Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, which originated in the city's South Side in 1910. It is part of the larger Italian-American Mafia.
Former Chicago Outfit leader Al Capone | |
| Founded | 1910 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Big Jim Colosimo |
| Founding location | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Years active | 1910–present |
| Territory | Primarily the Chicago metropolitan area and the surrounding Midwest, with additional territory in Las Vegas, Phoenix, South Florida and Southern California |
| Ethnicity | Italians as "made men" and other ethnicities as associates |
| Membership (est.) | 28 made members and over 100 associates (2007) |
| Activities | Racketeering, bribery, conspiracy, burglary, coercion, labor racketeering, police corruption, hijacking, loansharking, drug trafficking, fencing, bootlegging, fraud, money laundering, murder, torture, illegal gambling, prostitution, pornography and extortion |
| Allies | |
| Rivals | Various Chicago gangs, historically the North Side Gang and Irish Mob |
The Outfit rose to power in the 1920s under the control of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone, and the period was marked by bloody gang wars for control of the distribution of illegal alcohol during Prohibition. Since then, the Outfit has been involved in a wide range of criminal activities, including loansharking, illegal gambling, prostitution, extortion, political corruption and murder. Capone was convicted of income tax evasion in 1931 and the Outfit was next run by Paul Ricca. He shared power with Tony Accardo from 1943 until his death in 1972; Accardo became the sole power in the Outfit upon Ricca's death and was one of the longest-sitting bosses of all time upon his death in 1992.
Though it has never had a complete monopoly on organized crime in Chicago, the Outfit has long been the most powerful, violent and largest criminal organization in Chicago and the Midwest in general. Unlike other mafia factions such as the Five Families of New York City, the Outfit has been a unified faction since its conception. Its influence at its peak stretched as far as California, Florida and Nevada and it continues to operate throughout the Midwestern United States and Southern Florida, as well as Las Vegas and other parts of the Southwestern United States. Heightened law enforcement attention and general attrition have led to its gradual decline since the late 20th century, though it continues to be one of the major and most active organized crime groups in the Chicago metropolitan area and the Midwestern region.