[3] On August 9, 1927, on the outskirts of Chicago, Licavoli survived a "one-way ride" that claimed the lives of his friends, Anthony "Shorty" Russo and Vincent Spicuzza.

Upon his release, he joined his cousins in Toledo, where they had moved to avoid heat from the murder of a crusading anti-Mafia Detroit radio broadcaster, Jerry Buckley.

Peter Licavoli returned to Detroit and regrouped - his force retaining the original Purple Gang title.

James Licavoli went on the lam and hid in Pittsburgh where he stayed with up-and-coming mob boss John Sebastian Larocca.

In 1940, Licavoli was made into the Cleveland crime family and quickly established control over illegal gambling and the vending machine industry in the neighboring cities of Youngstown and Warren, Ohio.

[1] During this period, Licavoli was a suspect in the murders of Jim "Mancene" Mancini and gambling slot czar Nate Weisenberg.

Outfit leaders Tony Accardo and Joseph Aiuppa finally declared their neutrality in the Cleveland gang war and ordered their subordinates not to assist Licavoli.

This included one of Licavoli's most powerful allies, consigliere Leo Moceri, whose bloodstained car was found in a hotel parking lot in Akron, Ohio.

They accomplished this by bribing a female clerk to update them on organized crime investigations and provide the identities of government informants.

Ferritto was implicated in the murder of Danny Greene when the license plate of his getaway car was reported to the Lyndhurst police by an eyewitness, and he subsequently began cooperating with authorities.

[5] Fratianno soon became alarmed that Licavoli would discover he was an informant, so he quickly made a deal with the FBI to testify against numerous Mafia members so that he could be entered into the Witness Protection Program.

Prosecutors now targeted Licavoli for prosecution under the newly created Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

[5] When Licavoli was arrested at his home, police confiscated his cane with a long hidden blade in it and $3,000 in his underwear drawer.