Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime

Anthony Joseph Accardo

Testified to the Kefauver Committee in 1951 and refused to answer. His 1960 tax conviction was reversed in 1962. FBI Chicago teletypes of the early 1970s call him one of a three-man leadership team directing organized crime in Chicago.

Aliases
Tony Accardo, Anthony J. Accardo, Joe Batters, Big Tuna
Role
One of a three-man leadership team directing organized crime in Chicago, according to FBI Chicago teletypes of the early 1970s
Source
United States v. Accardo, 298 F.2d 133 (7th Cir. 1962)
Rights
Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.

On the record

  • August 1946 — An FBI report extract (Vault, Anthony Accardo Part 02, p. 2) concerns "ANTHONY JOSEPH ACCARDO, alias Tony Accardo, alias Joe Batters," and lists callers at his residence reported by informants.
  • 5 January 1951 — Before the Kefauver Committee (Part 5, pp. 1318–1319) he gave his name as Anthony J. Accardo and, asked whether he had been known as Joe Batters, answered: "I refuse to answer."
  • 5 January 1951 — Committee counsel Rudolph Halley stated (Part 5, p. 1320) that "the mantle of the Capone gang descended upon Tony Accardo, the witness, and Paul Ricca." This is counsel's statement, not testimony or a finding.
  • 1953 — McClellan Committee staff member Pierre Salinger testified on June 9, 1959 (Part 53, p. 18674) that Giancana went to Los Angeles in 1953 "in the company of Anthony Accardo, who is the top figure in the Chicago underworld."
  • 1957 — A Chicago FBI memorandum dictated July 22, 1959 (Vault, Part 02, p. 5) relays a source's account that "GIANCANA in 1957 forced ACCARDO into semi-retirement and assumed the reins of the Syndicate," and that Accardo remained available "as more or less an elder statesman." Third-hand; not a Bureau finding.
  • 5 January 1962 — United States v. Accardo, 298 F.2d 133 (7th Cir. 1962): his 1960 conviction on three counts under § 7206(1) of the Internal Revenue Code, with a sentence of six years and a $15,000 fine, was reversed: "For prejudicial error at the trial, the judgment is reversed and the cause remanded for new trial."
  • Early 1970s — FBI Chicago teletypes (Vault, Part 01, pp. 157 and 249; one refers to a teletype of January 15, 1972) describe him as "ONE OF TOP LEADERSHIP TEAM DIRECTING ORGANIZED CRIME IN CHICAGO" and say that Gus Alex and Accardo "ARE TWO MEMBERS OF THREE MAN LEADERSHIP TEAM."
  • 29 July 1997 — United States v. Zizzo, 120 F.3d 1338 (7th Cir. 1997), calls "boss of all bosses" a title "once held by the likes of Al Capone and Tony 'Big Tuna' Accardo."

The heading follows the caption of the 1962 opinion and the 1946 FBI report. “Joe Batters” is the alias in the Kefauver contents and the FBI report; “Big Tuna” is the Seventh Circuit’s in 1997 (CourtListener’s text prints the surname there as “Aecardo”, an error in its scan).

The role line is the FBI Chicago office’s own assessment in the 1970s teletypes. The Kefauver counsel’s words, the McClellan staff testimony, and the 1959 memorandum are quoted in the events with their limits stated, and are not combined into a rank. No opened record gives his birth or death date legibly.

The National Archives’ Alcatraz record for register number 1498 is for Anthony Michael Accardo, born 1923, a different man. It is not cited here.

Records

itemUnited States v. Accardo, 298 F.2d 133 (7th Cir. 1962)Seventh Circuit opinion of January 5, 1962 reversing Anthony Joseph Accardo's 1960 conviction for false statements on income tax returns and remanding for a new trial.itemKefauver Committee hearings, Part 5: Illinois (1950–1951)Printed hearings of the Senate Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, Part 5, Illinois: testimony taken from September 1950 to January 1951, including Paul DeLucia, Louis Campagna, Anthony J. Accardo, and Joseph Aiuppa.itemMcClellan Committee hearings, Part 53 (June 1959)Printed hearings of the Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field, Part 53, June 1959, including Sam Giancana's appearance on June 9, 1959 and staff testimony about him and Anthony Accardo.itemFBI Vault file on Anthony AccardoThe FBI Vault's release of the Bureau file on Anthony Accardo, in two parts, including a 1946 informant report, a 1959 Chicago memorandum relaying a source's account of the Chicago syndicate's hierarchy, and early-1970s teletypes on its leadership.itemUnited States v. Zizzo, 120 F.3d 1338 (7th Cir. 1997)Seventh Circuit opinion of July 29, 1997 in the Carlisi Street Crew gambling and loansharking case; it vacates Samuel Carlisi's conviction because he died while the appeals were pending and affirms the others.