Record
Hearing
1959-06-09
Internet Archive, scan of the printed hearings (Boston Public Library copy)
McClellan Part 53: staff testimony on the January 1953 Los Angeles trip and Frank Ferraro (9 June 1959)
Staff members Pierre Salinger and James McShane described a January 1953 trip to Los Angeles by Giancana, Anthony Accardo and Dr. Eugene Chesrow, met by Frank Ferraro and Anthony Pinelli. McShane called Ferraro 'Gus Alex's No. 1 man in the first ward' and gave his true name as Frank Sortino.
- Date
- 1959-06-09
- Kind
- hearing
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-12
- Rights
- A work of the United States Congress, printed by the Government Printing Office. Public domain in the United States under 17 U.S.C. § 105.
On 9 June 1959 (Part 53, pp. 18672-18698), after Sam Giancana declined to answer every question about his occupation and a 1953 Los Angeles trip, committee staff described that trip. Giancana’s appearance and Salinger’s summary of his record are on the Part 53 page; this page files the staff passages about the trip and about Frank Ferraro.
Staff member Pierre Salinger testified (pp. 18673-18676) that in January 1953 Giancana, traveling under another name, flew to Los Angeles with Anthony Accardo and Dr. Eugene Chesrow, that the group was met at the airport by Frank Ferraro and Anthony Pinelli, and that Los Angeles police questioned them; he said Accardo carried two rolls of cash, of $5,000 and $1,700. Senate investigator James McShane testified (pp. 18696-18697) that Ferraro, who identified himself as a Chicago tailor, rented a Cadillac in Los Angeles; he described Ferraro as “Gus Alex’s No. 1 man in the first ward in Chicago” and said “His true name is Frank Sortino.” Chief counsel Kennedy said Ferraro had been subpoenaed for that day but “had an attack” at the airport on arriving and was taken to a Chicago hospital.
These are statements of committee staff, not committee findings. The travel name is printed “Mantuso” at p. 18674 and “Mancuso” at p. 18696. The residence Giancana gave is not repeated here. Quotations follow the Internet Archive’s OCR of the printed volume.