Sam "Momo" Giancana Index

Sam Giancana was a famous and powerful mafioso and boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957-66. Originally nicknamed "Mooney", when he became Boss, Giancana shortened it to "Momo", which stood for "More Money". Born in Chicago's "Little Italy," Sam Giancana was arrested more than 70 times in his life, but was imprisoned only twice.

Giancana started his criminal career in the 1920s on Chicago's West Side as a member of a violent street gang called "The 42s". He soon developed a reputation for being an excellent getaway driver, high earner and vicious killer. These qualities got him noticed by the successor to Al Capone, Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti. It is widely reputed Giancana and other mobsters had been recruited by the CIA during the waning days of the Eisenhower administration to assassinate Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, who had taken power in January 1959. Giancana was himself reported to have said that the CIA and the Mafia are "different sides of the same coin." It is also widely reputed that at roughly the same time Joseph P. Kennedy recruited Giancana to help mobilize labor union voter and financial support behind his son, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy in the latter's bid to secure the Democratic nomination for the 1960 Presidential election.

There are also strong suggestions that during his presidency, JFK maintained close links with Giancana and the Chicago Mafia as he continued the practice of covertly using the Mafia in a bid to assassinate Castro. The two men also shared the same lover, Los Angeles socialite Judith Campbell who also apparently acted as a courier between the two men, passing money and information.

Giancana was forced to step down as Mafia boss in 1966 because of his greed (refusing to share the profits of his Latin American gambling operations--a major violation of Mafia protocol) excessively high-profile personal behavior (openly associating with various popular entertainers like singers Phyllis McGuire and Frank Sinatra) and serious legal problems, serious enough to have had the FBI place Giancana under close, intense and relentless surveillance. In response to these setbacks, the dethroned Giancana spent the next seven years (1967-74) in exile in Cuernavaca, Mexico until the Mexican government (under pressure from the US Justice Department) had him deported to the United States. Returning to Chicago, Giancana was assassinated on 19 June 1975 in the basement of his home in Oak Park, Illinois (which had been under close FBI and Chicago Police observation) shortly before he was to appear before a Senate committee investigating CIA and Mafia links to plots to kill Castro.

The unknown assassin shot Giancana in the head seven times with a silenced .22 caliber handgun. Although some suspected the CIA was responsible for the shooting (as Giancana had a somewhat troubled history with the agency), CIA Director William Colby was quoted as saying, "We had nothing to do with it." Many researchers believe Colby's claim as it seems much more likely that Giancana's onetime friend and Chicago Mafia boss Joseph "Joey Doves" Aiuppa ordered the hit on the disgraced "Momo" because he had become too talkative and Aiuppa feared Giancana would reveal everything he knew about Chicago mob operations (including Giancana's alleged complicity in orchestrating the JFK assassination) during his upcoming Senate committee appearance.

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Crime Commission Officially Gains New Boss

Former FBI agent James Wagner ws officially introduced on December 14th as the new boss at the Chicago Crime Commission, a mixed blessing for the good citizens of our city and state.

On the plus side, it should prove an exciting shot in the arm for the Crime Commission, the venerable civic organization that was born in the lawlessness of Chicago circa 1919 and thrived on a crimebusting image earned during the heyday of Chicago hoodlums, but has seemed to struggle with its sense of purpose in recent decades.

In Wagner, the Crime Commission gets a real law-enforcement veteran with not only historical perspective but up-to-date knowledge of organized crime, both the players and their activities -- the mission that should remain at the top of the commission's reasons to exist.

Wagner, though, gained some of his knowledge during the past six years as the top investigator for the Illinois Gaming Board, which is where the downside to the public factors into the equation. The Gaming Board, which rides herd on Illinois' riverboat gambling industry, was already woefully short of investigators, whose not-so-simple task is to keep organized crime from infiltrating the casinos. Losing Wagner could be another serious blow.

Because of state budget cuts and hiring freezes under Gov. Blagojevich, the Gaming Board has gone from 18 investigators when Wagner started there to just eight at present. "That's just not enough to do the job over there," Wagner told me Tuesday, admitting that frustration with the situation at the Gaming Board was a major factor in his decision to leave after he was recruited for the Crime Commission opening.

There are 10,000 casino employees in Illinois, each of whom has to undergo a background check by the investigative staff before they can be licensed. Owners and managers are supposed to get more extensive background investigations. The Gaming Board also must investigate the companies that supply gaming equipment to the casinos. "I really was not comfortable we had enough people to do a satisfactory job. We did the best we could, but I would strongly recommend that the state increase the manpower there," said Wagner with the understatement one would expect from a career FBI agent.

Does that mean the door has already been left open for organized crime to get a foothold in Illinois? "I wouldn't go that far," Wagner said. "My concern is that it has left open the opportunity for infiltration that would be unbeknownst to us because we're not looking in all the places that we should be looking."

It's a warning that Gaming Board officials have been issuing for several years now -- to no avail. State government has many unmet needs at present, but sooner or later, this one is going to catch up to us.

It was my first chance to meet Wagner, a distinguished-looking 62-year-old with a full head of silvery hair who grew up on a farm in downstate Newman and taught high school four years before joining the FBI in 1969.

Wagner had just come up on retirement age when federal prosecutor Sergio Acosta took over as administrator of the Gaming Board and persuaded Wagner, then the coordinator of the bureau's Chicago Organized Crime Section, to join him in March 2000. His tenure included the investigation that so far has helped block Emerald Casino from locating a new riverboat in Rosemont, partially based on organized crime concerns.

Returning to the bright side, Wagner can continue this kind of work from the bully pulpit provided by the Crime Commission, which will benefit from someone who has credibility with the law enforcement community and the news media, although the latter will need to persuade him to loosen up a bit.

To many, the Crime Commission must seem an anachronism, a throwback to the days when organized crime figures operated openly and conspicuously within this city. But the Hired Truck scandal at City Hall, the still unfolding Family Secrets investigation and even the Emerald episode have provided fresh evidence that organized crime is still active in our city, having burrowed deeply into our institutions.

Wagner offers a sobering perspective. "Organized crime is alive and well in Chicago and, unfortunately, probably always will be," he said. "There is a concerted effort on the part of some, I don't know if you'd call them apologists, but people often like to believe we put them out of business by putting them in jail, and that doesn't eradicate anything. They're still there, and they're still working."

"They are strong. They have done a great job of insulating themselves through investments and what we would consider to be legitimate businesses and getting out of the limelight and going below into the shadows again." Wagner should find plenty to keep him busy. Let's make sure the Gaming Board is empowered to move forcefully to complete the work he left behind.

Thanks to Mark Brown

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Overheard: Mafia in Las Vegas

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau assured incoming tourists Monday the city will be heavily guarded on New Year's. There's very little danger. The terrorists would never attack a Mafia holy site, if only out of professional courtesy.

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Junior Gotti is Happy with Lawyer

A judge warned John A. "Junior" Gotti on Wednesday that his lawyer has a conflict of interest, but the son of late mob boss John Gotti said he's happy with his representation in an upcoming racketeering retrial.

Federal Judge Shira Scheindlin said attorney Charles Carnesi might be forced to give Gotti biased advice because he also represents a co-defendant. "I think you'd be better off with a lawyer who has no conflict problems," Scheindlin bluntly told Gotti, who shrugged off the conflict. Gotti said Carnesi was the best lawyer for him because he was already familiar with the case, which goes to trial again Feb. 13.

Scheindlin offered to let Gotti speak for free to a neutral lawyer she had invited to court solely for that purpose. "I'm OK," Gotti said. Then he added, "It would be the first free lawyer I've ever spoken with."

Carnesi represented reputed Gambino crime family associate Louis "Louie Black" Mariani at a trial that ended in September with a conviction of Mariani for securities fraud and a mistrial on charges against Gotti. Mariani is to be sentenced March 30. "I'm absolutely convinced I can represent them both," Carnesi said.

Gotti dismissed lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman after his first trial ended with a deadlocked jury on charges that he ordered a botched 1992 plot to kidnap Curtis Sliwa, a radio show host and founder of the Guardian Angels crime-fighting group. Gotti is free on $7 million bond.

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