From The Archives - January 2016
January 2016 - Joseph Aiello 
Giuseppe "Joe" Aiello (1891 – October 23, 1930) was a Chicago bootlegger and organized crime leader during the Prohibition era. The leader of his own Sicilian Mafia family, he was best known for his long and bloody feud with Chicago Outfit boss Al Capone. In July of 1907 Aiello immigrated to the United States to join his family. Aiello’s family owned a number of businesses in both New York and Chicago. They became importers of groceries such as olive oil, cheeses, and sugar. Alongside ‘The Scourge” Antonio Lombardo, he co-owned a cheese importing business. During Prohibition in Chicago, the Aiello family began supplying sugar to gangs illegally distilling spirits.
At that time, a benevolent society called the Unione Siciliana was set up to help Sicilian immigrants settle in the United States. While the Unione was originally intended for legitimate charitable purposes, it was soon taken over and corrupted by Sicilian gang members. Unione officials soon began demanding “protection money” or tributes, from its members, promising retribution to those who refused to pay. Al Capone wanted to control the Unione, but he was barred from even joining because his background was neopolitan, not Sicilian Mike Merlo, a bootlegger, was the head of the Chicago branch of the Unione and he used his position to mediate disputes among the Chicago gangs. The death of Merlo in November 1924 reignited Capone’s desire to control the Unione. Lombardo, a Capone ally, became the new head of the Chicago branch.
Aiello masterminded several unsuccessful attempts to assassinate Capone, and fought against his former business partner Antonio Lombardo, a Capone ally, for control of the Chicago branch of the Unione Siciliana benevolent society. Aiello and his ally Bugs Moran are believed to have arranged the murder of Lombardo, which directly led Capone to organize the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in retaliation.
Despite being forced to flee Chicago multiple times throughout the gang war, Aiello eventually took control of the Unione Siciliana in 1929, and ranked seventh among the Chicago Crime Commission's list of top "public enemies". Aiello was killed after Capone gunmen ambushed him as he exited a Chicago apartment building where he had been hiding out, shooting him 59 times. After his death, the Chicago Tribune described Aiello as "the toughest gangster in Chicago, and one of the toughest in the country".
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