To all Sho 'nuff Mob Study readers everywhere, we extend our unmitigated "WELCOME." We urge publishers who read our series to send us a complimentary copy of any recently, and/or soon-to-be, released organized crime book.
In the order in which they are received, the books will be read, then reviewed, and subsequently, cited in upcoming editions of the series. We ask only that our book donors remain patient.
Thank you.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
In Today’s column: "DETERMINANTS OF JOSEPH 'JOE BANANAS' BONANNO'S (1905 - 2002) SELECTIVE RECALL OF CERTAIN PEOPLE AND HISTORICAL EVENTS IN A MAN OF HONOR (JANUARY 20, 2003)." "THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION;" and "RED, RED BLOOD.'"
The Conspicuous Absence of Certain People and Historical Events in A Man of Honor (January 20, 2003)
Joseph Bonanno (January 20, 2003) recalls his life selectively in A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno, St. Martin's Press, ISBN: 0312979231. This selective recall leads to the strategic omission in his criminal career of certain key individuals and events.
The phrase "selective recall" is used in view of my doubt that Joseph Bonanno (January 20, 2003) just forgot to mention Vito Cascioferro, Giuseppe "Joe" Petrosino, the French Connection (1967 - 1971), the Pizza Connection I (1975 - 1984), Carmine "Lilo" Galante and the Chicago Mafia Commission. Bonanno (January 20, 2003) mentions Salvatore Maranzano but omits the most sensitive topics that surround the man. In A Man of Honor, Joseph Bonanno (January 20, 2003) said there was no summit in Palerno, i.e. the Grand Hotel des Palmes Agreement (1957).
The phrase "strategic omission" is used in view of my belief that in writing A Man of Honor, Bonanno (January 20, 2003) had great difficulty in his efforts to avoid contradicting the claim that he was honorable. To do that, Bonanno (January 20, 2003) had to omit any mention of certain historical events and key contemporaries in his criminal career.
Is The Notion of a 'Man of Honor' a Myth?
Robert Gearty, Daily News Staff Writer (Saturday, August 27th, 2005), in "Little honor left in the mob, says rat," paraphrases Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo as noting that to call a wiseguy a "Man of Honor" goes "way back" but; the phrase has little meaning nowadays. And Mikey Scars added that this is not the only thing different about La Cosa Nostra in the 21st century. Mikey Scars is quoted as saying, in reference to the mob today, "There's not much honor."
The name "Vito Cascioferro" is conspicuously absent in A Man of Honor. Joseph Bonanno (January 20, 2003) neither confirms nor denies reports that he was sent to the United States by Vito Cascioferro.
Vito Cascioferro (1862-1945)
How could Joseph Bonanno (January 20, 2003) forget to make reference in A Man of Honor to "Vito Cascioferro?" Easily.
The years during which Joseph Bonanno (January 20, 2003) emigrated to the United States and established himself in the American underworld were among the years during which Don Vitone Cascioferro reigned as the Capo di Tutti Capi of the Sicilian Mafia. See:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11209&pt=Vito%20Cascioferro
During the early years of the twentieth century, Vito Cascioferro entered and exited the United States frequently.
See:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11209&pt=Vito%20Cascioferro
http://glasgowcrew.tripod.com/ferro.html
When he came to the U.S., Vito Cascioferro generally traveled to New York City, New York and/or New Orleans, Louisiana. It was Vito Cascioferro would teach U.S. men of honor how to wage the pizzo, i.e. the ways in which "a little bird wets its beak."
In an era in which Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator, was asserting unprecedented pressure on Italian mafiosi, Don Vitone was involved in the relocation of men of honor to America, e.g. Joseph Bonanno, Joseph Profaci, Stefano Maggadino, etc. He tended to relocate them in the New York area. Some organized crime historians say Don Vitone intended to make the United States his headquarters.
Despite the fact that he was a protégé of Salvatore Maranzano, Joseph Bonanno (January 20, 2003) neither confirms nor denies reports that Salvatore "Don Turridru" Maranzano, was sent to the United States by Vito Cascioferro. Neither does he confirm that Don Turridru was subordinate to Cascioferro. Nor does he confirm that Don Turridru was preparing the way for Vito Cascioferro's ultimate takeover.
Salvatore Maranzano (1868 - September 10, 1931)
In 1925, Benito Mussolini (1883-1945), the Italian dictator, began a crackdown on Mafia activities in Italy. A few Mafiosi, to ensure their safety, sided with the Fascists. Vito Cascioferro organized the migration of key Mafiosi to America. There is a debate today among organized crime historians as to whether or not Salvatore Maranzano was subordinate to, and deferred to, Vito Cascioferro.
Salvatore "Don Turridru" Maranzano, already a Mafia hero in his homeland, since 1918, had entered and departed the United States several times. In 1925, Maranzano arrived in Brooklyn, New York from Sicily. He began to work in Brooklyn in bootlegging and other rackets with the cohesive Castellamarese organization.
Some sources, notably David Leon Chandler (March 1, 1975), indicate that Salvatore Maranzano was not fleeing Sicily but, rather, was deliberately preparing the way for Vito Cascioferro. Maranzano, supposedly, was to unite the traditional Mafiosi and wait for Vito Cascioferro to arrive and take control of the group.
When he traveled to the U.S., Don Turridru Maranzano stayed in the New York area. After he had his rival, Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria (1879 - 1931) murdered, Maranzano declared himself the Capo di Tutti Capi of the U.S. underworld. If Maranzano was Vito Cascioferro's lieutenant, when Don Vitone was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1929, in Italy, Maranzano was forced to continue alone.
Maranzano reorganized the Italian-American underworld. We're talking about the machinations of power. Niccolo Machiavelli (September 1, 1984), in The Prince, Daniel Donno, Bantam Classics; Reissue edition, ISBN: 0553212788, and other works, talks about the machinations of political power. Salvatore Maranzano had Machiavellian ideas. Salvatore Maranzano tried to establish a Sicilian-Mafia-in-the-United-States. Instead, he was killed by the advocates of a budding American Mafia.
In Maranzano's original blueprint, the Five Families of New York had strict geographical boundaries. Opposition to this fact is one of the reasons Maranzano was whacked. A Cosa Nostra Family headquartered in the New York borough of Brooklyn could not operate in the New York borough of the Bronx and vice versa. The respective bosses had to have The Pope's blessing first.
In his effort to reorganize the Italian-American underworld, Maranzano stayed too close to the Sicilian prototype for his own good.
After Salvatore Maranzano was assassinated, Salvatore "Charlie Lucky" Maranzano continued the reorganization of the Italian-American underworld by elaborated upon the original Maranzano blueprint. Charlie Lucky eliminated the on the table, i.e. de jure, Capo di Tutti Capi position and replaced it with an under the table, i.e. de facto, position. He added the "consigliere" position and Murder Incorporated.
Bonanno (January 20, 2003) tells us nothing about the alleged organizational relationship between Vito Cascioferro and Salvatore Maranzano.
Mention of the Giuseppe "Joe" Petronino murder (1909) is conspicuously absent from the pages of A Man of Honor (January 20, 2003) despite the fact that Cascioferro's name is linked to the crime and he never denied involvement in it.
The Giuseppe 'Joe' Petronino Murder (1909)
Vito Cascioferro is thought to have organized (with Ignazio Lupo, deported Sicilian-American Mafiosi and some imported New Orleans hit men) the assassination of mob-buster Lieutenant Giuseppe "Joe" Petrosino of the New York Police during Petrosino's official visit to Sicily in 1909. Lieutenant Joseph Petrosino, a leading Italian-American New York policeman who made it his mission to smash the Black Hand and Mafiosi, was murdered in the line of duty.
See:
http://www.americanmafia.com/Mob_Busters.html
http://www.buhner.com/petrosino.html
Legend says Cascioferro excused himself from a dinner party at the home of a Sicilian government official, borrowed his host's vehicle and went to deliver the coup de grace shot to the head of Petrosino. Then, of course, he returned to complete his friendly visit with the official.
The film, Pay or Die (1960), starring Ernest Borgnine as Lieutenant Giuseppe "Joe" Petrosino, offers a fictionalized account of the Lieutenant's last evening. In the film, the Lieutenant enjoys his last meal hosted by Don Vito himself. See:
http://entertainment.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=172587
There is reason to suspect that Joe Petrosino's murder was orchestrated with the aid of corrupt New York officials. His trip supposedly was a secret. But, everybody in law enforcement and the New York population in general, seemed to be aware why, and where, Joe Petrosino was to travel.
Lieutenant Giuseppe "Joe" Petrosino is still the only American police officer to die overseas IN THE LINE OF DUTY.
The Grand Hotel des Palmes, Palermo, Sicily (1957) 'Agreement'
A meeting was held at the Grand Hotel des Palmes,---or, as is spoken in Italian, "Albergo e delle Palme,"---in Palermo, Sicily in 1957 between the American Mafia and the Sicilian Mafia. There were several issues on the agenda: the drug trade, the Albert Anastasia problem, borders, and the Sicilian Commission.
The "Pizza Connection," of course, is related to the drug trade issue on the agenda.
The American Mafia agreed to allow the Sicilian Mafia a franchise on heroin trafficking in the United States. In other words, the American Mafia agreed to purchase its heroin from the Sicilian Mafia STRICTLY which in turn would handle importation into, and sales throughout, the United States. This "Agreement" allows American mafiosi to say, "We don't peddle drugs." It allows American mafiosi to claim that moolies, s-----, and other race/ethnic mobs control the drug racket today. The "Agreement" was the foundation of La Cosa Nostra's (LCN) vaunted "no drugs rule."
It was during Frank Costello's tenure as the Chairman of the Mafia National Commission that the "Agreement" was made. Costello had made a fortune in bootlegging and gaming and he saw the dangers inherent to drug trafficking. Nevertheless, over the years there have been several challenges to the "Agreement."
Vito Genovese and Carmine "The Cigar" Galante and even John "The Dapper Don" Gotti are among the American Mafia bosses who challenged the "Agreement." As a result of his challenge, Vito Genovese's mob peers, Fran Costello, Sam "Momo" Giancana, Santos Trafficante, Carlos Marcellos et al. set up Genovese in a drug sales indictment. Genovese spent the remainder of his life in prison.
The French Connection (1967 - 1971)
Mention of the French Connection is conspicuously absent from the pages of A Man of Honor (January 20, 2003). The conspirators of the Pizza Connection I (1975 - 1984) were attempting to fill the void that was left by the failure of the French Connection.
"The History of the Heroin Trade
The first major influx of heroin into the United States occurred between 1967 and 1971 from Turkish opium that had been processed in laboratories in France and supplied through the infamous "French Connection" to Italian Organized Crime Families in New York. These La Cosa Nostra families largely controlled the wholesale heroin trade in the United States throughout the 1970s. Aggressive enforcement, and a total ban on opium poppy cultivation in Turkey, substantially reduced the supply of heroin available through the French Connection.
In the mid-1970s, heroin produced in Mexico emerged onto the U.S. market to supplant European heroin, particularly in the West and Midwest regions of the United States. This brown heroin, frequently referred to as "Mexican Mud," was of relatively low purity and far less appealing. However, due to its lower purity, Mexican traffickers were able to market it at substantially lower prices than European-produced heroin and found a ready market in the West and Midwest.
By the mid-1980s, the heroin market in the United States was shared by suppliers from three major regions: Mexico dominated the market on the West Coast; heroin produced in Southwest Asia/Middle East (Pakistan Afghanistan Turkey and Lebanon); and the Golden Triangle of Southeast Asia (Burma, Laos and Thailand), which became the major source of supply for the Midwest and the East Coast. Southwest Asian heroin was marketed through ethnic outlets in the Northeast and Midwest, and Southeast Asian heroin was marketed primarily by ethnic Chinese who replaced the French Connection as the major source of supply of heroin for organized crime families" (p. 3). See: http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1996_hr/h960919c.htm
Carmine 'The Cigar' Galante (1910 - July 12, 1979)
The name "Carmine 'Lilo' Galante" is conspicuously absent from the text of A Man of Honor (January 20, 2003).
Carmine Galante's life of crime dated back to when he was 11-years-old. He was the executioner in a number of murders ordered by Vito Genovese.
It was not long before Galante began his association with the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family. Carmine Galante and Frank Petrula, the Montréal crime boss, organized the infamous French Connection, i.e. heroin pipeline.
Early on, Carmine 'Lilo' Galante was Joseph Bonanno's (January 20, 2003) chauffeur. He eventually became Bonanno's (January 20, 2003) underboss and held the position for a long time. If he had not been convicted of drug dealing, Galante would probably have succeeded Joseph Bonanno (January 20, 2003) as the boss of the Bonanno Crime Family.
Meanwhile The Cigar plotted his strategy behind bars. Now that the Mafia Commission had exiled Joseph Bonanno to Arizona, The Cigar regarded no one in the Bonanno Crime Family as his equal. He looked forward to acheive what, in his opinion, Joseph Bonanno (January 20, 2003) had failed to accomplish.
Galante got out of prison on parole in 1974 after doing 12 years. Then in 1978, for violating his parole by associating with known criminals-----other mafiosi, Galante was grabbed by federal agents again and returned to prison.
The government tried to keep him behind bars, claiming a contract had been placed to end Galante's life. Using lawyer Roy Cohn, who labeled the story a trick by the feds, Galante won his release.
Over the next several months The Cigar's men fought other gangsters in a war for control of a multimillion-dollar drug operation. With Carlo Gambino dead, Galante was able to lean on the other crime families to fall in behind him----or else.
A meeting was held in Boca Raton, Florida, to decide how to solve "The Cigar Problem." In the conclave, a "solution to the Cigar Problem" was prescribed, i.e. a contract on Carmine Galante's life was approved.
The last time The Cigar dropped into Joe and Mary's Restaurant in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, New York was July 12, 1979. The Cigar felt "safe" at Joe and Mary's Restaurant. Carmine Galante went to Joe and Mary's Restaurant to say goodbye to a cousin who was leaving on vacation.
Carmine Galante was finishing the main course in the restaurant's rear outdoor area when three ski-masked gunman opened fire with machine guns and eliminated the alleged would-be boss of bosses. His cousin and another associate were also shot dead.
Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato was the lead gunman in the Carmine Galante Hit. Bruno was convicted of murdering Galante in the historic Mafia Commission Trial in 1986. He served 12 years in federal prison.
Most organized crime historians thought Carmine Galante was the boss of the Bonanno Crime Family the day he was whacked.
Jerry Capeci (This Week in GANG LAND: The Online Column, May 27, 2004) writes in "Still Dead, But Never a Boss,"
"But Galante was never the boss, Gang Land has learned. He was merely an arrogant, steel-willed capo who thought he could bully his way to the top after serving 12 years for heroin trafficking, and 17 more months for parole violations. His correct rank has been supplied in new intelligence from longime family underboss Salvatore "Good Looking Sal" Vitale and other turncoats..." (p. 2).
As Capeci (This Week in GANG LAND: The Online Column, May 27, 2004) continues,
"...Despite everything you may have seen, heard or read before, he was never the boss of the family,' said one knowledgeable law enforcement source, confirming that the feds had amassed an astounding amount of misinformation about the Bonannos in the past, and that a more accurate history will emerge at the racketeering and murder trial of Joseph Massino.
But not everyone is convinced. An otherwise in-the-know law enforcement official contacted about the revelation by Gand Land, said: 'My information, today, is that when Galante was killed he was boss of the family. Not the pretender, the boss'" (p. 2).
Jerry Capeci (This Week in GANG LAND: The Online Column, May 27, 2004) points out that that a story he wrote appeared on January 3, 1977 on the front page of the New York Post. In the story, he reflected the prevailing wisdom that Carmine Galante was the boss of the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family. The New York Times made the same mistake six weeks later. See: http://www.ganglandnews.com/column383.htm
Joseph Bonanno's (January 20, 2003) published writing contributed to the decline of the American Mafia and organized crime in the United States in general. Rudolph "Rudy" Giuliani, as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, used A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno, in the Mafia Commission Trial (1985-1986) to corroborate the existence of a U.S. National Mafia Commission.
The Pizza Connection I (1975 - 1984)
Even though the Pizza Connection I was still operating at the time of the first printing of A Man of Honor (1983), Joseph Bonanno (January 20, 2003) made no mention of it.
As an illicit drug of choice, heroin saw a peak in demand in the United States in the late 60s and early 70s. At that time, heroin was mostly confined to America's inner-cities. Also, at that time, heroin was manufactured in laboratories in Marseilles, France, from morphine base produced in Turkey. It was then sold to Italian organized crime families in New York for further distribution in the United States. Heroin fell from the forefront of national concern and attention with the emergence of cocaine in the late 1970s and crack cocaine in the mid-1980s as the popular drugs of choice.
The Pizza Connection was a heroin pipeline that was conducted by "zips," i.e. ethnic Sicilian men, on the east coast and midwest of the United States. After Carmine "Lilo" Galante was murdered in 1979, there was nothing to stop Salvatore "Toto" Catalano and the zips on Knickerbocker Aveune in Brooklyn, New York, from taking over the heroin operation Lilo had sought to control.
Catalano went to meet with the Sicilian clans to explain to them that they would now be doing business with him. Under Catalano and the zips pizza parlors now became the legal fronts for the now massive heroin operation.
In the nineteen-seventies, observers thought the "Zips" were under the thumb of Salvatore "Toto" Catalano. Catalano is himself a Sicilian. He was the boss, at the time, of the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family. Toto Catalano was influential with the "Zips."
Why The Grand Hotel des Palmes 'Agreement' (1957) Is Still Relevant
The Grand Hotel des Palmes Agreement (1957) continues to be relevant to any discussion of the Pizza Connection. The following quotation by Claire Sterling (1990) tells us why.
“The Pizza Connection was only a segment of the connection that is still in place. The case succeeded only in exposing a faction in a single American family, working with thirty-odd men on a single Sicilian heroin ring, involving deliveries to a single corner of the U.S. There are a number of intersecting rings delivering heroin to every corner of the country” Claire Sterling, (1990) as quoted in "Gaetano Badalamenti and the Pizza Connection" by Mike La Sorte (July 2004). See: http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_271.html
Convinced that pizzeria's and other legitimate businesses are still being used as fronts for illicit drug distribution, I refer to the "Pizza Connection I (1975 - 1984)." The Grand Hotel des Palmes Agreement (1957) makes Sicilian Mafa and American Mafia joint transnational drug crime possible.
The Grand Hotel des Palmes "Agreement" (1957) is still "legal" on the American Mafia books. Anyone made man or associate of the American Mafia who publicly deals scag outside of this "Agreement" is cursed, e.g. Vito Genovese, Carmine "Lilo" Galante. It allows the American Mafia to tell the world, "The coloreds have taken over the drug racket. We could not deal drugs if we wanted to do so." All the while, the coloreds are dope DISTRIBUTORS, but LCN is the nation's big drug WHOLESALER.
Of course, wiseguys still deal drugs, but, THEY DEAL DRUGS "ILLEGALLY." If they are caught dealing "illegal" drugs today, i.e. outside of the Grand Hotel des Palmes "Agreement" (1957), they are subject to being whacked.
The ‘Chicago Mafia Commission’ and the ‘Chicago Crime Commission’ Are Not The Same Organization!
Although he corroborated the existence of the New York Mafia Commission, Bonanno (January 20, 2003) did not acknowledge the existence of the Chicago Mafia Commission.
Here's a section of the excerpted testimony of mob turncoat Angelo Lonardo, the former acting boss of the Cleveland La Cosa Nostra, before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Senate Committee on Government Affairs April 4th, 1988. See also:
http://www.americanmafia.com/Lonardo_Testimony.html
"Senator Nunn: Mr. Lonardo, let me interrupt you right there and ask you just one or two short questions. Is there still a commission, to the best of your knowledge, in Chicago?
Mr. Lonardo: Up to the time I was out, yes.
Senator Nunn: What date was that?
Mr. Lonardo: Well, I knew at the time I was in Lewisburg, and that was in 1984 or 1985.
Senator Nunn: Up until 1984, to your knowledge there still was a commission of organized crime operating in Chicago?
Mr. Lonardo: Yes, there was.
Senator Nunn: I would ask you the same question about New York. Was there still a New York organized crime commission that basically controlled activities of La Cosa Nostra as of 1984-85?
Mr. Lonardo: Yes.
Senator Nunn: Since then, you cannot speak of personal knowledge?
Mr. Lonardo: I do not know" (p. 4). See: http://www.americanmafia.com/Lonardo_Testimony.html
The Stink
Joseph Bonanno (January 20, 2003) claimed to be opposed to mob profiteering by means of prostitution and/or the trafficking of drugs. This contention accounts for the omission, in A Man of Honor, of the name, Carmine "The Cigar" Galante. In the same spirit, Bonanno (January 20, 2003) forgot to mention The French Connection and the Pizza Connection I. He denies the occurrence in Palermo, Sicily of the Grand Hotel des Palmes summit (1957). In an effort to avoid the "STINK" that pervades association with illicit drug dealing, Bonanno (January 20, 2003) omits this individual and these historical events.
By "forgetting" to mention the name "Vito Casioferro" in his
autobiography, Joseph Bonanno (January 20, 2003) avoided the inevitable STINK that pervades the murder of an American policeman, Giuseppe "Joe" Petrosino. The Petrosino (1909) case is nearly one hundred years old. The STINK of Joe Petrosino's death is pervasive and unremitting. It wil not go away.
The Petrosino (1909) murder has a STINK as strong as the STINK which surrounds the the French Connection, the Pizza Connection I and, Carmine "The Cigar" Galante's international dope dealing.
According to some sources, Joseph Bonanno (January 20, 2003) found it convenient in writing A Man of Honor to omit any reference to Vito Cascioferro for several reasons. David Leon Chandler (March 1, 1975), Brothers in Blood: The Rise of the Criminal Brotherhoods, New York: 1st ed edition, Penguin USA., argues that Bonanno had been sent to the United States by Cascioferro as a part of a conspiracy. If Bonanno (January 20, 2003) deferrred to Vito Cascioferro. If he was subordinate to him, more unpleasant truths about Bonanno (January 20, 2003) are thereby revealed.
Salvatore Maranzano is a figure whose true historical significance is a variable in this equation. Hence, Joseph Bonanno (January 20, 2003) does not elaborate upon Maranzano's historical significance in regard to Vito Cascioferro.
In A Man of Honor, Bonanno (January 20, 2003) extensively discussed the New York Mafia Commission. Even though A Man of Honor (January 20, 2003) was initially published in 1983, Bonanno (January 20, 2003) apparently suffered a bad case of Chicago amnesia and was unable to recollect the reality of the Chicago Mafia Commission.
Maybe there was something about the Chicago Mafia Commission that brought a bad taste to Bonanno's mouth.
In the words of John J. Binder (May 1, 2003), in The Chicago Outfit (Images of America), Arcadia Publishing, 0738523267,
"Bonanno was thoroughly despised by his Outfit contemporaries, especially Tony Accardo" (p. 125).
Maybe Joseph Bonanno's (January 20, 2003) former association with the New York Mafia Commission somehow precluded referring to the Chicago Mafia Commission.
Or, maybe Joseph Bonanno (January 20, 2003) was hostile to ALL interfamilial Mafia organizations!!
James J. "Whitey" Bulger, of course, is not a made man. But, he was the closest rank to a made man that a non-Italian gangster can occupy in the American Mafia. Bulger certainly displayed a BIG MOUTH. He informed with expertise and impunity to the mutual benefit of both the Irish mob and the FBI.
We are in the era of the professional informant. Whitey Bulger is an exemplar of the mob boss who makes a career of being a professional informant. John J. Connolly Jr. is an exemplar of the FBI agent who makes a career of being a professional informant.
The Chicago Outfit, like the other 25 U.S. cosa nostra families, depends today upon informants. The Outfit has moles and corrupt law enforcement officers and officials on its payroll. The FBI depends upon informants. The FBI has every variety of mob rat on its payroll.
John J. Connolly Jr. and James J. "Whitey" Bulger remind us that, in the era of the professional informant, it is all data.
RED, RED BLOOD
Joseph "Joey The Clown" Lombardo and Francis John "Frank the German" Schweihs's hands drip with blood. Like the blood on Lady MacBeth's hands, it will not wash away. The FBI knows it, Lombardo and Schweihs know it and, the remaining top eschelon of the Chicago Outfit knows it.
The Chicago Outfit, as a criminal enterprise, is larger than the sum of its parts, e.g. larger than even Joey Lombardo and Frank Schweihs.
As long as they continue to act in the best interests of the Chicago Outfit, The Clown and The German remain safe. But, "the best interests of the Chicago Outfit" is a subjective reality.