Posted on 04/25/2005 4:39:49 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
The story of Dominick "Tootsie" Palermo is a familiar mob tale.
A lifelong gangster, he steadily climbed a deadly ladder of violence and extortion to become the South Suburb's top crime boss.
While he avoided the wrath of his mob enemies, he could not avoid the scrutiny of the feds.
In the end, he was just another old gangster spending his last days in federal prison.
He died this week in a Minnesota prison hospital, four months before he would have been eligible for release. He was 88.
A resident of Orland Park and South Holland, Palermo was tied to Chicago Heights mobster Nicholas "Jumbo" Guzzino.
Palermo, Guzzino and Indiana mobster Bernard "Snooky" Morgano were convicted in 1992 on more than 50 federal charges linking them to organized crime in northwest Indiana.
The men controlled illegal gambling in the region. They extorted protection money from illegal gambling operations.
Robert Fuesel, a former IRS agent who specialized in organized crime, says Palermo was "one of the more colorful figures in the history of Chicago organized crime."
"These guys were some of the leaders because they were smart and knew how to make money," Fuesel, a Palos Heights resident, said. "He had enough brawn, though, to keep everybody in line."
The men forced small time gambling outfits to pay "street taxes," or monthly payments demanded by gangsters to allow illegal businesses to operate.
The FBI recorded conversations the men had while counting extortion money in a Calumet City restaurant.
The convictions were a coup for the federal government, who said the convictions would topple organized crime in the South Suburbs and northwest Indiana.
Jim McCough, a retired laborer who runs Laborers for Justice, a group that reports corruption in unions, first met Palermo on a Calumet City construction site.
"That son of a bitch signed me up for a union while he was wearing a fedora, sunglasses and pointy shoes," McCough said. "I was Irish, but all my friends at the time were Italian. I turned to my friend, and said, 'That guy is mobbed up.' My friend said, 'Welcome to the union.'"
Palermo used intimidation to get what he wanted.
"(Palermo) was the intimidator," McCough said. "He was used to getting the contractors to unionize. You either did it the way organized crime wanted, or you had problems."
Palermo's stay at the top was short, though. He took control of mob action after his boss Albert Tocco, an organized crime leader from unincorporated Bloom Township, was sentenced to 200 years in prison in 1990.
Tocco controlled a widespread extortion racket that extended from Joliet to Valparaiso.
Palermo, Guzzino and Tocco have been linked by various law enforcement agencies to the unsolved murders of Anthony and Michael Spilotro.
Anthony Spilotro, who oversaw the Chicago mob's Las Vegas gambling operations, was awaiting trial in Nevada at the time of his slaying. His brother was under indictment in Chicago.
Their bodies were found buried in Indiana.
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Toot, Toot, Tootsie, goodbye.
Toot, Toot, Tootsie, goodbye.
It's so sad when a mobster dies a nonviolent death.
Extortion used to be considered evil and illegal but the government keeps taxing us nevertheless ;-)
Yo! Wadever happened to the Babe...Tuffinelli(sp) from Worth Township?
It must be pretty embarassing being a gangster, when you hope they give you a cool name like "Scarface" or "Nails", and instead you get called "Tootsie" or "Snooky". My neighbor's Shi Tzu was named Tootsie.
There was a mobster in the Chicago outfit who's nickname was "Fifi" because he was a closet homosexual. I can't for the life of me remember his real name...
Was he a member of the Lavender Hill Mob? :-)
Badda Bing Badda Boom.
“I’m a little worried about this Fifi fella . . .”
The government hates competition.
As a person who's family is from the south side, its good to see these thugs being put away. I wonder how much influence they have now? The canals in the area at one time were filled with cars because of insurance scams at one time. I remember when the Spilatro brothers were murdered (shown in the movie "Casino"). That was huge news.
Interesting how the unions helped the Feds got rid of the mobsters but then decided that mob tactics were too useful to abandon. ;)
forrgettttaaabboutiiittt!
Palermo was not a gambler. He was a racketeer and extortionist. That's what he was imprisoned for.
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