John Rallo and Rallo family history (St. Louis, Chesterfield: felony, house, neighborhood)

[Sassybluesy]

Some folks might've seen in the news, that John Rallo, crony to Steve Stenger, is expected to change his not guilty plea today. Rallo was indicted in May on three felony charges of honest services fraud. His indictment claims he made tens of thousands of dollars in political donations to Stenger, expecting that Stenger in turn would direct county contracts to Rallo’s company. John Rallo is related to the C. Rallo Construction family.




If you've lived in the St. Louis area for any length of time, you've probably seen "C. Rallo Construction" trailers on various building sites. That branch of the Rallos have a long history of...emmm...criminal activities.


Back in the 1940's, there were 2 brothers. Collogero Rallo and Charles Rallo. Collogero went into the contracting/construction business, starting out as a bricklayer. His brother, Charles, went into the meat cutting business.


Charles had 3 kids. Ludwig (Peewee), Nick, and Phyllis. I was friends with Phyllis. Phyllis was crazy funny...like Lucille Ball. She had lots of stories about the families, and the family business.


The meat cutting Rallos don't have much to do with the construction Rallos. The construction Rallos have/had ties with the Sicillian mob, and C. Rallo Construction USED to launder mafia money...not sure if they still do.


Phyllis and her husband lived in a nice neighborhood in Chesterfield. Members of the family "from the other side" lived in the same neighborhood, but they didn't acknowledge each other. They wouldn't even wave, if they happened to pass each other while driving. Phyllis had lots of stories about her mafia family members. Crazy Uncle Johnny (that's what they called him) and how they were all a little bit afraid of him, and how he had moved to Chicago at some point to help establish a mafia presence there. She never said Uncle Johnny's last name, but I've often wondered if it was John Vitale.


Here's a Crazy Uncle Johnny story...


Back in the day, Crazy Uncle Johnny took a shine to my friend's husband's secretary. The secretary was a nice sweet lady, and Phyllis and her husband decided that she should really know about Uncle Johnny's proclivities. So they told the nice lady, and the nice lady broke it off with Uncle Johnny.


Everyone was a little concerned about how Uncle Johnny would take it. Well, he wasn't pleased. Not angry, but sad.


Some days after this went down, my friend starts to step outside to get the mail. Lo and behold, there's a dead fish on her door step. It freaks her out. A day or so later, there's ANOTHER dead fish on her doorstep. She jumps to the conclusion that Uncle Johnny is trying to send her some kind of message. (Akin to the horsehead being in the bed in The Godfather.) NEVERMIND that she had recently acquired a cat that her daughter had brought home from college. NEVERMIND that their house was located on a communal lake. LOLOL She was just so sure Uncle Johnny was sending some kind of threat to her family.


So, because she felt threatened, she asked her brothers (the meat cutting brothers) to hire a hit man to take care of Uncle Johnny. LOL They refused. LOL Uncle Johnny died of natural causes, an old man.

[aliasfinn]

This stuff is always interesting. Thanks for posting it.

[Sassybluesy]

Originally Posted by aliasfinn

This stuff is always interesting. Thanks for posting it.

Thanks! Whenever I see the name "Rallo" I think of my friend, and the crazy stories she shared. John Rallo even kind of looks like my friend. Strong family resemblance.