thief, and a heroin dealer. He acted as "muscle" for mobsters Fifi Buccieri and Ralph Pierce and rubbed elbows with bosses Frank Nitti and Paul Ricca.

In 1963, he got jammed up and turned to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for help. He became the Outfit's first significant informer in the post-Joseph Valachi era. His cooperation allowed the FBI to rely less strictly on listening devices and low-level snitches for Intel as it had in the past.

The informant presented the FBI with a "beginner's guide" history of the Outfit going back to Al Capone. [1] He identified members, supplied induction dates, and broke down mob territory. He clarified gang terminology, explained how the organization divided up criminal spoils and brought in new members. He also revealed a personal secret, concealed for forty years, that could have ruined him if it ever got out.

His cooperation only became known outside the Bureau after the release of FBI reports decades after his death. Assigned the informant symbol code "CG 6690," his real identity has never been revealed until now.

Motivation

According to the FBI, "CG 6690" decided to cooperate because he had been arrested for narcotics trafficking and faced "serious charges" and a potentially lengthy prison term. He told federal agents that he wanted their help to "mitigate" his legal risk.

"CG 6690" also claimed he had grown disenchanted with the Outfit because "it [was] vicious, powerful and a threat to the United States Government." The informant advised he was "in a position to contribute information which might help the Government in its fight against organized crime." [2]

Federal agents believed the informant's "prime motive" for cooperating was to "curry favor" with authorities over his narcotics arrest. [3] They were skeptical that he would help for "purely altruistic reasons" given his criminal history.

Secret

Skally

The informant's decision to cooperate came with considerable risk. The Outfit murdered mobster "Action" Jackson in 1961 on the mistaken suspicion he talked. And in 1962, William Skally, an associate of "CG 6690," was killed after the Outfit discovered he flipped. However, if anyone could handle leading a double life working for the FBI and the Mafia, it was him. "CG 6690" had been lying to the Outfit for decades.

According to the FBI, a "significant factor" in the informant's background was that his ethnicity was not what it appeared to be. [4]

Despite having a traditionally Italian surname and appearance, "CG 6690" was a Jew. He told federal agents that he had been passing himself off as an Italian for decades to get ahead in the underworld. The informant advised he had always "protected" his Jewish identity because had it been discovered, his "association with Italian members of organized crime would diminish appreciably."

Profile

Every mobster who shares confidential information with the FBI is assigned an informant symbol code to protect his anonymity. In this case, the informant was called "CG 6690." Nonetheless, as much as the Bureau tries to keep an informant's cooperation secret, the Intel found in FBI reports linked to a symbol code frequently reveals enough identifying details to point to a specific individual.

"CG 6690" provided the following identifying details about himself in his FBI debrief:

• Born in New York City and moved to Chicago. [5]
• Was "involved with the criminal element in Chicago for over 40 years." [6] Given that the informant likely became associated with the criminal element as a young man, it suggests he was roughly sixty years old in 1963.
• Jewish but had an Italian surname and appearance.
• Kept his Jewish identity secret for decades. It suggests he had no relatives in the Outfit; otherwise, his actual ethnicity would have leaked out.
• Likely an Outfit associate. He never claimed to be a Mafia member, and the FBI did not describe him that way. [7]
• Interviewed by the FBI on November 13, 1963. [8]
• Arrested on "serious" narcotics charges before he cooperated. [9]
• He was "familiar to all local law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Narcotics…" [10] This suggests he was a repeat drug offender.
• Provided detailed Intel about Carl Fiorito. [11]

Two clues stand out that can help expose him: the informant had a drug arrest likely around November 1963, and he gave up a considerable amount of information in his first debriefing session about small-time mobster Carl Fiorito, suggesting some sort of association.

It is possible to establish a prime suspect by comparing the informant's profile against known Outfit hoodlums.

Getting to the bottom

Carl Fiorito

Fiorito

Outfit associate Carl Fiorito was a jewel thief, burglar and suspected killer. Federal law enforcement busted him for heroin possession in 1959. Although not an inducted member, Fiorito was close to Outfit heavies Sam Giancana and Sam Battaglia and other mob big shots throughout the United States. Coincidentally, Fiorito was serving time in a state prison when the informant first talked.

In his initial FBI debriefing, "CG 6690" revealed confidential information about Fiorito's involvement in the Winston Jewelry Company theft at the Pick-Congress Hotel in 1957. The robbery made national headlines after netting the robbers $400,000. The informant told details only someone closely associated with the planning of the robbery would know. He also discussed Fiorito's alleged involvement in the murder of his associate William Skally. Only Fiorito or someone very close to him would know this Intel.

Despite a shared history of drug dealing and a familiarity with his activities, "CG 6690" was not Fiorito. Fiorito was born in Chicago in 1924, while the informant was born years earlier in New York City. Rather than being Fiorito himself, "CG 6690" was more likely his criminal partner.

Americo DePietto

In October 1963, law enforcement broke up the biggest heroin trafficking ring in Chicago history. Authorities arrested dozens of traffickers and drug runners, including ringleader Americo DePietto. The gang supplied 80 percent of the city's heroin and had sales of $30 million since 1960. [12] The heroin originated from sources in Italy and France and was smuggled into the United States via Canada. [13]

DePietto was the Outfit's principal narcotics trafficker and allegedly operated with the quasi-blessing of then-boss Sam Giancana. During this era, Mafia crime families, including the Outfit, generally prohibited drug dealing and took a dim view if a member got caught trafficking. Narcotic arrests generated police heat and stiff prison sentences, which the organization wanted to avoid. However, some bosses tried to profit from the drug trade, and under certain circumstances, turned a blind eye to members getting involved as long as they received a cut. However, if a member got nabbed, he was on his own or killed.

DePietto had over a dozen arrests for burglary, assault, and murder in a long criminal career.

Like the informant, DePietto was born in New York City before he moved to Chicago. DePietto could have known confidential details related to Fiorito's criminal activities. DePietto and Fiorito knew each other from the drug trade and could have discussed the Winston Jewelry heist. And incriminatingly for DePietto, his 1963 narcotics arrest occurred approximately two weeks before "CG 6690" talked.

However, there are aspects of DePietto's history that do not match the informant. DePietto was an inducted Outfit member, but the evidence suggests "CG 6690" was only an associate. There is also a discrepancy in the birthdates. DePietto was born in 1914, which made him younger than the informer was thought to have been. And most significantly, DePietto's family history indicates that he was an Italian Catholic and not Jewish like the informant. [14]

Prime Suspect

Fiorito and DePietto shared similarities with "CG 6690," but neither entirely matched the informant. However, there was an individual close to both men who checked all the boxes.

In 1959, law enforcement arrested Carl Fiorito and an associate for selling a pound of heroin to an undercover federal agent. Fiorito and the associate were convicted at trial and sentenced to long prison terms.

In 1962, an appeals court overturned the associate's conviction and gave him a new trial. On the street, the associate jumped back into the drug trade and was arrested again in October 1963, alongside Americo DePietto. Faced with the prospect of another long prison sentence, the associate reached out to the FBI. His name was Theodore DeRose.

Theodore DeRose

Theodore Jack DeRose was born in New York City on October 22, 1906. [15] Not much is known about DeRose's early years. Documents like birth and census records that could help establish essential details about his family background could not be found using genealogical tools. Only his death record was available. It noted that he was divorced at the time of death, but a marriage certificate with his former wife's name was untraceable.

The lack of readily available public records raises the possibility that DeRose's actual surname may have been a variant of "DeRose," or his birth name could have been something else entirely. (For example, he may have adopted a stepfather's surname.) However, there is no indication in the available FBI documents that DeRose's surname was an alias. [16] Congressional investigators and federal agents looked into DeRose's background and never indicated his surname was anything else.

The surname "DeRose" is found throughout Italy but is most common in Italy's southern Calabria region. The name originates in France and refers to someone with "rosy" cheeks. The variation "De Rosa" is more prevalent. At least two other unrelated Outfit members- Anthony "Puleo" DeRose and Salvatore "Salaam" DeRose, shared the surname. [17]

Despite having a typical Italian surname, DeRose was Jewish, just like the informant. Investigators confirmed his Jewish ethnicity at the McClellan Hearings, as the U.S. Senate committee looked into the connection between organized crime and heroin trafficking.

Until more biographical information comes to light about his family history, his Jewish background remains open to speculation. For example, when DeRose told federal agents he was Jewish, did he mean he was Jewish without any connection to Italy? [18] Or did he mean he was Italian on his father's side and Jewish on mother's side?

If DeRose was entirely non-Italian, what were the circumstances behind his decision to assume an Italian persona? Was it a deliberate strategy or happenstance? In Chicago, Jewish mobsters enjoyed considerable power, but in the 1920s, Italians were ascendant, pushing out Irish and Jewish gangsters for underworld control in cities throughout the United States. The available FBI reports do not offer any clues.

DeRose in Chicago

After DeRose moved to Chicago, he made the acquaintance of Doctor Gaetano Ronga. Ronga was a prominent physician in the Italian community, and he was the father-in-law of Frank Nitti, a close associate of Al Capone. Ronga may have been DeRose's initial contact with the Italian underworld.

DeRose said he became "very friendly" with Nitti and "many of the members in the old Al Capone mob." [19] He also befriended Tony Lombardo, a powerful Mafia boss, who held sway in Chicago before Capone. It appears DeRose was already presenting himself as an Italian by then.

Published reports indicated DeRose had over twenty arrests. In 1948, DeRose swindled an Illinois woman out of $836 after he deceived her into thinking he could arrange for her husband's immigration into the United States from Poland. [20] He was convicted of petit larceny but did not do any prison time. [21]

In 1955, police questioned DeRose in the theft of $20,000 of jewelry from two Chicago jewelers. The police found the loot in his apartment. DeRose told detectives he was "keeping the jewelry for a stranger named 'Dominick' who gave it to him after stopping him on the street." [22]

DeRose may have lived elsewhere from time to time after his move to Chicago. When he was arrested in 1948, he lived in a Chicago hotel, suggesting he may not have been a permanent resident. And he told federal agents he spent time in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the 1950s. [23]

Dealing with Fiorito

In 1959, authorities arrested Carl Fiorito and DeRose for selling over a pound of heroin to undercover Federal Bureau of Narcotic Agent James Attie. A member of the narcotics ring, William Skally, had turned informer and set up Fiorito and DeRose. [24] The heroin had a street value of $6,000.

When DeRose debriefed with federal agents a few years later, he stated that Arnold Rothstein and the Jewish mob initially controlled the American heroin trade. After Rothstein's murder in November of 1928, the Mafia took over. DeRose said that "the 'Mafia's interest in narcotics which they receive from European countries is only in the large wholesale end of it and that for instance in Chicago the sale in other than large quantities is predominantly carried out in the Negro areas of Chicago." He added that "although 'Outfit' money was invested, members of organized crime are not actually engaged in this illicit operation."

Because Outfit members were not permitted to directly participate in the drug trade, individuals like DeRose and Fiorito stepped into the space. DeRose may have worked as a "drug runner" for Chicago trafficker Patrick Russo in the early 1950s.

In 1959, Illinois ranked third among American states for "active narcotic addicts" with 6,191 known users, or 13.6 percent of the nation's total users. [25] The Federal Bureau of Narcotics identified Fiorito and DeRose as the "ringleaders in the Midwest narcotics ring." Other gang members included Anthony DiChiarinte, Salvatore Pisano, Spartico Mastro, Joseph Bruno, and Joseph Iacullo. [26] The narcotics ring had been active since 1953 and had heroin sales of $3 million. The group reportedly operated under the direction of Outfit leader Sam Giancana.

In 1961, Fiorito and DeRose pleaded not guilty to charges of heroin possession. [27] According to the prosecution, DeRose told the undercover agent that he got his heroin from an individual named "Jake." Investigators suspected "Jake's" real name was Jacob Klein, a convicted narcotics dealer with ties to New York. Lucchese Crime Family member Frank Borelli allegedly supplied Klein's dope.

DeRose denied selling drugs. [28] He said he and the undercover agent only talked about "real estate transactions." Defense attorneys argued their clients were "induced by the agent to get dope and that the government was guilty of entrapment." After a short trial, DeRose and Fiorito were found guilty. The judge sentenced DeRose to a ten-year prison term and Fiorito to twenty years. DeRose later told federal agents that Fiorito was on the fast track to becoming an Outfit member. However, his drug conviction cost him any chance of induction. [29]

Despite a lifetime of crime and arrests, this was DeRose's first time inside prison. However, he did not remain behind bars for long.

In 1962, a federal appeals court overturned the convictions because the presiding judge had improperly instructed the jury. [30] DeRose was freed to await a new trial. (In January 1965, DeRose pleaded guilty in federal district court to heroin possession. [31] The sentencing judge gave DeRose five years of probation and ordered him to "refrain from associating with 'persons of ill repute.'" DeRose's light sentence probably reflected his two years of secret cooperation. Fiorito received a two-year sentence.)

Working for DePietto

After getting out, DeRose went right back to selling narcotics. Fiorito remained imprisoned on another unrelated conviction, so DeRose partnered up with Americo DePietto.

DePietto

DeRose became one of DePietto's drug runners. He moved heroin to different street dealers throughout Chicago. Things went well for DeRose at first. He moved into stylish digs at 420 Fullerton Parkway in downtown Chicago. The good times, though, were short-lived.

On October 29, 1963, eighteen months after DeRose's prison release, law enforcement arrested him, DePietto and twenty others for heroin trafficking. The arrest shook fifty-seven-year-old DeRose. Already facing a retrial on his earlier 1959 drug arrest, and now in danger of doing even more time on new charges, he could die in prison.

Two weeks after DeRose was arrested, he contacted the FBI to work out a deal. In exchange for sharing what he knew about the Outfit and working undercover as a secret informer, DeRose asked for leniency in his drug case. DeRose offered to cooperate even though he claimed the evidence against him was weak.

DeRose's' decision to snitch was a sign of the times. A few weeks earlier, Genovese Crime Family member Joseph Valachi appeared on television before a United States Senate committee and became the first Mafia member to testify about its existence. Valachi put "cooperating" on the table as an option for mobsters.

The FBI's Chicago office agreed to hear DeRose's statement without committing to a deal. Beginning on November 13, 1963, federal agents "exhaustively" debriefed DeRose over two days. DeRose's initial interview ran to fifty pages. Federal agents described DeRose as "extremely knowledgeable" and said the Intel he supplied was "voluminous." [32] They had difficulty evaluating his Intel's accuracy. Some of it matched Intel previously gathered by the FBI, but most of it was unverifiable because it was new. [33]

In Chicago, federal agents were predisposed toward DeRose and wanted to make him a "top echelon informant." A top echelon informant or "CTE" was the designation reserved for the FBI's best and most productive confidential informers. However, FBI headquarters demurred and wanted to wait and see how information DeRose provided about two ongoing criminal investigations panned out before deciding. [34] [35] The FBI designated DeRose a "CTE" in 1966.

Despite his cooperation agreement, the authorities still had to appear to move forward on DeRose's drug arrest to protect his cover. The drug trial of DeRose and DePietto began in early 1964. The FBI and the prosecutors devised a plan to sever DeRose from the rest of the defendants. Halfway through the proceedings, DeRose claimed he had fallen ill and was unable to continue. Authorities granted DeRose a separate trial for a later date. (It is unclear how his charges were ultimately resolved.)

In June 1964, DePietto was convicted and sentenced to a twenty-year prison sentence. [36] By then, DeRose was well underway working undercover for the FBI.

Before Capone

Theodore DeRose provided federal agents a peek into Chicago's Italian underworld before Al Capone. Investigators already knew some of the information, but large knowledge gaps remained.

DeRose explained Chicago's Mafia group during the early 1920s was led by Michele Merlo. According to DeRose, Merlo "prospered on alcohol during the early prohibition days and controlled all of the actions regarding the old 'black hand letters.'" [37] Anthony Lombardo followed Merlo as boss.

DeRose said Lombardo was sent to Chicago from New York City by the "old man," a reference to Salvatore D'Aquila, the dominant Mafioso in the United States. D'Aquila ordered Lombardo to "make peace" in Chicago's Italian underworld between the different factions, including the Genna brothers, the Johnny Torrio/Al Capone group, and the Unione Siciliana.

Lombardo allied himself with Torrio/Capone's group called the "Outfit." Comprised of Italian and non-Italians mobsters, it became the dominant group by the late 1920s. In 1928, mobsters from New York City, including Frankie Yale, murdered Lombardo after he fell afoul of Mafia politics. Al Capone became the Outfit leader when Torrio retired after surviving a murder attempt.

Capone to Giancana

The emergence of Al Capone, a non-Sicilian, as the most powerful gangster in Chicago, permanently altered the power structure in the city's Italian underworld. Traditional Sicilian-only groups like the Unione Siciliana and the Mafia fell into insignificance or were forced into accepting mainland Italians as members. The induction of mainlanders into the Mafia, once extremely rare, became widespread throughout the United States by the late 1920s. The different Italian organized crime groups, often at odds, were absorbed into Capone's Outfit.

Nitti

In 1932, Capone was sent to prison. According to DeRose, Capone's chief lieutenant, Frank Nitti, became boss. Nitti made Louis Campagna his second-in-command. DeRose described Nitti as an "enforcer" and "collector" for Capone. For a time, Capone sent money to mob bosses in New York, and Nitti acted as the "go-between" between the two groups.

In 1943, a federal grand jury indicted Outfit leaders Nitti, Campagna, Paul Ricca and others for extorting Hollywood studios for labor peace. DeRose said Nitti had developed cancer by this time, so he killed himself rather than face conviction. According to inaccurate information provided by DeRose, Campagna became boss but lasted only a few months before he died of a heart attack. [38] Ricca succeeded Campagna.

According to DeRose, Ricca retired sometime later to fight deportation. Anthony Accardo succeeded Ricca and remained boss until he stepped down "from his position of leadership in about 1956 or 1957" to fight his income tax evasion charges. Sam Giancana succeeded Accardo. DeRose said he socialized with Ricca and Accardo.

DeRose said most Outfit members speculated that the "quiet and ruthless" Sam Battaglia would replace Accardo. They were "amazed" Giancana got the nod because he was considered too "vociferous" and "boisterous." [39]

DeRose stated Ricca and Accardo retained "tremendous" influence and were part of a committee that advised Giancana. Other committee members were Outfit veterans John Cerone, Fifi Buccieri, and Sam Battaglia. DeRose added that Ross Prio might have also been an advisor. Buccieri and Ricca were the only non-Sicilian committee members. DeRose maintained that Ricca "never quite regained his position of authority due to his pending deportation." [40]

(The chronology of Outfit bosses is debatable. Nitti was generally perceived to be Capone's successor, but Mafia member Johnny Roselli, a close associate of both Ricca and Nitti, maintained Ricca was the real power in Chicago after Capone.) [41]

'The Life'

Theodore DeRose stated the highest-ranking Italians in the Outfit belonged to "The Life." He used the term to describe the organization commonly referred to elsewhere as the Mafia or La Cosa Nostra. According to DeRose, the term "La Cosa Nostra" was unfamiliar to him.

At the time, the FBI made it a priority to understand Mafia terminology. New York City-based informer Joseph Valachi had advised that "La Cosa Nostra" was how members secretly referred to their organization. The term was new to federal agents. They soon discovered that the Italian underworld vocabulary contained regional variations, and different crime families employed additional terms to describe essentially the same things. Even though "La Cosa Nostra" was likely only a local euphemism, the FBI adopted it as the official way to describe Mafia groups throughout the United States. [42]

To be a member of "The Life," an individual had to be entirely Italian. He could be from any part of Italy, not just Sicily. According to DeRose, one or more existing members sponsored an individual for membership. The candidate worked for the sponsor, and was evaluated by the sponsor over time. Once the candidate proved his worth, the sponsor would put him up for membership. The sponsor gave the prospective member a month's notice before the induction. The induction ceremony occurred over a celebratory dinner at a private banquet. Only inducted members are permitted to be present.

According to DeRose, a new member "[swore] an oath of secrecy, and from that time on, no outsider, including his wife, mother, brother and sister, can ever come before his colleagues at 'The Life.'" [43] DeRose "advised that the idea of all for one and one for all is firmly implanted in the mind of the candidate." [44]

Chicago omitted induction props like a burning holy card or a knife, described by Valachi in his FBI debriefing. The Outfit ceremony was less ritualized than those found in other Mafia crime families, perhaps acknowledging the strong, ongoing, non-Sicilian, and non-Italian influences in Chicago.

At the end of the induction ritual and oath swearing, the top non-Italian leaders joined the new member at the celebratory dinner. Member-informants Louis Fratto and Anthony Amatore later confirmed DeRose's description.

The sponsor managed the new member, gave him orders and was responsible for his general conduct. Members from the sponsor's faction were also available to offer counsel. [45] If a member encountered a "grievance" that persisted, the sponsor could bring it to Giancana and the committee's attention.

DeRose said the old Sicilian mobsters were "kill-crazy and handled every problem with a killing." He said contemporary Outfit members were "suave" and had "abandoned the old fashion ideas."

DeRose said Chicago had about one hundred and fifty Mafia members, while he estimated New York City had "thousands." DeRose advised New York and Chicago used different terminology to describe their underworld setups. New York used a hierarchal structure that DeRose called the "soldier system." It was the same family structure described by Joseph Valachi.

The "soldier system" employed terms like underboss, consigliere, caporegimes, and button men. Instead of "caporegime," Chicago used "Don" to describe an individual who controlled a group of inducted members. Standard New York underworld terms like "soldier" and "button man" also were not used in Chicago.

Induction dates

DeRose supplied the first reliable Outfit membership list. Previous lists were guesswork, based on data collected from listening devices. [46] [47] The FBI used DeRose's list to prioritize investigations until Fratto and Amatore supplied a more authoritative one in 1967.

DeRose furnished induction dates for prominent members. For example, Anthony Accardo was allegedly "made" under Al Capone. [48] Frank Nitti and Louis Campagna sponsored Sam Giancana in 1939 before he went to prison on a bootlegging charge. Following Giancana's release from prison, he reportedly told Nitti, "I am ready to go to work."

Alderisio

According to DeRose, Marshall Caifano and Sam Battaglia were inducted "shortly after Giancana was brought into the 'the life.'" Giancana, Caifano, and Battaglia were all former members of the "Forty-Two Gang."

Anthony Accardo and Paul Ricca sponsored John Cerone in the early 1940s. Leo Caifano, the older brother of Outfit member Marshall Caifano, sponsored Fifi Buccieri in the late 1940s. Caifano died in 1951 in a botched kidnapping. In turn, Buccieri brought in Joseph Ferriola in 1956.

Ricca, Accardo, and Campagna sponsored William Daddano. [49] Daddano started as Capone advisor Jake Guzik's chauffeur. After Daddano's induction, he took over gambling and vice operations in Cicero, Illinois. In 1956, Daddano sponsored Anthony Eldorado into the Outfit. [50]

Joseph Mendino sponsored Charles English in 1956. His hoodlum brother, Samuel English, was not a member, according to DeRose. [51]

DeRose stated that other members inducted in 1956 included Johnny Varelli, Albert Frabotta, and Felix Alderisio. [52] Old territories were split into smaller areas to accommodate the influx of new members. DeRose said, "this resulted in some of the newer members getting a small piece of the profits in numerous areas…" [53]

Marshall Caifano and Sam Battaglia sponsored Alderisio. He was given "influence" in Melrose Park under Battaglia's direction. According to DeRose, Alderisio was a "nobody" until he and Frabotta killed a man in a "bold murder" and caught Caifano and Battaglia's eye. [54]

Rockford Crime Family boss Joseph Zammuto inducted his son-in-law Frank Buscemi in 1958. [55]

Non-Italians

Non-Italian hoodlums enjoyed more power and prestige in Chicago than they did in most other Mafia crime families. Italians dominated the Outfit and had the final word, but other ethnic groups had high standing owing to their political and business connections. [56] [57]

According to DeRose, individuals like Murray Humphries and Gus Alex carried a "considerable amount of weight and influence," and in some cases, were "more powerful than the [Italian] bosses or lieutenants." (In the Outfit context, the term "bosses" often referred to individuals roughly equal to caporegimes.) Non-Italians could become "bosses" and give Italians orders, but they could never attain Outfit membership. The Italians respected them for their "specific specialty such as gambling, numbers, [and] financial matters," and regularly sought their advice. Humphries was the spokesman for the non-Italian bosses.

Alex, a Greek-American, was "high in status among the known Italian associates of Chicago's leaders of organized crime" and during the 1960s, controlled "gambling and vice in the Loop area of Chicago along with Frank Ferraro and Ralph Pierce." [58]

Pierce

Theodore DeRose hid his Jewish identity from all his associates, including other Jews. In 1956, Jewish gambling boss Ralph Pierce employed DeRose to organize independent gambling establishments. Several "maverick" gamblers operated on Pierce's territory without paying the Outfit tax, and Pierce wanted to bring them under his control. According to DeRose, Pierce selected him because he "wanted a well-spoken Italian" to represent him.

Pierce

DeRose had been used as "muscle" before, although he didn't look the type. He stood 5'6", weighed 140 pounds, and walked with a limp. Nonetheless, Outfit members like Fifi Buccieri and Willian Daddano regularly used DeRose to collect gambling debts. [59] DeRose admitted that he sometimes used "explosives" during his criminal activities. [60]

To help Pierce get the gamblers "in line," DeRose worked alongside Bernard Posner. [61] Posner was a "vicious" Jewish hoodlum who performed Pierce's "muscle work." Using guile and threats, DeRose and Posner forced gambling operators to align with the Outfit and split their profits fifty-fifty. In return, the Outfit offered them protection from police raids and other criminals looking to steal their business.

DeRose alleged Posner murdered Outfit associate Irving Vine, the former husband of Murray Humphries' second wife. Vine had provided the Internal Revenue Service with information used to build a criminal case against Humphries. The murder took place at the Del Prado, a hotel owned off the books by Pierce.

DeRose liked Pierce but complained the working hours were long. DeRose eventually quit because he "had to check in about every time he turned around" and "his life was no longer his own."

Three years after DeRose talked, Pierce himself became an informant. His FBI handler reportedly persuaded Pierce to cooperate after they developed a friendship. [62] It is easy to imagine DeRose providing personal information used by the FBI to groom Pierce.

Territory breakdown

DeRose gave the FBI a roadmap to understand the Outfit's territory breakdown throughout Chicago. He highlighted all significant Outfit members, their illegal activities and their criminal and business associations.

To give one example, DeRose spelled out Outfit operations on Chicago's Westside in the early 1960s. He said Fiore "Fifi" Buccieri and John Cerone controlled the territory. Joseph Ferriola and Anthony El Dorado worked under Buccieri. Cerone, whom DeRose described as "very sharp," was favored to become a future boss of the Outfit.

William Daddano also influenced gambling and loansharking activities on the Westside through his subordinates Tarquin Simonello, Joseph Giancana, and Frank Teutonica. Charles Nicoletti and his subordinate Johnny Varelli operated an insurance business on the Westside and controlled gambling activities.

Outfit revolt

Theodore DeRose let the FBI in on a little known intra-family conflict that allegedly left twelve mobsters dead. DeRose's memory of the event was foggy, so it remains only partly understood. He misstated or was unaware of many critical details, including the participants and the conflict timeline.

As best as can be ascertained, a rebel faction of mainly Northside mobsters tried to depose the Paul Ricca/Anthony Accardo leadership group during the early 1940s. [63] At the time, the Outfit's top administration was in flux. Frank Nitti had died, and Ricca and Louis Campagna were imprisoned on extortion charges, leaving Accardo on the street to guide the organization.

According to DeRose, the rebels included James DeGeorge, Lawrence Mangano, Ross Prio, Anthony Pinelli, James Belcastro, and the alleged ringleader Vincent Benevento. (DeRose could not remember Benevento's real name and called him the "Don" or the "old man.")

Benevento allegedly ordered an underling named Nick DeJohn to kill Accardo. DeJohn refused the order and fled to San Francisco, where he was killed.

Accardo learned of the plot, and a shooting war developed between the two sides that lasted over three years. The Ricca/Accardo faction beat down the coup attempt and killed its leaders, including Benevento and Mangano. DeRose advised that Accardo induced Prio and Pinelli to switch sides by giving them an interest in Benevento's Wisconsin cheese factory. [64] The Ricca/Accardo faction would remain the final word in Chicago for the next half-century.

Factionalism

In 1965, Outfit boss Sam Giancana went to jail for one year on a contempt charge. Giancana refused to answer questions before a grand jury investigating organized crime despite being offered immunity.

DeRose told federal agents that the two leading contenders to replace Giancana were Sam Battaglia and Fifi Buccieri. Battaglia was based in Melrose Park, while Buccieri controlled territory on Chicago's Westside.

DeRose advised Buccieri was close to Giancana and took care of his criminal interests when he was out of town. Buccieri had been favored to replace Giancana at one time, but a heart attack had weakened his chances. The Buccieri and Battaglia factions disliked each other, and DeRose speculated that Charles English might be appointed as a compromise candidate since both sides found him "acceptable."

The leadership ended up appointing Battaglia "acting boss," but his heart was not in it. Battaglia was already preoccupied with legal troubles that a year later would send him to prison. According to DeRose, the lack of strong leadership was a problem, and he expected "factional dispute[s] might arise." [65]

Giancana

Factionalism continued to fester after Giancana's release from jail in 1966. DeRose told federal agents that Giancana had declined to "pick up the pieces" or reassert his "authority" over the Outfit. [66] Instead, Giancana relocated to Mexico, which further destabilized the Outfit power structure.

Within a year of Battaglia taking over as boss, John Cerone, Charles English, and other members were "disgusted" with his leadership and openly talked about wanting a change. According to DeRose, the dissidents were fed up with the "constant bad publicity" the organization received under him. DeRose advised that "some qualified leaders of organized crime do not want the top position due to their conviction that the FBI 'shoots' the top leader by any and every method they can devise." [67] Battaglia was sent to prison soon afterward before the dissidents needed to act.

Fifi Buccieri used the leadership vacuum to expand his power base. Buccieri and his underling Joseph Ferriola established a criminal presence in Chicago's Southside, a territory that belonged to gambling boss Ralph Pierce. Buccieri had also tried to move his operations into the Southern suburbs, the area assigned to Frank LaPorte. Other Outfit leaders resented these moves, and Buccieri soon found himself at "loggerheads" with Felix Alderisio, who represented the Battaglia faction.

According to DeRose, Alderisio threatened to "take Ferriola apart, limb by limb" if he and Buccieri did not stop "invading" rivals' territories. Alderisio eventually "pushed" Ferriola out and took over the operation for himself. Gus Alex, the Loop-area boss, tried to intervene on Pierce's behalf, but Alderisio outmaneuvered him and retained control. DeRose advised Buccieri and Alderisio were now lining up support from other Outfit factions.

DeRose believed that "if Tony Accardo and Paul Ricca [did not] step in and settle the matter, the whole organization [was] going to break up into small factions." [68]

Fifi Buccieri alienated many during this period with his heavy-handedness. In 1967, Buccieri confided to DeRose that he was "in a lot of trouble," and he needed his mentor Sam Giancana to come back to Chicago to "straighten out" the mess. [69]

To get the organization back on track, Accardo and Ricca came out of retirement to operate as co-bosses. [70] According to DeRose, they ordered Buccieri to stop his territorial encroachments.

Accardo and Ricca appointed their protege John Cerone to manage day-to-day operations. DeRose stated Cerone was now one of the organization's top leaders. Ricca replaced Giancana as the Outfit representative on the "Commission," the national committee governing the Mafia.

Apalachin

Anastasia

DeRose shared underworld gossip that crime partner Carl Fiorito passed on from Augie Pisano (Anthony Carfano) and Sam Mannarino. Pisano was a former caporegime in the Genovese Crime Family who died in 1959. Mannarino was a Mafioso from Pittsburgh. His brother, Gabriel "Kelly" Mannarino, attended the mob meeting at Apalachin in 1957 with crime boss John La Rocca. [71] Fiorito had separate business dealings with Pisano and Mannarino and picked up information customarily reserved for Mafia members.

The FBI was eager to learn more about Apalachin. Informer Joseph Valachi had recently supplied a summary of the meeting's agenda, but federal agents were still gathering data to fill in their knowledge gaps.

Sam Mannarino told Fiorito that Apalachin was a "peace meeting" for Sicilian-hoodlums, primarily intended to resolve member infighting. The bosses wanted to settle a territorial dispute between Brooklyn crime boss Joseph Profaci and his underlings Lawrence and Joseph Gallo.

The bosses also wanted to cut "expenses" related to "soldiers." DeRose did not elaborate, but this matter seems to refer to the organization's desire, first disclosed by Valachi, to expel individuals who had allegedly paid bribes to receive membership.

Another purpose was to clear the air over the alleged clash between Gambino Crime Family boss Albert Anastasia and Genovese Crime Family caporegime Augie Pisano. Anastasia was killed in 1957, in the weeks before the Apalachin meeting. Fiorito said some mobsters believed Pisano orchestrated Anastasia's murder to "absorb" his lucrative casino holdings in Cuba. Pisano, who met Fiorito in Florida, told him that, despite the rumors, he had no role in Anastasia's murder. [72]

DeRose explained that Pisano's alleged power move backfired when dictator Fidel Castro came to power, confiscated the casinos, and kicked out the mob. Fiorito said the organization blamed Pisano for the debacle and killed him.

Angelica and Valachi

Theodore DeRose knew Mafioso Biaggio Angelica, a convicted heroin trafficker from Houston, Texas. Both men got their start in New York City, although it appears they did not grow up together. They may have met later through the heroin trade. In 1930, authorities arrested Angelica in the shooting of a Michigan police officer. In 1949, he was "absolved" in the murder of Houston gambler Vincent Vallone. According to DeRose, Angelica was inducted into the Genovese Crime Family.

Before DeRose flipped, he had reacquainted himself with Angelica and picked up some New York underworld gossip. According to DeRose, Angelica knew Joseph Valachi. He recalled that Valachi once accused his boss Vito Genovese of belittling him and "prevent[ing] him from getting in on anything real good." [73] Valachi convinced himself that Genovese had designs on his wife. Genovese thought the accusation was absurd since he could have any woman he wanted, and Valachi's wife was no beauty.

Angelica said the Federal Bureau of Narcotics had "three [unidentified] informants working for them who are known to one of the families in New York and were in effect supplying 25 percent accurate information." The informants were allegedly "allowed to contact the agents as the 'family' felt that they could learn something from the individuals' contact with the Bureau of Narcotics." [74]

Action plan.

Angelica

In the weeks after DeRose flipped, the FBI pondered the best way to exploit his secret cooperation. Federal agents wanted to give him "specific assignments" to work undercover against his associates, but that was unworkable because Outfit bosses had ordered DeRose to stay away. [75] They feared his drug arrests would bring too much "'government heat' on their other activities." [76] Unable to initially gather Intel against the Outfit, the FBI decided to send DeRose to Houston and reconnect with Biaggio Angelica.

The FBI hoped Angelica would provide DeRose with information to "broaden the intelligence coverage" of Texas's Mafia activity. [77] At the time, the FBI lacked a member-informant in the area. Angelica had criminal associates in New York City, Miami, New Orleans and Detroit, and the FBI figured these contacts "could conceivably be of benefit in the future handling of the informant."

The FBI's Chicago office contacted headquarters to solicit the funds to pay for DeRose's proposed intelligence-gathering trip to Houston. It approved $300 for a plane ticket and hotel expenses. They gave DeRose a cover story to explain his sudden visit. The plan almost came to nothing after Angelica was convicted of arson and sentenced to two years imprisonment. [78] Angelica, however, appealed his conviction and was out on bond when DeRose visited.

Sometime in January 1964, DeRose flew to Houston. [79] Details of the visit contained in FBI reports are partially redacted, but Angelica shared more information about Albert Anastasia's murder, the Apalachin meeting, and the three alleged mob informers. (Some of Angelica's new information contradicted earlier statements or was inconsistent with Intel provided by other sources.) He also dangled a lucrative gambling opportunity in front of DeRose.

Anastasia's murder

In a second meeting, Angelica elaborated on Albert Anastasia's murder and his relationship with Augie Pisano. According to Angelica, Anastasia and Pisano had partnered in a $300,000 heroin deal, which they hid from other members. Anastasia's underboss Frank Scalise complained about the side deal to an individual Angelica called the "top man." This person was not identified by name but likely was Genovese Crime Family boss Frank Costello. Anastasia and Pisano resented Scalise's snitching and had him killed. [80]

Soon afterward, Angelica advised that the "top man" decided to kill Anastasia. FBI redactions make it hard to follow, but it appears Vito Genovese was now the "top man." (In fact, Genovese had staged a coup against Costello right before Anastasia's murder.)

Angelica told DeRose that the "top man" used two out-of-town killers plus a local hoodlum to kill Anastasia. [81] After the killing, the new regime told Pisano that he had to "liquidate his interest in Florida as well as in New Jersey." Pisano vacillated for too long, and the "top man" had him eliminated.

More Apalachin

According to Angelica, the bosses at Apalachin also discussed:

• Rules to prohibit drug dealing and counterfeiting.
• The prospect of legalized gambling in Arizona. Mafia associates had allegedly spent $2 million in an attempt to pass legalizing gambling in the state.
• Weeding out unworthy members. Too many individuals, especially in Chicago, had been inducted for political or business considerations, not for their "loyalty" or ability to perform murders. [82] (This is an echo of Valachi's earlier statement that individuals had bought their way into the organization.) Individuals who had not participated in a murder where slated to be "dropped." [83]

New York informers

In case law enforcement had penetrated the Mafia with informers, the New York bosses had recently mandated a rule that "no more than three individuals who work under the leaders know what the others are doing in any specific assignment." [84]

In this way, they intended to trap the Mafia members suspected of talking to Treasury Department agents.

Texas gambit

Angelica enticed DeRose with a new gambling opportunity. According to DeRose, Angelica had befriended an individual running for office in the Houston-area. (The FBI report redacted the politician's name and elective office.) The politician agreed Angelica could set up an illegal gambling operation without political or legal interference in exchange for secret campaign donations. Angelica was enthusiastic about the plan, but he could not come up with the money independently. He turned to DeRose for the Outfit's financial backing.

The Houston deal represented an excellent opportunity for DeRose personally. After his drug arrest, DeRose was damaged goods in his associates' eyes. Getting his hooks into a politician offered DeRose the chance to rehabilitate his underworld reputation and become a great moneymaker. It would also give DeRose access to more incriminating information and improve his value to the FBI.

English

DeRose considered the best Outfit member to approach with the proposal. He was inclined to involve Albert Frabotta, a well-known underworld killer, in the scheme but decided against it. DeRose figured Frabotta would partner with Felix Alderisio, and they would squeeze him out. Instead, DeRose settled on Charles English. English was a close associate of boss Sam Giancana and had a reputation for fairness. DeRose made arrangements to meet English through his colleague Joseph Gagliano. [85]

English had a garrulous nature, so before DeRose pitched him, English indulged in Outfit gossip. He stated law enforcement had recently arrested his associates Gagliano and William Messino for extortion. They were "juice" operators, and they were caught collecting on delinquent loans. English told DeRose that Gagliano and Messino would avoid prison by paying off an underling to take the rap. He advised most of the card games and crap games in Chicago had closed down because police had "scared away" all the customers.

English commented that Cook County Sheriff Richard Ogilvie was a "no good politician" but was upright and not taking bribes. English said all of Ogilvie's subordinates, including chief investigator Richard Cain, were on the "take." He called Cain a "pimp." Cain formerly worked vice for the Chicago Police Department. English said Cain "all but ran the girls himself" and "made a ton of money." DeRose added that Cain was a "very vicious man" who "killed four or five people." [86] After becoming an FBI informer, Cain told federal agents he was an Outfit member, but English's scorn suggests that was untrue. [87]

English also touched on the troubles he faced operating a lucrative gambling ring at the Sportsman's Park. English controlled bookmakers that took gambling wagers openly at the harness racing track. Internal Revenue Service agents arrested the bookmakers for cheating the state of Illinois out of millions of tax revenue. English said he would have to find a more discrete way to operate in the future.

English said he knew Biaggio Angelica by reputation, but he was skeptical a Mafioso could get a fair deal in Texas. English recalled John Cerone's earlier attempt to set up a gambling venture in Texas had been a disaster and had cost the Outfit $50,000. He said politicians could not be trusted. "They took our money and then after about six weeks marched in and closed us up." [88] English said that Mafia members from New Orleans felt the same way about the risks of doing business in Texas.

English said the only success the mob ever had "down South" was in Arkansas, which was only because of Owney Madden. The former New York mobster moved to Hot Springs in the 1930s and established alliances with state politicians to create a gambling empire.

English liked the idea but considered it too risky. As a favor, English telephoned Westside boss Sam Battaglia with DeRose's proposal. Battaglia also passed. (There is no indication that DeRose's drug arrest put off English or Battaglia from doing business with him.)

Brodkin

Charles English recommended DeRose check with mob attorney Michael Brodkin to see if he had interest. Brodkin represented the business affairs of hoodlums Gus Alex and Leslie Kruse.

DeRose met Brodkin at his office. Brodkin heard DeRose out, but he too thought it was a losing proposition because "local authorities simply could not be trusted." [89]

Felix Alderisio dropped by during DeRose's visit. Brodkin chided Alderisio in front of DeRose over the Outfit's recent ill-conceived attempt to kill Louis Barbe. Barbe operated a lucrative insurance fraud scheme for the Outfit. He fell out with his mob associates, and they tried to eliminate him by placing a bomb in his car. Barbe survived the blast and had turned state's evidence against them. [90] "If we're to blame for it, there's cross wires someplace and somebody's going to get hurt." [91] Brodkin's blunt talk and self-identification with the mobsters he represented showed he was more like the Outfit's house consigliere than merely a hired lawyer.

After striking out in Chicago, DeRose contacted Angelica by phone on February 4, 1964, and told him the Outfit was taking a pass. DeRose's golden ticket to move up in the underworld had slipped away.

Sidelined

Theodore DeRose was an obscure mobster in his lifetime, and he is even less well known today. However, in the short window between Apalachin, when the FBI first turned its sights onto the Mafia, and the early post-Valachi era, when detailed Mafia knowledge became commonplace, DeRose made a considerable difference to the Bureau's understanding of the Outfit's structure and history.

The full extent of DeRose's cooperation, what he shared, who he ratted out and for how long, remains classified. Only a small number of FBI reports linked to him are currently available. At the very least, evidence shows he secretly supplied Intel until 1967. [92] There is no indication his associates ever suspected he cooperated.

But the very thing that drove DeRose into the FBI's embrace limited his effectiveness as an ongoing source. Outfit bosses partly sidelined DeRose over his drug arrest, and his efforts to gather Intel were surpassed eventually by better-placed sources like Louis Fratto and Ralph Pierce.

DeRose died of natural causes on December 7, 1975. [93] DeRose was buried according to Jewish custom at Chicago's Mount Mayriv Cemetery. The Weinstein Brothers funeral home made the arrangements.

Notes

Thank you to Rick Warner and Gavin Schmitt for providing FBI reports. And thanks to Lennert van't Riet for his research assistance.

1 Not everything the informant told federal agents was accurate. Like any informant relying on hearsay or recalling long-ago events, some details are out of chronological order or just plain wrong.

2 FBI, "CG 6690" Top Echelon Criminal Informant Program, Chicago Office, report no. 92-914-10, December 4, 1963, 6.

3 "CG 6690" 6.

4 FBI, La Cosa Nostra, Chicago Office, July 16, 1964, NARA Record No. 124-10287-10243. This report establishes that the Jewish informant was "CG 6690."

5 FBI, La Cosa Nostra, Chicago Office, July 16, 1964, NARA Record No. 124-10287-10243.

6 "CG 6690" 46.

7 FBI, La Cosa Nostra, Indianapolis Office, Aug. 22, 1968, NARA Record No. 124-10297-10126. The FBI referred to three of the four Chicago sources as Mafia members. The only source not referred to as a Mafia member was "CG 6690".

8 "CG 6690".

9 "CG 6690" 2. His narcotics record also makes him unlikely to be an inducted member.

10 "CG 6690" 4.

11 "CG 6690" 40.

12 "Hunt 17 More in U.S. Narcotics Crackdown," The Times, Oct. 31, 1963.

13 "$10 Million Dope Ring Smashed," The Times, Oct. 30, 1963.

14 DePietto's parents are buried at Mount St. Mary Catholic Cemetery in New York.

15 Organized Crime and the Illicit Traffic in Narcotics: Hearings before the Permanent Subcommittee of Investigations on Government Operations United States Senate, July 30, 1964, Part 4, p. 1067. His death notice indicated he was born two years earlier in 1904.

16 The Chicago Mafia had a tradition of adopting non-Italian criminal monikers like Jack McGurn (real name Vincenzo DeMora) and Jim Emery (real name Vincenzo Ammeratto.)

17 FBI, La Cosa Nostra, New York Office, Oct. 20, 1967, NARA Record No. 124-10277-10308.

18 DeRose disclosed his Jewish identity to federal agents in his first meeting. Was he subconsciously trying to disassociate himself from the Italian Outfit and his past misdeeds?

19 "CG 6690" 4. DeRose would have come to Chicago before Lombardo's murder in 1928.

20 "Emigration Swindle Charged by Woman; Issue Writ for Man," Chicago Tribune, Oct. 27, 1948.

21 "2 Convicted of Selling Dope to Federal Agent." Chicago Tribune, Jan. 27, 1961.

22 "Locate Jewelry; Believed Stolen," Des Moines Tribune, Sept. 29, 1955.

23 "CG 6690" 24. DeRose's connection to Pittsburgh may have come through Carl Fiorito.

24 "Link Murder to Dope Ring in Seizing Trio," Chicago Daily Tribune, March 11, 1960. "Skally told members of the gang that the undercover agent was a hoodlum whom he had known for many years, and that was his fatal mistake, agents said." An unknown assailant murdered Skally with a .38 caliber pistol. Fiorito was the suspected triggerman, but the murder was never officially solved. DeRose revealed murder details, but they are redacted.

25 "Illinois Third in Number of Narcotics Addicts," The Dispatch, Feb. 17, 1960.

26 "Link Murder to Dope Ring in Seizing Trio," Chicago Tribune, March 11, 1960.

27 "Miner Sets Trial of 2 Accused in Dope Sale," Chicago Tribune, April 22, 1960.

28 "2 Receive Long Sentences for Dope Peddling," Chicago Tribune, Feb. 17, 1961.

29 "CG 6690" 40.

30 "Court Upsets Conviction of Two in Sale of Heroin," Palladium-Item, March 20, 1962.

31 "Gets 5-year Probation in Selling of Heroin," Chicago Tribune, March 13, 1965.

32 "CG 6690" 1.

33 "CG 6690" 2.

34 "CG 6690" 49.

35 "CG 6690" 47. The investigations concerned the Winston Diamond Jewelry heist and counterfeit Bank of America Travellers Checks.

36 "Four Others Acquitted of Conspiracy," Chicago Tribune, June 5, 1964.

37 "CG 6690" 7.

38 DeRose's chronology breaks down here. Campagna died in 1955, years after Nitti's death.

39 "CG 6690" 11.

40 "CG 6690" 12.

41 Edmond Valin, "Salvatore Piscopo: The man who betrayed Johnny Roselli," Rat Trap, December 2018. Johnny Roselli told Los Angeles Crime Family member-informant Salvatore Piscopo that Paul Ricca was the real boss in Chicago.

42 Edmond Valin, "How 'Mafia' became 'La Cosa Nostra,'" Rat Trap, September 2018.

43 "CG 6690" 9.

44 "CG 6690" 10.

45 "CG 6690" 9.

46 FBI, La Causa Nostra, Chicago Office, March 11, 1963, NARA Record No. 124-10211-10310. Sam Giancana and Anthony Accardo were the only two confirmed Mafia members in Chicago by early 1963.

47 FBI, La Cosa Nostra, Chicago Office, Dec. 13, 1963, NARA Record No. 124-10277-10302.

48 "CG 6690" 12.

49 FBI, "CG 6690," Chicago Office, report no. 92-689-1, Feb. 17, 1964.

50 "CG 6690" 9.

51 FBI, Charles English; Samuel English, Chicago Office, report no. 63-4719-58, Feb. 7, 1967. Charles English was assigned to the Sam Battaglia faction by 1966.

52 "CG 6690" 19.

53 "CG 6690" 16.

54 FBI, Felix Alderisio, Chicago Office, report no. 92-3141-149, May 25, 1964.

55 "CG 6690" 14.

56 "CG 6690" 13.

57 FBI, La Cosa Nostra, Chicago Office, Aug. 23, 1968, NARA Record No. 124-10288-10421. Louis Fratto said Outfit members "ain't smart enough to intelligently invest and manage it." They needed "Jews [and other non-Italians] to help them manage money, carry out orders. They enjoyed considerable power and influence."

58 FBI, La Cosa Nostra, Chicago Office, Jan. 22, 1964, NARA Record No. 124-10194-10338.

59 "CG 6690" 28.

60 "CG 6690" 4.

61 "CG 6690" 26.

62 Edmond Valin, "Roemer's Men in the Outfit II: Intel provided by Ralph Pierce," Rat Trap, June 2018.

63 FBI, La Cosa Nostra, Chicago Office, July 16, 1964, NARA Record No. 124-10287-10243. DeRose claimed the conflict occurred in the 1950s, but he was off by a decade.

64 "CG 6690" 30.

65 FBI, Samuel M. Giancana, Chicago Office, June 9, 1965, NARA Record No. 124-10199-10000.

66 FBI, Samuel M. Giancana, Chicago Office, June 29, 1966, NARA Record No. 124-10203-10051.

67 FBI, Charles English; Samuel English, Chicago Office, report no. 92-5787, Feb. 7, 1967; FBI, Felix Alderisio, Chicago Office, Nov. 24, 1967, report no. 92-3141-188.

68 FBI, Sam Battaglia, Chicago Office, Bureau file 92-5762, Oct. 19, 1966.

69 FBI, Samuel M. Giancana, Chicago Office, July 14, 1967, NARA Record No. 124-10208-10113.

70 FBI, La Cosa Nostra, Chicago Office, Sept. 25, 1967, NARA Record No. 124-10293-10279.

71 Fiorito said Anthony Accardo, Sam Giancana, and another unidentified Chicago member attended Apalachin but evaded police.

72 Joseph Valachi, who knew all the participants personally, stated Paisano died in a power struggle between Vito Genovese and Frank Costello over control of the Genovese Crime Family.

73 "CG 6690" 23.

74 "CG 6690" 22. In the early 1960s, authorities arrested Genovese Crime Family members Vincent Mauro and John Stoppelli for narcotics trafficking. There was speculation at the time that they revealed confidential information about their drug network.

75 "CG 6690" 2.

76 "CG 6690" 47.

77 "CG 6690" 48.

78 "He was a nice guy with a minor flaw," Galveston Daily News, June 17, 1985. A judge sentenced Angelica to two years in the penitentiary for burning a medical clinic. He was appealing his conviction at the time the FBI formulated their plan.

79 FBI, "CG 6690," Chicago Office, report no. 92-689-99, Jan. 22, 1964, 1.

80 FBI, "NY 3864," New York Office, report no. 92-1450-24, Jan. 14, 1963. Gambino Crime Family member-informant Alfredo Santantonio stated that "Albert Anastasia had [Frank] Scalise killed because Scalise went to Frank Costello and complained about Anastasia taking a piece of everything that the individuals had who were involved in narcotics. He stated that Anastasia was a partner with everyone mixed up in narcotics."

81 Edmond Valin, "Two Gambino Family informants had very different fates," Rat Trap, January 2018. Santantonio provided a full account of the conspiracy to kill Anastasia.

82 FBI, "CG 6690," Chicago Office, report no. 92-689-99, Jan. 22, 1964, 15.

83 When James Allegretti became an Outfit member in 1956, mobsters complained he was "brought in strictly because of his political and police contacts."

84 FBI, "CG 6690," Chicago Office, report no. 92-689-99, Jan. 22, 1964, p. 14.

85 FBI, Sam Salvatore Battaglia, Chicago Office, May 1, 1964. As soon as DeRose reached out to English, an unknown informer in Gagliano's camp immediately contacted the FBI.

86 FBI, La Cosa Nostra, Chicago Office, Nov. 22, 1967, NARA Record No. 124-10195-10223.

87 Edmond Valin, "Stone Park was home to early Outfit informants," Rat Trap, April 2020. Unlike other Mafia groups, the Outfit may have inducted law enforcement officers.

88 FBI, "CG 6690," Chicago Office, report no. 92-689-101, Feb. 12, 1964, 3.

89 "CG 6690" 8.

90 "Hoodlums old pal is fired in scandal," Chicago Tribune, Dec. 21, 1974. Authorities charged Marshall Caifano with insurance fraud, but he was acquitted.

91 "CG 6690" 8.

92 FBI, La Cosa Nostra, Chicago Office, Sept. 25, 1967, NARA Record No. 124-10293-10279. DeRose advised Anthony Accardo, and William Daddano met Anthony Ricci, the Outfit's South Florida representative, in Miami during July 1967.

93 Illinois Cook County, 1878-1994, www.FamilySearch.org.

94 FBI, Manning C. Clements to FBI Director, Nov. 30, 1963, NARA Record No. 124-10049-10005.

95 FBI, Samuel M. Giancana, Chicago Office, Aug. 25, 1965, NARA Record No. 124-10199-10048.

96 FBI, Gus Alex, Chicago Office, Oct 25, 1967, NARA Record No. 124-10209-10364.

97 FBI, Gus Alex, Chicago Office, Oct 25, 1967, NARA Record No. 124-10209-10364.