 (Continued from Page 1) New York – Chicago liaison Legend appointed Yale as the primary contact between the Mafias of New York and Chicago.4 However, that information also appears outdated.
Two years after the O’Banion killing, Pollaccia’s name was spoken again in Chicago. The context of that mention challenges Yale’s legendary position as New York-Chicago liaison. Pollaccia’s name turned up as Chicago detectives looked into the murder of Orazio Tropea, a transplanted New York gangster and a member of the Windy City Mafia organization run by the “Terrible” Genna brothers. Tropea’s primary responsibility seems to have been that of “collector.” He gathered money – by whatever means proved effective – for the Genna organization’s legal defense fund, keeping a bit for himself as commission.
Tropea was bumped off reportedly when his commissions grew unreasonably large. Pollaccia was not a suspect in the Tropea killing, but investigators noted his name and address in a book among Tropea’s personal effects. The book contained contact information for dozens of Illinois residents and nine people from out of state. Pollaccia was the only New Yorker listed in the book. Yale’s name did not appear. That evidence suggests that Pollaccia was an important connection between the New York underworld and the Genna organization.5
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