Jenna brothers

Jenna Brothers ( Italian: La Famiglia Genna , co . La Famigghia Genna , Eng. Genna crime family ) - an ethnic criminal group operating in Chicago during the Prohibition , consisting of six Sicilian brothers: Angelo (Bloody Angelo) , Antonio, Mike (“The Devil”), Peter, Sam, Vincenzo (“Jim”). In addition, the gang included their relatives and countrymen, originally from the city of Marsala in Sicily . They were one of the main players in the Chicago Mafia Wars of the 1920s . The main areas of activity: bootlegging , robbery and extortion .

A gang of Jenna brothers was organized shortly before the adoption of the Prohibition, and, engaged in looting and extortion, by the beginning of the 1920s they took control of one of the districts of Chicago - Little Italy (now the 77th district of the city). After the introduction of the law on the prohibition of alcohol, the brothers received a federal license to import technical alcohol , which they refined, “aromatized”, bottled and sold as whiskey . At the same time, they went out to their fellow countrymen with a proposal to install moonshine distillation apparatus in apartments; Thus, 1300 inhabitants of Little Italy worked for the Jenna clan. Each of them received $ 15 a day, and treated the brothers as benefactors .

The brothers headquarters and factory were located in a three-story building, not far from the Maxwell Street police station. They did not make much effort to shelter their business, a specific smell spread from the production of alcohol around. During raids by federal agents, police warned them for 24 hours.

Within the group, activities were distributed. Sam was involved in financial matters. Jim and Peter are supplying alcohol. Angelo and Mike were responsible for security and power operations. The youngest of the brothers, Antonio, was an adviser and established political ties.

Soon, the brothers had surplus of shadow alcohol in their hands, and they made an attempt to sell it at a lower price in the territory controlled by their neighbors, namely the North Side Gang. At that time, a very fragile bootleggers alliance was created in Chicago, created by the efforts of Johnny “Fox” Torrio . Dion O'Banion the head of the North Side complained to him. Torrio and Mike Merlot, president of the Union of Sicilians, tried to resolve the situation, however, the Jenna brothers, having accepted the request for information, continued to capture another market. As a result of the conflict of interest, the efforts of the brothers led the head of the North Side gang to be liquidated in a flower shop in 1924 . The "war" began. It should be noted that by 1924, the Jenna gang reached the peak of its power. Angelo Jenna was elected president of the Union of Sicilians, despite the objections of Al Capone , who wanted to see his friend Antonio Lombardo on this post.

The first of the brothers was killed by Angelo Jenna. He had the recklessness to buy a house for his young wife in North Chicago, on the North Side. In May 1925 , when he was heading towards her in an open-top sports car, he was caught up by a car from which more than 20 bullets were fired. The funeral of Angelo Jenna was the most posh in Chicago at that time. Flowers carried on 30 cars.

The next of the brothers - Mike, overtook death in 2 weeks, he died as a result of an organized provocation from the police bullets. 25 days later, in July 1925, Antonio Jenna was shot in the back.

The surviving brothers - Jim, Sam and Peter, fled from Chicago. Their criminal empire was divided among themselves by Capone and Bugs Moran . A few years later, after the fall of the North Side Gang, the brothers returned to the city, but no longer engaged in criminal activities, having established a legal business - the import of olive oil .