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George Clarence "Bugs" Moran (October 21, 1896 – February 25, 1957) was a Chicago Prohibition-era gangster born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Moran, an Irish-Polish descendant, moved to the north side of Chicago when he was 19 and ran with several gangs while being incarcerated three times before turning 21.

Contents 1 Early Years 2 Prohibition 3 Battling Johnny Torrio 4 Battling the Gennas 5 Moran vs. Capone 6 After Prohibition 7 External links

George Moran was born on October 21, 1896 in Saint Paul, Minessota. He was born to Jewish parents When Moran entered his teens, he quickly engaged in a life of crime. Once he turned 19, he moved into Chicago and earned his popularity there. He would be jailed three times while he was only 20 years old.

Moran ran with many criminals and his fiery temper became known to all people. His temper earned him the nickname “Bugs”, because people thought he was crazy.

Prohibition was put into effect in 1919 in Amendment 18 banning the distribution of alcoholic beverages. It was meant to improve society; however, the plan backfired when criminal enterprises sprang up to smuggle liquor. They got it and sold it at high prices for great profit. The popularity of alcohol and lack of legal competition ensured lots of customers. This smuggling of alcohol was called bootlegging. Soon, the criminals and gangsters were in their prime, including O’Banion and his Irish gang.

John Torrio and his lieutenant, Al “Scarface” Capone, moved to Chicago and took a piece of the action for themselves. They moved into the South side of Chicago, absorbed the territory and pushed the Southside O’Donnells (an Irish group of brothers that held a piece of the Southside and claimed it as their turf) out of the way. They quickly gathered followers and were the “Italian family” of Chicago since a majority of their group was Italian. Torrio, a peacemaker and one who did not like violence, quickly moved to establish a borderline for each gang’s territory.

Torrio tried to establish a partnership between himself and O’Banion, and it worked for quite some time. But the Gennas (a Sicilian group of brothers who owned a piece of the Southside territory and were partners of Torrio/Capone) wanted to extend their interests into other territory. They moved their liquor into O’Banions territory and sold it for half as much as what O’Banion sold it for. He was being cheated in his own territory. He quickly went to Torrio and requested help. Torrio managed to talk the Gennas down in the interest of peace. But O’Banion wasn’t pleased and decided to strike back instead. He started hijacking the Gennas shipments and selling them himself.

He then would provoke the Italians even more by directly insulting them, calling them “greaseballs” or "dagos”. This act angered the Italians even more.

Moran and O'Banion would also never pass up a chance to insult Capone to the press usually by calling him "Scarface" or "the Behemoth".

Two events would trigger the assassination of O'Banion. First event was between O'Banion and the Gennas. Torrio was on vacation and left Al Capone in charge of the operations. O'Banion came to collect a 30,000 dollar debt from Angelo Genna, the Genna family leader.

Capone explained to O'Banion that Angelo could not pay the debt and maybe he should pass it on as good faith to keep the peace. O'Banion refused and later called up Genna and stated that he had better pay up the debt in a week 'or else'.

The next event would be the setting up of Torrio in a police raid. O'Banion contacted Torrio and stated he wanted to retire from the business and sell some of his profits to Torrio. Torrio, excited that there would be no more problems between them, leapt at the idea and met O'Banion at the warehouse. They started talking and shared a few jokes, but then the police burst in and arrested both men for prohibition-related charges. O'Banion started to laugh, but Torrio panicked. He knew that this was his second prohibition offense and he could do jail time.

Both men posted bail and got out. Torrio then learned O'Banion had knew about the raid all along, and it was a setup. "I guess I rubbed that pimp's nose in the mud" O'Banion stated.

It was from here the Italians passed a vote to kill O'Banion. They hired outside killers to do the job and waited for Mike Merlo, the leader of the Unione Siciliana, to die because Merlo who was also a man of peace refused to allow O'Banion to be killed.

The killers were Frank Yale,along with John Scalise and Albert Anselmi(the Murder Twins). They tracked O'Banion to his flower shop and entered. O'Banion, expecting flowers for Merlo's funeral to be picked wasn't suspicious of the men or their intentions.

Yale outstretched his hand for O'Banion to shake. O'Banion obliged. Scalise and Anselmi then drew their pistols and shot O'Banion dead.

The killers got away. When word hit the Northsiders, it was a shock. They had lost their leader and good friend. Capone and Torrio thought that O'Banion's death might end their troubles.

Moran and the rest of the group went to O'Banions lavish funeral. It was a sad time and he shed tears for his fallen boss.

Also there was Capone and Torrio. Moran and Weiss glared at both men. Capone and Torrio knew it wasn't over.

The Northsiders waited until O'Banions funeral was over. Then, they made plans of their own: it was time for revenge.

Earl "Hymie" Weiss took control of the North Side Gang and Moran became underboss. They were ready to strike back.

On January 25, 1925, Weiss and Moran waited for Torrio outside his home. They would take him by surprise and kill him on the spot. Torrio arrived with his wife after doing a little shopping. With Drucci at the wheel, Moran and Weiss leapt out of the car and opened fire on Torrio. Torrio was hit several times and slumped to the ground. Moran ushered up to Torrio and attempted to deliver the coup de grace to his skull. However the gun was out of ammunition, saving Torrio's life. An angered Moran was forced to flee the scene with Torrio still alive, but unconscious. After this abortive hit, the terrified Torrio elected to retire and pass the operations of the Chicago Outfit to his protégé, Al Capone.

Now that Torrio was gone, it was time to go after an old rival -- the Gennas, who were the cause of O'Banion's and Torrio's broken partnership.

The Northsiders first went after Angelo. The Gennas took their leader, it was time for Moran and his gang to do the same. Moran (along with Weiss and a few others) ambushed Angelo and engaged in a dangerous car chase with the Sicilian leader. After Angelo crashed into a building, their car pulled to a halt next to Angelo's and the Northsiders blasted away, killing the crime leader. This was a terrible setback, for the Gennas. Much of their power and influence had died with Angelo.

The Gennas mourned the loss of the brother and quite possibly knew their business was going downhill. Next, Mike "The Devil" Genna went and engaged in a fierce gunbattle with the Northsiders, but failed to take out his rivals. Not long after, he himself was gunned down by police in a vicious shootout.

Then, Samuzzo "Samoots" Amatuna, a Genna family backer, was gunned down by Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci.

Finally, Tony Genna was shot to death. However, it was rumored that it was Capone, not the Northsiders, who did in Tony. Capone allegedly ordered Tony's murder to finally destroy the weakened Genna Family.

Their power destroyed, the rest of the Gennas fled Chicago.

The bootlegging operation of Earl Weiss and Bugs Moran continued to pose a significant challenge to Capone's Chicago Outfit. Moran and Capone then lead a turf war with each other that cost both of them their friends and cost Capone his freedom. Moran’s hatred of Capone was apparent even to the public; he told the press that "Capone is a lowlife."^{[citation needed]} Moran was also disgusted that Capone engaged in prostitution. Believing himself a better Catholic than Capone, Moran refused to run brothels.

Moran and his gang made two attempts to strike back at Big Al. The first was an attempt on Capone's life. Moran (possibly with Drucci and Weiss) was driving around town searching for Capone. They found his car parked along side the curb and saw old "Scarface" getting out. They let loose a volley of shots. Capone and his men hit the ground while their driver was injured and the car pelted with bullets. Although startled, Capone survived the attack and would only be driven around in an armored car after that.

Second, Moran would himself eliminate Capone's personal security. He kidnapped one of Capone's most trusted bodyguards. He then tortured him with wire and cigarettes before finally executing him and dumping the body.

On September 20, 1926, Moran again attempted to hit Capone. This time in Cicero, Illinois, the base of Capone’s operations. A fleet of cars, with Moran in personal command, drove by the lobby of Capone's hotel. Capone and his bodyguard were drinking downstairs when the Moran boys opened fire on the lobby with their Thompson submachine guns. The attack left Capone unhurt but cowering on the floor; his restaurant reduced to shreds. Although Capone escaped unharmed, the hotel attack traumatized him; Al called for a truce. However, the truce did not last and Chicago plummeted further into gang warfare.

Weiss was then gunned down weeks later after the Hawthorne attack. The two sides then traded bombings and killings before everybody decided enough was enough. A peace conference was held to hopefully sort everything out. Moran grudgingly appeared, along with Capone and the rest of the gang bosses. Capone stated "they were making a shooting gallery of a great business" and Chicago "should be seen as pie and each gang gets an individual slice". Everybody agreed and peace had finally arrived.

For the first time in years, there was peace. No killings were connected to other gangs or turf wars. Drucci himself was killed but as a result from a brawl with cops. Both Capone and Moran attended his funeral. Moran now realized that his pals (O'banion, Weiss, Drucci) were gone and he was the sole leader of the gang. Capone realized this too, which is why he didn't attack first because he knew a turf war with Moran would result in great bloodshed.

Both sides kept a close watch on each other after that. Moran would regularly annoy Capone by hijacking his shipments and selling them for his profit. Capone then retaliated by burning Moran's dogtrack. However, Moran never let an attack go by him without getting retribution and burned Capone's own dogtrack soon after.

Moran also killed numerous friends and gang members of Capone, which both angered and saddened him. It also frightened him into having 15 (or more) bodyguards around him, and never going anywhere without looking over his shoulder. Moran further wore down Capone, both physically and mentally, by agreeing to truces, only to break them within hours.

Moran again tried have Capone killed. This time he tried to feed him poisonous acid in his meal. However, the chef alerted Capone to this and the plan didn't go through. It did however make Capone regret he ever came to Chicago. "If I knew I was gonna deal with this, I'd never would've left Five points" he stated.

Moran then decided to order the death of Antonio Lombardo and Pasqualino "Patsy" Lolordo. Both men were personal friends of Capone as well as the head of the Unione Siciliana, the rock of Capone's power. Capone went into mourning after their murders and his hatred for Moran grew even more. Moran also decided to escalate the war further by hijacking Capone's shipments and trying to have one of his henchmen killed twice. The Sheldon Gang, supposedly allies of the Southsiders, were suspected of supplying liquor to Moran. Capone's own allies were aiding Moran.

In 1929, Capone tried to strike a decisive blow against Moran with the notorious St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Gunmen dressed as cops lined up a number of Moran associates against the wall in a Chicago warehouse and executed them. However, the main target of the “hit”, Moran, narrowly eluded death. Moran spotted the squad car outside the warehouse and, believing a raid was in progress, he continued on his way without entering. Another Northsider, Al Weinshank, was misidentified as Moran by one of Capone's lookouts, who signaled for the attack to began. Moran then would continue a turf war with Capone (but to a lesser extent) and also manage to thwart a territory takeover by Frank McErlane, wounding him in a gun battle.

Contrary to popular belief, Moran managed to keep control of his territory and what remained of his gang through the end of prohibition and through the early 30's. But with the repeal of prohibition (the very thing that put the gangsters in their prime) and his power decreased, the North Side gang declined along with many other gangs and Moran decided to leave Chicago after a few years. However, Capone did not go unpunished either. After the massacre, the government and the public were through with gangland killings and shootouts. With the government coming at him from all sides and Moran still in Chicago now larger than life, Capone himself started to decline. The government managed to get Capone for tax evasion and haul him off to prison in 1932.

In April 1930, Frank J. Loesch, chairman of the Chicago Crime Commission compiled a "Public Enemies" list of 28 people he designated as corrupting Chicago. Capone topped the list and Moran ranked sixth. The list was published widely and ensured Moran's notoriety.

In 1936, Jack "Machine Gun" McGurn, who helped orchestrate the Valentine's Day Massacre for Capone, was found murdered on Valentines day. A valentine was left in his hand that included a joke. Since Moran treasured pranks, a legacy of his mentor Dion O'Banion, it was commonly assumed Moran committed the murder in retaliation for the slaughter of his gang, though others point to Frank Nitti as the force behind the killing.

In the wake of Prohibition, the Chicago Outfit, now headed by Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti, soon acquired the rest of Moran's gambling institutions, effectively ending the existence of the North Side Gang. Stripped of his former power and status, Moran returned to a life of petty crime.

In July 1946, Moran was arrested in Ohio for robbing a bank messenger of $10,000, a paltry sum compared to his lifestyle during the Prohibition days. He was convicted and sentenced to ten years in the Ohio Penitentiary. Shortly after his release, Moran was again arrested for an earlier bank raid. Moran received another ten years and was sent to the Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary . Bugs Moran died in prison of lung cancer on February 25, 1957 and received a pauper's burial in the prison cemetery.

• BugsMoran.net
• FBI bio -(Birth recorded as: October 21, 1896)
• George "Bugs" Moran at Find A Grave

Preceded by Vincent Drucci

North Side Gang Boss 1927-1935?

Succeeded by Francis Cavanaugh