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Sam Battaglia

Chicago Gangster. He was the middle of three brothers who dominated the Chicago mob for nearly four decades before falling from power. He broke into the mob after spending time with the street gang 42, founded by his brother Paul. Sam, a burglar and muscle man, was a huge, good looking youngster when he made headlines in 1930 by robbing Mayor William Hale Thompson’s wife at gunpoint. He took over $15,000 in jewelry from her and the shield and gun police bodyguard and chauffeur, Officer Peter J O’Malley. He was arrested a few days later and released for lack of evidence. He was arrested 25 times in 30 years and suspected in seven murders. By the late thirties he had become a high ranking member of the mob and a formidable loan shark. Those borrowers that did not pay were brought to Battaglia in the backroom of the Casa Madrid restaurant, in Chicago, where they were beaten or killed. He was considered as the favorite to take over the mob from Giancana, but in 1967 he was sentenced to 15 years for extortion. Released from prison in 1972, he soon died of natural causes.