Global InformationChicago Outfit information
 Former Chicago Outfit leader Al Capone | |
| Founded | c. 1910 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Big Jim Colosimo |
| Founding location | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Years active | c. 1910–present |
| Territory | Primarily the Chicago metropolitan area and the surrounding Midwest, with additional territory in Las Vegas, Phoenix, South Florida and Southern California[1] |
| Ethnicity | Italians as "made men" and other ethnicities as associates |
| Membership (est.) | 28 made members and 100+ associates (2007)[2] |
| Activities | Racketeering, bribery, conspiracy, burglary, coercion, labor racketeering, police corruption, hijacking, loansharking, drug trafficking, fencing, bootlegging, fraud, money laundering, murder, torture, illegal gambling, auto theft, prostitution, pornography and extortion[3] |
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The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, which originated in the city's South Side in 1910. It is part of the larger Italian-American Mafia.
The Outfit rose to power in the 1920s under the control of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone, and the period was marked by bloody gang wars for control of the distribution of illegal alcohol during Prohibition. Since then, the Outfit has been involved in a wide range of criminal activities, including loansharking, illegal gambling, prostitution, extortion, political corruption and murder. Capone was convicted of income tax evasion in 1931 and the Outfit was next run by Paul Ricca. He shared power with Tony Accardo from 1943 until his death in 1972; Accardo became the sole power in the Outfit upon Ricca's death and was one of the longest-sitting bosses of all time upon his death in 1992.
Though it has never had a complete monopoly on organized crime in Chicago, the Outfit has long been the most powerful, violent and largest criminal organization in Chicago and the Midwest in general. Unlike other mafia factions such as the Five Families of New York City, the Outfit has been a unified faction since its conception.[9] Its influence at its peak stretched as far as California, Florida and Nevada and it continues to operate throughout the Midwestern United States and Southern Florida, as well as Las Vegas and other parts of the Southwestern United States. Heightened law enforcement attention and general attrition have led to its gradual decline since the late 20th century, though it continues to be one of the major and most active organized crime groups in the Chicago metropolitan area and the Midwestern region.
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- The Chicago Mob The Arizona Republic (June 25, 1978) Archived April 23, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
- Jury selection begins in racketerring trial United Press International (August 6, 1985) Archived April 23, 2024, at archive.today
- New Generation of Mob Leaders Rises in Chicago Chicago Tribune (March 30, 1986) Archived February 4, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
- Mob holds a summit in Florida Chicago Tribune (March 22, 1989) Archived March 21, 2024, at archive.today
- Mob Accused in Plot to Control Rincon Gaming Barry M. Horstman and Paul Lieberman, Los Angeles Times (January 11, 1992) Archived May 5, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
- Organized crime loses its foothold Las Vegas Sun (July 2, 2002) Archived March 16, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
- "Chicago Outfit Chart 2010". Mobbedup.com. 11 February 2014. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014.
- "Phoenix 101: Underworld". Retrieved March 25, 2019.
- ^ "ABC7 WLS : Chicago and Chicago News". Abclocal.go.com. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
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- Outlaws called "criminal" Herald & Review (March 2, 1983) Archived August 31, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
- New Generation of Mob Leaders Rises in Chicago Chicago Tribune (March 30, 1986) Archived February 4, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
- Strict Sentences in Prostitution Ring Chicago Tribune (May 27, 1988) Archived April 23, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
- Mob Grave Now Linked to Porn War Chicago Tribune (July 1, 1988) Archived February 4, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
- Tapes Detail Life Inside Mob's Porn World Chicago Tribune (September 19, 1988) Archived April 23, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
- Suspected Porn Boss Dies in His Apartment Chicago Tribune (October 7, 1988) Archived February 4, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
- Chicago John J. Biner, AmericanMafia.com (1999) Archived April 19, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
- Straw Men: A Former Agent Recounts How the FBI Crushed the Mob in Las Vegas, by Gary Magnesen. Mill City Press Inc. 2010. p. 141. ISBN 9781936400362. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
- The Chicago Mafia: Down but Not Out fbi.gov (June 27, 2011) Archived January 18, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
- Prosecutors: Outfit street crew posed as cops to rob drug stash houses Meredith Rodriguez, Chicago Tribune (July 19, 2014) Archived April 23, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
- The Chop Shop Wars: Mafia In Chicago Assumed Control Of Car-Theft Industry In Brutal Fashion Scott Burnstein, GangsterReport.com (September 26, 2016) Archived April 14, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
- 75 years to the day after Al Capone's death, it's not your father's Chicago Outfit Chuck Goudie, Barb Markoff, Christine Tressel and Ross Weidner, ABC 7 (January 26, 2022) Archived March 14, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
- Robert Hugh Farley. "Investigations of Child Pornography in the United States". virtusonline.org. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
From 1988 to 1992 the producers of child pornography in the United States found that as a result of aggressive law enforcement, the commercial production and distribution of child sexual abuse images became more difficult, expensive, and very risky. Additionally the reproduction of the child abuse images by child molesters became equally difficult and expensive. Even "The Chicago Outfit" that controlled most of the adult book stores in the United States bowed out of distributing child pornography by finding more customers and a lesser amount of law enforcement scrutiny in selling the other legal varieties of commercial pornography.
- ^ Federal grand jury indicts seven accused of trying to take over loan-sharking and bookmaking United Press International (July 13, 1984) Archived April 23, 2024, at archive.today
- ^ "Chicago mob bust; Grand Ave. Crew Takes a Hit". July 28, 2014. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
- ^ “Dixie Mafia” figure dies WGAU (April 10, 2017) Archived May 6, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Organized Crime in Chicago: Beyond the Mafia Robert M. Lombardo (2012) ISBN 9780252078781
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- Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs USA Overview p. 13 United States Department of Justice (May 1991) Archived May 26, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
- "The Double O Alliance". WLS-TV. August 8, 2008. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- Ann Pistone; Chuck Goudie (July 27, 2009). "Aging bombing suspect linked to Outfit; Outlaws won't get out". Abclocal.go.com. Archived from the original on October 7, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
- ^ Coen, Jeff (2009). Family Secrets. Chicago Press Review. p. 47. ISBN 9781556527814.