Alfred Polizzi
Testified to the Kefauver Committee in 1951 that he had left Cleveland in 1945 for Coral Gables, and denied the accusations that he belonged to the Mafia or the 'Mayfield Road gang'; Angelo Lonardo testified in 1988 that 'Al Polizzi' had been 'the boss of Cleveland'.
- Aliases
- Al Polizzi, Albert Polizzi (Cleveland police record read in 1951), Albert Allen (same record)
- Role
- "the boss of Cleveland" in the 1930s (Angelo Lonardo, testimony, 1988); Polizzi denied belonging to the Mafia or the "Mayfield Road gang" (his testimony, 1951)
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records and the filed newspaper pages state.
On the record
- 1930s — Angelo Lonardo, Senate testimony (1988): "Later, I attended a meeting with Al Polizzi, the boss of Cleveland, in Miami, Florida." Testimony.
- 1945 — Kefauver Committee (1951): "I left in 1945." He gave his business as the Coral Gables construction firm "Thompson & Polizzi."
- 1951-01 — Kefauver Committee: counsel read a Cleveland police record under "Alfred Polizzi, alias Albert Polizzi, alias Albert Allen." Polizzi said he did not recall the name Albert Allen, and of Chuck Polizzi, "I have always considered him a cousin."
- 1951-02-19 — Kefauver Committee: "They have accused me of being in the Mafia and accused me of being in the Mayfield Road gang, and I absolutely deny it. It is not true."
- 1953-10 — FBI Cleveland file on John Scalish: an informant said "AL POLIZZI is the 'big boss' for the Mafia in the Ohio area, although POLIZZI at present resides in Florida." An unevaluated informant report.
- 1958-07-01 — McClellan Committee, Part 32: the committee's printed list describes "Polizzi, Alfred (Coral Gables, Fla.)" as "A former leader of the notorious Mayfield Road gang (Cleveland) with long police record."
- 1988-04-15 — Angelo Lonardo: "John Scalish became boss of the Cleveland family around 1949. He took over for Al Polizzi, who tired of Cleveland and retired in Florida." Testimony.
The role line quotes Lonardo’s testimony and records Polizzi’s own denial beside it. The committee list’s “former leader of the notorious Mayfield Road gang” is a committee staff description, and the FBI file’s statement is an informant’s; neither is used as a role. The Youngstown police chief’s 1951 chart lists “Al Polizzi” in its Cleveland box; a chart label sets no role. No filed record gives his birth or death.
Records
itemKefauver Committee: testimony of Alfred Polizzi (January and February 1951)Alfred Polizzi of Coral Gables, Florida, told the committee he ran a construction firm and had left Cleveland in 1945, declined to testify about earlier years, and denied the accusations that he belonged to the Mafia or the 'Mayfield Road gang'.itemSenate subcommittee hearing, 1988: testimony of Angelo LonardoOn 15 April 1988 Angelo Lonardo, testifying behind a screen under a court immunity order, told the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that he was 'the former underboss of the Cleveland organized crime family' and described its leaders, its Las Vegas casino income and its dealings with New York and Chicago.
itemFBI Vault file on John ScalishThe FBI Vault's release of the Cleveland office file 92-167 on John T. Scalish, opened after the Bureau was told he had been at the November 1957 Apalachin meeting. Its background section collects informant reports from 1944 to 1957 about Scalish, the Desert Inn and the Cleveland 'syndicate'.itemMcClellan Committee: investigator George H. Martin on the Detroit intermarriage chart (1 July 1958)In the committee's 'Mafia' hearings, investigator George H. Martin explained a chart of intermarriages to chief counsel Robert F. Kennedy and named Detroit men he said were 'interrelated through various marriages'; the committee's printed list of Apalachin contacts adds Detroit entries.
itemKefauver Committee exhibit 61: Youngstown police chief's chart of the 'Licavoli gang and associates' (January 1951)A chart drawn by Youngstown Police Chief Edward J. Allen for the committee and printed as exhibit 61, headed 'District Operations of the Licavoli Gang and Associates (aka Purple Gang)', with Peter Licavoli as 'Nominal Leader' above a Cleveland box and four regional boxes.
itemFBI Vault file on John ScalishThe FBI Vault's release of the Cleveland office file 92-167 on John T. Scalish, opened after the Bureau was told he had been at the November 1957 Apalachin meeting. Its background section collects informant reports from 1944 to 1957 about Scalish, the Desert Inn and the Cleveland 'syndicate'.itemMcClellan Committee: investigator George H. Martin on the Detroit intermarriage chart (1 July 1958)In the committee's 'Mafia' hearings, investigator George H. Martin explained a chart of intermarriages to chief counsel Robert F. Kennedy and named Detroit men he said were 'interrelated through various marriages'; the committee's printed list of Apalachin contacts adds Detroit entries.itemKefauver Committee exhibit 61: Youngstown police chief's chart of the 'Licavoli gang and associates' (January 1951)A chart drawn by Youngstown Police Chief Edward J. Allen for the committee and printed as exhibit 61, headed 'District Operations of the Licavoli Gang and Associates (aka Purple Gang)', with Peter Licavoli as 'Nominal Leader' above a Cleveland box and four regional boxes.