While Romie was on the scene with some of these folks a couple of years earlier than Armando’s debut, it was quickly discovered by these influential men that the Romie Nappi and Armando Fosco partnership was very unique. Romie had a little more seniority with the Outfit heavies, and Armando had a daunting reputation and the physicality to back it up. Armando was viciously loyal to Romie, and reputedly carried out every wish Romie made. Their team made them highly desired allies in a world overrun with betrayal.
To the outside world, the Romie and Armando partnership was mostly silent. It ran from trucking and catering, novelty to liquor (Gold Seal and Austin Liquors), precious coins to maintenance services, illicit gaming to loan sharking, various discrete political initiatives (Chicago’s now-former First Ward), labor-union strongholds, and more. A good amount of Armando’s time and energy in the 1950s were spent doing Outfit-related work for officials in Chicago’s then First Ward and for Teamsters like Joey Glimco and Armando’s longtime friend Dominic Senese.
Dominic Senese, like other Chicago based Teamsters officials, and even politicians, was propped up by the Chicago Outfit. Two of the biggest Teamsters names in Chicago during the 1950s and ’60s were Joey Glimco and Dominic Senese. Both were very good friends of my late father. Armando and Dominic were friends growing up. In fact, my parents and Dominic and his wife Sadie even vacationed together.
The Oak Park home that Armando was able to buy while still in his 30s. This may give you an idea of how well things were going for Armando, and the Outfit, in the 1940s and ‘50s.
By the late 1950s, Armando’s days as an active tough guy were drawing to a close. By the 1960s, years of hard work for his Outfit cohorts allowed him to transition to more white-collar pursuits. Armando used fellows by the names of Jimmy Nuzzo and Art Papa to deal with the heavy lifting that used to be his stock and trade. My father loved both of them very much. I was almost named after Art. However, instead, I was named after one of his good friends and business partner, Joe Amabile, Sr.
My father’s time as an active member of the Outfit might have passed quietly, but in the early 1970s, he was called on again by his partner Romie. This time Armando’s work would put him into direct conflict with a longtime friend.
Times were changing fast. Even before the Giancana and Hoffa era officially ended in mid-1975, the Outfit was making a renewed push to consolidate their control over Chicago’s Unions. Romie was discretely inserted into a Chicago based union Local 3 (better known today as the Duff Family Union) as a principal officer. Armando was sent to take over a rather modest candy and grocery union Teamsters Local 738, where he ultimately made himself the chief officer.
This explanation belies the difficulty Armando had bringing Teamsters Local 738 into the fold. Romie’s job required little effort to obtain, as it was already an Outfit-controlled union local. My father’s union, on the other hand, was not as simple, as it had never answered to the Outfit.
