Zuta was born on February 18, 1888, in Russia to a peasant family of Jewish descent. He immigrated to the United States around 1913. Living in Chicago, Zuta worked as a junk dealer on the West Side before becoming involved in prostitution. He eventually operated several brothels on west Madison Street. However he was put out of business by competition from Mike "The Pike" Heitler and the Guzik Brothers, Harry and Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik.
Mob accountant
Zuta began working for Al Capone in the mid-1920s. He helped contribute $50,000 of Capone's money to Chicago MayorWilliam Hale Thompson's reelection campaign in 1927. However, Zuta defected to Bugs Moran's North Side Gang during the gang war between Capone and Moran. In June 1930, Zuta supposedly ordered the death of Chicago Tribune reporter Jake Lingle after Lingle tried to extort money from Moran's gambling operations. After the murder, Zuta was questioned by police. He was released the next day. While being given a police escortthe police cruiser was fired on by several unidentified gunmen. The attackers killed two bystanders before being driven off by police. Zuta fled Chicago, moving to Upper Nemahbin Lake, west of Milwaukee, living the last month of his life under the name "J. H. Goodman". Zuta was shot to death on August 1, 1930, in a roadhouse in Delafield, Wisconsin. He is buried in the Jewish cemetery located in Middlesboro, Kentucky.
Aftermath
Zuta's death resulted in the uncovering of a large amount of corruption in Illinois. Zuta, a meticulous record keeper, had much information later found in various safe deposit boxes. This information lead to the capture of a large whiskey shipment to Moran and to information about police raids on several breweries, as well as detailing Mafia payoffs to state and city officials. Some of the officials implicated were:
All denied involvement, however, particularly Crowe and Starr, who claimed the money was part of campaign contributions. The name, "Zuta", later became slang for revenge. In 1931, after a $50,000 bounty was placed on him, Capone said, "Nobody's gonna' 'Zuta' me."
