Marshall (Johnny Marshall) Caifano — aka Marcellino Giuseppe Caifano (TN) — was born in 1911 in New York City. During his long life and storied underworld career, Caifano rise to become one of the Chicago Outfit’s top members and its watchdog over Outfit operations in Las Vegas and the West Coast…
Through government reports, it also appears that Caifano may have also possibly been a part-time informer for the FBI.
We’ll let the reader be the judge.
Dating back at least as far as mid-1958, there appears to be documented evidence — in the form of internal FBI reports called #302s — that a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation had interviewed Marshall Caifano during which interview (interviews), Caifano was quite talkative, forthcoming and unabashedly candid with secret information he provided about the Outfit’s internal racket operations and the bribery of Chicago police and public officials to maintain and increase the Outfit’s underworld profits.
Here is an example of one such FBI report dated — April 3, 1958 — that was filed by an FBI Special Agent, whose name was redacted for security reasons, that lays out some of what Caifano told him. The report reads as follows:
“On April 3, 1958, Marshall Caifano was interviewed by SA [name redacted] at the drugstore of the Shoreham Hotel, 3318 Lake Shore Drive, Chicago. This interview was observed by SAs [name redacted] and [name redacted].
Caifano was questioned generally concerning the syndicate and was asked if he knew of the existence of the syndicate. To which Caifano replied in the affirmative. Caifano stated that he is a member of the syndicate and described the organization as follows:
“The syndicate is composed of gamblers, and is purely local in nature insofar as the Chicago area is concerned. Several members make up a hierarchy of the syndicate and syndicate members are apportioned police districts out of which they operate. The syndicate handles any and all bets made within the given district, such as horse parlors, dice, poker, ball games, fights, etc. The member in charge of the district is given an average of five percent of the total take and makes his expenses from his percentage. The operators of the various gambling games must be trustworthy, and if it is determined that an operator is not trustworthy or does not live up to his trustworthiness, drastic measures are taken to correct the situation. Gambling is run only in those districts wherein there is a ‘friendly’ police captain, and the success of the operation depends largely on the captains and the city hall politicians that control the captains. The syndicate attempts to exert as much pressure as possible to ensure that all ‘friendly’ captains will remain in that district.”
Caifano was then asked if the syndicate operations included other illicit operations such as narcotics, prostitution, etc., and he replied that “the syndicate, as such, does not delve into these activities and if members operate in such a manner, they do so at their own risk and on an individual basis. Caifano refused to identify any other members of the organization and declined to describe the syndicate any further. Caifano declined to agree to further interviews and stated that he had nothing further to say.”
The report then continues: “[name redacted] Beverly Hills, California Police Department, advised SA [name redacted] on February 4, 1958, that Marshall Caifano was arrested on January 16, 1955, by [name redacted] of that department, for failure to register in Beverly Hills as an ex-convict. Caifano was released on $50.00 bail, which he forfeited.
Caifano was interrogated by [name redacted] of the Beverly Hills Police Department and [name redacted] at which time Caifano told these officer he had left Chicago approximately two years prior tp that date and move to Las Vegas, Nevada. A business card taken from Caifano’s personal property had the name of John Marshall, Vice-President, Urvada Engineering, Incorporated, Las Vegas, Nevada. Caifano stated he had used the name John Marshall since his arrival in Nevada, but would give the officers no explanation for the use of this alias.
Caifano claimed at the time that he was in the construction business and was building a housing project in Las Vegas near the Colonial House. Caifano named as his close friends and associates, [name redacrted], Doc Stacher, [name redacted] and [name redacted]. He admitted knowing Jack Dragna (now deceased), Allen Smiley, Tony Accardo and Joseph Sica.”
Until next time…”The Other Guy”
