All Blog Posts Tagged 'Spilotro' (21)

Estimate members: Between 50 and 90 made members

First Boss: James "Big Jim" Colosimo

Primary rackets: Gambling, extortion and loan sharking.…

By David Amoruso



Joseph Lombardo was considered one of the longest leading members of the Chicago Outfit. He was nicknamed The Clown, and proved that he could play that role. When he was arrested in 1964 for…

By Gary Jenkins for Gangsters Inc.

“They were motion detectors, but we weren’t too concerned about that, I could have shut off the alarm, but there was too much traffic in front of the building, so I just figured we’d just go through the…

By Gary Jenkins

“I’ve known Tony since I was about 12 years old, we grew up together. At the end of 78, he called and asked me to come out to Vegas and, you know, watch his back, be his underboss, more or less, that’s the term they use. So that’s what I was noted for, the Underboss and the leader of the Hole in the Wall…

By David Amoruso

Chicago Outfit mobster Anthony “The Ant” Spilotro continues to fascinate the public. Thanks in large part to Martin Scorsese’s epic movie Casino and Joe Pesci’s portrayal of him, but also due to the gangster’s violent way of doing business. For those interested, you can now live in his former home or…

By David Amoruso

Hollywood loves gangsters. Not because film makers condone their crimes, but because their stories make them lots of money. It’s difficult to name any other genre that has so many titles based on a true story. Yet, despite this label, the true story often gets twisted to fit the silver screen. That is why Gangsters Inc. shares its knowledge of the…

By David Amoruso

You know a mobster is respected when his colleagues refuse to utter his name out loud, preferring to point to their nose to signify they mean the man known on the streets of Chicago as “No Nose.” Chicago Outfit boss John DiFronzo was that kind of gangster. He passed away on Sunday, at age 89.

DiFronzo had…

By David Amoruso

“It’s good to be in something from the ground floor. I came too late for that and I know. But lately, I’m getting the feeling that I came in at the end. The best is over.” – Anthony Soprano, HBO’s The Sopranos

Mob boss James “Little Jimmy” Marcello must know the feeling. Born on December…

By David Amoruso

You can call Charles Russell an old-time hood that just doesn’t know when to quit. As a member of the Chicago mob’s Grand Avenue Crew, which was once headed by infamous boss…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Former Mafia hitman Frank Cullotta has written a new book and will be out and about doing some heavy promoting. Known as a member of infamous Chicago mobster Anthony Spilotro’s …

Filmmaker Joseph Alexandre’s fascination with the true story behind Martin Scorsese’s mob epic Casino started long before the movie’s release. It all began in the 1980s, while he was working at a Chicago style pizzeria and heard about “the guy,” a man who came around with his College Bowl picks. That “guy” was Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, the…

By David Amoruso

It’s been almost thirty years ago that Chicago mobster Anthony “The Ant” Spilotro was found beaten to death and buried in a shallow grave in a cornfield in Indiana. To… celebrate (?) this anniversary The Mob Museum in Las…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Author and Chicago Mafia expert Gus Russo will visit the Mob Museum in Las Vegas on April 19 to discuss the Outfit’s history and its most notorious bosses during a new edition of Author Talk. The event starts at 7 p.m. and will be concluded with a book signing by Russo. Admission is free for members.

Giancana.…

By David Amoruso

Never a dull moment in the Boston underworld. After barely surviving an internecine war and the beatings Whitey Bulger and the FBI dished out, the New England La Cosa Nostra family has been working hard to rebuild. This year, several top mobsters will hit the streets, raising the ever-pertinent question: Who’s the boss?

The most…

Oscar Goodman defended the most infamous members of organized crime in the United States. Men like Meyer Lansky, Nicky Scarfo, and…

By David Amoruso

The world of organized crime is one considered to be inhabited by individuals who are a cut above the rest. People who can work together to achieve a goal, think out of the box, who can rob and murder and protect their newfound riches through sheer strength. What separates them from other criminals is stated right there in the label “organized…

By David Amoruso

Posted on March 13, 2010

Originally written for Mob Candy Magazine



It was 1951. The Italian-American Mafia, known as La Cosa Nostra, was doing great. Throughout the United States the mob held sway. From the East coast all the way to the West coast, and everything in between was controlled by twenty-some mob families.



But not all families were equal. The five New York families and the Chicago family, known as The Outfit, held the most…