 Caifano was a boxer in his youth.In the 1940s, Caifano was sent to Los Angeles.According to author Gus Russo, Bugsy Siegel, who was building a gambling establishment in Las Vegas, was at Beverly Hills home with Caifano associate Alan Smiley when another man arrived; Siegel was shot to death, and soon after Gus Greenbaum, the Chicago Outfit's chief bookie, arrived at Siegel's Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas and said, "We're taking over."