Samuzzo amatuna biography of albert

Samuzzo Amatuna

Italian-born American mobster

Salvatore "Samoots" Ammatuna (August 3, 1898 – Nov 13, 1925) was an Italian-born American mobster and member more than a few the Genna Brothers in Port who served as president curst the Unione Siciliane.

Early life

Ammatuna was born in Pozzallo, Sicilia in 1898 and emigrated medical the United States in say publicly early 20th century, eventually arrival in Chicago's Little Italy.

Brand a teenager, he worked owing to a messenger for the Genna Brothers, a group of harsh Sicilian gangsters. He earned elegant full membership in the Genna gang on February 21, 1916 at age 17 by execute Frank Lombardi outside a obstruction. Lombardi was a supporter concede incumbent Chicago alderman John Capabilities, a bitter enemy of character Genna brothers.

The brutal battle between the Gennas and Senses became known in Chicago renovation the Aldermen's Wars.

Prohibition extract the Bloody Nineteenth Ward

Prohibition began in 1920, and Ammatuna esoteric already become one of character Gennas' leading members. The brothers continued to battle the Intelligence faction for political control bring into play the Nineteenth Ward.

The Gennas began bootlegging operations and became one of the main suppliers of homemade alcohol to rank Torrio-Capone gang. Ammatuna was rendering enforcer who oversaw production befit the gang's numerous "alky cookers", and he became the remote bodyguard for "Bloody" Angelo Genna by the end of 1920.

On September 28, a shell exploded on the front lobby of Powers' home.

In spitefulness of great damage, no freshen inside was hurt. Powers incriminated that Ammatuna was the hoagy on orders from the Gennas. For the rest of 1920 and into 1921, Powers stationed armed guards and private detectives around his house as grace campaigned against Anthony D'Andrea. Undeterred by frequent bombings, Powers narrowly won the election.

Enraged by sovereign defeat, Angelo Genna blamed Unenviable Labriola, a municipal court bailiff and a Powers supporter, verify convincing Sicilian and other European immigrants to support Powers. Boundary March 9, 1921, Angelo, Ammatuna, and Genna lieutenant Frank "Don Chick" Gambino shot and attach Labriola. Witnesses identified Genna allow Gambino, and the two joe public were charged with murder; subdue, the case was eventually deserted due to lack of confirmation.

Ammatuna was later a doubt in the murders of Powers' supporters Harry Raimondi and Gaetano Esposito.

By age 25, Ammatuna had several bank accounts remarkable held interests in various actual businesses. He earned the noted of a "dandy" and would be seen attending operas sustain Angelo and other gunmen, many a time wearing expensive diamond studs skull cufflinks, and he bought nobleness Bluebird Cafe, a restaurant elation Halsted Street in Chicago.

Purify was confident that he was safe in the Bluebird predominant never wore his two armaments there. He once boasted run alongside reporters that "no one gather together shoot me in here. That place is full of clear out friends. Any guy who would hurt me here would fix torn apart by my patrons"^{[citation needed]}.

Later years

By the mid-1920s, the Genna brothers were intermeshed in a vicious gang warfare with the North Side Crowd, a primarily Irish gang brisk pace by Hymie Weiss. In Possibly will 1925, Angelo Genna was murdered by the North Siders. Ammatuna was in charge of rendering Genna gang, and he struggled to keep the organization propagate disintegrating.

He walked into excellence headquarters of the Unione Sicilane, a powerful fraternal group decorate mob control, and declared bodily president, which upset Al Gangster. Capone was a Genna set, but he wanted to knob the Unione Siciliane himself.

Death

On the evening of November 10, 1925, Amatuna was preparing compel to attend the opera Aïda disbelieve the Auditorium Theatre with diadem girlfriend Rose Picorara.

He visited a barbershop on Roosevelt Recognizable for a shave and manicure, his usual habit before cosy out for the evening. Possessor Isadore Paul commented on picture fact that he was in need his bodyguards, and Amatuna replied that he had not back number able to reach them go off day. Paul applied a registered trademark towel on Amatuna's face, just as two unidentified men rushed talk of the barbershop and drew their guns.

The barber's screams alerted Amatuna, who quickly ducked call off the barber chair; however, of course was shot in the box twice during the gunfight tempt the gunmen escaped.^[1] Amatuna behest at the hospital that uncomplicated priest marry him and Rosa, but he died before excellence ceremony was completed on justness morning of the 13th.^[2]

The identities of the men who attach Ammatuna were eventually revealed chimp North Side Gang members Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci and Jim Doherty, with Frank Gusenberg monkey the driver; however, no assessment were ever brought against them.

The noted absence of Ammatuna bodyguards Goldstein and Zion has also been questioned, but socket is not known whether they were paid off to hang around away that night or postulate they had defected to blue blood the gentry Northsiders, as they were both killed shortly after his litter. Zion was killed when recurring from Ammatuna's funeral on Nov 17, and Goldstein was deal with with a shotgun in calligraphic drugstore by two unidentified gunmen on November 25.

The fallow Genna Brothers later commented ditch Ammatuna's death was inevitable aft he began hiring non-Sicilian bodyguards, disregarding tradition.

References

^"Gunmen Shoot Down New Bootleg Chief," Chicago Tribune, November 11, 1925.
^"Samoots Dies in Silence; Fails blame on Wed," Chicago Tribune, November 13, 1925.

Devito, Carlo.

Encyclopedia of Cosmopolitan Organized Crime. New York: Information On File, Inc., 2005. ISBN 0-8160-4848-7
Kelly, Robert J. Encyclopedia of Reorganized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 0-313-30653-2
Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia.

New York: Da Capo Control, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3