Alfred Polizzi (born Alfonso Polizzi; ; March 15, 1900 – May 26, 1975) was a Sicilian emigrant to the United States who was boss of the Cleveland crime family in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1935 to 1945. He stabilized the Cleveland crime family after a period of revenge killings, and was one of the most influential mobsters in the United States. He retired to Florida in 1945, where he was involved in the construction industry. He used several aliases, including "Big Al" and Albert Allen.
Early life.
Alfonso Polizzi was born in Siculiana, Sicily, Italy, on March 15, 1900, to Raimondo and Giovannina (née Indelicato) Polizzi. He emigrated from Italy to the United States with his family in 1909. His father, a blacksmith, settled the family on Woodland Avenue in one of Cleveland's Italian enclaves. He quit school at the age of 14 to sell newspapers on the street for the "Cleveland News". The "News" was in a major circulation war with "The Plain Dealer" and the "Cleveland Press". The "News" hired 24-year-old Arthur B. McBride as its circulation manager, and McBride hired young toughs like Polizzi not only to hawk newspapers but to intimidate sellers of other papers. In the summer of 1917, Polizzi worked as a lifeguard at Luna Park, where he met future mobster Fred Angersola.
Alfred had three brothers, Joseph (b. 1893?-d. 1965), Jasper (b. 1895?-d. 1957), and James (b. 1910?-d. 1979), and two sisters, Carmela (or Carmelina; b.1892?-d. 1963) and Catherine (b. 1920-d. ?). Joseph was also involved in mafia activity, although at a low level.
Alfonso had an adopted brother, Charles "Chuck" Polizzi, also known as Albert Polizzi. Chuck Polizzi was born Leo Berkowitz. His parents were Russian Jews who had emigrated to Cleveland but died soon after their son was born. Historians Michael Newton and Hank Messick say Chuck was unofficially adopted by the Polizzis, but historian Albert Fried says the adoption was formalized. Chuck Polizzi is often mistakenly called Alfred's brother; Alfred himself said he felt Chuck to be a cousin.
Cleveland crime family.
Mayfield Road Mob and Cleveland Syndicate.
In his late teens, Polizzi became a member of the Mayfield Road Mob, an Italian American gang that had formed in Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood. As part of the Mayfield Road Mob, Polizzi became a close associate of mobsters Fred Angersola, George Angersola, John Angersola, Frank Brancato, and Charles Colletti. Polizzi quickly became gang leader Frank Milano's top lieutenant.
Polizzi engaged in extortion and robbery, bootlegging, and other crimes. By the time he retired in 1945, he had been arrested seven times (four while using the alias "Albert Allen"). He was first arrested in 1920. He was convicted of violating the Volstead Act in 1926; he served six months in prison and was fined $1,000 ($ in 2023 dollars). He was arrested again in 1928 when Cleveland police suspected him of bombing the home of Nathan Weisenberg. Weisenberg ran a racket that controlled all the legal slot machines in the area, forcing customers to lease them at high prices and skimming part of the profits. The Mayfield Road Mob attempted to take over the business, and Polizzi and Colletti were believed to have placed the explosives at Weisenberg's home in September 1928.
During Prohibition, Polizzi sold bootleg alcohol in Detroit, Michigan, and became a close associate of Detroit mobster Moe Dalitz. Dalitz, along with Maurice Kleinman, Louis Rothkopf, Sam Tucker, and Thomas "Blackjack" McGinty, was an original member of the Cleveland Syndicate, a group of Jewish and Irish mobsters based in Cleveland and Akron, who engaged in bootlegging and smuggling. The Cleveland Syndicate preferred to give a cut of its profits to mobsters in other criminal organizations, who then did the actual work of bootlegging or running illegal gambling operations. John Angersola and Alfred Polizzi were the two members of the Cleveland crime family to do bootlegging for the Syndicate. The Polizzi-run bootlegging operation moved large amounts of high-quality liquor into northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania, generating substantial profits for Polizzi and the others involved.
The Arrowhead Club (or Arrowhead Inn) was established near Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1926, and featured bootleg liquor and illegal gambling. A few years later (probably no later than 1929), Polizzi became an investor in the Arrowhead Club along with other members of the Cleveland crime family and the Syndicate.
Role in the takeover by Frank Milano.
By the early 1920s, the Cleveland mafia (or Cleveland crime family) had taken over the Mayfield Road Mob and become the dominant criminal organization in Cleveland. It was led by boss Joseph "Big Joe" Lonardo, and both Alfred and Chuck Polizzi sometimes acted as bodyguards for Lonardo and his family. Lonardo was assassinated in June 1927 by Salvatore "Black Sam" Todaro and Joseph "Big Joe" Porrello. Todaro was killed by Lonardo family in June 1929.
Corn sugar was the key to the manufacture of corn whiskey. Corn whiskey was usually made with cornmeal or unground corn mixed with rye as the mash. Corn sugar could not only be substituted for grain as the mash ingredient but also permitted faster production of the final liquor. Control of the corn sugar industry as well as the distribution of illegal liquor was critical to creating wealth, and the Porrellos produced and distributed most of the corn sugar in northeast Ohio. Frank Milano wanted the Porrellos' business, and in early 1930 invited Joseph Porrello and his top lieutenant, Sam Tilocco, to meet at Milano's Venetian Restaurant as 12601 Mayfield Road in Cleveland. Polizzi attended the meeting. It quickly became apparent to Porrello that Milano wanted to take over his business, not form a partnership. Porrello made a counter-proposal: That he be allowed to join the East End BiPartisan Political Club, an organization Milano had founded to put mafia money and organizational muscle behind preferred political candidates. Milano refused.
In late June, Porrello established his own political club. On July 4, Polizzi telephoned Porrello and arranged a meeting for the following day at the Venetian Restaurant. Polizzi greeted Porrello and Tilocco as they arrived shortly before 2 PM on July 5. Also present were Milano and Mayfield Road mobsters John Angersola and Charles Colletti. The six men played cards and discussed business. Gunfire erupted, and both Porrello and Tilocco were killed.
Milano and the Mayfield Road Mob were now in control of the Cleveland crime family. Polizzi, who fled the scene of the crime, was wanted by the police for questioning. By the time he turned himself in to the police at the end of July, the police declined to interview him. The investigation into the Porrello/Tilocco murder had turned up no clues, and the police had no questions to ask him.
Cleveland police arrested Milano in March 1932 for being a "suspicious person". Police officials at the time suspected him of bootlegging and attempting to take over a number of different rackets in the area. A court dismissed the charge, saying being "suspicious" is not enough to warrant arrest.
Career under Milano.
Along with John Angersola, Charles Colletti, and Anthony Milano, Alfred Polizzi was one of the top leaders of the Cleveland crime family under Milano's rule. Police believed he ran more numbers rackets in the area than any other criminal, and he became close to Cleveland mobsters John DeMarco and John T. Scalish. Although the Cleveland crime family had a reputation for using murder as a way of dealing with threats, Polizzi came to favor bribery instead. He spent many years attempting bribe officials into paroling Toledo, Ohio, gangster Thomas "Yonnie" Licavoli, who was convicted of murder in 1934.
In December 1932, Polizzi and eight others from the Cleveland Syndicate and the Cleveland crime family formed Buckeye Enterprises Company. Buckeye Enterprises invested in a wide range of legal and illegal businesses, including the Thomas Club (a luxury casino in the Cleveland suburb of Maple Heights), the Continental Supper Club (a casino and restaurant located at 8591 Carnegie Avenue in Cleveland), Shaw-Clair Catering, Superior Catering, Eastern Service Company (a company which laundered income from Buckeye Enterprises so as not to draw attention from the Internal Revenue Service), and Buckeye Catering (which acted as a front for a slot machine leasing and profit-skimming business).
Polizzi co-owned Tornello Importing Co., an olive oil, pasta, and tomato paste importation business, with Frank Milano. It was a front for numerous illegal activities, and used to launder money. With Frank Milano and Moe Dalitz, Polizzi was also a partner in the Molaska Corporation. Formed in 1933 just 10 days after the end of Prohibition, it manufactured dehydrated molasses for use in alcohol manufacturing nationwide. This product was also used in the illegal manufacture of alcohol, which was sold tax-free and often adulterated.
Polizzi also invested widely in distilleries. These investments were an attempt to "go legit" (invest in legal business enterprises), Among the more important ones was Lubeck Brewing and Distributing of Cleveland, which he obtained control of in 1939. The following year, Polizzi purchased the Sunrise Brewing Company of Cleveland. He changed the name to Tip Top Brewing, and the purchased an independent beer distributor. Polizzi established a fake bank account at the Morris Plan Bank in Cleveland under the name of Fred W. Garmone, a well-known local criminal defense attorney who did extensive work for the Cleveland crime family. The money in this account was used to guarantee loans the bank made to retail customers of Tip Top. In return, the retailers purchased their alcoholic beverage exclusively from Tip Top. This created a "tied house" arrangement in violation of federal law.
Boss of the Cleveland crime family.
Becoming boss.
On January 30, 1935, Milano fled to Mexico to avoid prosecution for income tax evasion. As Milano could not run the Cleveland crime family from across the border, he stepped down as boss and was succeeded by Alfred Polizzi. Although most sources say Polizzi was officially named boss in 1935, former Cleveland FBI chief Joe Griffin says power did not transfer until 1942.
National leadership and power-sharing.
Polizzi gained a seat on the Grand Council of the Sicilian Mafia, a group of nine leaders of the Sicilian Mafia in the United States. According to future Cleveland crime family underboss Angelo Lonardo, Polizzi also had a seat on The Commission, a seven-member group of American mafia families that handled high-level disputes, and began to associate with mobsters such as Frank Costello, Joe Doto ( Joe Adonis), Lucky Luciano, and Joe Profaci.
It's unclear how much control Polizzi had over the Cleveland mafia. Cleveland mafia historian Rick Porrello has written that The Commission made it clear to Polizzi that Syndicate leader Moe Dalitz was the real authority in Cleveland. Dalitz and Polizzi also stayed in routine touch with Frank Milano in Mexico, occasionally traveling to see and consult with him. Polizzi partnered with Dalitz in various illegal enterprises while head of the Cleveland crime family, which allegedly made both men wealthy. Nevertheless, at one point U.S. Senate investigators characterized Polizzi as one of the most influential members of the American mafia.
In addition to his partnerships with Moe Dalitz, Polizzi continued to engage in a wide range of lucrative criminal activities on his own. Mobster James Ragen and U.S. Senate investigators believed that Polizzi controlled the wire service in Cleveland, bringing him extensive income from betting shops and parlors. During Polizzi's tenure as boss in Cleveland, he relinquished control of mafia activities in Youngstown, Ohio, to another family. (It is unclear whether he did so on his own initiative, or at the request of another crime family.) The Cleveland crime family continued to receive 25 percent of the profits from the Youngstown rackets (primarily gambling and vending machines), which averaged about $5,000 to $6,000 ($ to $ in 2023 dollars) a month in the 1970s.
Polizzi was also an investor in the Beverly Hills Country Club of Newport, Kentucky. The casino, established in 1937, was one of the most lucrative gambling establishments in the region and heavily patronized by organized crime leaders. Polizzi received a portion of the profits, and continued to do so long after he had retired.
In 1938, former Detroit gangster James T. Licavoli, Yonnie Licavoli's cousin, asked Polizzi for permission to operate in Cleveland. The Licavolis had left Detroit for Toledo in 1931, but returned to Detroit about 1933 or 1934. The establishment of the Detroit crime family in 1931 under William "Black Bill" Tocco left the Licavolis with no room to operate. Polizzi gave Licavoli