Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime

Paul De Lucia

Testified to the Kefauver Committee in 1950 that he was also known as Ricca and Salvi. Convicted in the Hollywood extortion case; his 1928 naturalization was revoked by a decree the Seventh Circuit affirmed in 1958.

Aliases
Paul Ricca, Paul DeLucia, Ricca, Salvi, Felice De Lucia, Paul Maglio, Paul Villa, Paul Viola, Paul, the Waiter
Source
United States v. De Lucia, 256 F.2d 487 (7th Cir. 1958)
Rights
Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.

On the record

  • 1897 — United States v. De Lucia (7th Cir. 1958) recites the government's 1956 complaint, which alleged that "De Lucia, who was born in Naples, Italy, on or about November 14, 1897," was naturalized on or about April 10, 1928 after swearing that his name was Paul Maglio. This is the government's allegation, not a finding.
  • 1920–1928 — An FBI memorandum of 16 September 1947 (Vault, Roselli Part 01, scan 14), citing Immigration and Naturalization Service files, says he entered the United States on August 10, 1920 under another name and was naturalized in the U.S. District Court at Chicago in September 1928. The entry name and the day are garbled in the OCR and are not recorded.
  • 1935–1940 — United States v. Compagna, 146 F.2d 524 (2d Cir. 1944), affirming the Hollywood extortion convictions, states: "To deLucia Bioff repeatedly paid part of the blackmail."
  • 22 December 1943 — The same FBI memorandum says he was found guilty with the other defendants in New York on December 22, 1943, and was sentenced on December 31, 1943 to ten years and a $10,000 fine. The FBI memorandum on Gioe gives December 23.
  • 1943–1947 — Testifying to the Kefauver Committee on September 9, 1950 (Part 5, p. 2), he said he went to the penitentiary at the end of 1943 and came out in 1947: "Before that I was 3 years and 8 months in the penitentiary."
  • July 1945 — An FBI Atlanta report of 1947 quotes a Bureau of Prisons teletype of 18 July 1945 on "the advisability of transferring DE LUCIA and CAMPAGNA to Leavenworth," and records Warden Sanford's statement that the move was "done by bus on July 28, 1945." The same report quotes an immigration investigator: of the men interviewed at Atlanta, "only DE LUCIA was foreign born."
  • 13 August 1947 — Compagna v. Hiatt (N.D. Ga. 1951): Campagna, Gioe "and a co-defendant, de Lucia, were discharged together from Leavenworth Penitentiary August 13, 1947," and flew from Kansas City to Chicago.
  • 8 September 1947 — Representative Busbey's telegram to the Attorney General, printed in his additional views to House Report No. 2441 (Congressional Record, Senate, 18 August 1949), demands an explanation of the parole of "Paul Ricca alias DeLucia, Louis (Little New York) Campagna, Philip D'Andrea, and Charles Gioe." One member's statement, not a finding.
  • 15–16 June 1948 — United States ex rel. De Lucia v. O'Donovan (N.D. Ill. 1948): Parole Board member Fred D. Rogers signed a warrant on June 15, 1948, and the Marshal took De Lucia into custody on June 16. The court overruled the government's demurrer, and he was discharged; the Seventh Circuit affirmed on 8 December 1949 (178 F.2d 876), which gives June 15 as the day of custody.
  • 9 September 1950 — Kefauver hearings, Part 5, p. 1: asked his full name, he answered "Paul DeLucia"; asked his other names, "Ricca and Salvi."
  • 5 January 1951 — Kefauver Committee counsel stated that "Accardo was very active in obtaining the release of Ricca and certain other Capone gangsters from the Federal penitentiary, and their parole, as well," and that "the mantle of the Capone gang descended upon Tony Accardo, the witness, and Paul Ricca." These are counsel's statements, not testimony or findings.
  • 21 August 1952 — After a new warrant of 22 November 1950, United States ex rel. De Lucia v. O'Donovan (N.D. Ill. 1952) found "no substantial or legal evidence to justify the charge of parole violation" and discharged him "as a reinstated parolee."
  • After 1955 — A Chicago FBI memorandum dictated July 22, 1959 (Vault, Anthony Accardo Part 02, p. 5) relays a source's account that on Campagna's death "RICCA assumed this position" of "the man," and that Giancana took over after Ricca went to prison. Third-hand; not a Bureau finding.
  • 18 June 1958 — The Seventh Circuit affirmed the decree revoking his naturalization. The opinion quotes the district court's finding that "the government has conclusively shown that the defendant, Paul De Lucia, was not Paul Maglio, born July 10, 1898."

The heading follows the 1958 opinion’s caption. “Paul Ricca” is the name Kefauver counsel used; “Ricca” and “Salvi” are the names he gave the committee; “Felice De Lucia” is in the opinion’s caption; “Paul Maglio” is the name the opinion says he swore to when he was naturalized and which the court found was not his. “Paul Villa,” “Paul Viola” and “Paul, the Waiter” are in the alias list of the FBI’s September 1947 memorandum.

The same memorandum calls him “formerly a minor figure in the Capone Gang” and relays a 1939 Chicago Daily News article on his “promotion to leadership in remnants of the Capone Gang.” Those are the Bureau’s summaries of police information and a newspaper, not findings, and the role field stays empty. The records of the 1947 paroles and the 1948–1952 litigation are gathered in the Hollywood extortion case.

The birth date in the events is an allegation the court recites, so the born field is left empty. No opened record gives his death date.

Records

itemUnited States v. De Lucia, 256 F.2d 487 (7th Cir. 1958)Seventh Circuit opinion of June 18, 1958 affirming the decree that revoked Paul De Lucia's 1928 naturalization.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.itemUnited States v. Compagna, 146 F.2d 524 (2d Cir. 1944)Second Circuit opinion of December 20, 1944 affirming the convictions of Compagna and six others for a conspiracy to extort money from motion-picture producers and exhibitors, 1935 to 1940.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.itemFBI memorandum of 16 September 1947 on Paul De Lucia (Vault, John Roselli Part 01)The FBI's September 1947 personal-history memorandum on Paul De Lucia, whose aliases include Paul Villa, Paul Viola and "Paul, the Waiter." It cites immigration files for his 1920 entry and 1928 naturalization at Chicago, and relays newspaper, police and informant reports that are claims, not findings.itemFBI Atlanta report (file Atlanta 58-62), autumn 1947: Warden Sanford on the prisoners and their 1945 transfer to Leavenworth (Vault, John Roselli Part 02)The Atlanta office's report for the 1947 parole inquiry. Warden Sanford said he made no parole recommendations, recalled an inmate informant's report that three of the men "had stated they had $10,000 to arrange their transfer", and said the transfer to Leavenworth was "done by bus on July 28, 1945."itemFBI Kansas City report (file KC 58-75), 1947: how the 13 August 1947 Leavenworth releases were arranged (Vault, John Roselli Part 06)A Kansas City report on Leavenworth parole procedure, written for the 1947 parole inquiry. It records that, with three releases to be approved by the Chicago probation office, the warden had the Chicago probation officer telephoned "in order to try to meet the release date of August 13, 1947."itemCongressional Record, House, 28 November 1947: Representative Hoffman, "The Parole of Four Capone Gangsters"The chairman of the House Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments reports on his subcommittee's inquiry into the August 1947 paroles: hearings in Chicago on 25 and 26 September 1947 (508 pages of transcript) and in Washington on 7 October, paroles granted "just 37 days" after eligibility, a tax compromise, and the Atlanta warden's 1945 letter against the transfer.itemUnited States ex rel. De Lucia v. O'Donovan, 82 F. Supp. 435 (N.D. Ill. 1948)Judge Igoe's ruling of 10 November 1948 in Paul De Lucia's habeas corpus case, overruling the government's demurrer. It records the four parolees' petition of 16 June 1948, the congressional inquiry into their paroles, and the parole-violator warrant of 15 June 1948.itemUnited States ex rel. De Lucia v. O'Donovan, 178 F.2d 876 (7th Cir. 1949)The Seventh Circuit affirmed Paul De Lucia's discharge on 8 December 1949. It dates the congressional hearings on the paroles from 25 September 1947 to 7 June 1948, and holds it "arbitrary and capricious" to issue a parole warrant without any information of a violation.itemCompagna v. Hiatt, 100 F. Supp. 74 (N.D. Ga. 1951)On remand, Judge Underwood held on 18 September 1951 that the revocations of Campagna's and Gioe's paroles were "arbitrary and total nullities" and discharged both "as reinstated parolees." The findings describe the 13 August 1947 release from Leavenworth and the flight from Kansas City to Chicago.itemUnited States ex rel. De Lucia v. O'Donovan, 107 F. Supp. 347 (N.D. Ill. 1952)Judge Igoe's ruling of 21 August 1952 on Paul De Lucia's second habeas petition, after a new parole-violator warrant of 22 November 1950. The court found "no substantial or legal evidence to justify the charge of parole violation" and discharged him "as a reinstated parolee."itemCongressional Record, Senate, 18 August 1949: Representative Busbey's additional views to House Report No. 2441 on the "Capone gang paroles"During debate on Tom C. Clark's nomination to the Supreme Court, Senator Ferguson had printed Representative Fred E. Busbey's additional views from the Seventeenth Intermediate Report of the House Expenditures Committee. Busbey lists what the subcommittee examined, including the dismissal of a mail-fraud indictment and the reduction of tax liens on two of the men.itemKefauver Part 5: testimony of U.S. Attorney Otto Kerner, Jr., on the parole grand jury (5 October 1950)In executive session at Chicago, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois described the grand jury that heard Campagna, Gioe, De Lucia and D'Andrea on "the manner of obtaining their paroles," and Accardo's visits to Leavenworth under the name Joseph Bulger. Printed pp. 182-196.