Joseph Aiuppa

Joseph Aiuppa

Joseph John Aiuppa , also known as Joey Doves and Joey O'Brien (born December 1, 1907 in Melrose Park , † February 22, 1997 in Elmhurst ), was an Italian-American mobster of the American Cosa Nostra and from 1971 to 1986 the official Head of the Chicago outfit .

Life

Early years

Joseph John Aiuppa was born on December 1, 1907 in Melrose Park to Simone and Rosalia Aiuppa . In 1918, eleven-year-old Aiuppa flew out of school and started working as a gardener. He worked for several years as a day laborer and in 1925 became a truck driver for the Midwest Cartage Company .

Criminal rise

Meanwhile, Aiuppa had made some connections to the criminal underworld and was united with later famous criminals like John Dillinger and Alvin Karpis . He also got in contact with the gang of Al Capone and learned important rules of behavior of the underworld, from the mobster Claude "John Moore" Maddox .

Aiuppa, a former boxer, started out as a driver for senior outfit members such as Anthony Accardo before running several gambling establishments in Cicero . These establishments included bookmakers and underground casinos accessed through secret entrances. In 1930 he bought the Turf Lounge , which remained his headquarters for decades. Over the years Aiuppa acquired other clubs such as the Frolics and the Magic Lounge . He also owned the Towne Hotel in Cicero and ran Taylor & Company ; allegedly a furniture manufacturer, but in reality a facade for the illegal manufacture of gaming machines.

From 1935 Aiuppa worked for the Capone mob as an enforcer. During this time, he rose through the ranks of the outfit, and starting in the late 1940s through the 1960s, Aiuppa was in charge of the Cicero district of the outfit. Aiuppa owned and / or operated several establishments in an area of ​​Cicero called the "strip". This is and was the original so-called "strip" in front of the Las Vegas Strip .

Aiuppa owned, and eventually sold, the Navajo Hills golf course outside of suburban Chicago for many years . This was one of his many real estate sales that earned him the reputation of the most powerful and successful outfit member for decades. Aiuppa ran his real estate business under the name Rosemar Reality - named after his mother Rose Marie, who from time to time also made car or small property sales on her behalf. Aiuppa had almost never held any assets in his own name except for his house where he lived.

"Joey Doves"

In 1966, Aiuppa was convicted of illegally possessing and transporting mourning pigeons across state lines. According to the bird protection guidelines from 1918, it is illegal to have more than 24 pigeons per person outside the hunting season. In September 1962, FBI agents arrested him in Kansas with 563 frozen pigeons in his possession. After a series of appeals, Aiuppa was finally convicted in August 1966 and received a 3-month sentence and a $ 1,000 fine. Since that conviction, Aiuppa has also been nicknamed "Joey Doves".

The nickname "Joey O'Brien" comes from his time as a boxer, as Irish boxers were paid better at that time and for this reason he gave himself the name during fights.

Change of power and Vegas

In 1971, Outfit boss Felix Alderisio was convicted of bank fraud and sent to prison. Aiuppa took over the management of the outfit from now on.

It is believed that Aiuppa and his consigliere, Anthony Accardo, commissioned the assassination of Sam Giancana in 1975 . Giancana was forced by outfit to give up his position as boss in 1966. In the mid-1970s, Giancana had received a summons before the Church Committee , and Aiuppa is said to have feared that the booted Giancana would use the upcoming hearing to reveal internals.

It was around this time that the outfit, along with the Civella family from Kansas City, Missouri , the Balistrieri family from Milwaukee, and the Cleveland family , began the financial skimming of casinos in Las Vegas . After four casinos were bought with the help of the Teamsters union , Allen Glick - casino owner and front man for the mobsters - was ordered to install Frank Rosenthal as casino manager. From this position, Rosenthal ran the casinos, while Outfit member Anthony Spilotro protected the Mafia's investments from other criminals.

Condemnation and Retribution

In 1983, Joseph Aiuppa - and with him several other mafiosi - were charged with illegally skimming the casinos for an amount of two million US dollars. In 1986, he was sentenced to 28½ years in prison and a fine of $ 80,000.

Before and during the trial, Aiuppa and Co had tried to eliminate potential witnesses and Pentiti . In June 1986 it was Anthony Spilotro and his brother Michael Peter Spilotro (only associate of the outfit).

They were brutally beaten to death in Bensenville , strangled and then buried in a corn field in Enos, Indiana . Aiuppa probably had several reasons for having Spilotro murdered and the brutal execution in particular was apparently intended to be a deterrent punishment.

Aiuppa not only blamed Spilotro for his own “skimming” conviction, but had also been told that Spilotro and his brother had not obeyed the ban on refraining from other criminal activities in Las Vegas. Spilotro's affair with Frank Rosenthal's wife and his drug use also added up. In addition, Anthony Accardo - predecessor and consigliere of Aiuppa - may have had an account with Spilotro and is said to have asked Spilotro to kill Spilotro as early as 1977.

Last years

On January 19, 1996, Aiuppa was released prematurely from the Federal Medical Center in Rochester and died about a year later, on February 22, 1997, of natural causes at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital in Elmhurst , Illinois. He was laid to rest in the Queen of Heaven Catholic cemetery in Hillside, Illinois .

In the movie

• 1995: Portrayed in the film character Remo Gaggi by Pasquale Cajano , in the film Casino

Web links

• FBI files on Joseph Aiuppa

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Find a Grave - Joseph "Doves" Aiuppa (1907-1997)
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Gangsters Inc. - Chicago Boss: Joseph "Joey Doves" Aiuppa
3. ↑ American News Post - Judge Bob Bastone, Is The Chicago Outfit Dead? ( Memento of the original from February 26, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ ABC7 Chicago - Chicago mobster Sam Giancana's 40-year-old murder still a mystery
5. ↑ First Post - Demonetisation: War on black money will not be complete unless the top sharks are prosecuted
6. ↑ The Hoffa Files: How This Tough Guy Made Las Vegas ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on www.klas-tv.com (English)  
7. ↑ www.time.com “Blood Threat”, February 3, 1986
8. ^ Nevada Public Radio - Tony Spilotro's last act
9. ↑ Chicago Tribune– Joseph Aiuppa, 89, Reputed Mob Kingpin

predecessor	Office	successor
Felix Alderisio	Head of the “ Chicago Outfit ” of La Cosa Nostra 1971–1986	Joseph Ferriola