Sam Mesi
Encyclopedia
Samuele "Sam" Mesi was a Chicago
mobster with the Chicago Outfit
criminal organization who was a bookmaker
, hitman
and Chicago city employee.
Suspected in at least four gangland slayings, Mesi operated three off track betting parlors on Chicago's Westside and was associated with Outfit boss Tony Accardo
. Mesi was the brother of Philip Mesi, Sr., and uncle of Philip Mesi, Jr.. Sponsored by Twenty-Sixth Ward committeeman Matthew Biesczat, Mesi was hired as a foreman in the city's sanitation department as a reward for his work in the 1959 city elections for the ward alderman and mayor, Richard M. Daley
.
Mesi was one of many organized crime figures found to be Chicago city employees by the Chicago Crime Commission
. When questioned by authorities, Biesczat claimed he just wanted to give Mesi, a convicted criminal, a legitimate job. Although city officials denied knowledge of his prior arrests, Mesi stated, "A record like mine, you can't hide. The city knew about it when they hired me." Mesi was taken into custody where he was fingerprinted and his arrest record forwarded to the City Commissioner of Streets and Sanitation; however. the commissioner apparently never received it.
In 1971, Sam Mesi died of natural causes.
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
mobster with the Chicago Outfit
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
criminal organization who was a bookmaker
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
, hitman
Hitman
A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
and Chicago city employee.
Suspected in at least four gangland slayings, Mesi operated three off track betting parlors on Chicago's Westside and was associated with Outfit boss Tony Accardo
Tony Accardo
Antonino Joseph Accardo , also known as "Joe Batters" or "Big Tuna", rose from small-time hoodlum to the position of day-to-day boss of the Chicago Outfit in 1947, to ultimately become the final Outfit authority in 1972, until his death...
. Mesi was the brother of Philip Mesi, Sr., and uncle of Philip Mesi, Jr.. Sponsored by Twenty-Sixth Ward committeeman Matthew Biesczat, Mesi was hired as a foreman in the city's sanitation department as a reward for his work in the 1959 city elections for the ward alderman and mayor, Richard M. Daley
Richard M. Daley
Richard Michael Daley is a United States politician, member of the national and local Democratic Party, and former Mayor of Chicago, Illinois. He was elected mayor in 1989 and reelected in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007. He was the longest serving Chicago mayor, surpassing the tenure of his...
.
Mesi was one of many organized crime figures found to be Chicago city employees by the Chicago Crime Commission
Chicago Crime Commission
The Chicago Crime Commission is an independent, non-partisan civic watchdog organization of business leaders dedicated to educating the public about the dangers of organized criminal activity, especially organized crime, street gangs and the tools of their trade: drugs, guns, public corruption,...
. When questioned by authorities, Biesczat claimed he just wanted to give Mesi, a convicted criminal, a legitimate job. Although city officials denied knowledge of his prior arrests, Mesi stated, "A record like mine, you can't hide. The city knew about it when they hired me." Mesi was taken into custody where he was fingerprinted and his arrest record forwarded to the City Commissioner of Streets and Sanitation; however. the commissioner apparently never received it.
In 1971, Sam Mesi died of natural causes.
Further reading
- Kallina, Edmund Frank. Courthouse Over White House: Chicago and the Presidential Election of 1960. University Press of Florida, 1988. ISBN 0-8130-0864-6