Mob Still in Chicago, Feds Too

Three members of the Chicago mob's top echelon face life behind bars after being blamed by a jury for a terrifying, 16-year wave of murder aimed at silencing witnesses and settling old scores.

But the government's victory Thursday at one of the biggest mob trials in Chicago history isn't expected to put organized crime out of business.

Prosecutors say their war with the Chicago Outfit will go on. "The Outfit isn't going away, but we aren't going away," federal prosecutor Mitchell A. Mars said after the jury found three men he called "old-time ranking bosses of the Outfit" responsible for 10 mob murders.

Robert D. Grant, special agent in charge of the FBI's Chicago office, said the city still is plagued by 28 "made guys" and more than 100 associates who do the dirty work but are in the mob's inner circle. But he said the jury's action Thursday was something to celebrate. "These people were charged and convicted in this trial for being the murderous thugs that they really are," Grant told reporters.

The jury deliberated for eight days to determine which defendants were responsible for specific murder.

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High Praise for "Better Off Dead: In Paradise"

John Paul Carinci’s new thriller, Better Off Dead: In Paradise, surpasses Robert Ludlum and Robert Parker and does it with a flair for turning a Caribbean phrase that Jimmy Buffet would envy! A rich and realistic description of the Cayman Islands is the back drop for this page-turning tour de force.

In the original Better Off Dead, we meet Frank Granstino. Frank is a colorful, likable and very believable insurance salesman from Brooklyn, New York that becomes ensnared with the mafia. In the end Frank and his girlfriend Alicia become part of the witness protection program and are sent to heaven on Earth, the Cayman Islands.

In this new thriller, their cover is blown to smithereens and their world is turned upside down. The Mob will stop at nothing for vengeance. Readers will feel their gut reactions to the world of violence that is the mafia. Better Off Dead: In Paradise is not for the faint of heart. The violence is realistic and vivid. The reader will feel the terror right along with Frank and Alicia.

The terrorized couple is forced to flee through the islands, take a trip to New York, and then travel back to the Caribbean. All the while the bad guys are killing and blowing things up in their relentless hunt for revenge. It is only through Frank’s clever nature with the help of Alicia’s FBI experience that they are able to stay a step ahead.

Better Off Dead: In Paradise, is so richly described and the characters and their dialogue is so realistic that the author must have lived through similar action himself, that or done painstaking research. The book has enough twists and turns to satisfy the most ardent thriller fan. It also has more than enough action to attract any reader. The audience is left to guess breathlessly at the ending and almost any reader will guess wrong!

Thanks to Brien Jones.

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Mob Jury Chased After Delivering Verdict

Several members of the jury that took a sledgehammer to the Chicago “Outfit” left federal court Thursday through an underground tunnel to escape the media. They surfaced inside the Kluczynski building across the street, and spilled out onto Jackson Boulevard through glass doors.

When a reporter approached with questions, one man whose vote helped put away some of Chicago’s top mobsters put his arm around a female juror and raised his voice a bit. “Just get away,” he said, before disappearing in the city bustle.

Two female jurors walked away quickly, heading west toward the river, not saying a word to a trailing reporter.

When no comment didn’t stop the chase, one woman relented on the condition she wouldn’t be identified.

“We did the best we could. We thought we did a very fair job. And we were very reasonable with each other so we could do a good job,” she said.

The woman wouldn’t comment on trial details or the mood inside the jury room during deliberations. When asked if she feared the men she’d convicted of racketeering and murder, the woman spoke in a calm, easy voice.

“I don’t have any fear because I’m just a person that’s picked to do this,” she said. “I did my job. I think everybody thought they were (were) very fair.”

Thanks to Mark Konkol

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