Joliet is a city in Will and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 census, the city was the third-largest in Illinois, with a population of 150,362.
Joliet Correctional Center was a prison in Joliet, Illinois, United States, from 1858 to 2002. It is featured in the motion picture The Blues Brothers as the prison from which Jake Blues is released at the beginning of the movie. It is also used for the exterior shots of the Illinois "state prison" in the James Cagney film White Heat, and the location for first season of Fox Network's Prison Break television show, and the movie Let's Go to Prison. In 2018, it opened for tours.
Louis Buchalter, known as Louis Lepke or Lepke Buchalter, was an American mobster and head of the Mafia hit squad Murder, Inc., during the 1930s. Buchalter was one of the premier labor racketeers in New York City during that era.
The Mexican Mafia, also known as La eMe, is a highly organized Mexican American criminal organization in the United States. Despite its name, the Mexican Mafia did not originate in Mexico, and is entirely a U.S. criminal prison organization. Law enforcement officials report that the Mexican Mafia is the deadliest and most powerful gang within the California prison system and possibly all of the West Coast. Government officials state that there are currently 400–500 official members of the Mexican Mafia with around 1,000 associates who also carry out its illegal activities in the hopes of becoming full members.
Paul De Lucia, known as Paul Ricca, was an Italian-American mobster who served as the nominal or de facto leader of the Chicago Outfit for 40 years. In 1958, he was named by a Senate crime investigating subcommittee "the country's most important criminal". Ricca died on October 11, 1972.
The Chicago Outfit is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, which dates from the 1910s. It is part of the larger Italian-American Mafia and originated in South Side, Chicago.
The Almighty Vice Lord Nation is the second-largest and one of the oldest street and prison gangs in Chicago, Illinois. Its total membership is estimated to be between 30,000 and 35,000. It is also one of the founding members of the People Nation multi-gang alliance.
Larry Hoover is an American gang leader, co-founder of the Chicago street gang Gangster Disciples. Hoover is serving six life sentences at the ADX Florence prison in Florence, Colorado. He was sentenced to 150–200 years for a 1973 murder, and in 1997 he received a life sentence.
James J. Marcello, also known variously as "Little Jimmy", "Jimmy Light" and as "Jimmy the Man", is a crime boss who was a front boss for the Chicago Outfit criminal organization in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. Organized crime observers identified Marcello as a figurehead during that period while the organization's day-to-day operations actually were run by John "No Nose" DiFronzo, Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, Joseph "Joe the Builder" Andriacchi and Angelo J. LaPietra.
Chicago, Illinois, has a long history of organized crime and was famously home to the American mafia figure Al Capone. This article contains a list of major events related to organized crime.
The Irish Mob is an organized crime syndicate based in the United States, Canada, and Ireland, which has been in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish-American street gangs – famously first depicted in Herbert Asbury's 1927 book, The Gangs of New York – the Irish Mob has appeared in most major U.S. cities, especially in the Northeast and the urban industrial Midwest, including Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago.
The Mickey Cobras are a large street gang affiliated with the nationwide gang alliance known as the People Nation and based in Chicago, Illinois. The gang is considered very mobile, wear the colors green, black and sometimes red. Factions of the gang are being established throughout the Mid-western United States.
Willem Frederik Holleeder is a Dutch criminal. He is nicknamed De Neus because of the size of his nose.
Felix Anthony "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio was an American enforcer, bagman, hitman and burglar for the Chicago Outfit. He was underboss to Sam Giancana during the 1960s, and boss from 1967 to his imprisonment in 1969.
Joseph "Baldie" LoPiccolo was an American criminal and member of the New York Gambino crime family and a capo under Santo Trafficante, Jr.'s criminal organization. His specialty was narcotics trafficking.
Jeff Fort, also known as Abdul Malik Ka'bah, is an American gangster and former gang leader from Chicago, Illinois.
Rocco Fischetti, also known as "Rocky" and "Ralph Fisher" was a Chicago mobster with the Chicago Outfit criminal organization who ran many illegal gambling operations. Fischetti also accompanied singer Frank Sinatra on two trips to Havana, Cuba.
The Los Angeles crime family, also known as the L.A. Mafia or the Southern California crime family, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in California as part of the larger Italian-American Mafia. Since its inception in the early 20th century, it has spread throughout Southern California. Like most Mafia families in the United States, the L.A. crime family gained power bootlegging alcohol during the Prohibition Era. The L.A. family reached its peak strength in the 1940s and early 1950s under Jack Dragna, although the L.A. family was never larger than the New York or Chicago families. The Los Angeles crime family itself has been on a gradual decline, with the Chicago Outfit representing them on The Commission since the death of Boss Jack Dragna in 1956.
Chester Otto Weger is an American man who was convicted in 1961 of the murder of one of three women found slain at Starved Rock State Park the previous year. He was held at Pinckneyville Correctional Center and at one time was the longest serving inmate incarcerated by the State of Illinois as well as the third longest in state history before his release on February 21, 2020. On November 21, 2019, the Illinois Prisoner Review Board granted parole to Weger by a vote of 9–4. He was released on parole February 21, 2020.
