Chicago Outfit

The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or the Organization, is an Italian American Mafia crime family based in Chicago, Illinois and throughout the Greater Chicago area, originating in the city's South Side in the early 1910s.

The Outfit rose to power in the 1920s under the control of Johnny Torrio and Alphonse "Scarface Al" Capone, and the period was marked by bloody gang wars for control of the distribution of illegal alcohol during Prohibition. The Outfit's power was solidified by Capone's leadership, consolidating the family into the larger American Mafia. Since then, the Outfit has been involved in a wide range of criminal activities, including loansharking, illegal gambling, prostitution, extortion, political corruption and murder. Capone was convicted of income tax evasion in 1931 and the Outfit was next run by Paul Ricca. He shared power with Anthony "Joe Batters" Accardo from 1943 until his death in 1972; Accardo became the sole power in the Outfit upon Ricca's death and was one of the longest-sitting bosses of all time upon his death in 1992. The family’s longest-serving boss was Joseph "Joey Doves" Aiuppa, serving from 1971 until 1986.

Though it has never had a monopoly on organized crime in Chicago, the Outfit has long been the largest, most powerful and most violent criminal organization in Chicago and the Midwest in general. Unlike other Mafia factions such as the Five Families of New York City, the Outfit has been a unified faction since its conception. Its influence at its peak stretched as far as California, Florida and Nevada and it continues to operate throughout the Midwestern United States and Southern Florida, as well as Las Vegas and other parts of the Southwestern United States. Heightened law enforcement attention and general attrition have led to its gradual decline since the late 20th century, though it continues to be one of the major and most active organized crime groups in the Chicago metropolitan area and the Midwest.