Above and beyond this, Armando was very reluctant to get involved in the Teamsters Movement. Largely retired by this time, he saw the new Union takeovers as more work than they were worth. Armando also often remarked how unions were loaded with “sons-in-law” or “nephews,” etc., who never did anything significant with their lives. He was not looking forward to being around those kinds of people, as he suspected that he would have to perpetuate this cycle.
Armando had his orders, though, and he dutifully followed through on them.
During the mid-1980s, while Armando continued his tenure at Teamsters Local 738, a seismic shift in power occurred in Chicago’s underworld. Outfit Boss Joseph Aiuppa and Underboss John “Jackie” Cerone, who essentially controlled Armando and his union, were incarcerated. The new underworld boss was Armando’s old and dear friend Sam Carlisi.
Dominic “Dom” Senese circa 1982
As this was happening, my father was experiencing complications with his longtime friend, Dominic Senese’s Union Local 703, mainly over territory. Teamsters Local 703 and Armando’s Local 738 largely dealt with the same companies via different departments.
Complicated discussions between Armando and Dominic were ongoing for a number of weeks during 1986. Despite Dominic was not budging much, Armando was slowly increasing ground with the mutual companies between their union locals. However, tensions between Armando and Dominic over this apparent struggle must have risen to a tipping point during the late summer of 1986. I remember my father walking in the house only minutes after meeting with Dominic and feeling surprised after hearing Armando say some very difficult things about him.
To complicate matters further, Sam Carlisi did not like Dominic Senese, and my father and Romie were aware of this. I have heard a host of different reasons over the years as to why Sam did not like Dominic, but I cannot say why Carlisi was so angry with the infamous Teamsters boss. Sam was the kind of person who could find numerous reasons to be mad at someone he despised.
Sam immediately sided with Armando. Sam was a regular old-time gangster who thought the use of a gun should be the only way to accomplish something important. Lucky for Dominic, Armando tried to reason with him at first. Armando succeeded to a slight extent as far as gaining a little more latitude with the mutual companies represented by both union locals.
Out of the handful of extremely close and highly trustworthy friends that my father had in this world, Charlie Nicosia was one of the closest. Charlie and Sam Carlisi were bonded through a family relation, as well as a very close friendship, which made the already intimate group of Romie Nappi, Armando Fosco, Sam Carlisi, and Charlie Nicosia a very unique circle of trust. In fact, Charlie was one of the few friends of my father whom he introduced me to before he died. Charlie was a dear friend to us and frequently looked after my family once my father passed away from cancer.
John DiFronzo was Sam’s underboss. Sam and John certainly held official meetings together as is protocol for the Outfit to do when necessary. However, Sam certainly held Outfit meetings without John, regardless of protocol. If Sam had it his way when Joe “Joey O” Aiuppa passed him the torch, he would have not had DiFronzo as his underboss. Periodically, Sam was not particularly fond of John, and John was smart enough to sense this. When Romie, Armando, Charlie, and Sam would meet with each other, they either met at Charlie’s Elmwood Park home or Romie’s River Forest condo (same condo building Charlie moved into after he left Elmwood Park in approximately 1990). We can be reasonably sure that one of the topics discussed was Teamsters Local 703 and Dominic Senese.
