William Daddano Sr. (December 28, 1912 – September 9, 1975), also known as "William Russo" and "Willie Potatoes," was a top
enforcer and
loan shark
A loan shark is a person who offers loans at Usury, extremely high or illegal interest rates, has strict terms of debt collection, collection, and generally operates criminal, outside the law, often using the threat of violence or other illegal, ...
for 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 Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family based in Chicago, I ...
and a participant in some high-profile robberies.
Early years
Born in
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 ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, Daddano became a member of the
Forty-Two Gang
The Forty-Two Gang was a teenage street gang in Chicago that started during Prohibition. Like Brooklyn's Italian and Jewish street gangs of Brownsville and Ocean Hill, the Forty-Two Gang served as a "farm team" for future members of the Chicago ...
, a local
street gang
A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Wiktionary:territory#Noun, territory in a ...
from
Maxwell Street
Maxwell Street is an east–west street in Chicago, Illinois, that intersects with Halsted Street just south of Roosevelt Road. It runs at 1330 South in the numbering system running from 500 West to 1126 West.Hayner, Don and Tom McNamee (1988). ...
on Chicago's
West Side
West Side or Westside may refer to:
Places Canada
* West Side, a neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario
* West Side, a neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia
United Kingdom
* West Side, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland
* Westside, Birmingham ...
. Gang members included such future Outfit heavyweights as
Sam Giancana
Salvatore "Mooney" Giancana ( ; born Gilormo Giangana, ; May 24, 1908 – June 19, 1975) was an American mobster who was boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957 to 1966.
Giancana was born in Chicago to Italian immigrant parents. He joined the 42 ...
( also known as "Momo" or "Mooney") and
Sam "Teets" Battaglia. He lived in
North Riverside, Illinois
North Riverside is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 7,426.
Geography
North Riverside is located at (41.846222, -87.829585).
According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, North ...
with his wife Mary and five children. He never had a legitimate means of employment or business known to the FBI.
Enforcer and mobster
By 1936, at age 24, Daddano had accumulated an extensive
criminal record
A criminal record (not to be confused with a police record or arrest record) is a record of a person's criminal Conviction, convictions history. The information included in a criminal record, and the existence of a criminal record, varies betwe ...
in the 42-Gang, including nine counts of
bank robbery
Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank Branch (banking), branch or Bank teller, tel ...
,
larceny
Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Eng ...
and
auto theft
Motor vehicle theft or car theft (also known as a grand theft auto in the United States) is the criminal act of stealing or attempting to steal a motor vehicle.
In 2020, there were 810,400 vehicles reported stolen in the United States, up f ...
. Giancana and Battaglia eventually recruited Daddano into the Chicago Outfit. In 1944, Daddano was arrested for attempting to steal three million war
ration stamps
Rationing is the controlled distribution (marketing), distribution of scarcity, scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resourc ...
. While police suspected that the Outfit was behind this crime, Daddano refused to name his accomplices. After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Daddano became a leading enforcer for The Outfit. He also controlled illegal gambling operations in
Dupage,
Will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
and
Kane
Kane or KANE may refer to:
Art, entertainment and media Fictional entities
*Kane (comics), the main character of the eponymous comic book series by Paul Grist
* Kane (''Command & Conquer''), Tiberium universe character in the ''Command & Conquer'' ...
counties
[Sifakis, Carl, ''Mafia Encyclopedia, The,'' Second Ed. (1999), pages 106] and in the
Chicago suburbs
The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...
of
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
and
Berwyn.
Though a "
made man
In the Sicilian and American Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. In order to become eligible to be "made", an associate must fulfill several requirements, such as being Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by ...
" and valued "
capo" in the Chicago Outfit. Daddano has been described as a "ruthless and pitiless killer" who was refined in torture with ice picks and blowtorches, keeping victims alive for hours while torturing them.
In 1963, he had left a
Capone
Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of t ...
-era mobster's
wake with DeStefano, in his
Cadillac
Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...
, with
Chicago police
The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the primary law enforcement agency of the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, under the jurisdiction of the Chicago City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United ...
in hot pursuit of the speeding car. Daddano was the main
suspect
In law enforcement jargon, a suspect is a known person accused or suspected of committing a crime. Police and reporters in the United States often use the word suspect as a jargon when referring to the perpetrator of the offense (perp in dated U. ...
in at least seven murders.
Daddano also had the responsibility to know who every Chicago
burglar
Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) or housebreaking, is a property crime involving trespass to land, the illegal entry into a building or other area without permission, typically with the intention of committing a further criminal ...
was, so that the Chicago Outfit could take a "street tax ('
Tribute
A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state con ...
')" percentage of everything he stole.
Legitimate enterprises
A legitimate business that Daddano owned and operated in much of Chicago was a garbage collection company named, "West Suburban Service".
Prison and death
In May 1966, Daddano was arrested and tried for
hijack
Hijack, Highjack, or High Jack may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Hijack'' (1973 film), an American television action film
* ''Hijack!'' (1975 film), a British children's drama film
* ''Hijack'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi-language action f ...
ing $1 million in
silver bullion
Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from t ...
, but was later
acquit
In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an of ...
ted. He was later arrested for
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...
to rob a
Franklin Park Bank, a heist planned by him six years earlier. Daddano was sentenced to 15 years in prison, in the
Marion, Illinois
The city of Marion is the county seat of Williamson County, Illinois, United States. The population in Marion, IL was 16,855 according to the 2020 census.
It is part of a dispersed urban area that developed out of early 20th-century coal fields ...
,
federal penitentiary
The Federal Bureau of Prisons classifies prisons into seven categories:
* United States penitentiaries
* Federal correctional institutions
* Private correctional institutions
* Federal prison camps
* Administrative facilities
* Federal correcti ...
, a
supermax
A super-maximum security (supermax) or administrative maximum (ADX) prison is a "control-unit" prison, or a unit within prisons, which represents the most secure level of custody in the prison systems of certain countries.
The objective is to ...
prison at the time. The prison was downgraded in 2006.
Marion, IL
/ref>
On September 9, 1975, he died of natural causes
In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinc ...
in prison, three months after Giancana was executed in the basement of his home by someone who has never been positively identified.
Notes
References
*Kelly, Robert J. ''Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000.
*Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005.
*Sifakis, Carl. ''The Encyclopedia of American Crime''. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001.
*Bureau of Narcotics
The Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) was an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury, with the enumerated powers of pursuing crimes related to the possession, distribution, and trafficking of listed narcotics including cannabis, ...
, U.S. Treasury Department, "Mafia: the Government's Secret File on Organized Crime, HarperCollins Publishers 2007
Further reading
*''A Report on Chicago Crime'' Chicago: Chicago Crime Commission
The Chicago Crime Commission is an independent, non-partisan civic watchdog organization of business leaders dedicated to educating the public about the dangers of organized criminal activity, especially organized crime, street gangs and the tools ...
Reports, 1954–196
*United States Congress House Government Operations ''Federal Effort Against Organized Crime: Role of the Private Sector''. 197
External links
AmericanMafia.com - The Rosemont Two Step
By John William Tuohy
by Robert Herguth, Chris Fusco, Art Golab and Steve Warmbir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daddano Sr., William
1912 births
1975 deaths
American gangsters of Italian descent
American people who died in prison custody
Chicago Outfit mobsters
Mafia hitmen
Prisoners who died in United States federal government detention