Sam Battaglia

Samuel "Teets" Battaglia (June 30, 1908 – January 8, 1973) was a Chicago mobster and high-level member of the Chicago Outfit criminal organization.

Early career

Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, son of Venetian immigrants Salvatore Battaglia and Giuseppa Scaletta. He is the brother of Mary, Sarah, James, Anthony, Joseph and August. He stood at 5'8 and weighed 140 pounds with blue eyes and brown hair. He was the husband to Angela Rose who bore him two children. In 1924,^[1] Battaglia joined bosses Johnny Torrio and Al Capone in the Chicago Outfit at the start of the gang war against the mostly Irish North Side Gang, which was under boss Dean O'Banion. By the late 1930s, Battaglia had become a high ranking member of The Outfit and a formidable loan shark.^[2] Debtors behind in their payments would be brought to Battaglia in the back room of the Casa Madrid restaurant, in Chicago, where they would be severely beaten or killed. Supposedly Battaglia's nickname "Teets" came from one such encounter. Another mobster was questioning Battaglia's handling of a debtor and Battaglia yelled back at him, "Shaddup, or I'll bust ya in da teets!"

Outfit member

By 1950, Battaglia had an extensive criminal record that included over 12 counts of burglary, robbery, and murder (he was a suspect in seven homicides). A close associate of Outfit boss Giancana, Battaglia was considered as Giancana's successor once he stepped down. While testifying before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the U.S. Senate Committee on Government Operations investigations on organized crime, Battaglia pleaded the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution over 60 times.

As long-time Outfit leader Antonino ("Tony," "Joe Batters") Accardo's stepped away from the limelight to shield himself in the 1950s, Battaglia struggled for power along with rivals Giancana and Fiore "Fifi" Buccieri. However in 1967, Battaglia was convicted of extortion and sentenced to 15 years in prison. With Battaglia in prison and Giancana, "ex-communicated," so-to-speak, and in Mexico, Felix "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio took over as day-to-day boss.

Samuel Battaglia was temporarily released from prison because of the death of his wife and one of his children. He was released only in order to attend the funeral, under close FBI and police surveillance. He eventually died in prison.

Further reading

• Binder, John J. The Chicago Outfit. Chicago: Arcadia Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-7385-2326-7
• Giancana, Sam and Chuck. Double Cross: The Explosive, Inside Story of the Mobster Who Controlled America. New York: Warner Books, 1992. ISBN 0-446-51624-4
• Ovid, Demaris. Captive City: Chicago in Chains. New York: Lyle Stuart, 1969.

Bibliography

• Kelly, Robert J. Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 0-313-30653-2
• Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3
• Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime (2nd. ed) New York: Facts on File Inc., 2005. ISBN 0-8160-4040-0

External links

• Battaglia Brothers by John William Tuohy
• Chicago Sun-Times: A century of Chicago mob bosses

References