Harry "The Hook" Aleman (January 19, 1939 – May 15, 2010) was a Chicago mobster who was one of the most feared
enforcers for the
Chicago Outfit during the 1970s. Aleman got the nickname "Hook" from his boxing career in high school.
He is also famous for being the only person in the United States ever to be acquitted of murder, then legally tried and convicted for murder when the initial trial was found to be corrupt. This is not considered a case of
double jeopardy
In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare cases ...
as the initial trial was found to be corrupt; the Chicago judge was recruited specifically to acquit Aleman during a bench trial.
Early life
Born in the
Taylor Street area of
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Aleman was the first of three sons of Louis Aleman and Mary Virginia Baratta. The legendary Taylor Street was the port-of-call for Chicago's
Italian American
Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...
s. Aleman was a nephew of future Chicago Outfit acting mob boss
Joseph Ferriola and uncle to Joseph Aleman.
Aleman's mother was
Italian, his father a native of
Durango, Durango
Durango (, ) is the capital and largest city of the northern List of states of Mexico, Mexican state of Durango and the seat of the Durango Municipality, municipality of Durango. It has a population of 616,068 as of the 2020 census with 688,697 ...
,
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
who was involved in
narcotics trafficking. In a 1997 interview, Aleman said that his father beat him every day. The only relief Aleman got was from ages seven to eleven, when Louis was in prison.
In 1956, Aleman graduated from
Crane Technical High School and enrolled in the
Chicago Academy of Fine Arts to study
commercial art. In 1958, he graduated with a two-year degree in that field. Aleman went to work selling race track program sheets and produce from the South Water Street Market.
In 1964, Aleman married Ruth Felper Mustari, a widow with four children,
who died in 2000 at age 68. Due to an accident as a teenager, Aleman was unable to produce children of his own. However, according to Ruth and his stepchildren, he was a loving and kind husband and father.
[Profile: Harry Aleman ~ The Chicago Syndicate](_blank)
Thechicagosyndicate.com (2005-10-03). Retrieved on 2010-12-19.
Start of criminal career
In 1962, Aleman was charged with assaulting Howard Pierson, the 23-year-old son of a Chicago police commander. The incident started when Aleman, at a bar with his brother and friends, pushed a woman through a large window. Pierson chased Aleman out of the bar, then flagged down a police car. Police soon stopped Aleman and started questioning him. When Pierson arrived at the scene, the enraged Aleman punched Pierson, breaking his jaw. Aleman was convicted, but received only two years'
probation.
During the 1960s, Aleman was also arrested for malicious mischief,
illegal gambling, possession of
burglary tools, assault, aggravated assault,
grand theft auto
''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is an action-adventure video game series created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is prima ...
,
armed robbery, and aggravated
kidnapping
Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...
.
Work as enforcer
In the early 1970s, Aleman decided to force independent bookmakers in Chicago to pay extortion payments, or "street tax", to the Outfit. If the bookmakers refused, Aleman was willing to use force on them.
According to law enforcement and the
Chicago Crime Commission, Aleman committed 13 murders in Chicago between 1971 and 1976. His alleged victims included
Richard Cain, a top aide to boss
Sam Giancana, along with counterfeiters, mob informants, a security guard from a Miami museum that failed to pay his gambling debts, a former police officer, and another mob enforcer.
Aleman was prosecuted for only one murder: the 1972 Logan killing. FBI agents were reported to have said that Aleman "oozed menace" and his mere presence was usually enough to enforce the Outfit's will.
[Lives Remembered](_blank)
Telegraph (2010-05-18). Retrieved on 2010-12-19.
Logan murder
On September 27, 1972, Aleman fatally shot
Teamsters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) is a trade union, labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of the Team Drivers International Union and the Teamsters National Union, the union now represents a di ...
official William Logan in his Chicago neighborhood. Two witnesses watched Aleman commit the murder and prosecutors thought they had a strong case. According to prosecutors, the reason for Logan's murder was that the union man was obstructing Aleman's crew from hijacking trucks.
However, shortly before Aleman's trial started, Chicago attorney
Robert Cooley was approached by First Ward
political boss Pat Marcy and asked to take over as Aleman's lawyer. Although Cooley suggested that he could easily win an acquittal by discrediting the witnesses during
cross-examination, Marcy insisted that the Chicago Outfit preferred a
bench trial
A bench trial is a trial by judge, as opposed to a jury. The term applies most appropriately to any administrative hearing in relation to a summary offense to distinguish the type of trial. Many legal systems ( Roman, Islamic) use bench trials ...
with a judge who could be bribed to acquit. Marcy warned Cooley that, if he accepted the job and failed to deliver, the Outfit would murder him. Thinking instantly of a close friend,
Cook County Circuit Court Judge
Frank J. Wilson, Cooley said he knew a judge whom no one would ever suspect.
After taking the case, Cooley "picked up information that was total dynamite. The hit, I learned, had nothing to do with unions and all the other crap in the indictment. It was strictly personal. Billy Logan, the victim, had been married to Harry's cousin. They had a bitter
divorce and argued constantly over custody of their son. Logan used to beat her up big time. The final straw came after one of the fights when she said, ''You better be careful, cause Harry won't be happy about it.'' And Logan replied, ''Fuck that
guinea
Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
.'' He probably could have beaten her up a few more times and it wouldn't have mattered. But Harry wasn't going to let some Irish goon get away with calling him a guinea."
Meanwhile, Cooley approached Judge Wilson and offered him $10,000 to take over the case and acquit Harry Aleman. Wilson agreed, but later requested more money to compensate for the risk. As a result, Aleman was acquitted in a
bench trial
A bench trial is a trial by judge, as opposed to a jury. The term applies most appropriately to any administrative hearing in relation to a summary offense to distinguish the type of trial. Many legal systems ( Roman, Islamic) use bench trials ...
.
[Aleman Finally Convicted (IPSN 97-10-12)](_blank)
. Ipsn.org. Retrieved on 2010-12-19.
RICO
In 1978, Aleman was convicted under the
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of organizing a series of
home invasion robberies. Sentenced to thirty years' imprisonment, Aleman spent time at federal correctional facilities in
Marion, Illinois;
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
;
Oxford, Wisconsin; and
Milan, Michigan. During this time in federal prison, Aleman took some college courses and started painting as a hobby.
On April 28, 1989, after serving 11 years in prison, Aleman was released on
parole.
[Harry Aleman Profile](_blank)
. Ipsn.org. Retrieved on 2010-12-19.
Retrial
During the late 1980s, investigators started Operation GamBat, an extensive investigation into decades of corruption and mob ties inside the Chicago court system. In February 1990, fearing prosecution for his actions during the 1977 Logan trial, retired judge
Frank J. Wilson shot himself to death at his
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
retirement home.
In 1991, Aleman pleaded guilty to extorting money from bookmakers Anthony Reitinger and Vince Rizza in 1972. Aleman was convicted and was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment. In 1993, based on Robert Cooley's testimony, Aleman was re-indicted for the 1972 Logan slaying.
In 1997, Aleman was convicted of the Logan murder and sentenced to 300 years in
state prison. Aleman's re-trial and subsequent conviction are historic as he is the first American to be retried for murder following a fraudulent first trial. This was first profiled in 2002 and verified on the
A&E Television Network/
Biography Channel program "
American Justice"/"
Notorious," and later on the
National Geographic Channel documentary: "National Geographic: Inside" – "Chicago Mob Takedown" in 2011. The retrial, however, does not constitute
double jeopardy
In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare cases ...
. The
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that the original trial presided by Judge Frank Wilson was a sham – because the acquittal was guaranteed by the bribe he had accepted.
Harry Aleman, Petitioner-appellant, v. the Honorable Judges of the Circuit Court of Cook County, criminal Division, Illinois, Honorable Michael P. Toomin, judge Presiding, Honorable Richard Devine, State's Attorney of Cook County, Illinois, Ernesto Velasco, Executive Director, Cook County Department of Corrections, respondents-appellees – 138 F.3d 302 – Justia US Court of Appeals Cases and Opinions
Cases.justia.com. Retrieved on 2010-12-19. This Fifth Amendment ruling was named ''Harry Aleman vs. Judges of the Criminal Division, Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, et al., 1998''. It established that bribery affecting a bench trial does not preclude the possibility of a second trial: if in said bench trial the defendant is found not guilty, but evidence shows that an act of bribery took place between the defendant and the judge, the defendant can be retried again for the same crime, and this second trial cannot be considered double jeopardy, as jeopardy had never attached in the first place. In short, as actual loss of life or limb had never been a possibility (unlike in most trials), the first trial, by being conducted by a venal and bribed judge, must be considered a counterfeit one; and any resulting retrial (before a non-venal jurist) must be considered to have original jeopardy attached (i.e., the possibility of actual loss to life or limb is real and true).
Death
Harry Aleman died from complications of lung cancer on May 15, 2010, at Hill Correctional Center in Galesburg, Illinois
Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria, Illinois, Peoria. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal cit ...
.[Mob hit man Harry Aleman dies in prison](_blank)
Chicago Breaking News (2010-05-15). Retrieved on 2010-12-19. He is buried in Waldheim Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois.
See also
* List of organized crime killings in Illinois
*Double Jeopardy Clause
The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides: ''" r shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of Capital punishment, life or Amputation#Criminal penalty, ...
* Extrinsic fraud, behavior by a prevailing civil litigant external to the litigation, such as bribery of a judge, that prevents the other party from having a full and fair trial, allowing for equitable relief
Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...
from the original judgement
References
Further reading
* Cooley, Robert. '' When Corruption was King: How I Helped the Mob Rule Chicago, Then Brought the Outfit Down'', Carroll & Graf (December 13, 2005)
External links
Harry Aleman: Legacy of a Vicious, Reputed Mob Hitman
by James McGough
Harry Aleman Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aleman, Harry
1939 births
2010 deaths
American gangsters of Italian descent
American people of Mexican descent
American people convicted of murder
American people who died in prison custody
Chicago Outfit mobsters
Deaths from lung cancer in Illinois
Hispanic and Latino American gangsters
People convicted of murder by Illinois
People convicted of racketeering
Prisoners who died in Illinois detention
Crane High School (Chicago) alumni