Felix Alderisio

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Felix "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio (1912-September 25, 1971) was an enforcer and hitman for the Chicago Outfit, serving as an Underboss to Sam "Momo" Giancana during the 1960s.

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[edit] Early life

Known as the "bogeymen" for the Chicago Mob, Felix Anthony Alderisio began his criminal career as a teenager during Prohibition. One of his early arrests was for vagrancy which, according to one account, occured as he frequently waited outside Al Capone's Lexington Hotel headquarters in hopes of getting a job as a messenger for the syndicate. After being brought into the syndicate by his cousin Louis Fratto during the early 1930s [1], Alderisio began working with Sam Battaglia and John Marshall Caifano as hired muscle for the Chicago Outfit. Rising steadily through the ranks during the Great Depression, Alderisio had become a well known strong arm man and, by the end of the decade, was working under Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik as a bagman delivering payoffs to judges and police officials.

[edit] Enforcer & Hitman

Although he would continue as a payoff man throughout his life, Alderisio had become a valuable enforcer with Charles Nicoletti during the 1950s and, throughout the next two decades, the two were often questioned by police on their involvement in suspected gangland slayings. In one such arrest, Alderisio and Nicoletti were arrested as they sat parked in what police later referred to as a "hit mobile". The black car had been modified with numerous features including specially designed switches which were able to control the front and rear car lights so as to avoid police detection as well as a hidden compartment found in the back which had clamps to fasten various guns including shotguns, rifles and pistols. Alderisio and Nicoletti claimed they were "waiting for a friend" and both were released.

Alderisio would also be allowed by the Chicago syndicate to head a group of cat burglars which would operate in the upscale area of Chicago's "Gold Coast", stealing primarily rare gems and jewelry which would be fenced to syndicate controlled jewelry stores and wholesalers. Alderisio himself resided in the center of the Gold Coast; his unsuspecting neighbors the very targets his group regularly victimized.

Among his legitimate businesses, Alderisio owned several restaurants, meat packing firms, small hotels and Rush Street nightclubs as well as operating bordellos and striptease parlors in Chicago's vice districts.

[edit] Rise to Underboss

During the 1950s and 60s, Alderisio's crew was responsible for picking up payoffs from North Side restaurants and nightclubs, as well as the principle bagman for North Side bookmaking operations, delivering weekly payments estimated at millions of dollars to the Chicago Outfit. Serving directly under then syndicate leader Sam Giancana, and later Gus Alex, Alderisio was identified by federal authorities as a high ranking member of the organization during its investigation of syndicate activities in the early 1960s. During the McClellan Committee, he would plead the Fifth Amendment 23 times.

Often traveling abroad (either on vacation or in establishing underworld connections regarding smuggling heroin into the United States), Alderisio frequently visited Turkey, Italy and Greece spending hours photographing ruins.

During a meeting with Giancana, which had been under surveillance by federal and local law enforcement, Alderisio was describing a recent trip for more then twenty minutes before Giancana yelled "Phil, goddamnit! Ruins! I got coppers coming out of my eyeballs and you sit there telling me about ruins! Listen to me, Phil, listen real good! Ruins ain't garbage! Forget about then goddamn ruins!".

[edit] Later years

Although having a record of at least 36 arrests since 1929 on a wide range of charges including assault and battery, bombing, racketeering, loansharking, illegal gambling, hijacking, narcotics, counterfeiting, bootlegging, bribery, extortion, and murder for hire, Alderisio was rarely prosecuted due to political connections of the Chicago Outfit. However, in the late 60s, Alderisio was convicted for extortion and imprisoned until his death from natural causes while at the United States Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois on September 25, 1971. His funeral was attended by many within the Chicago Outfit including syndicate leader Tony Accardo.

[edit] Further reading

  • Demaris, Ovid. Captive City: Chicago in Chains. New York: Lyle Stewart Inc., 1969.
  • Demaris, Ovid. The Last Mafioso. New York: Bantam Books, 1981.
  • Kwitny, Jonathan. Vicious Circles: The Mafia in the Marketplace. New York: W.W. Norton, 1979.
  • Thomas, Evan. The Man to See: Edward Bennett Williams - Ultimate Insider; Legendary Trial Lawyer. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991.

[edit] References

  • Devito, Carlo. Encyclopedia of International Organized Crime. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. ISBN 0-8160-4848-7
  • Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Jackie Cerone		 Chicago Outfit Boss
1969-1971		 Succeeded by
Joseph Aiuppa
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