Notorious mob killer Frank Calabrese Sr passed away on Tuesday in a prison in Butner, NC while serving his life sentence. Calabrese now 75 died of apparent cardiac seizure according to his longtime attorney Joe Lopez and he said the former mob boss had been in ill health. He was nicknamed “The Breeze” and was known as an unforgiving and bloodthirsty killer. According to federal authorities Calabrese personally had a hand in at least a dozen murders and had a long and violent career in the Chicago mafia. Calabrese rose through the ranks of the Chicago Outfit and was pursued by law enforcement for years. They finally caught up to him in the 2007 Family Secrets trial when he received life in prison with no hope of parole.

“Frank Calabrese Sr”

Calabrese was indicted along with fourteen other Chicago Outfit members on various charges that included 18 murders and one attempted murder. Along with Frank Sr two other leading members of the Chicago mob were given life sentences James “Jimmy the Man” Marcello and Joey “The Clown” Lombardo. It was a landmark case against the Outfit and two of Frank Calabrese’s closest relatives were keys to the indictments and Franks downfall. His brother Nick Calabrese a mob assassin and enforcer and son Frank Calabrese Jr turned against him. It was the cooperation and testimony of Frank Jr which led to his uncle Nick also agreeing to cooperate.

 
In 1997 Calabrese sr was sent to prison along with his son for various racketeering charges. Now that he was facing a long prison term the younger Calabrese sent a letter to the feds offering his help to bring down his father. Calabrese Jr said that he asked for no kind of deal and only wanted to make sure his father was locked up and away because he claimed he was manipulated and abused by him. Frank Jr agreed to wear a wire while he spent time with his dad in federal prison in Michigan and caught Frank Sr on tape admitting to rackets he ran and murders he committed. Frank Jr would then go on to testify in court against his father in the Family Secrets trial. Along with the testimony of Nick Calabrese who was a participant and witness to many of the mafia murders Frank Sr had done it was a slam dunk case for the feds.

 
Some of his last words as a free man were threats against the federal prosecutors who put him away uttering the words “You are a f—ing dead man” in court toward Asst. U.S. Attorney T. Markus Funk. This threat lead to Frank Sr spending his final days in prison isolation but no harm would come to Funk. Frank “The Breeze” Calabrese is now gone but his family and “The Family” will all still go on now with one less ghost of Christmas past.

Decades after Chicago Outfit mobster Frank Calabrese Sr committed some of the most gruesome mob slayings in history relatives of those victims will receive $1.7 Million dollars in restitution. Calabrese Sr was convicted in the “Family Secrets Trial” in 2007 of racketeering which involved thirteen murders that spanned decades. The $1.7 Million dollars comes from assets of the late Calabrese who died last December while serving his life sentence. The majority of the money was found by federal agents back in 2010 in Calabrese’s home in a secret compartment in the basement hidden behind a family portrait. There were envelopes stuffed with $644,000 dollars in cash and hundreds of pieces of expensive jewelry much of which was still in display boxes with store tags.

“Frank Calabrese Sr”

The 2007 operation Family Secrets trial offered up some lurid testimony from mob turncoats such as Nick Calabrese the brother of Frank Calabrese Sr about some of the most gruesome and notorious mob slayings over several decades. Nick Calabrese alone gave testimony about 14 murders that read more like a Hollywood script. Along with Calabrese Sr other top Chicago Mafia leaders including James Marcello and Joseph “Joey the Clown” Lombardo were also convicted of multiple gangland slayings. This is the largest amount of money to be paid for restitution in an organized crime case according to veteran law enforcement officials. U.S. Attorney Gary Shapiro said “They never find the money and if you do find were never able to get our hands on it” and this restitution is yet another remarkable part of the Family Secrets investigation.
 

The Family Secrets trial is one of the largest take downs of the Chicago Mafia in history and solved 18 murders many of which were considered cold cases. Many believe that the Chicago Outfit still has not rebounded from its effects and may never.

Paul Carparelli was arrested along with eight other alleged members of an extortion crew linked the Chicago Mafia also known as the Chicago Outfit. Prosecutors claim that Carparelli is the leader of the Outfit connected extortion racket and has routinely arranged violent attacks on behalf of the mafia in Chicago. The target of a two year long investigation Carparelli was caught on FBI wiretaps setting up beatings for the Chicago Outfit and boasting about his commitment to Chicago organized crime figures including alleged mob boss Salvatore “Solly D” DeLaurentis. Prosecutors say they recovered $175,000 in cash at Carparelli’s home at time of his arrest and laid out other details of the probe in a bid to persuade a judge to keep him locked up until trial which was unsuccessful.

“Paul Carparelli”

Carparelli was caught on witetap talking to an underling saying “Catch the kid outside, beat the s – - – out of him, break his f – - – ing jaw, break his arm, and leave. It’ll take you five minutes. . . . That’s two grand. That’s your Christmas money right there” on one occassion. He was also taped telling a pal to be discreet so that FBI agents would believe that they had destroyed the Cicero crew a known street crew of the Chicago Mafia. He said let them (FBI) think that they have done their job well and then pat themselves on back for a job well done have a beer and high five each other. In 2011 he was also recorded in a phone conversation allegedly boasting that he had been connected with the Outfit all his life and had ambitions to move up in the organized crime world.
 

Feds claim that just a month ago Carparelli was contacted by a partner of alleged Outfit boss DeLaurentis who allegedly paid him $10,000 to arrange the beating of an unpaying debtor. Carparelli told an underling that was secretly working with the FBI to catch him and give him a good beating and “I think the guys wants his legs broke”. Even with the proof of violent proclivities Carparelli was released from jail under terms allowing him to open a Bloomingdale Pizza business and take care of his son. Judge said he believed that Carparelli was rational enough to understand that while on pretrial release going back to his pre-indictment ways would be reckless. This latest indictment shows that even though the Chicago mafia has been dealt some crippling blows over the last decade they are far from dead.

The infamous St. Valentines Day Massacre took place 85 years ago today orchestrated by Chicago Outfit boss Al Capone. A turf war between rival mafia factions in Chicago led to the brutal massacre which claimed lives of seven mob associates. The battle between the North Side Italians led by Bugs Moran and the South Side Italians led by Al Capone was one of the bloodiest time in Chicago mob history. Moran and Capone were at war for control of the lucrative bootlegging business in Chicago. On February 14, 1929 two men dressed as cops along with others in suits and overcoats lined up seven members of Moran’s North Side Gang along with two collaborators John May and Reinhardt Schwimmer along wall of a garage on North Clark Street and executed them. It remains today as one of the most sinister mafia executions in the history of the American Mafia.

Rudy “The Chin” Fratto did not let his latest bid behind bars derail his mob lifestyle according to area sources. The 70 year old Chicago mobster released last November after doing a year behind bars on charges on construction bid rigging is back in his old neighborhood of Elmwood Park reestablishing himself in the local mafia rackets. Fratto became a made man in the Chicago Outfit back in 1998 during a Father’s Day induction ceremony and was mentored by Chicago mafia boss John “Johnny No Nose” DiFronzo a powerful figure in the mob for the last 25 years.

“Rudy Fratto”

Rudy the Chin is known to law enforcement as being prone to violence and has been identified as a suspect in numerous crimes including murder and attempted murder over the years. But he has found a way to stay out of prison for the most part even under close watch by the feds only having served two stints in prison one being his latest along with a tax evasion term back in early 2000′s.
 

During his latest big rigging case Fratto was caught on a wire tap saying “I’m the boss of this area around here , no one else”. The judge in the case claimed that the evidence put forth by the prosecution including the wire tap conversations were not enough to link the Rudy’s reputed Chicago mob status to the bid rigging scheme.

Chicago mafia capo Albert (Albie the Falcon) Vena is said by some to be the most-feared man in the Windy City, a new-and-improved version of Anthony (Tony the Ant) Spilotro, if you will. His emergence the past few years as a major player in the upper-echelon of the city’s mob landscape has reinvigorated his Grand Avenue-based crew, reinstalling a large chunk of the power and prestige it lost in the late 2000s courtesy of the epic Operation Family Secrets bust.

Like Spilotro, Albert Vena is tiny (just a smidge over five feet), but incredibly fearless and extremely deadly. However, unlike Spilotro, the Chicago crime family’s crew-leader in Las Vegas, killed alongside his brother in a grisly 1986 Outfit double-slaying depicted in the Martin Scorsese gangster film classic “Casino,” Vena, 66, knows how to make nice with his superiors in the mob and doesn’t let his ego get the best of him.

“Chicago Mafia gathering”

Vena’s name recently surfaced in the Chicago press due to him being mentioned at the trial of cop-turned-gangster Steve Mandell, convicted in February of attempting to kidnap, torture and murder an enemy and his wife in order to assume control of a Bridgeview strip club and another associate to seize his real estate assets.

Testimony at the trial revealed that FBI agents watched as Mandell lunched with Vena at La Scrola, the one-time favorite haunt of notorious Chicago mob capo and consigliere Joseph (Joey the Clown) Lombardo, Vena’s former boss and mentor, who ruled the city’s Westside and was in charge of the notoriously-rugged Grand Avenue crew for over 30 years. Mandell was caught telling a wired-up associate that he’d gone to Vena for permission to kill an adversary and Vena, someone linked by the government to several underworld slayings, had failed to give him the go-ahead.

Lombardo was nailed in the Feds’ landmark Family Secrets case, convicted at the 2007 trial in the brutal 1974 murder of mafia associate Danny Siefert, a soon-to-be witness for the government against him and several mob cronies, and Vena was selected to replace Joey the Clown as the new “Godfather of Grand Avenue.”

Spilotro, another Lombardo protégé, is alleged to have been part of Lombardo’s hit squad that snuffed out Siefert in broad daylight and in front of his wife and son outside a suburban plastics factory days before a federal trial was set to begin in a Teamsters Union pension-fund fraud case he was slated to be the star witness in.

The double homicide of Spilotro and his brother was also included in the Family Secrets indictment, with Outfit street boss James (Jimmy the Man) Marcello convicted of delivering the siblings to their slaughter at the house of capo Louis (Louie the Mooch) Eboli in June 1986, where they were beaten and strangled to death by a cadre of hit men as revenge for Tony the Ant running amok in Las Vegas and bringing too much heat on the syndicate’s West Coast affairs.

The diminutive, yet dynamic Vena was groomed by a slew of Outfit big shots and reputedly taught to kill by one of the Chicago mafia’s most revered enforcers. Besides Lombardo, Albie the Falcon came up under Northside capos and lieutenants like Vincent (Innocent Vince) Solano, Joseph (Joe the Builder) Andriacchi, Gus Alex and Lenny Patrick. Early on in his underworld career, Vena was placed in Joey the Clown Lombardo’s enforcement wing and schooled by the Clown’s No. 1 strong arm and hit man, Frank (Frankie the German) Schweis, a renowned assassin.

Vena and Schweis are both considered suspects in the 1983 gangland murder of Teamsters official and high-level mob associate Allen Dorfman, a killing also depicted in the movie Casino.

Schweis was brought down with Lombardo in the Family Secrets case (dying before making it to trial though) and was fiery until his last breath – the German, while frail in appearance, still managed to repeatedly bark at reporters and prosecutors alike in court proceedings that directly preceded his passing.

In the fall of 1992, Vena was indicted on a state murder beef for the gruesome slaying of low-tier Windy City hoodlum, Sam Taglia, charges he was acquitted on at a 1993 trial. Taglia, on the outs with mob leaders over stolen money and scam drug deals, was found stuffed in the trunk of his car in Melrose Park, shot in the head, his throat slit ear-to-ear. He and Vena were seen together in the hours before his unsightly demise.

Showing his feistiness, Vena tried to run over the cops that came to arrest him for Taglia’s murder with his car. Cautious of recording devices, he’s rarely appeared on police wiretaps and is known to keep a relatively low profile around town, especially compared to his predecessor, Joey the Clown, notorious for his witty demeanor and flash-bulb friendly personality.

When Lombardo and Schweis got popped in 2005 in the Family Secrets bust – both going on the lam for almost a year trying to dodge arrest before finally being apprehended – Vena and Vincent (Jimmy Boy) Cozzo, Lombardo’s right-hand man, were running the Grand Avenue crew together, using Lombardo’s longtime driver Christopher (Christy the Nose) Spina as their messenger. After Cozzo died of natural causes in July 2007 and Joey the Clown was convicted three months later, Vena was officially upped to full-fledged capo by semi-retired Chicago Outfit boss John (Johnny No Nose) Di Fronzo.

“Albie Vena is a very serious individual,” retired FBI agent Jack O’Rourke said. “He has the reputation of being both treacherous and reliable. All the heavyweights in the Family trust him very much. In a lot of ways, he’s a throwback. He lives by the code of the old ChicagoOutfit bosses. Most people see him being a big part of the future administration. The pedigree is there, he’s been around a long time.”

Article courtesy of Scott M. Burnstein Author of Motor City Mafia: A Century of Organized Crime in Detroit (Images of America) and other great mafia titles. Be on look out for Scott’s upcoming mafia column and website launch.

Joseph “The Builder” Andriacchi is believed to be the new face of the Chicago Outfit taking over for former mob boss Johnny “No Nose” DiFronzo according to sources. DiFronzo has seen his physical and mental health decline over the last few years forcing him to finally step down as boss of the Chicago mob. Andriacchi filled in for DiFronzo in the early 90′s while he was in prison for several months and has a long history in the Outfit. He is also part of the powerful Cicero Crew of the Chicago crime family.

“Joseph Andriacchi”

The position held in the Outfit today by Andriacchi has changed with time and is no longer a day to day operation type post and more so that of an elder statesman for the crime family. Top ranking Outfit mobsters which now include Albert Vena, Solly DeLaurentis, and James Iandino among others handle daily mob business and act as family advisers and it is unclear if any single Outfit member acts in the traditional role of a mafia boss today. The Outfit ranks have always been handled somewhat differently then other Cosa Nostra families around the country. The new shift in power in the Chicago Outfit will no doubt increase the influence of the Cicero crew among others.

The mafia in Chicago has taken its share of hits from law enforcement over the years and has seen the passing of previous bosses like Anthony Accardo , Paul Ricca, and Joseph Aiuppa but still remains a powerful and influential organized crime empire.

Chicago mobsters Bobby Panozzo and Paul Koroluk of the Outfit’s Grand Avenue crew were stung last week. And the 54-year old Panozzo could be stung again soon……with murder charges.

Operating a sub-group within the Grand Avenue faction, identified as “The P-K Crew” (the pair’s initials), Panozzo and Koroluk, and two subordinates, one being Panozzo’s namesake and 22-year old son, Bobby, Jr, were nabbed last Thursday in a police sting operation by Cook County narcotics detectives for running an elaborate armed-robbery ring targeting unprotected drug houses, as well as engaging in home invasions, arson, burglary, drug trafficking, attempted murder and possibly murder.

“Robert Panozzo, 54, Paul Koroluk, 55, Panozzo’s son, Robert Panozzo, Jr., 22, Maher Abuhabsah, 33, and Koroluk’s wife, Maria Koroluk, 53″

The racketeering and home invasion charges carry maximum 60-year prison sentences. Using tips from street gang members, a police radio scanner and stolen police uniforms, the P-K’s raided a series of area drug houses before the cops could. Their traditional home invasions were brutal and bloody; Panozzo chopped off one victim’s ear for lying to him in the midst of Panozzo robbing him.

The robbery crew was caught in the act, set-up by the cops and tricked into thinking they were ripping off a 45-kilo shipment of cocaine from a stash house on South Brandon Avenue in the city’s Hegewisch district, when in fact they were walking into a carefully-planned bear trap, the culmination of an investigation called, “Operation Crew Cut”.

Walking out of the purported stash house early Thursday morning, Panozzo, Koroluk and their associates were met by a swat team of Chicago police officers.Panozzo and the half-Polish, half-Italian Koroluk, 55, are both Chicago mafia Grand Avenue mob crew veterans, first reporting to Joseph (Joey the Clown) Lombardo, currently imprisoned, and now taking orders from Albert Vena, Lombardo’s replacement as capo of the city’s Westside.

Sources close to the investigation, say Vena, a person dubbed “the most dangerous gangster in Chicago” by organized experts, the Windy City media and fellow mobsters alike, was “very close” to be indicted in the case, too. FBI wiretaps and street informants tie Vena to pocketing a percentage of the scores Panozzo and Koroluk were taking down.

Gangster running buddies for years, Panozzo and Koroluk were groomed in the art of robbery by Joey the Clown himself. The pair came up in a Lombardo-overseen burglary crew headed by his driver, James (Jimmy Legs) D’Antonio. FBI documents related to D’Antonio claim that Panozzo and Koroluk actually went along on the final actual robbery job the Clown personally participated in during an early 1980s jewelry store heist. By that time, Lombardo was already a capo and according to the report took a liking to Panozzo, nicknaming him “Bobby Pinocchio” for his talent for deception. The young Panozzo and Koroluk are alleged to have acted as look-outs on the job.

The P-K crew has been on law enforcement’s radar for the past couple years. In 2012, crew members Louie Capuzi and Frank Obrochta, were nailed on charges of burglary, home invasion, insurance fraud and prostitution and are currently awaiting trial.

Last fall, Chicago Police discovered Panozzo and Koroluk tried to put a murder contract on a witness in a forthcoming home invasion case. Then in the winter, Panozzo and Vena were mentioned at the trial of Windy City cop-turned-mobster Steve Mandell, convicted in February of attempting to kidnap, torture and eventually murder a pair of associates and one of their wives, in a ploy to assume control of one associate’s strip clubs and the other’s real estate assets. Testimony and FBI surveillance photos revealed that Panozzo and Mandell dined with Vena at Vena’s favorite Italian eatery, La Scrola (also a “forever fav” of the Lombardo when he was on the streets).

Part of the indictment against Panozzo released Saturday quotes a confidential federal informant as accusing Panozzo of the murder of an elderly woman back in 1987, a homicide he is said to have bragged about. The informant said the murder was preceded by the woman signing over her property to Panozzo and concluded with him allegedly killing her by throwing her down three different flights of stairs in her apartment building.

Law enforcement sources in the Windy City tell the Mob Insider that a first-degree homicide charge against Panozzo could be added to the indictment before the case hits trial and that the FBI and Chicago PD detectives are investigating Panozzo’s connection to a currently unsolved October 1987 murder that took place in an apartment complex on W. Ohio Street and matches the informant’s description of events.

Less than a decade ago, Panozzo and Koroluk were arrested and convicted on similar burglary charges and were sentenced to seven-year prison bits in 2006. A source close to the Grand Avenue crew claims Panozzo also helps Vena, someone he’s very close to, look after the crew’s loan sharking business and that he has a reputation on the city’s Westside as a “tough-as-nails collector.”

One of the street gangs feeding the P-K gang with information on what drug houses to rob was allegedly the C-Notes, according to the Chicago Crime Commission, a longtime “Outfit JV team,” that Vena was once a member of and maintains close ties with.

Retired Chicago PD organized crime investigator Robert McDonald used to keep tabs on Panozzo and Vena in the 1980s.

“We’d watch Lombardo’s young guys and Bobby and Albie were two you always knew weren’t guys you messed with, they were the type of individuals that really enjoyed the work, took pleasure in inflicting pain,” he said. “Lombardo knew there was always room in the Chicago Outfit for guys like that and he made sure they were utilized from a young age.”

Article courtesy of Scott M. Burnstein Author of Motor City Mafia: A Century of Organized Crime in Detroit (Images of America) and other great mafia titles.

Mario Rainone a one time enforcer for the Chicago mafia has been sentenced to fifteen years behind bars after being convicted on felony weapon possession charges. He previously did a 17 year term on racketeering charges and is currently in prison serving a 7 1/2 year bid for burglary. As part of the Chicago Outfits north side crew he was often involved in various mob scheme’s including shaking down restaurants and bars.

“Mario Rainone”

In mob circles Rainone was known as “the Arm” because of his skills and talents at muscling people. Considering his long criminal past it seems like he may have gotten off with a bit of a break getting only an added 15 years as the government was looking for upwards of 25 years. Rainone says that he left the Chicago mob back in 1989 after learning he was actually the target of a hit he was sent to carry out.

Frank Balistrieri was the boss of the Milwaukee mafia back in 1984 when him and his two sons John Balistrieri and Joseph Balistrieri were caught in an FBI sting. They were caught in an attempted extortion scheme involving the Milwaukee vending machine business. Both his son’s Joseph and John were attorney’s at the time were both disbarred after being convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison. They both ended up doing five years after blaming their misdeeds on their mobster father and his association with organized crime.

“Frank Balistrieri (center) and his sons”

Frank Balistrieri died back in 1993 and his son Joseph in 2010. John Balistrieri has been fighting since his release to regain his law license but was once again turned down by the Wisconsin Supreme court. They noted answers given back during a 2002 deposition by John which they described as flippant and said he was not accepting responsibility for his previous crimes. He is now willing to admit there was a conviction but still maintains that he did nothing wrong according to court documents.

The Milwaukee mafia today is all but extinct since the death of its long time boss Frank back in 93. The Milwaukee mob family was always considered to be a branch of the Chicago Outfit and it is believed that once Frank passed The Outfit moved back in and controls what is left of the local rackets. Peter “Pitch” Picciurro is considered to be the “boss” of what is left of the Milwaukee crime family keeping what remains in line for the Chicago Mafia leadership.

John Balistrieri was believed to have held rank of consigliere for the Milwaukee mob and may still but those claims are unsubstantiated and he maintains he has no ties to the mafia.

A new documentary by Barry Katz called “I Killed JFK” features a former mob associate who claims that he fired the shots from the grassy knoll that killed President John F. Kennedy. James Files who changed his name to Jimmy Sutton says he was the man behind the mystery and he shot JFK on behalf of the Mafia. The documentary chronicles how Files along with fellow mobsters Charles “Chuckie” Nicoletti and Johnny Roselli went to Dallas the day that the President was assassinated.

After a stint in the US Army Files became associated with the Chicago Mafia also known as the Chicago Outfit along with the CIA according to the film. He worked under an underling of Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana in Charles Nicoletti. Mafia bosses across the country including Giancana were angered at the attack on organized crime by attorney general Bobby Kennedy brother of JFK.

Two former FBI agents claim that they believe the story being told by Files is credible. Zack Shelton a retired special agent in the FBI says he has been able to verify a lot of Files’ story including a shot being fired from the grassy knoll where he says he was positioned and fired shot from. William Turner also a former FBI special agent who has dedicated a majority of his life to the JFK case says his investigation has lead him to believe the CIA allied with the Mafia killed JFK.

Notorious mob killer Frank Calabrese Sr passed away on Tuesday in a prison in Butner, NC while serving his life sentence. Calabrese now 75 died of apparent cardiac seizure according to his longtime attorney Joe Lopez and he said the former mob boss had been in ill health. He was nicknamed “The Breeze” and was known as an unforgiving and bloodthirsty killer. According to federal authorities Calabrese personally had a hand in at least a dozen murders and had a long and violent career in the Chicago mafia. Calabrese rose through the ranks of the Chicago Outfit and was pursued by law enforcement for years. They finally caught up to him in the 2007 Family Secrets trial when he received life in prison with no hope of parole.

“Frank Calabrese Sr”

Calabrese was indicted along with fourteen other Chicago Outfit members on various charges that included 18 murders and one attempted murder. Along with Frank Sr two other leading members of the Chicago mob were given life sentences James “Jimmy the Man” Marcello and Joey “The Clown” Lombardo. It was a landmark case against the Outfit and two of Frank Calabrese’s closest relatives were keys to the indictments and Franks downfall. His brother Nick Calabrese a mob assassin and enforcer and son Frank Calabrese Jr turned against him. It was the cooperation and testimony of Frank Jr which led to his uncle Nick also agreeing to cooperate.

 
In 1997 Calabrese sr was sent to prison along with his son for various racketeering charges. Now that he was facing a long prison term the younger Calabrese sent a letter to the feds offering his help to bring down his father. Calabrese Jr said that he asked for no kind of deal and only wanted to make sure his father was locked up and away because he claimed he was manipulated and abused by him. Frank Jr agreed to wear a wire while he spent time with his dad in federal prison in Michigan and caught Frank Sr on tape admitting to rackets he ran and murders he committed. Frank Jr would then go on to testify in court against his father in the Family Secrets trial. Along with the testimony of Nick Calabrese who was a participant and witness to many of the mafia murders Frank Sr had done it was a slam dunk case for the feds.

 
Some of his last words as a free man were threats against the federal prosecutors who put him away uttering the words “You are a f—ing dead man” in court toward Asst. U.S. Attorney T. Markus Funk. This threat lead to Frank Sr spending his final days in prison isolation but no harm would come to Funk. Frank “The Breeze” Calabrese is now gone but his family and “The Family” will all still go on now with one less ghost of Christmas past.

Going into the new year of 2015 who do you think is the most powerful mafia family outside of the five families of the New York mafia ? An interesting question that is often asked to many people in and around mob circles and that is often disagreed upon by most. Many of the La Cosa Nostra families outside of New York have been decimated over the last several years due to enhanced law enforcement efforts and various other factors. The mob families that remain outside of the Big Apple have had their ups and downs in the last year some more then others and perhaps some even back on the rise ?

Many American Mafia families outside of New York have come to an end with a few remaining in name only having very few active guys still on the streets. Many cities like Denver, Pittsburgh, Tampa and else where don’t have enough left to be considered as organized crime families any longer even if some activity remains. Here is a look at the organizations who remain intact and can still be considered as organized crime groups. Which of these do you think is still the most powerful heading into a new year ?

There have been rumbling of the New Jersey mafia also known as the DeCavalcante Family starting to rebound as they have stayed low key of late and off the feds hit list for most part. Whether or not the family is growing again is up for debate but they have at the moment at least stabilized. They do have a current leadership sturcture in place and seem to be in about as good a shape as they have been in last ten years or so.

The Philadelphia mafia has had a rough couple of years but they have a leadership structure still in place even after their then boss and top ranking members on trial in 2014. It is still a big question for many as to who really runs the Philly mob these days with many of the belief that its still Joey Merlino from Florida. Current acting boss Steve Mazzone is running things on streets these days whether or not he is taking orders from Skinny Joey is yet to be determined. They have also seen an influx if made guys making their way back on streets after completing prison stretches.

The Chicago mafia also known as the Chicago Outfit has definitely been diminished over the years but remain a structured mob family and still has some powerful capo heading some of its legendary crews. Although many admit the best days of the Chicago mob are behind them and their ranks are quickly dwindling they don’t seem to be going away any time soon. At same time many consider them now as no more then a glorified crew losing traction on Chicago streets year after year.

The New England mafia also known as the Patriarca crime family has really been hit hard over the last couple of years losing much of its upper management due to turncoats and government indictments. Much of the families once powerful Rhode Island faction has been taken down and the family as a whole seems in major disarray. Boston seems to be where the power now lies although the number of made and active guys seems to be on a steady decline. Many believe they are quickly becoming one of the next mafia families to face extinction.

The Detroit mafia has long been one of the more low key families and has had a very steady run being able to avoid the feds and an abundance of turncoats over the years. They have moved into a new era this year with long time mob boss Jack Tocco retiring and passing away making room for new boss Jackie Giacalone and a whole new leadership group. Some believe the Detroit mob family may be the most powerful outside of New York while others see them as being low key and out of the news because they have little going on in form of major organized crime.

So be sure to cast your vote for the mob family you think is the most powerful outside of New York going into 2015.

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Louis Marino also known as “Louie Tomatoes” has recently been put in control of Chicago Mafia rackets in the north side suburbs of The Windy City. Marino recently finished up doing 25 years in prison when he was released last October. The 82 year old mobster has been rewarded for his loyalty to the mob with his promotion to “street boss” of the north suburb region. He was appointed to his new leadership position by current Chicago mob acting boss Salvatore “Solly D” DeLaurentis according to mafia news from Scott Burnstein and his Gangster Report.

“Louis (Louie Tomatoes) Marino“

According to sources the octogenarian mobster has no intentions of retiring anytime soon but his son Dino Marino a Chicago Outfit button man is allegedly being groomed to eventually take his place. Both Louie Tomatoes and Solly D came up together in the mafia under former Cicero crew capo Ernest Infelise and former bosses Sam Carlisi and Joseph Ferriola.

Both mobsters were known and feared as mob enforcers for the Cicero crew back in the 70’s and 80’s according to reports. When mobster Joseph Amato retired Solly D and Louie took over the Lake and McHenry County loansharking and gambling operations before being pinched in a RICO bust. DeLaurentis held the position of north suburbs street boss before taking over day to day operations for the mafia in Chicago as acting boss sometime in 2013.

Paul Carparelli a lieutenant in the Chicago Mafia is awaiting trial on federal extortion charges and is now in more hot water. Carparelli had his bond rescinded following charges of employing intimidation tactics in an attempt to dissuade a witness from testifying in his upcoming trial. According to court documents he spotted an associate of a witness and approached him in a parking lot telling him the witness was a rat and he knows what happens to rats. He will now spend the rest of his upcoming time awaiting trial which is set to begin this summer behind bars.

“Paul Carparelli“

Carparelli known as a tough guy in the mob is allegedly part of the infamous Chicago Outfit Cicero crew. The 46 year old mobster and six co-defendants were charged in 2013 with extorting businesses in various states. He was caught on wiretaps making no apologies for being a mobster saying “I’ve been with the Outfit my whole life, I’m not about to change now,” he was caught on an FBI wiretap telling a friend. “This is what I’m made of and this is where I come from and I’m fucking proud of it.”

He also has links to Chicago mob boss Salvatore “Solly D” DeLaurentis who took the reigns of the family back in 2013 after the imprisonment of Michael “Fat Mike” Sarno. Carparelli is believed to be part of the regime of a Lake County Cicero crew sub crew which is in heart of the DeLaurentis powerbase. He was also caught on wiretap bragging about taking 10 thousand dollars from DeLaurantis to break a debtor’s legs.

Michael “Mikey” Davis a long time powerful associate of the Chicago mafia has been found guilty on charges of extortion and now faces up to 40 years behind bars. The trial featured some of the biggest names of the Chicago Outfit ranks including former bosses John DiFronzo and Peter DiFronzo and current alleged Chicago mob boss Salvatore “Solly D” DeLaurentis. Davis has strong ties to the DiFronzo brothers going back years and according to prosecutors maintained a business relationship with DeLaurentis.

“Michael Davis and Peter DiFronzo“

Davis back in 2013 threatened a deadbeat debtor named R.J. Serpico and then tried to hire a group of goons to break the guys legs. After threatening Serpico himself and still not getting paid he went to fellow mob associate Paulie Carparelli to set up an assault to turn up the heat in efforts to recover the $300,000 he says he was owed. But the man enlisted to set up the assault was an FBI snitch who had turned rat after he was himself nabbed months later in a different extortion plot.

“Michael Davis“

None of the Chicago mafia leaders who were named in the trial were charged with any wrong doing but it did shed some added light on the ranks of the mafia in Chicago. The DiFronzo brothers and Solly D were all at some point reputed leaders of the Elmwood Park crew who made their way through the ranks to become part of the Chicago mob hierarchy.

“Salvatore DeLaurentis“

Chicago mafia captain Albert Vena is the focus of an ongoing criminal inquiry which may include information from former mob lieutenant turned rat Jeff Hollingshead and wife Jillian according to sources. Dubbed by Chicago media as the most dangerous man in the city Vena heads the Grand Avenue crew of the Chicago mob. The Hollingshead’s already dealt a blow to the Chicago outfit helping to take down Grand Avenue mobster Robert “Bobby Pinocchio” Panozzo. According to law enforcement sources the feds are now pushing the mob couple for information on Vena as reported by Scott Burnstein and his gangsterreport.

“Albert (Albie the Falcon) Vena (mugshot)“

Jeff Hollingshead was pinched back in 2009 on racketeering and home invasion charges but was released on bond while awaiting trial. But in 2013 his bond was revoked on charges of firearm possession and he was sent back to prison leading to a series of events ending in him cooperating with the feds. Right after being locked up on the firearms charge his old boss Panozzo made sexual advances against his wife Jillian and later staged a robbery of the couple’s home. Authorities received information from mob informants that Panozzo sent mob associates including Paul Koroluk to steal cash and jewels from the couple’s house.

Hollingshead’s wife Jillian decided to go to the feds after the request for the stolen property to be returned were ignored and Panozzo’s sexual advances continued. She then convinced her husband who is facing a 40 year sentence to turn rat and the couple help the feds set up a robbery sting which netted Panozzo and his crew. Jillian also supplied the feds with what they believed to be a hit list of witnesses in the case against her husband. The feds believe Panozzo was attempting to locate these witnesses to kill them before they could supply feds with any testimony.Hollingshead admitted the list was supplied to him by a mafia lawyer and told to give it to Bobby that he would know what to do with it.

The criminal investigation into Vena has been ongoing for months and is reported to involve multiple agencies. The criminal probe may also prove to be a problem for Vena’s No.2 Christopher Spina. Known as Christy the Nose, Spina acts as Vena’s buffer delivering orders and messages from the Chicago mafia capo to others within the family. The 62 year old Spina has long been suspected of being an Outfit wiseguy, but has yet to be convicted of any mob crimes. If indictments are handed down that include both Vena and Spina it would be a real blow to the infamous Grand Avenue crew and the mafia in Chicago as a whole.

The AMC docu-drama The Making of the Mob is back and this time, it’s headed to Chicago for an in-depth look at the Chicago Mafia also known as the Chicago Outfit.

The new series will chronicle the rise and fall of infamous mobster Al Capone along with the story of his successors in the Chicago mob. You can watch The Making of the Mob: Chicago premiere Monday, July 11th at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The eight-episode series will give watchers a look into the history of the mafia in Chicago and some of its violent past as the cities underworld evolved. The series airs on what AMC has labeled as Mob Mondays!

The docu-drama series began last year with “The Making of the Mob: New York” which focused on the American Mafia families located there. It followed the life of Charles “Lucky” Luciano considered by many to be the father of modern organized crime in New York along with other Cosa Nostra leaders in the cities history. The miniseries first run received favorable reviews from the vast majority of its audience. It should be an entertaining look into one of the countries most infamous organized crime organization still in operation today.

According to reports Chicago mafia acting boss Salvatore “Solly D” DeLaurentis has promoted veteran mobster Albert Vena to Outfit street boss.

Vena has been handling the day to day operations acting as an intermediary between Solly D and the Chicago mob capos for months now. He leads the infamous Westside Grand Avenue crew and even though his crew has been under siege by the feds over the last few years he has been able to avoid any indictments. DeLaurentis took control of the Chicago Outfit back in 2012 in place of aging mob boss John DiFronzo and has been reorganizing the families hierarchy according to reports from sources of Scott Burnstein and his gangsterreport.

The now 67-year-old Vena will remain a capo of his Westside crew while handling his new street boss gig. Vena has long been a feared Outfit wiseguy and he has been called “the most dangerous man in Chicago” by the media and FBI informants. Vena operates from his Richard’s Bar headquarters and is often seen dining next door at La Scarola restaurant next door. Along with Solly D and Vena also known as “Albie the Falcon” the current Chicago mob hierarchy also includes consigliere Marco D’Amico and underboss Salvatore Cataudella.

The mafia in Chicago has been seen as a declining organization over the last decade or so but has seemingly stabilized in the last couple of years and may be rebuilding and re-establishing itself at least to some extent under its new leadership. Along with what seems to be a stable hierarchy the Chicago Outfit also has capable capos in place including alleged Elmwood Park crew skipper Rudy Fratto and Cicero crew capo James Inendino. The Outfit will never see the power and influence it commanded in its heyday but the mafia today in Chicago may be rejuvenated to some extent and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

A decade ago in the midst of the infamous “Family Secrets” case Chicago mafia underboss Anthony Zizzo mysteriously disappeared.

The feds are still searching for information on the disappearance and are even offering a $10,000 reward for information into his whereabouts. The high ranking Cosa Nostra boss was last seen in August of 2006 at his Westmont townhouse where he kissed his wife goodbye on his way out to a lunch meeting with fellow Chicago Outfit mobsters. His car was found empty in Melrose park and what happened to Tony Zizzo remains a mystery but several theories have surfaced over the years.

“Anthony Zizzo”

Authorities believe Zizzo may have been the victim of a Chicago mob hit. He was believed to have had a falling out with then Chicago mob boss Michael Sarno over illegal video poker machines. As often happens in the world of the mafia a sit down to smooth things out often leads to a death sentence. Others believe he may have been killed because his fellow Chicago mobsters feared he may flip and turn rat due to heat from the Family Secrets case. Another possibility is that he fled from prosecution knowing the Family Secrets trial would lead to his conviction.

The landmark case dubbed Operation Family Secrets exposed the inner working of the mafia in Chicago as turncoats testified against their fellow wiseguys. It ended in convictions against top Chicago mob leaders which likely would have included Zizzo. According to authorities both Joe Andriacchi and Albert Vena are possible suspects in the disappearance of Zizzo although neither have ever been charged. Vena is believed to have recently been named “streetboss” for the Outfit by acting boss Salvatore “Solly D” DeLaurentis and is a high-value target for the feds.

It was long thought that a second round of Family Secrets indictments were on the way but it never actually happened. If the feds could somehow prove Zizzo was murdered and solve the case it may lead to more rounds of indictments.