About Me
I was born in Sicily in the 1880s; my gravestone lists my birth year as 1888, but my US immigration documents say 1883. I immigrated to New York City after the end of the First World War, and later moved to Chicago, Illinois, where I set up business as a barber, with a profitable line as a jewel fence on the side. I built an extensive network of associates in the Chicago underworld, and came to the attention of Chicago Mafia boss Johnny Torrio.
Torrio was ok for a boss, but he was nothin compared to Capone. I thought I was makein money on jewels, but prohabition became a godsend. We were rollin in the dough. I was Capone's right hand, and became boss after him.
In 1930 I, like Capone, was charged with income tax evasion. Capone was sentenced to eleven years, i got 18 months. Upon my release, I was hailed by the media as the new boss of the Chicago Mafia; in practice I lacked the control over the capos that Capone had enjoyed, and the Capone empire began to fragment, with me acting as a frontman. On December 19, 1932 two Chicago police officers shot me in his office, nearly killing him. Some historians believe they were acting under orders from Mayor Anton Cermak (who, they believe, wanted to redistribute Nitti's empire to gangsters favorable to him). One of the police officers shot himself (non-fatally) to make the shooting look like self-defense. Unfortunately for the Chicago police (and whoever was behind the shooting), I survived and was acquitted of attempted murder in a February of 1933 trial. The two Chicago police officers responsible for the shooting were then summarily dismissed from the police force.
In 1943, many in Chicago organization were indicted for extorting a number of the largest Hollywood movie studios. Many of the higher-ups in the mob, most notably My second in command Paul Ricca, believed I should take the fall for the rest of them. Fearing another long prison term and possibly suffering from terminal cancer, I shot myself twice in the head in Chicago's Illinois Central railyard on March 19, 1943.
