Jake Guzik

Gangster. Jack Guzik emigrated to the United States in the early 20th century. He became involved in prostitution and other criminal activities in the South Side of Chicago. He became a political fixer, organizing payoffs to police precincts and city officials. In the early 1920s, he allied with Capone and the Chicago Outfit, working as the financial officer for them, also working for Paul Ricca and Tony Accardo. He was reputedly incapable of violence, and it was said that Capone protected him, and once killed a man for him. Capone trusted his advice in the gang wars that developed as he took over the criminal element of Chicago. Later, as Capone was in failing health, he saw to it that Capone and his family never wanted for anything. During the 1940s and 1950s, when the national syndicate was dominated by the Big Six, he and Accardo flew east weekly to meet with the other heads of the organization: Joe Adonis, Frank Costello, Meyer Lansky and Longy Zwillman. The only prison time he served was from legal charges from the IRS. At the Kefauver Committee hearings, he pleaded the Fifth Amendment.