Gus Alex (April 1, 1916 – July 24, 1998) was a

Greek-American Greek Americans ( el, Ελληνοαμερικανοί ''Ellinoamerikanoí'' ''Ellinoamerikánoi'' ) are Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. The lowest estimate is that 1.2 million Americans are of Greek descent while the highest es ...

mobster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

affiliated with the

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, ...

, who succeeded

Jake Guzik Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik (March 20, 1886 – February 21, 1956) was the financial and legal advisor, and later political " greaser," for the Chicago Outfit. Early life Guzik was born near Kraków, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hu ...

and

Murray Humphreys Murray Humphreys (born Llewellyn Morris Humphreys; April 20, 1899 – November 23, 1965) (also known as The Camel or The Hump), was a Chicago mobster of Welsh descent who was the chief political fixer and labor racketeer, beginning during t ...

as the Outfit's main political briber and " fixer".

Early life

Alex's family came from the village of Alepochori in Achaea,

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label= Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, wh ...

. According to William F. Roemer,

Gus, being
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, could not be '
made Made or MADE may refer to: Entertainment Film * ''Made'' (1972 film), United Kingdom * ''Made'' (2001 film), United States Music * ''Made'' (Big Bang album), 2016 * ''Made'' (Hawk Nelson album), 2013 * ''Made'' (Scarface album), 2007 *'' M.A.D.E. ...
,' but he had done it all. His dad had operated a small restaurant at Wentworth and 26th in Armour Square/Chinatown, which was frequented by many members of the Capone, and then the Nitti, mob. Gus and Strongy errarohad worked in the restaurant from an early age. Both were sharp guys and came to the attention of the boys. Gus had, therefore, been one of them almost since birth.

Working primarily for Al Capone's

Jewish-American American Jews or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by religion, ethnicity, culture, or nationality. Today the Jewish community in the United States consists primarily of Ashkenazi Jews, who descend from diaspora Je ...

associate,

, Alex would later become his protégé as he rose through the ranks of the Chicago

crime family A crime family is a unit of an organized crime syndicate, particularly in Italian organized crime and especially in the Sicilian Mafia and Italian American Mafia, often operating within a specific geographic territory or a specific set of activ ...

. By 1930, he was suspected in the

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

s of at least five unsolved murder cases. Two of the alleged victims, later dying of their injuries in hospital, identified Alex as their assailant as well as three others who were killed after reporting to

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

and death

threat A threat is a communication of intent to inflict harm or loss on another person. Intimidation is a tactic used between conflicting parties to make the other timid or psychologically insecure for coercion or control. The act of intimidation for co ...

s sent by Alex.

From Guzik's protege to Syndicate fixer

Under Guzik's guidance, Alex became experienced in securing

Syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndicat ...

protection through bribery of city officials. By the mid-1940s, Alex was the main liaison between the Chicago Outfit and city hall officials. He granted control of the Loop's illegal

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

and prostitution operations, including a lucrative

call girl A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who (unlike a street walker) does not display her profession to the general public, nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency.< ...

operation out of prominent downtown hotels (of which many call girls were paid up to $500 to $1,000) Alex's operations brought in an estimated $1 million a month for the Syndicate. Described as "one of the wiliest and slickest crooks" within the Chicago Outfit, Alex would decline to answer questions under the Fifth Amendment over 39 times during his appearance before the

Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), stood up in March 1941 as the "Truman Committee," is the oldest subcommittee of the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (formerly the Committee on Governme ...

of the U.S. Senate Committee on Government Operations. During the 1960s, Alex would come under suspicion during his annual ski trips to Switzerland as the

US government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

accused Alex of depositing Outfit money in unnumbered

Swiss bank account Banking in Switzerland dates to the early eighteenth century through Switzerland's merchant trade and has, over the centuries, grown into a complex, regulated, and international industry. Banking is seen as Culture of Switzerland, emblematic of ...

s. As a result of the US government's protest (although Illinois Senator

Everett Dirksen Everett McKinley Dirksen (January 4, 1896 – September 7, 1969) was an American politician. A Republican, he represented Illinois in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. As Senate Minority Leader from 1959 u ...

and Congressman William L. Dawson opposed government action, calling to allow Alex to continue his "sporting trips"), Swiss officials banned Alex from entering Switzerland for 10 years.

Later years

Remaining a high-ranking member of the Chicago Outfit for over 30 years, Alex would retain his position throughout the reigns of Felice "Paul 'The Waiter' Ricca" DeLucia, Antonino "Tony," "Joe Batters" Accardo, and Salvatore "Sam," "Mooney" Giancana. Alex would continue to consolidate his political influence during the 1970s and 1980s not only within Chicago but expanding into the state capital Springfield, Illinois. An invaluable resource, Alex's political connections would ensure his position with the organization during the unstable leadership of the decade. During Outfit leader Joseph "Joey Doves" Aiuppa's imprisonment, Alex would share overseeing day-to-day activities with underboss Samuel "Wings" Carlisi (being supervised by former leader Accardo, based in Palm Springs, California). Alex was convicted for the first time at the age of seventy-six when a federal jury found him guilty of approving violent extortions of successful businessmen on October 1, 1992. Sentenced to fifteen years and eight months' imprisonment and a $823,000 fine in February 1993, he died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in federal prison at Lexington, Kentucky aged eighty-two on July 24, 1998 after Leonard "Lenny" Patrick, a close Outfit associate, wore a "

wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...

" and taped Alex for the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

Quote

* On

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

casinos:

It's a sucker's game. You can't win out there, you understand. We got the percentages rigged all in our favor. The longer you stay, the more you play, the more chances you got of losing. I don't let nobody around me who gambles. A couple thousand, okay, but no gambling!"Roemer: Man Against the Mob," page 92.

References

External links