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Defendants in the other were a grocery wholesaler, J.C. and Fleischmann Yeast, along with 41 individuals, many from Macoupin County. By then, however, Zito had more pressing worries.Ī month before the announcement of the church effort, federal prosecutors had revealed two massive liquor conspiracy indictments, both targeting major sugar distributors as well as mobsters and bootleggers. In March 1930, Zito was even named chairman of a fundraising effort to build a new church for Italian Catholics in Springfield, the church of San Francesco D’Assisi (it never came to pass). The Zitos contributed $2 to a fund for victims of the Great Tri-State Tornado of 1925, bought a small “congratulations” ad in the newspaper when the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was dedicated, and hosted an ice-cream party in 1928 for “the little crippled children at the sanitarium at Riverton.”
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By 1966, when he was 73 years old, the city directory listed Frank simply as “retired.”)Īs the 1920s continued, Zito had a series of minor run-ins with authorities, the newspaper files show, but his businesses apparently prospered, and he made several overtures toward respectability, especially following his marriage to Lena Sgro in November 1924. That probably was Zito’s longest-lasting occupational association, although, no doubt for legal reasons, Lena and Nina Zito – the wives of Frank and Tony Zito, respectively – were officially the owners of Modern Distributing. By the 1950 city directory, Zito’s occupation was listed as “Modern Distributing Co.,” which officially distributed juke boxes and pinball and cigarette machines. At various times, he was reported to be a coal miner, a real estate salesman, a “broker,” the manager of a cab company, and involved in an unspecified way with the Otis Oil Co. (Zito’s purported occupation changed often over the years. The 1925 city directory continued to list Frank Zito as operating a grocery at 930 E.
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In November 1922, the Illinois State Journal reported that Frank and Sam Zito were merely two of 140 people who were slated for trial in connection with Prohibition violations. That prison term never came to pass, perhaps because the local court system was so jammed with liquor cases. Zito already had one conviction for illicit liquor and was awaiting trial on a second when federal agents made the new arrest, the newspaper said, “and on this offense, the penitentiary sentence will be asked.” In 1922, Zito and another man were arrested after taking delivery of four 40-gallon stills and other distilling “paraphanalia,” as the Illinois State Register spelled it in a May 3 story. That’s also when Zito began to make news for Prohibition violations and other crimes. That is generally confirmed by the 19 city directories, which have him living and selling soft drinks at 930 E. (Editor’s note: this paragraph has been updated.)įrank Zito moved to Springfield about 1920, he told the Congressional panel. Zito and the alleged accomplice were set for trial in Macoupin County in early 1917 however, the trial was postponed several times, and the charges eventually were dismissed “with leave to reinstate.” They were never reinstated. The next year, a Benld miner who had been stabbed and robbed of $10 gave a deathbed statement identifying Frank Zito and another man as his assailants. Sam was charged in 1914 with using the mail to extort $1,000 from an Italian businessman, allegedly threatening the victim via a letter decorated with a dagger and cross.
The two oldest brothers, Sam and Frank, first came to public attention because of incidents in Benld, where many Italian coal miners lived. as young men – Frank Zito in 1910, according to later testimony before a Congressional investigating committee. All were born near Palermo, Sicily the brothers, who were among 11 children of Giuseppe and Lorenza Zito, apparently emigrated individually to the U.S. In fact, when it came to Mafia connections, Frank Zito may not even have been the most influential member of his own family. What’s more, the newspaper files refocus attention on Zito’s three brothers, all of whom also were allegedly involved in liquor, gambling and associated criminal enterprises, and disclose that the Zito reach extended to Rockford as well as Springfield. Newspaper stories reveal that, despite his criminal reputation, Zito regularly took part in church and charitable efforts and that he apparently lived a conventional, thoroughly unthreatening private life. It’s now possible, however – thanks to the recent availability of searchable online newspaper files - to examine Zito’s record in more detail, especially his early life, and get a better understanding of his roles in Springfield and his status in organized crime generally.
Frank Zito in the 1960s (State Journal-Register used by permission)
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