Chicago Outfit boss DiFronzo, 89, dies following illness

John DiFronzo, reputed boss of the Chicago Outfit, died Sunday, May 27, 2018, at his home in River Grove, according to published reports. (Chicago Tribune reports he died May 28) He was eighty-nine years old.

DiFronzo

Criminal defense attorney Joe Lopez told the media that the crime boss suffered with Alzheimer's disease and had been "extremely ill."

DiFronzo was widely suspected of involvement in the brutal 1986 murders of brothers Anthony and Michael Spilotro (depicted in the film Casino). His role was discussed during the 2007 Family Secrets trial of Outfit leaders. But DiFronzo was not a defendant in Family Secrets, and federal prosecutors were unable to assemble a convincing case against him.

Attorney Lopez told CBS-Chicago that DiFronzo's greatest achievement was "beating the G."

The press frequently referred to DiFronzo as "No Nose." The nickname sprang from an attempted robbery back in 1949, though the details of that story are disputed. Some sources say DiFronzo jumped through a window to escape capture and had a piece of his nose sliced off by the breaking glass. (Actually, he neither jumped through a window nor escaped, but a glass injury cannot be ruled out.) Others say a bullet fired by a police officer tore off the nose...

Read a biography of John "No Nose" DiFronzo
on the American Mafia history website.

See also:

• ABC-7.
• CBS-2.
• NBC-5.
• Chicago Tribune.

PA board suspends casino owner's license

Pennsylvania's Gaming Control Board indefinitely suspended Louis A. DeNaples' license to run his Mount Airy Casino Resort today, according to a story by Mike Wereschagin of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.

The license was temporarily suspended last week when DeNaples (left) was indicted by a Dauphin County grand jury for perjury on his 2006 license application. Prosecutors say the Poconos casino owner lied about connections to two reputed Mafia figures - former Scranton-area crime boss Russell Bufalino and reputed boss William D'Elia - and two other men named in a federal corruption probe in Philadelphia.

Defense attorney Richard Sprague has protested the release of information linking his client to those involved in the Philadelphia corruption matter. He said the release prejudiced the public against his client. DeNaples, owner of a Scranton landfill and other businesses, has denied any connection to organized crime, an informal allegation that has circulated since the 1980s.

During 2006 public hearings into the casino project, DeNaples brought in a Catholic nun, Sister Mary Bonaventa, who praised his "great respect for the elderly and the poor."

The October opening of DeNaples' casino breathed new life into the old Mount Airy Lodge site. The business has generated $1.2 million per week. It will be kept open during DeNaples' license suspension, administered by a Gaming Board-appointed trustee.