Alfred Polizzi

Alfred had three brothers, Joseph (b. 1893?-d. 1965), Jasper (b. 1895?-d. 1957), and James (b. 1910?-d. 1979), and two sisters, Carmela (or Carmelina; b.1892?-d. 1963) and Catherine (b. 1920-d. ?).

Joseph was also involved in mafia activity, although at a low level.

Alfonso had an adopted brother, Charles "Chuck" Polizzi, also known as Albert Polizzi.

Chuck Polizzi was born Leo Berkowitz.

His parents were Russian Jews who had emigrated to Cleveland but died soon after their son was born.

Historians Michael Newton and Hank Messick say Chuck was unofficially adopted by the Polizzis, but historian Albert Fried says the adoption was formalized.

Chuck Polizzi is often mistakenly called Alfred's brother; Alfred himself said he felt Chuck to be a cousin.

In his late teens, Polizzi became a member of the Mayfield Road Mob, an Italian American gang that had formed in Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood.

As part of the Mayfield Road Mob, Polizzi became a close associate of mobsters Fred Angersola, George Angersola, John Angersola, Frank Brancato, and Charles Colletti.

Polizzi quickly became gang leader Frank Milano's top lieutenant.

Polizzi engaged in extortion and robbery, bootlegging, and other crimes.

Alfred Polizzi (born Alfonso Polizzi; ; March 15, 1900 – May 26, 1975) was a Sicilian emigrant to the United States who was boss of the Cleveland crime family in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1935 to 1945.

He stabilized the Cleveland crime family after a period of revenge killings, and was one of the most influential mobsters in the United States.

Alfonso Polizzi was born in Siculiana, Sicily, Italy, on March 15, 1900, to Raimondo and Giovannina ( Indelicato) Polizzi.

He emigrated from Italy to the United States with his family in 1909.

His father, a blacksmith, settled the family on Woodland Avenue in one of Cleveland's Italian enclaves.

He quit school at the age of 14 to sell newspapers on the street for the Cleveland News.

The News was in a major circulation war with The Plain Dealer and the Cleveland Press.

The News hired 24-year-old Arthur B. McBride as its circulation manager, and McBride hired young toughs like Polizzi not only to hawk newspapers but to intimidate sellers of other papers.

In the summer of 1917, Polizzi worked as a lifeguard at Luna Park, where he met future mobster Fred Angersola.

He was first arrested in 1920.

By the early 1920s, the Cleveland mafia (or Cleveland crime family) had taken over the Mayfield Road Mob and become the dominant criminal organization in Cleveland.

It was led by boss Joseph "Big Joe" Lonardo, and both Alfred and Chuck Polizzi sometimes acted as bodyguards for Lonardo and his family.

He was convicted of violating the Volstead Act in 1926; he served six months in prison and was fined $1,000 ($0 in dollars).

The Arrowhead Club (or Arrowhead Inn) was established near Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1926, and featured bootleg liquor and illegal gambling.

Lonardo was assassinated in June 1927 by Salvatore "Black Sam" Todaro and Joseph "Big Joe" Porrello.

He was arrested again in 1928 when Cleveland police suspected him of bombing the home of Nathan Weisenberg.

Weisenberg ran a racket that controlled all the legal slot machines in the area, forcing customers to lease them at high prices and skimming part of the profits.

The Mayfield Road Mob attempted to take over the business, and Polizzi and Colletti were believed to have placed the explosives at Weisenberg's home in September 1928.

During Prohibition, Polizzi sold bootleg alcohol in Detroit, Michigan, and became a close associate of Detroit mobster Moe Dalitz.

Dalitz, along with Maurice Kleinman, Louis Rothkopf, Sam Tucker, and Thomas "Blackjack" McGinty, was an original member of the Cleveland Syndicate, a group of Jewish and Irish mobsters based in Cleveland and Akron, who engaged in bootlegging and smuggling.

The Cleveland Syndicate preferred to give a cut of its profits to mobsters in other criminal organizations, who then did the actual work of bootlegging or running illegal gambling operations.

John Angersola and Alfred Polizzi were the two members of the Cleveland crime family to do bootlegging for the Syndicate.

The Polizzi-run bootlegging operation moved large amounts of high-quality liquor into northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania, generating substantial profits for Polizzi and the others involved.

A few years later (probably no later than 1929), Polizzi became an investor in the Arrowhead Club along with other members of the Cleveland crime family and the Syndicate.

Todaro was killed by Lonardo family in June 1929.

Corn sugar was the key to the manufacture of corn whiskey.

He retired to Florida in 1945, where he was involved in the construction industry.

He used several aliases, including "Big Al" and Albert Allen.

By the time he retired in 1945, he had been arrested seven times (four while using the alias "Albert Allen").