Mario Anthony DeStefano (March 21, 1915 – August 12, 1975) was a "made" member of 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, tha ...

and a leading

loan shark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...

. Born Mario Antonio DeStefano, he later

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d his middle name. DeStefano grew up in

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, with his brothers, including future "mob associate" Sam "Mad Sam" DeStefano. In 1935, at age 20, Mario DeStefano was

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and

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to 30 years in

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. In 1949, after serving 14 years, he was released. DeStefano soon partnered with his brother, Sam DeStefano, in a

loansharking A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...

operation, one of the earliest in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

history. By the end of the 1950s, the DeStefanos dominated the racket in Chicago. In 1955, police questioned the two brothers regarding the September 1955 death of their younger brother, Michael DeStefano; however, no

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s were ever filed. Although the Outfit controlled the DeStefano crew's loanshark operations, the Chicago mob's ruling eschelon allowed the DeStefanos a great deal of

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in exchange for a percentage of the earnings. This independence might be attributed to Sam's DeStefano relationship with Outfit leader Paul "The Waiter" Ricca, who DeStefano met when both were serving time for separate crimes in

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in the 1940s. During the 1960s, Mario DeStefano was the primary enforcer for the crew. In 1964, DeStefano resided in

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. In 1973, the DeStefanos and Anthony (Tony) "The Ant" Spilotro were charged with the November 19, 1963 murder of Destefano-underling loan shark Leo Foreman. Mario DeStefano was eventually convicted in the Foreman murder and sentenced to 20-to-40 years in prison. Spilotro was

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. While out on bail during the trial, Sam DeStefano was murdered in his garage. Police considered Mario DeStefano and Spilotro to be suspects in Sam DeStefano's murder, but the two men were never charged. On July 9, 1975, Mario DeStefano's sentence in the Foreman murder was overturned by the

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. While awaiting retrial, DeStefano died on August 12, 1975, of a

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Bibliography

*Devito, Carlo. ''Encyclopedia of International Organized Crime''. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005.

External links

"Mad Sam" DeStefano: The Mob’s Marquis de Sade
by Allan May, details regarding the murder of Leo Foreman 1915 births 1975 deaths American gangsters of Italian descent Chicago Outfit mobsters {{American Mafia

Further reading

Bibliography

External links