The American Mafia - Who Was Who: Nitti

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Campagna, Louis (1900-1955)

b. Brooklyn, NY, June 27, 1900.
d. Miami, FL, May 30, 1955.

A close associate of Al Capone, Louis "Little New York" Campagna is believed to have briefly served as boss of the Chicago Outfit in the post-Capone era.

Like Capone, Campagna was born in Brooklyn, New York, and relocated to Chicago. He became a trusted aide and bodyguard to Capone.

Following Capone's imprisonment for tax evasion, Campagna became the top lieutenant for Frank Nitti. Nitti, Campagna and several other leaders of the Chicago Outfit were indicted in 1943 by a federal grand jury in New York for using their control of a screen and stage employees union to extort a million dollars from movie company executives. Just hours after the indictment, Nitti committed suicide. Campagna appears to have served as the Outfit's top man until the extortion case resulted in his conviction.

Anthony Accardo and Paul Ricca later emerged as the leading figures in the Outfit.

Campagna connections were credited with arranging for a more convenient prison term for Outfit leaders, having them moved from distant Atlanta Federal Prison, to more accessible Leavenworth, Kansas, and arranging for a quick parole in 1947.

Campagna maintained a home in Berwyn, Illinois, just west of Cicero, and also had a palatial estate in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

In spring of 1955, Campagna and his wife vacationed in the Bahamas. The returned to the U.S. by plane on May 16, landing in Miami. Two weeks later, Campagna went on a fishing trip in the waters off Miami. He reportedly suffered a heart attack on the fishing boat. He was pronounced dead at Miami.

Campagna's Benton Harbor estate was purchased several months later by the Seventh Day Adventist Church for use as a sanatorium.

See also:

Chicago Crime Bosses - Mafiahistory.us

Sources:

Cook County Illinois Birth Certificates Index.
Florida Death Index.
New York City Birth Records
Passenger manifest of aircraft N1080M, Chalk's Airline, departed Bimini, Bahamas, arrived Miami, Fl., 5:25 p.m., May 16, 1955.
Roberts, S.A. John W. Jr., "La Cosa Nostra, Chicago Division," FBI report, file no. 92-6054-677, NARA no. 124-10287-10243, July 16, 1964, p. 5.
United States Census of 1930, Illinois, Cook County, City of Berwyn, Enumeration District 16-1988.
United States Census of 1940, Illinois, Cook County, City of Berwyn, Ward 3, Enumeration District 16-15.
Yost, Newton E., "La Cosa Nostra," FBI report, file no. 92-6054-683, NARA no. 124-10208-10406, July 22, 1964, p. 18.

"Capone 'enforcer' shot by detective," New York Times, Dec. 20, 1932, p. 8.
"Gang leader Nitti kills himself in Chicago after indictment here," New York Times, March 20, 1943, p. 30.
"Louis Campagna, notorious Capone gangster, dies," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 31, 1955, p. 2.
"Adventists buy estate of gangster," Dixon IL Evening Telegraph, Aug. 26, 1955, p. 6.

Accardo, Anthony Joseph (1906-1992)

Born April 28, 1906.
Died Chicago, IL, May 27, 1992.

Tony Accardo, also known as "Joe Batters" and "Big Tuna," was Chicago Outfit boss for about a dozen years beginning near the end of World War II, when Frank Nitti apparently committed suicide and Paul Ricca was imprisoned.

Accardo became prominent in the mob during Al Capone's reign. He served for a time as Capone's bodyguard. His arrest record began in 1923 and included a number of criminal convictions. However, Accardo is known to have spent only one day inside a prison.

In 1931, Accardo was named as a suspect in the killing of Capone rival Joe Aiello. Upon Capone's imprisonment for tax evasion, Accardo remained close to new boss Frank Nitti and took the reins of the Outfit in 1943 or 1944. He helped guide the Chicago family into gambling ventures, entertainment industry rackets and trucking.

Accardo's only day in prison occurred on Lincoln's Birthday in 1945. He was taken into custody for questioning in connection with a gambling case. Due to the holiday closing of the courts, Accardo remained in custody until the next day.

Accardo allowed Sam Giancana to take over day-to-day mob operations in 1956. Accardo remained influential in the crime family. Federal authorities succeeded in winning a tax evasion conviction against Accardo in November 1960. The Chicago boss was sentenced to three two-year terms, running consecutively, and a $15,000 fine. An appeals court found errors in the case and ordered a new trial, and Accardo was acquitted at retrial.

Accardo returned to a visible leadership role when Giancana fled the country in 1966. He was repeatedly called before government investigation panels. Accardo remained at the helm when Giancana returned to Chicago in 1974. Giancana was shot to death a short time later.

Accardo retired in the 1980s, spending much of his time at Palm Springs, Calif. Federal investigators continued to link him to union racketeering. He died of congestive heart failure and acute respiratory failure at Chicago's St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital on May 27, 1992.