Originator: FBI
From: ROEMER, WILLIAM F. JR.
To: DIRECTOR, FBI
Document date: 11/25/1958
Document type: PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

## Page 1

JFK Assassination System

Identification Form

Agency Information

Date:

6/12/201

AGENCY :

RECORD NUMBER :

FBI,

124-10201-10029

RECORD SERIES: HQ

AGENCY FILE NUMBER: 92-3182-32

Document Information

ORIGINATOR:

FBI

FROM:

ROEMER, WILLIAM F. JR.

TO:

DIRECTOR, FBI

TITLE:

DATE:

PAGES:

SUBJECTS :

11/25/1958

31

GAL, BKG, INVEST, ASSOC

DOCUMENT TYPE :

CLASSIFICATION:

PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

Unclassified

RESTRICTIONS :

4; 11(a)

CURRENT STATUS :

Redact

DATE OF LAST REVIEW :

01/06/1999

OPENING CRITERIA: INDEFINITE, APPROVAL OF IRS

COMMENTS :

Released under the John F. Kennedy

Assassination Records Collection Act of

1992 (44 USC 2107 Note). Case#:NW

68262 Date: 09-22-2022

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176

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CG 92-373

On October 15, 1958, HERB WARD, Manager, Beach

Garage, 5939 South Lake Park,

advised SAs PAUL B.

FRANKFURT

and ROEMER that "BUTCH" LADON does not keep his Pontiac.

Illinois license number 470 148, in the garage.

noted that this is the car that LADON has been using to

chauffeur ALEX.

WARD also furnished information that LADON

has now changed his pattern in that he now takes his car

from the garage around 10 a.m., whereas his former procedure

was to take the car before 9

a.M., and sometimes before 8 a.m.

A surveillance of "BUTCH" LADON on October 15,

1958, by SAs FRANKFURT and ROEMER determined that LADON

entered the Beach Garage at 10:21 a.m. and left it at

10:22 a.m., driving the above mentioned Cadillac.

At 10:37 a.m.

LADON exited from Lake Shore Drive at the Fullerton Street

exit.

At 10:52 a.m., the above described Cadillac was

observed in a parking space at 320 Oakdale, the residence

Of EDDIE VOGEL and FRANK FERRARO.

It is noted that LADON previous to his employment

as a chauffeur by ALEX was a chauffeur-body guard for EDDIE

VOGEL, and the above information tends to indicate that

LADON

has resumed his association with vOGEL.

THOMAS S.X MUNIZZO

It is noted that I-5 has furnished information

which has previously been reported, indicating that one

"TOMMY"

was a close associate of GUS AlEX, and that "TOMMY"

was used by the hoodlums for contacts with the mayor of

chicago. It has alsimon, reported that investigation

determined that the

referred to by CG 6232-0 is-in

all probabilIty THOMAS SMUNIZZO:

On September 24, 1958, T-5 was contacted to

information which he had

furnished

determine

regarding

Company at that address.

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CG 92-373

been changed from NATHAN LAN

who previously was Listed

as the driver for this caro

tO JOSEPH D. PIGNATELLO,

6918 South Paulina, Chicago

is noted that this car

has been observed by sources toi

this office being driven

by LADON for GUS ALEX, and it is

this car which

above under the caption,

"NATHAN 'BUTCH' LADON. "Is described

'It is also

EDDIE VOGEL.

He operates a pizzeria on West Roosevelt

Road in Chicago.

On October 6, 1958, PIGNATELLO waS

interviewed at his residence at 6918 South Paulina by

SAS FRANKFURT and

• ROEMER.

PIGNATELLO was most uncooperative

during the interview, and refused to answer any questions

whatsoever put to him by the interviewing agents.

repeated the following phrase approximately a dozen times

during the course of the interview:

and my attorney will contact you."

ELLIOTTX PRICE

MASS.

I-I advised that he had recently been in Boston,

Massachusetts, and while there, was in contact with ELLIOTT

PRICE, who is

involved in the numbers racket and in

bookmaking in Boston.

PRICE advised the informant that

he was

a good friend of GUS ALEX.

When the informant

returned

to Chicago, he mentioned to ALEX that ELLIOTT

PRick had sent his regaras to him and Alux tola the

informant that PRicE was

"O.K." and"a real swell guy."

SIDNEY Fr

KONSHAK

fee;

It 1s nôted that previous Information has been

reported

concerning the association which exists between

GUS and MARIANNE ALEX and SIDNEY and BERNICE/KORSHAR..

Briefly, it is noted that KORSHAK and his wife are close

friends

of the AlEXs, and that KORSHAK is an extremely

wealthy attorneywith offices at 134 South La Salle, Chicago,

and a brother of MARSHALL KORSAK, Illinois State Senator,

with

- whom he shares legal'offices. It is also noted that

while ALEX was evading the subpoena of the Senate Rackets

Committee that he stayed in the Ocotillo Lodge in Palm

Springs, California, for a period of time, and that while

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CG 92-373

in Los Angeles, California he used a 1950 Lincoln Continenta.

SIDNEY WORSHAK has advised SA ROEMER that

the villa at the Ocotillo Lodge where ALEX stayed is leased

to him, KORSHAR, on an annual basis, and that it was his

Lincoln Continental Mark 3, which ALEX and his wife used in

SIDNEY M. KELLER, owner-manager, the Whitehall

Club, 105 East Delaware,

stated in applying for membership

shore rive hicago, as a character reference.

noted that SIDNEY R?

KORSHAK advised SA ROEMER in July.

1958, that he maintains

an apartment at 2970 Lake Shore

el..

LOUIS TORNABENE

As has been previously reported, LOUIS TORNA BENE

is a close associate of GUS ALEX, and operates handbooks

in the Loop area of Chicago, over which ALEX allegedly

holds the principal interest. T-5 advised on September 24,

1958, that for the past six months he has been a partner

of LOUIS TORNABENE

in a gambling

establishment which the

informant and TORNABENE operated at the Santa Fe Hotel,

'olk and Dearborn streets, Chicago.

During the course

of this

joint venture, I-5 stated that TORNABENE became

obligated to him in the amount of approximately $15,000.00,

as well as a personal gambling debt

amounting to an

additional $4,000.00.

TORNABENE refused to pay the

informant his

winnings because the informant had quit on

a specific crap game in which TORNABENE was playing against

other persons, some being backed by the informant. The

informant, at

the time of

quitting, was winning money from

TORNABENE.

The informant contacted SAM BATTAGLIA, highly

placed Chicago hoodlum,

through an intermediary and BATTAGLIA

sent an individual named FNU POPE to see the informant.

Port said he would have to get both sides of the story

• in

regards to the gambling debtaand would have a ruling in a day

or two.

Prior to the informant's contact with SAM BATTAGLIA,

LOUIS TORNABENE had sent two hoodlums to his house, obviously

with the intent to threaten the informant to take no further

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CG 92-373

action regarding the gambling debt. The informant spotted

the two individuals sitting outside his home and

then decided

to 80 dIreCtly to SAMRATTAGLIA to force the 19sue.

On the evening of September 24, 1958, the informant

was

called to the Santa Fe Bar for a meeting with TORNABENE

and POPE, who is a close associate of LOUIS TORNABENE and

Atithat time also present was an individual known as

"Chappie,

GUS ALEX in gambling operations.

The informant advised

CHAPPIE at this meeting would directly represent GUS ALEX's

interest in the dispute. The informant advised that POPE,

the representative of SAM BATTAGLIA,

was described as white,

male, Italian, 55, light complected, average height and

"skinny.

It was decided at the meeting that TORNABENE owed

the informant no money from the gambling debt. TORNABENE

stated that the informant was being charged expenses for the

operations of TORNABENE's bookie joint and that his share in

the winnings less expenses would be $4,600.00, which TORNABENE

was obligated to pay and was, in fact, paying off

Informant advised that POPE had contacted MAISE BAER, Chicago

prior to the meeting and that

informant, sided with him in the dispute. P, knowing the

The informant

advised that the entire situation cost him $10,000.00 and

the interesting point was that it showed the power of GUS

ALEX's influence in the syndicate setup.

He advised that in

spite of SAM BATTAGLIA, POPE and MAISH BAER siding with him,

GUS ALEX's weight thrown to FORNABENE's side of the issue was

sufficient to settle the dispute in TORNABENE's favor with no

objection from any of the other participants in the conversation.

The informant further advised on October 8, 1958, that he felt

that he had been muscled out of money, honestly owed to him

eastern contacts, which would be the former

Gang, of whom there are a few members left operating on the

East Coast, who are very powerful in the Jersey City and New

York City area.. The informant hoped through this connection

to have contact made directly to TONY ACCARDO, who would then

The informant advised that if he

is successiul with his last coast contacts, they will send

a man to chicago to make the contact with ACCARDO. . He

advised he would keep this office advised of the entire

situation as it develops.

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CG 92-373

The informant further advised that LOUIS TORNABENE

has huge sums of money available at all times for his gambling

operations and that he maintains several safety deposit boxes

at the Central National Bank, located east of Halsted Street

on the north side of Roosevelt Road.

bank is also used

as a place for storing gambling money by

other hoodlums in the Chicago area; however, he did not know

the specific individuals outside of TORNABENE using the

bank's facilities.

T-5 further advised that during the period of time

when he was in close contact and in the good graces of LOUIS

TORNABENE, TORNABENE boasted to him that GUS ALEX is anxious

to lend him $20,000.00 for TORNABENE's own use in bookmaking.

TORNABiNE stated that he has not accepted the twenty grand

but also said that GUS ALEX has offered part of the policy

racket on the South Side of Chicago. TORNABENE indicated

that he is interested in the policy angle.

HENRE SUSK

Attention is drawn to the fact that it has

previously been reported that HENRY SUSK is a close friend

Of GUS ALEX, and that SUSK has furnished ALEX with several

automobiles, which remain registered to SUSK but are used

principally by ALEX.

Also, that susk has furnished a

diner's credit card

to ALEX, and that ALEX utilizes this

card for meals.

I-I advised that on September 26, 1958, HENRY

SUSK dined with GUS and MARIANNE ALEX, and

that MARIANNE

ALEX attempted to do the cooking on this occasion and

burned both the steak and potatoes, which she attempted

to cook.

EDDIE VOGEL

Reported above under

the caption, "NATHAN 'BUTCH'

LADON"

, is information that SAs FRANKFURT and ROEMER observed

LADON drive the Cadillac which he has been using to chauffeur

ALEX, to the residence of EDDIE VOGEL, on October 15, 1958.

299 13594

on october 20, 1950, SA FRANKFURT Observed LADON driving

this same automobile with VOGEL as a passenger.

This,

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CG 92-373

to be "The Boss of the Loop" for the Chicago Crime Syndicate.

He stated that any problems which arise among gamblers in the

Loop are settled by GUS AleX, and that he feels certain that

no bookie can operate in the

Loop without the sanction of

ALEX.

He reiterated information in this regard, which he has

furnished previously concerning the attempt of a prominent

"muscle"

stated that he continues to operate free from such

In on the informant's business' "muscline"

after he successfully sought the intervention and protection

Of ALEX.

He feels that this continued "guardianship"

of GUS

ALEX has enabled him to operate in the Loop free from hoodlum

interference and

free from the usual fifty per cent which the

syndicate extracts

"ASSOCIATES" and tr

It is noted that above

and the sub-caption "LOUIS

TORNABENE" information is set out concerning the intervention

Of GUS ALEX in a dispute between T-5 and LOUIS TORNABENE.

As noted above, the informant stated that one of the most

significant things to him in the entire dispute was the fact

that in spite of the weight of SAM BATTAGLIA, who is regarded

among hoodlums in Chicago as a very influential syndicate

leader coupled with MAISH BAth, who is also highly regarded

among chicago hoodlums although not so much so as BATTAGLIA,

and one POPE, the fact that GUS ALEX sided with TORNABENE

was sufficient to settle the dispute in

TORNABENE'S favor with no objection from BATTAGLIA, BAER,

It is noted further that this dispute concerned

information would, therefore, tend to substantiate information

previously reported that GUS

ALEX controls the first ward for

The first ward includes the Loop, the near

South Side, and the near West Side, being Chicago's largest

11 ne argent

2. The South Side

I'-8 and T-9, who have furnished reliable information

in the past, were

contacted during October, 1950.

individuals

These

are very well acquainted with many hoodlums and

particularly with individuals engaged in the policy racket

on the South Side of Chicago.

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CG 92-373

on September 29, 1958, that investigators

of his office have

received information that GUS ALEX is a silent partner with

RALPH PIERCE in the Crossroads Cafe, Wabash and Van Buren

Streets, Chicago, Illinois.

It is noted that RALPH PIERCE is a top hoodlum,

in Chicago.

C.

Income for 1951, 1952, 1953,

_ 1955, 1956

Mr. LA VERNE DUFFY, Chief Invostigator, Chicago

Office of the Senate Rackets

on September 29, 1958, that one of his

Committee investigators was

advised SA ROEMER

able to review the income tax returns of GUS ALEX during

the years 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, and 1956.

Mr. DUFFY

stated that the only information

the investigator made

notes on concerning these returns was

EK Law 11(a)

JEK

Law 11(a)

REVIEWED BY

SUFK FASH FORGE

ON

1112/98 dal

VI.

HANGOUTS

RELEASE IN FULL

A.

Club Continental

# RELEASE IN PART

• TOTAL DENIAL

I-13, with whom insufficient contact has been made

to determine his reliability but who is in a position to

along with other hoodlums such

know, advised that GUS ALbr' "Bananas" DE BIASE, and LENNIE

as JAMES ALLEGRETTI, JOHNNY

PATRICK, are frequent diners at the Club Continental, a

plush Rush Street night club.

This informant stated

that

suring the early part of 1958, the above Individuals

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CG 92-373

The following informants are furnishing current

information regarding ALEX:

CG 5973-0

CG 6232-C

The following informants have furnished recent

information concerning ALEX, but have not furnished

any information during the period covered by instant

report:

CG 6215-C

CG

5973-C

CG 6241-C

The following Potential Criminal Informants are

furnishing current information concerning ALEX:

TURA FOLTZ

BILL KAPLAN

RAY LONGTREE

PAUL RAFFLES

In addition to the above, Sergeant MICHAEL A.

SERRITELLA Of Evergreen Park, Illinois, Police Department,

who enjoys a certain amount of ALEX's confidence, having

grown up in ALEX's old neighborhood contemporaneously with

is contacted regularly.

He now resides two blocks

from ALEXis mother's residence in Evergreen Park. Also,

Mr. and Mrs. JOSEPH VINCENT, who

reside

across the street

from ALEX's mother and brother, are contacted regularly.

It is noted that ALEX receives

his mail at his mother's

address and visits there often.

In order to aid in the determination of a possible

move on the part of ALEX and his wife, arrangements have been

perfected with BENJAMIN LEVIN, Superintendent of the Lake

View Fost Office, which covers ALEX's residence at 4300 North

Marine Drive, Chicago.

Mr.

LEVIN, who was last contacted

on October 13, 1958, advised that

he will immediately.contact

this office in the

event he receives a removal notice from

either ALEX or his wife, MARIANNE RIAN., It is noted that it

ADMINISTRATIVE PAGE

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CG 92-373

is not felt likely that ALEX would request a removal notice,

out it is felt extremely likely that MARIANNE RYAN, due to

ner career as a protessional model, would be most desirous

of furnishing a forwarding address

to the post office.

INFORMANTS

T-1

PCI TURA PASQUAL FOLTZ

On September 29, 1958,

to SAs ROBERT W. HEDDEN

and

EDWARD J. NEHLS

and on

October 20, 1958, to

SA HEDDEN.

On October

6

1958,

SA WILLIAM F.

to

ROEMER.

I-2

Mrs.

JOSEPH VINCENI,

9336 South Spaulding

(Upon request).

T - 3

CLARENCE HUGHES,

Chief of Security,

Drake

Hotel,

Chicago, Illinois.

HECTOR "TONY" TONTINI,

Maitre d',

Whitehall Club,

105 East Delaware,

Chicago, Illinois.

T-5

CG 6232-0

T -6

POI RAY LONGTREE

T- 7

PCI BILL KAPLAN

On September 17,

to SA ROEMER.

1958,

OntOctober 20, 1958,

to SA ROEMER.

On September 24, 1958,

tO SA WILLIAM A.

MEINCKE.

On October 7, 1958; to

SA ROEMER.

On November 12, 1958, to

ROEMER.

ADMINISTRATIVE PAGE

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CG 92-373

T- 8

Former

POI WASSELiA. DONALDSON

On October 15, 1950, to

SAS PAUL B. FRANKFURT and

ROEMER.

TONY HORTON,

Partner of I-8 in a bail bond

business, Wabash Avenue

48th Street, Chicago, Illinois.

T-10

CG 6132-0

T-11

MICHAEL KHALMAN MINKIN,

PCI.

T-12

CG 6215-0

I-13

DAVID FELZONE,

Chicago

Un October 15, 1950,

to

SAS FRANKFURT

and RÓEMER.

On September 15, 1958, to

SA WILLIAM J. MC CORMICK

On July 29, 1958, to

SA BILLY E. WEBB.

On September 13, 1958, to.

SA ROBERT L. BAKER.

On September 12, 1958, to

SA MEINCKE.

ADMINISTRATIVE PAGE

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