Chicago Heights: Little Joe College, the Outfit, and the Fall of Sam Giancana (Illinois Lives) - Softcover

Charles Hager (author), David T. Miller (author), Louis Corsino (Foreword By) & Ashleigh D'Andrea (Afterword By)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0809336723 ISBN 13: 9780809336722

Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press, 2018

Synopsis

In this riveting true story of coming of age in the Chicago Mob, Charles “Charley” Hager is plucked from his rural West Virginia home by an uncle in the 1960s and thrown into an underworld of money, cars, crime, and murder on the streets of Chicago Heights.

Street-smart and good with his hands, Hager is accepted into the working life of a chauffeur and “street tax” collector, earning the moniker “Little Joe College” by notorious mob boss Albert Tocco. But when his childhood friend is gunned down by a hit man, Hager finds himself a bit player in the events surrounding the mysterious, and yet unsolved, murder of mafia chief Sam Giancana.

Chicago Heights is part rags-to-riches story, part murder mystery, and part redemption tale. Hager, with author David T. Miller, juxtaposes his early years in West Virginia with his life in crime, intricately weaving his own experiences into the fabric of mob life, its many characters, and the murder of Giancana.

Fueled by vivid recollections of turf wars and chop shops, of fix-ridden harness racing and the turbulent politics of the 1960s,

Chicago Heights

reveals similarities between high-level organized crime in the city and the corrupt lawlessness of Appalachia. Hager candidly reveals how he got caught up in a criminal life, what it cost him, and how he rebuilt his life back in West Virginia with a prison record.

Based on interviews with Hager and supplemented by additional interviews and extensive research by Miller, the book also adds Hager’s unique voice to the volumes of speculation about Giancana’s murder, offering a plausible theory of what happened on that June night in 1975.

About this title

About the Author

Charles Hager gradually worked his way from sweeping up his uncle's bar to earning responsibility and trust as a friend of the Chicago Outfit. He left the Heights in 1975 and built a series of successful businesses in West Virginia and North Carolina.

Edition details

• Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0809336723
• ISBN 13: 9780809336722
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 168