William Daddano, Sr.

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William Daddano Sr. (1912-September 9, 1975), also known as William Russo or as Willie Potatoes, was a top enforcer for the Chicago crime syndicate, also known as the "Chicago Outfit".

Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1912, Daddano was a member of the Forty-Two Gang, a local street gang based on West Side neighborhood of Maxwell Street, where he was noticed by Chicago Outfit leaders Sam Giancana and Sam Battaglia. By 1936 Daddano had already accumulated an extensive criminal record, having been arrested on numerous charges, including nine counts of bank robbery, larceny, and auto theft.

In 1944 Daddano was arrested for an attempted West Side robbery of three million war ration stamps. While the robbery was suspected to have been backed by the Chicago Outfit, Daddano refused to name his accomplices. Following the end of World War II Daddano had become a leading enforcer for the Chicago Outfit, suspected in over twenty murders, and controlling illegal gambling operations in the Chicago suburbs of Cicero, Berwyn, and DuPage County.

Daddano was arrested in May 1966 for hijacking $1,000,000 silver bullion but was later acquitted. Daddano was later arrested by an FBI Task Force led by Vincent Inserra for conspiracy to rob Franklin Park Bank, planned by Daddano six years earlier, and sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment at Marion, Illinois federal penitentiary, where he died on September 9, 1975.

[edit] Further reading

A Report on Chicago Crime Chicago: Chicago Crime Commission Reports, 1954-1968. [1]
United States. Congress. House. Government Operations. Federal Effort Against Organized Crime: Role of the Private Sector. 1970. [2]

[edit] References

Kelly, Robert J. Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-313-30653-2
Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-8160-5694-1
Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001. ISBN 978-0-8160-4040-7