Salvatore "Samoots" Ammatuna (August 3, 1898 – November 13, 1925) was an Italian-born American mobster and member of the Genna Brothers in Chicago who served as president of the Unione Siciliane.
Ammatuna was born in Pozzallo, Sicily in 1898 and emigrated to the United States in the early 20th century, eventually arriving in Chicago's Little Italy.
Ammatuna was the enforcer who oversaw production of the gang's numerous "alky cookers", and he became the personal bodyguard for "Bloody" Angelo Genna by the end of 1920.
He earned the reputation of a "dandy" and would be seen attending operas with Angelo and other gunmen, often wearing expensive diamond studs and cufflinks, and he bought the Bluebird Cafe, a restaurant in Halsted Street in Chicago.
He walked into the headquarters of the Unione Sicilane, a powerful fraternal group under mob control, and declared himself president, which upset Al Capone.
[2] The identities of the men who killed Ammatuna were eventually revealed as North Side Gang members Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci and Jim Doherty, with Frank Gusenberg as the driver; however, no charges were ever brought against them.
The noted absence of Ammatuna bodyguards Goldstein and Zion has also been questioned, but it is not known whether they were paid off to stay away that night or if they had defected to the Northsiders, as they were both killed shortly after his death.
The remaining Genna Brothers later commented that Ammatuna's death was inevitable after he began hiring non-Sicilian bodyguards, disregarding tradition.