1989 Year of the Stool Pigeon Mario Rainone

Gangland Wire

Mario Rainone

Mario John “the Arm” Rainone saw a couple of guys tailing him and thought he was being set up for a hit. Rainone was preparing to take out a building inspector after his boss ordered the hit. As he followed his intended victim, he noticed a couple of other Outfit men named Rudy Fratto and Willie Messino were flowing him. He realized that he was actually the intended target. Rainone ran to his vehicle and escaped. he contacted the FBI in Chicago and told his story. He had been known as a vicious enforcer and collector for the OUtfit and the agents were skeptical. They offered to help only if he would wear a wire and help make cases against his Outfit bosses. Rainone must have given himself away because after obtaining a couple of conversations on his wire, someone exploded a bomb on his mother’s front stoop. He gave up his chance for witness protection pleaded guilty to extortion and racketeering.

Lennie Patrick

Mario Rainone cooperated long enough to record damaging conversations with Outfit enforcer Lenny Patrick. This was a significant find for the FBI. Lennie Patrick was a Jewish gambler how had murdered his way to the top of the Jewish sports bookmaking underworld on the west side of Chicago. The Outfit granted him the right to handle all those bookies and essentially made him a crew leader. After Rainone’s revelations, the FBI made a case on Patrick and he turned on the OPutfit’s main political fixer Gus Yaras and the boss at the time, Sam Carlisi.

Show notes by Gary Jenkins
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