Editing Johnny Torrio (section)

==Biography==
Born in a village near Naples, Torrio was brought to New York City by his widowed mother when he was two. He became a brothel-saloonkeeper and leader of the James Street Boys, allying them with the Five Points Gang. He then rose to become a rackets boss (i.e., engaged in activities involving extortion) in Brooklyn before being called to Chicago in 1909 to operate and expand [[Vincenzo Colosimo|Vincenzo "Big Jim" Colosimo]]’s chain of brothels. In 1919 Torrio summoned his old friend Al Capone from New York to manage one of the rothels and, in 1920, had either him or [[Frankie Yale]] murder Colosimo. Colosimo was allegedly murdered because he stood in the way of his gang making bootlegging profits, having "gone soft" after his second marriage. Al Capone has also been suggested as the gunman. Colosimo's ex-wife, unhappy with the financial arrangements of the divorce, is also theorized to have arranged the murder.

Torrio thereby inherited Colosimo’s empire and immediately expanded into big-time bootlegging (illegal manufacture, sale, and transport of alcohol) and gambling casinos of the Prohibition era.

On January 24, 1925, Torrio was shot several times outside his home by [[George Moran|George "Bugs" Moran]] and [[Hymie Weiss]], associates of the deceased [[Dean O’Bannion]], an [[Irish Mob]] leader whose death had been engineered by Torrio and Capone. Torrio survived and went on to serve several months in the Lake County jail in Waukegan, having been convicted of bootlegging (after being set up by O’Bannion). 

While in jail, Torrio effectively bequeathed Chicago to Capone and then, upon his release, ostensibly retired to Italy. Returning to live in New York after [[Benito Mussolini]]'s crackdown on the Sicilian [[Mafia|Cosa Nostra]], he invested profitably in real estate and helped create a bootlegging combine, becoming a close associate of Lucky Luciano, [[Meyer Lansky]], and other bosses. Torrio was one of the directors of the [[National Crime Syndicate]] formed in 1934.

In 1936 he was charged with income tax evasion, and, after a long trial and many appeals, he went to prison again (1939–41). He subsequently went into virtual retirement, very wealthy, and died of a heart attack in a barber chair in 1957.