Legacy of a Vicious, Reputed Mob Hitman
Harry Aleman (A' - le - man)
Birthdate: Jan. 19, 1939
735 Forest Glenn Lake, Oak Brook, IL
Nephew of the late mobster Joseph Ferriola.
Attended Harrison High school in Chicago.
Employed at Accurate Coring Company, 825 Seegers Rd., Des Plaines,
in 1989, following release on parole. The company is owned by Aleman's son-in-law,
Ted Strong.
Aleman is known as one of the mob's most effective hitmen. A brutal and
vicious killer, Aleman built his reputation in the early 1970s when he and
two mob colleagues, William Petrocelli and Gerald Scarpelli, launched a
campaign to muscle independent mob bookmakers and force them to pay a street
tax to the Chicago Outfit. Bookmakers who refused to participate and pay
a street tax to the Outfit were murdered by Aleman and his crew. (Scarpelli
committed suicide in 1989. Petrocelli was killed by unknown assailants,
allegedly on orders of Ferriola. Petrocelli's crime was that after his former
partner Aleman was sentenced to jail, he had embezzled $100,000 in mob monies
that was intended for Aleman. Petrocelli was burned and stabbed to death
in 1981.
1989: Judge Ann C. Williams
1989 Defense Counsel: Allan Ackerman, 2000
N. Clifton, Chicago. 312-332-2891
1989 US Attorney: Jeffrey M. Johnson, 312-353-5300
Convicted of racketeering by Judge Roszkowski in 1978 and sentenced to 30
years imprisonment. He was released on parole on April 28, 1989.
Pleaded guilty on Oct. 23, 1991 on charges of extorting money from two bookmakers,
including one that he was accused of murdering on Oct. 31, 1975 of Anthony
Reitinger. Reitinger and Vince Rizza acted as bookies for Aleman,
who reported to Angelo LaPietra. He refused to testify against his
mob boss, Ernest Rocco Infelise, however.
Aleman was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment, although he is expected to
only serve 7 or 8 years.
Justice Department officials attribute five mob hits to Aleman, and suspect
him of involvement in at least 15 others.
He was charged and later acquitted in 1977 before Judge Frank Wilson
on charges of murdering Teamster union steward William P. Logan on
Sept. 27, 1972. Aleman assigned an underling to track Logan for two weeks
to establish his routine before completing the contracted hit.
FBI Mole Robert Cooley, a corrupt attorney who turned government
informant, was ordered to pay Judge Wilson $10,000 to acquit Aleman in the
case, by Pat Marcy, Chicago 1st Ward Secretary and mob political
liaison to the Cook County Court System, and John D'Arco Sr., 1st
Ward Committeeman. (Both are now deceased.) Aleman had been indicted for
the murder of the warehouse laborer in 1976. Cooley made a $2,500 downpayment
to Judge Wilson just before the murder trial began, and paid Judge Wilson
the balance of $7,500 when he returned a not guilty verdict in a bench trial.
(Cooley was paid $3,000 by Marcy to arrange the "fix.") Wilson
quit the bench shortly after the trial and retired to Arizona.
When Judge Wilson learned that his role had been exposed in Operation
GamBat, and that Cooley was a federal mole, Wilson committed suicide
while at his Arizona home. Although two witnesses, including his former
driver, testified they saw Aleman kill Logan, Judge Wilson said he questioned
the accuracy of one witness because he had failed to pay some furniture
bills, and challenged his driver's testimony saying he could not believe
the testimony of a career criminal.
Aleman knew before the trial began that he would be acquitted by Wilson
and sat through the proceedings with a noticable and frequently noted by
the media grin.
Aleman was reindicted in 1993 for the Logan slaying, based on Cooley's testimony.
He was re-tried beginning in Sept. 1997 on the Logan murder.
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