He was born to John Cerone, Sr. and Rose Valant. During the 1950s Cerone was a chauffeur for boss Tony Accardo, he then became the protege of crime boss Salvatore "Momo" Giancana. In his early years, Cerone was affiliated with Premium Beer Sales, Inc. through which he aided the Outfit in controlling the beer distribution business throughout Chicago using strong arm tactics. Cerone was part of the enforcer team that tortured and murdered loan shark William "Action" Jackson. As an Outfit enforcer, Cerone was arrested over 20 times on charges including armed robbery, bookmaking, illegal gambling and embezzlement. Cerone became boss of the Outfit following the semi-retirements of Accardo and Joseph Aiuppa. In 1986 Cerone, Aiuppa, Carl Civella, Angelo J. LaPietra and Carl DeLuna were convicted