The Chicago Outfit Today

The Chicago Outfit once dominated Chicago crime, but today it has faded into the background.  If you are in the mafia, that is the way you would want it.  When murders in Chicago reach into the 740’s for the year 2016 there is little time to give the Outfit press time.

The Outfit is still operating in Chicago today.  It is a far cry from the days of Al Capone or the long steady reign of Tony Accardo.  

Last week the ATF pulled an undercover sting on one of the few members of the Outfit’s Grand Avenue crew. Charles “Chuckie” Russell who is also the brother in law of  Albert Vena who heads the crew.  Albert is a capo and the street boss of the Outfit as of now.  

The ATF got interested in Russell when he bragged to one of their informants that he was juiced up in the Outfit.  He was looking to buy some guns for a planned home invasion robbery.

Russell bragged to the wired up informant that he was head of the “Bishop Boys” a robbery/ burglary crew that is responsible for hundreds of heists.

This is where the Outfit has gone down, the quality of it’s workers. In Tony Accardo’s time a loud mouth home invader would not be around long.

In all the decades Accardo was around his only mistake was having the burglars who robbed his home tortured, murdered and left as an example.  It brought a tremendous amount of heat on the Outfit when they had gambling and other white collar crimes locked up.

Russell met with the informant and an undercover ATF agent to discuss what he was looking to buy at least eight guns an AK-47 and an UZI for the job.  He was planning a home invasion right before Christmas.  He had been watching an attorney who supposedly had a safe with 750,000 dollars in cash. He had an ex-girlfriend who was close to the attorney feeding him information.

The crew was ready and they had police scanners, masks, cars and changes of clothes. The only real obstacle would be the attorney.  They needed the attorney to open the safe and he hoped he would not drop dead from a heart attack.

People always question me about why these guys talk about past crimes.  They love to brag because crime is their world, their lives and if nobody knows about it what good is it?

Russell described to the agent how he loved to make the score, the rush from pulling it off and the counting of the cash afterwards. He recounted the time he once stole so much cash it took him all night to count it and that his hands were covered in dirt.  This is so true - most people forget about how nasty those rag paper bills get.  The old money counters would get gummed up fast from the dirt, so we would often weigh the cash instead.

He then showed the agent a picture on his phone of a bullet riddled car and a driver's license of a black man.  He told him that it was a nice piece of work and that he had shot the guy through his head. He then told them how they drove the car to a black neighborhood so it would be just another black crime.

Believe it or not this kind of bragging is common, they all want you to know just what tough guys they are in real life.

Chuckie Russell might be in some real big trouble because the Chicago PD confirmed that the man whose license he showed the agent was murdered.

The Disappearance of Little Tony Zizzo

You may not be familiar with the name Anthony Zizzo, or “Little Tony” as he was also known. Little Tony was a Chicago Outfit guy who may have assumed the underboss position for a short period of time.

The FBI is offering a $10,000 reward for information on the disappearance or the whereabouts of Little Tony.  Little Tony is presumed to be dead.  

He left his town home in Westmont, Illinois for a meeting on Rush Street in Chicago.  When he kissed his wife goodbye, she had no idea she would never see him again.  Little Tony drove to a restaurant in Melrose Park where he parked his Silver Jeep Cherokee and got into another car that would take him for his sitdown.

The sitdown was supposed to take place at a Rush Street restaurant where it was to be mediated by Joseph Andriacchi a well respected former underboss of the Outfit. What the FBI thinks, is Little Tony was kidnapped and murdered someplace where there were less eyes.  

The killers “disappeared” Little Tony’s body, and so far no informant has given up it’s location.

Little Tony came up in the crew of Outfit boss Sam Carlisi, along with James Marcello, who would also become boss one day.  

Little Tony and Marcello were taken down together in the early 1990’s. The indictment refers to Little Tony as a guy who handed out juice loans to gamblers and a boss.

When Marcelo was released in 2003 he took over as the boss of the Outfit.  He would not last long because he was soon swept up in the Family Secrets case.

Little Tony was not caught up in that case and some Outfit members may have felt a little uneasy with that.  He still remained underboss as well as representing Marcello’s interest on the street.

He got into a dispute with Mike Sarno, who was from the same crew but was moving up quickly over the Joker Poker trade.  Things soon were out of hand and word was sent  from Marcello to Little Tony to let it go.  He could not and he kept the fight going.

MIke Sarno decided that life would run smooth without Little Tony around.  Marcello did not put up a fight and the sitdown was arraigned.  

The disappearance of Little Tony is one of the Outfit’s last big hits, and now the FBI is looking for answers.  Someone out there knows and will someday be willing to trade on that information.

I wonder how soon it will be?  Little Tony’s wife passed away 5 years after he went missing and the rest of the parties are doing long stretches in prison.