Scalise succeeded
Jerry Horan, the corrupt head of the union, as president in 1937. Under Horan's presidency, the union's ties to the
Chicago Outfit deepened. In 1933, Horan was accused by former
Illinois Attorney General Edward J. Brundage of consorting with
gangster Al Capone and seeking to improperly influence James H. Wilkerson, the judge overseeing Capone's 1931
tax evasion trial. Horan, however, initially attempted to avoid being put under the influence of Capone and his
Chicago Outfit. Capone sought control BSEIU in order to
embezzle funds from the national union's treasury. But Big Tim Murphy had been gunned down in 1928, leaving Horan without protection. Horan could not turn to Chicago Mayor Bill Thompson, either, for Thompson was closely linked to the Capone mob. In 1934, the Capone mob forced Horan to hire George Scalise as a union organizer. Scalise, a 38-year-old from
New York City, had been involved in interstate
prostitution,
labor racketeering and other organized crime activities since the early 1920s. A protégé of
Anthony "Little Augie Pisano" Carfano, a former Capone associate who had moved to
New York City and joined what was then known as the
Luciano crime family, Scalise had used his mob connections to establish several small union locals with the Teamsters. With Carfano's help, he then built several large locals of building janitors and elevator operators, began skimming members' dues and receiving kickbacks from employers, and then affiliated the locals with the BSEIU. In 1935, when the Fifth Vice President position on the BSEIU Board of Directors opened up due to a retirement, Scalise worked with Carfano and Horan to win appointment to the position. ==References==