Terry Druggan
Encyclopedia
Terry "Machine Gun" Druggan (1903 – March 4, 1954) was an Irish-American mobster and leader of the Chicago
based mob - the Valley Gang
during prohibition. Druggan was well-known throughout the Chicago area as a tough street fighter. In 1919, Terry Druggan took over the Valley Gang. Druggan was a dwarf-like little man with a hair trigger temper and a lisp
. Druggan was ambitious and found the Valley territory to restrictive for his high ambitions and soon extended his criminal reach far beyond its borders. By 1924, Terry Druggan could truthfully boast that even the lowest member of his gang wore silk shirts and had chauffeurs for their new Rolls Royce
.
Druggan was smart enough to enter into several lucrative business agreements with Johnny Torrio
and was wise enough to pull the Valley Gang off the streets and remodel them after Johnny Torrio's restructured version of Big Jim Colosimo's outfit. With his booze millions, Druggan bought a magnificent home on Lake Zurich
and a winter estate in Florida
. He surrounded himself with yes-men and flunkies and parked 12 new cars in his garage. He had a swimming pool but he couldn't swim, a tennis court but he didn't play the game, dairy cattle, which he admitted scared him, sheep and swine in his pastures. He owned a thoroughbred racing stable and raced his horses at Chicago's tracks, the horses draped in his family's ancient Celtic color scheme.
One time, when he was ruled off the turf at one track for fixing the race, Druggan pulled his gun on the officials and promised to kill them all then and there, if they didn't change their ruling. They changed their ruling.
With the end of Prohibition
, the Druggan and Lake gang, as the Valley Gang was then called, was completely saturated into the Chicago syndicate's operations and for all given purposes, ceased to exist.
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
based mob - the Valley Gang
Valley Gang
The Valley Gang was an Irish street gang in Chicago, Illinois during the early twentieth century and was later allies of the Chicago Outfit under Al Capone....
during prohibition. Druggan was well-known throughout the Chicago area as a tough street fighter. In 1919, Terry Druggan took over the Valley Gang. Druggan was a dwarf-like little man with a hair trigger temper and a lisp
Lisp
A lisp is a speech impediment, historically also known as sigmatism. Stereotypically, people with a lisp are unable to pronounce sibilants , and replace them with interdentals , though there are actually several kinds of lisp...
. Druggan was ambitious and found the Valley territory to restrictive for his high ambitions and soon extended his criminal reach far beyond its borders. By 1924, Terry Druggan could truthfully boast that even the lowest member of his gang wore silk shirts and had chauffeurs for their new Rolls Royce
Rolls-Royce (car)
This a list of Rolls-Royce motor cars and includes vehicles produced by:*Rolls-Royce Limited *Rolls-Royce Motors , which was owned by Vickers between 1980 and 1998, and after that by Volkswagen...
.
Druggan was smart enough to enter into several lucrative business agreements with Johnny Torrio
Johnny Torrio
John "Papa Johnny" Torrio , also known as "The Fox", was an Italian-American mobster who helped build the criminal empire known as the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s that was later inherited by his protege, Al Capone...
and was wise enough to pull the Valley Gang off the streets and remodel them after Johnny Torrio's restructured version of Big Jim Colosimo's outfit. With his booze millions, Druggan bought a magnificent home on Lake Zurich
Lake Zurich
Lake Zurich is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. It is also known as Lake Zürich and Lake of Zürich. It lies approximately at co-ordinates ....
and a winter estate in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. He surrounded himself with yes-men and flunkies and parked 12 new cars in his garage. He had a swimming pool but he couldn't swim, a tennis court but he didn't play the game, dairy cattle, which he admitted scared him, sheep and swine in his pastures. He owned a thoroughbred racing stable and raced his horses at Chicago's tracks, the horses draped in his family's ancient Celtic color scheme.
One time, when he was ruled off the turf at one track for fixing the race, Druggan pulled his gun on the officials and promised to kill them all then and there, if they didn't change their ruling. They changed their ruling.
With the end of Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, the Druggan and Lake gang, as the Valley Gang was then called, was completely saturated into the Chicago syndicate's operations and for all given purposes, ceased to exist.