Peter DiFronzo, brother of Chicago Outfit boss, dies from coronavirus DiFronzo was among the people the feds considered a threat to the safety of Outfit hitman turned star federal witness Nick Calabrese.
By Tom Schuba and Matthew Hendrickson Dec 6, 2020, 7:36pm CDT
11-23-05 Chicago Crime Commission No. 79 West Monroe Street. Suite 801. This is a Black & White Copy Photo of Peter M. Difronzo. For Crime Commission story slug for Friday, 11-25-2005
Peter DiFronzo mugshot File photo
Peter DiFronzo, a reputed member of the Chicago Outfit and brother to one-time Outfit leader John “No Nose” DiFronzo, has died of complications of COVID-19.
Peter DiFronzo was long considered a chief lieutenant to his brother and according to the FBI a “made man.”
He died Friday at his home in South Barrington, the Cook County medical examiner’s office reported. He was 87.
DiFronzo was notably among the people the feds considered a threat to the safety of Outfit hitman turned star federal witness Nick Calabrese.
While that list of threats was submitted in 2002, when Calabrese was admitted into the federal Witness Protection Program, it wasn’t publicly revealed until deputy U.S. Marshal John Ambrose stood trial in 2009 for allegedly leaking key details about Calabrese to the mob.
Calabrese’s testimony was pivotal to Operation Family Secrets, a federal probe that took down key mobsters and gutted the Chicago Outfit.
Calabrese implicated John DiFronzo in the infamous gangland slayings of Anthony and Michael Spilotro, though neither DiFronzo brother was ever charged in connection with the Family Secrets investigation. John DiFronzo died at 89 of complications from Alzheimer’s disease in 2018.
Peter DiFronzo’s criminal history can be traced back to 1963, when he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for transporting $75,000 in stolen cigarettes, part of a $160,000 heist from a grocery warehouse in Forest View two years earlier. He later appealed the conviction unsuccessfully.
DiFronzo’s wife, Josephine, is the agent and sole officer of D&P Construction Co., a waste hauling company in Melrose Park, according to the Illinois secretary of state’s office. But an internal FBI memo from 2003 not only alleged that D&P is “controlled by Peter and John DiFronzo,” but it also said that the business “obtained contracts through illegal payoffs or intimidation,” the Sun-Times has reported.
The medical examiner’s office ruled that Peter DiFronzo died from pneumonia caused by COVID-19 and hypertension.
His wife couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. A representative for D&P Construction didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Poster Comment:
In South Barrington the homes there are $500,000 and up. That is where Walter Payton lived.