Who's the Target of the Chicago FBI's Outfit Probe?
Scott Burnstein at the Gangster Report writes: As 2018 begins, Chicago mob leaders are in the FBI’s crosshairs.
Newly appointed Windy City FBI chief Jeff Sallet said as much in his introductory press conference back in November.
“The Chicago Outfit, we haven’t forgotten about you,” said Sallet to a gathering of media members.
Newly appointed Windy City FBI chief Jeff Sallet said as much in his introductory press conference back in November.
“The Chicago Outfit, we haven’t forgotten about you,” said Sallet to a gathering of media members.
Sallet, 48, is a superstar in federal law enforcement circles, helping bring down New York Godfather Joe Massino, New England don Luigi (Baby Shacks) Manocchio and Boston Irish crime lord James (Whitey) Bulger.
Will Chicago Outfit bosses Salvatore (Solly D) DeLaurentis and Albert (Albie the Falcon) Vena be next? What about local mob elder statesman Joseph (Joe the Builder) Andriacchi. Could he get caught up in the crackdown too?
The 79-year old Solly DeLaurentis has been in charge of the mafia in Illinois since the beginning of the decade. He’s based out of the crime family’s Cicero crew, specifically its Lake County wing.
Albie Vena, 69, runs things for Solly D on a day-to-day basis and is referred to by some as the most dangerous man in all of Chicago. He headquarters on the city’s near Westside, off Grand Avenue and has beaten a pair of murder wraps in the past (Solly D beat one in the 1990s).
Joe Andriacchi, an 85-year old former syndicate underboss, has long centered his operations on Rush Street, in the city’s main entertainment and nightlife district, and hasn’t taken a bust in close to a half century.
According to sources in law enforcement, even before Sallet relocated to the FBI’s Chicago office from New Orleans, the feds in the Windy City have had cold-case mob murders on the brain. Two of them specifically, the August 31, 2006 kidnapping and killing of Cicero crew lieutenant Anthony (Little Tony) Zizzo and the November 25, 2010 gangland slaying of Grand Avenue crew enforcer Norberto (The Tank) Velez.
Per sources, Vena has been the target of a multi-agency probe going back almost five years. That inquiry was jumpstarted with the December 2013 flipping of Grand Avenue crew muscle Jeff Hollingshead, the driver and bodyguard for Vena's one-time right-hand man Robert (Bobby Pinocchio) Panozzo serving prison time for racketeering and home invasion. Panozzo and several underlings were arrested in a home invasion sting in the summer of 2014.
Hollingshead, 51, lived across the hall from Norberto Velez in an apartment building on the city's Northside, territory that has come under the umbrella of the Grand Avenue crew for the last two decades. Velez, 31, allegedly acted as a collector for the Grand Avenue bunch in the 2000s and is said to have owed the crew money for a loan he took out to aid in a burgeoning drug business.
The 71-year old Tony Zizzo disappeared on his way to a supposed a sit down on Rush Street to try and settle a beef with then overall acting boss Michael (Fat Mike) Sarno, who like himself hailed from the crime family's Cicero faction. The sit down was alleged to be mediated by Joe Andriacchi and Vena is believed to be the one responsible for ferrying Zizzo from a Melrose Park restaurant parking lot to the lunch meeting he never came home from. Zizzo's body has never been found. His SUV was recovered in Melrose Park.
Sarno was locked up in late 2010 for extortion. He's doing a 25-to-50 year sentence in federal prison. DeLaurentis took the reins from Sarno upon his conviction. In the months leading up to Zizzo going missing, Solly D was ....
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Will Chicago Outfit bosses Salvatore (Solly D) DeLaurentis and Albert (Albie the Falcon) Vena be next? What about local mob elder statesman Joseph (Joe the Builder) Andriacchi. Could he get caught up in the crackdown too?
The 79-year old Solly DeLaurentis has been in charge of the mafia in Illinois since the beginning of the decade. He’s based out of the crime family’s Cicero crew, specifically its Lake County wing.
Albie Vena, 69, runs things for Solly D on a day-to-day basis and is referred to by some as the most dangerous man in all of Chicago. He headquarters on the city’s near Westside, off Grand Avenue and has beaten a pair of murder wraps in the past (Solly D beat one in the 1990s).
Joe Andriacchi, an 85-year old former syndicate underboss, has long centered his operations on Rush Street, in the city’s main entertainment and nightlife district, and hasn’t taken a bust in close to a half century.
According to sources in law enforcement, even before Sallet relocated to the FBI’s Chicago office from New Orleans, the feds in the Windy City have had cold-case mob murders on the brain. Two of them specifically, the August 31, 2006 kidnapping and killing of Cicero crew lieutenant Anthony (Little Tony) Zizzo and the November 25, 2010 gangland slaying of Grand Avenue crew enforcer Norberto (The Tank) Velez.
Per sources, Vena has been the target of a multi-agency probe going back almost five years. That inquiry was jumpstarted with the December 2013 flipping of Grand Avenue crew muscle Jeff Hollingshead, the driver and bodyguard for Vena's one-time right-hand man Robert (Bobby Pinocchio) Panozzo serving prison time for racketeering and home invasion. Panozzo and several underlings were arrested in a home invasion sting in the summer of 2014.
Hollingshead, 51, lived across the hall from Norberto Velez in an apartment building on the city's Northside, territory that has come under the umbrella of the Grand Avenue crew for the last two decades. Velez, 31, allegedly acted as a collector for the Grand Avenue bunch in the 2000s and is said to have owed the crew money for a loan he took out to aid in a burgeoning drug business.
The 71-year old Tony Zizzo disappeared on his way to a supposed a sit down on Rush Street to try and settle a beef with then overall acting boss Michael (Fat Mike) Sarno, who like himself hailed from the crime family's Cicero faction. The sit down was alleged to be mediated by Joe Andriacchi and Vena is believed to be the one responsible for ferrying Zizzo from a Melrose Park restaurant parking lot to the lunch meeting he never came home from. Zizzo's body has never been found. His SUV was recovered in Melrose Park.
Sarno was locked up in late 2010 for extortion. He's doing a 25-to-50 year sentence in federal prison. DeLaurentis took the reins from Sarno upon his conviction. In the months leading up to Zizzo going missing, Solly D was ....
Read rest
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