Mob weaker, but alive after convictions
NWI Times
Jan 2, 1992
nwitimes.com/uncategorized/mob-weaker-but-alive-after-convictions/article_7838698c-0308-5fa4-83a1-efc83bbddf66.html
CHICAGO - The Chicago crime syndicate remains a viable force despite the fact that many of the mob's ranking bosses are either imprisoned or under indictment, local law enforcement officials concede.
"Just because many of the old-timers are being caught in their ways, so to speak, doesn't mean organized crime in Chicago has been deluded in any way," said Robert Fuesel, executive director of the Chicago Crime Commission. The minute one mob figure is out of the picture, another steps in to take his place, he said.
"We have a list of at least 454 people willing to be number one. There are always guys willing to take another person's place in the realm of organized crime," Fuesel said.
The younger mobsters, however, are less motivated by ethnic ties than by a desire to make money, he added. "Organized crime is alive and doing well." Although two of the Chicago Outfit's undisputed leaders,
Joey "Doves" Aiuppa, 82, and
Jackie "The Lackey" Cerone, 75, are serving lengthy prison sentences, government officials say the mob continues to profit in everything from gambling to prostitution.
"Gambling and street tax still fund all the mob's operations whether it's prostitution or 'juice loans,' " Fuesel said.
The so-called street tax is collected from independent bookmakers and illegal vice operators who want to operate in the mob's territory.
The mob also continues to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars a month in "juice loans" to down-and-out businessmen and gamblers at annual interest rates of up to 260 percent.
Government prosecutors contend that illegal gambling, street tax and "juice loans" netted reputed mob boss
Ernest "Rocco" Infelise, 69, and associate
Salvatore "Solly D." DeLaurentis, 53, nearly$4 million in the past decade.
Infelise, DeLaurentis and three others are on trial in U.S. District Court charged with overseeing a lucrative mob gambling business in the north and northwest suburbs that operated through "murder, extortion and violence."
Although indictments like those handed down against Infelise and his "crew" have had some impact on organized crime in Chicago, the syndicate lives on, according to an FBI official.
"I think a decade of indictments and convictions have hurt them. They're not dead, but they're certainly wounded," said Robert E. Walsh, assistant special agent in charge of the Chicago FBI office.
"The mob definitely is losing its influence, especially in the unions and the political arena," Walsh added.
A federal prosecutor said the recent indictments of alleged mob "political fixer"
Gus "Slim" Alex, 75, and Chicago 1st Ward power broker
Pat Marcy, 77, could do more to damage the mob than anything in recent years.
U.S. Attorney Fred Foreman, in announcing the indictments against Alex and other reputed mobsters, promised that the federal government would continue to target organized crime in the coming year.
He predicted that "1992 will be a Super Bowl year" in the government's effort against the mob.
Among the indictments expected later this year are those involving the "Big Seven" in Chicago organized crime, including reputed boss
Sam "Wings" Carlisi.
Others reportedly targeted in the "Big Seven" probe are J
ohn "No Nose" DiFronzo, the mob's No. 2 man;
Vincent "Innocence" Solano Sr.;
Joseph "The Builder" Andriacci;
James "Jimmy L" LaPietra;
Dominick "Tootsie" Palermo; and J
ames "Legs" D'Antonio.
Carlisi, apparently anticipating an indictment, has been in Florida since last February when he turned over day-to-day operations to DiFronzo, said Jerry Gladden, chief investigator with the Crime Commission.
"Carlisi's trying to stay cool, disposing of his money and trying to hide his assets" from the government, Gladden said.
Despite the rash of recent mob indictments, Fuesel said, "The money flowing into the coffers of organized crime continues to expand."
Because the business is so profitable, the mob is formulating new ways to do business.
"They've learned from their mistakes and just hope it doesn't happen again," he said.
The FBI's Walsh said the younger breed of mobster has learned that the old strong-armed tactics of the past simply don't work, as seen by the decline in gangland-style killings.
The mob has become much more sophisticated, Fuesel added.
"It's much harder now to spot their illegal ventures," he said. "They've learned how to launder money, how to work through legitimate businesses and there's not as much violence as there used to be."
