Gaming Board bans trash firm over family ties
"The owner of D&P, Josephine DiFronzo, is married to Peter DiFronzo and is the sister-in-law of John DiFronzo, individuals who have been identified as known members of organized crime," the board wrote.
Yet since that March 2001 statement, Rosemont Mayor Donald E. Stephens has been the only prominent official to publicly cut ties with D&P, donating $8,000 in campaign contributions from the company to charity and announcing he is prohibiting it from doing business with his village.
Other officials, including Stephens' son, Leyden Township Supervisor Bradley Stephens, say D&P and another DiFronzo-owned company, JKS Ventures, do legitimate snow plowing, waste hauling, materials and construction work at the lowest possible prices. They pay the companies well: $191,725 in Leyden Township, $128,270 in Melrose Park and $66,912 in Elmwood Park during calendar year 2001, and $46,407 in River Grove during fiscal year 2001, according to public records.
Chicago has D&P on its vendor list, though city records show it hasn't given it any contracts during the last year. D&P and JKS have done state business.
The companies are active political contributors on the Northwest Side, where they're based, and surrounding suburbs.
Among the candidates and political groups to get $52,000 in donations from them since 1994 are GOP state Rep. Angelo "Skip" Saviano of Elmwood Park ($10,050), Peter N. Silvestri, Elmwood Park mayor and a Cook County commissioner ($4,700), Melrose Park Mayor Ronald M. Serpico, who made a failed bid for Cook County commissioner this year ($3,550), River Grove Mayor Tom Tarpey ($2,500) and the Rosemont Voters League ($2,500).
Gary Mack, a spokesman for both Bradley Stephens and Serpico, said he has no knowledge of D&P or JKS ever being involved in criminal activity.
Leyden Township's expenditures to the company are largely for construction materials, Mack added, because the township tries to save taxpayers money by doing street resurfacing and sewer work using township workers, not general contractors.
When it comes to materials, "80 to 90 percent of the cost is the distance it takes to haul it," Mack said. "It makes logical sense that they're going to be significantly cheaper for everybody in the area."
Mack said there are dozens of well-known companies and governments who are clients of the DiFronzo companies, including Allstate Insurance, the Chicago Park District, Cook County's courts, Dominick's, Jewel, Sears and Walsh Construction.
The Gaming Board's issues with D&P doing work at the since-stalled Rosemont casino stem from the company's affiliation with the DiFronzos.
Reputed mob boss John "No Nose" DiFronzo, 74, is not listed in documents as a company owner. He has been arrested 26 times, with four convictions, the last one happening in 1993. Peter DiFronzo was listed on the Chicago Crime Commission's 1997 Outfit chart. Attempts to reach both, as well as Josephine DiFronzo, were unsuccessful.
Saviano, among the lawmakers who promoted legislation to bring the casino to Rosemont, told the Chicago Sun-Times last year, "My ma's known Josephine for so many years. She's a wonderful lady.
"The Italian Mafia is gone," he added. "I don't see it happening around here."