Frankie Yale (1) and Saverio "Sam" Pollaccia (2) sit together in a Chicago courtroom in 1924, prime suspects in the gangland slaying of Capone rival Dion O'Banion.

By Thomas Hunt and Louis P. Cafiero

Some underworld legends, often repeated in mob history books and long cherished by Hollywood, will have to be revised or discarded due to continuing discoveries related to a shadowy Mafia figure named Saverio “Sam” Pollaccia.

Though entirely unknown outside of the small fraternity of Mafia historians (and little known even within it), Pollaccia was a major figure in Prohibition Era organized crime and had a behind-the-scenes role in many of the headline-grabbing events of his day. He quietly rose within New York’s Mafia to become a trusted adviser to gangland bosses, and he contributed substantially to the establishment of the nationwide Sicilian-Italian criminal syndicate. Surprisingly, he managed to do all this without drawing much attention from the police or the press.

O’Banion murder

One legend that will require updating is that of Brooklyn gangster Frankie Yale’s responsibility for the Chicago assassination of Capone rival Dion O’Banion.1 Sam Pollaccia was, in fact, beside Yale every step of the way.

Yale and Pollaccia were close friends in Brooklyn. Both can be traced to addresses in the center of that borough, around 14th Avenue and Sixth Street. Both also had business interests in Coney Island. Yale ran the Harvard Inn cabaret there, and Pollaccia owned a restaurant on Surf Avenue not far from Nathan’s Famous.

Dion O'Banion

An additional connection between them appears to have been membership in the sprawling underworld organization of Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria.

The two men traveled together by train from New York to Chicago shortly after the Nov. 8, 1924, death of Mike Merlo, prominent leader in Chicago’s Italian community. At about the time of their arrival in the Windy City – just two days after Merlo succumbed to cancer – O’Banion was shot to death within his North Side florist shop. He met his end as he prepared arrangements for the Merlo funeral.

A week later, Yale and Pollaccia were preparing to leave for home when a tipster told Chief of Police Collins that they were O’Banion’s murderers. The police caught up with the two Brooklynites as they boarded the New York Central Railroad’s 20th Century Limited express train at LaSalle Street Station.2

Investigators had little evidence for a case against Yale and Pollaccia and could not punch a hole through their alibi – that they had arrived in Chicago the day following O’Banion’s murder. The two men were eventually allowed to return to New York.3