Cleveland Mafia Boss: John Scalish

John Scalish was the boss of the Cleveland Crime Family and operated in the shadows for most of his career until he was exposed during the infamous Apalachin Mafia Meeting in 1957.

Giovanni T. (John Scalish) Scalici -- aka Giovanni Scalisi, Giovanni Scalice, Giovanni Scalise, John Scalise, John Scalitch, and better known to the underworld and law enforcement as John Scalish -- was born to Sicilian immigrant parents Francesco and Margherita (nee Fito) Scalici on September 25, 1913, in Cleveland, Ohio.

He had two brothers named Frank and Salvatore.

Scalish stood 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighed 185 pounds with a lean medium build. He had dark brown eyes and sported a full head of jet-black hair that turned salt-and-pepper by his late forties.

John Scalish

He also had a reputation as a dapper dresser who wore expensive suits and clothes.

Scalish was born and bred on the gritty streets of Cleveland’s Mayfield Road section which, in those days, was largely composed of Southern Italian and Sicilian immigrants. The Mayfield Road section was considered Cleveland’s version of Little Italy and was a known breeding ground for the Mafia.

By the time he reached adulthood, Giovanni Scalici adopted the more Americanized name John Scalish. From then on, he consistently used this name on official papers and government documents.

He got married young to a local Jewish girl named Matilda Rockman. Her brother later became a top Cleveland hoodlum named Milton (Maishe) Rockman.

John and Matilda would raise a family of four children; two girls they named Margherita and Francine (after John’s parents), and two boys Frank and John (again, named after their grandfather and father, as is the Italian custom.)

John and Matilda soon bought a private one-family home at 11706 Farrington Avenue in Cleveland. This is where they raised their children and lived for decades.

FBI #348011, Cleveland-PD #37141

As a teenager, John was drawn to the streets and began his life as a budding criminal.

His police record started back in 1930 when he was first arrested for burglary at the tender age of sixteen. Over the years, he added to his anti-social register with additional arrests for such criminal offenses as armed robbery, vagrancy, disorderly conduct, and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

He grew up with and became closely allied to such future top Cleveland racketeers as brothers John (Johnny King) and George (Georgie King) Angersola; Alfred (Big Al) Polizzi; Scalish’s brother-in-law Maishe Rockman; narcotics kingpin Salvatore (Sammy Polo) Poliafico; Samuel (Sammy Pap) Pappalardo; Francesco (Captain Frank) Visconti; and the notorious Meyer (Mickey) Cohen of California.

John Scalish operated successfully as a low-key underworld leader for many years. However, his role as a Mafia boss was exposed on November 14, 1957, when he and his family’s underboss, John DeMarco, were among sixty-two top Mafia figures detained and later arrested for attending the infamous “Apalachin Mafia Meeting” barbecue in Upstate New York.

In 1960, Scalish was convicted of conspiracy to obstruct government justice and sentenced to five years in federal prison. He was also fined $10,000 relative to his attendance at Apalachin and his refusal to answer questions before a federal grand jury. But this conviction was later overturned on appeal, as were all similar convictions of his mafiosi brethren.)

But the tremendous public exposure and adverse media publicity following Apalachin caused by these Federal investigations exposed Scalish once and for all for what he truly was…He was finally recognized and named by the U.S. Justice Department as the boss, or “Representante” of Cleveland’s Mafia Family.

The FBI's later investigations into his affairs revealed that he was a very wealthy man with ownership interests and investments in a wide variety of businesses including the Buckeye Cigarette Vending Machine Company, hidden interests in nightclubs, and undeclared “points” in several hotels and gambling casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Newport, Kentucky.

It was also revealed that Scalish controlled numerous illicit gambling operations in the Cities of Cleveland and Youngstown, Ohio, and held tremendous power in local labor unions, shylocking, narcotics, and various other racket schemes.

Until next time…”The Other Guy”

Cleveland Mafia Boss: John Scalish

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