The Chicago Syndicate
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Thursday, February 09, 2006

Dramatic mob trials still fill the seats

Friends of ours: John "Junior" Gotti, John "Dapper Don" Gotti, Joey "the Clown" Lombardo, Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, Genovese Crime Family, Vincent "Chin" Gigante, Gambino Crime Family, Peter Gotti, Colombo Crime Family, Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico, Lucchese Crime Family, Steven "Stevie Wonder" Crea, Bonanno Crime Family, Joseph "Big Joe" Massino, Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, Patrick "Patty from the Bronx" DeFilippo
Friends of mine: Louis Eppolito, Stephen Caracappa

Organized crime may be on the decline, but Mafia trials are getting as much attention as ever.

In New York City alone, three upcoming federal prosecutions are targeting La Cosa Nostra, the Italian-American crime syndicate made famous by The Godfather books and films, and the HBO series The Sopranos. Defendants include John A. Gotti, son of John J. Gotti, the "Dapper Don" who died in federal prison in 2002 while serving a life sentence for murder and racketeering.

In Chicago, federal prosecutors hope to try alleged mobster Joey "The Clown" Lombardo, 76, and 10 alleged associates later this year for conspiracy to commit at least 18 unsolved murders, some dating back more than 30 years.

The cases all have the ruthlessness, and the color, that America has come to expect from the Mob.

First, there are the names. "Vinny Bionics," "Jackie Nose," "Mikey Scars," "Louie Electric" and "Skinny Dom," are among the characters who appear in court papers filed in the New York cases.

Then, there are the details. One case features an apparent first: the boss of a New York City crime family who, court papers say, "wore a wire" to secretly record conversations that were used to bring charges against other members. In another, two former New York City police detectives are accused of accepting thousands of dollars to carry out or aid seven Mafia-related slayings.

The public and the media are sure to be watching. Last month, a standing-room-only crowd showed up for Lombardo's first court appearance. Lombardo, who got his nickname by making jokes during legal proceedings, had disappeared soon after he was indicted and was on the lam for nine months before he was captured in a Chicago suburb Jan. 13.

Mafiosi "are not as large and as powerful as they once were, but they can still draw a crowd," says Jerry Capeci, organized crime specialist for Ganglandnews.com and author and co-author of six books on the Mob. "And let's face it, (Mob trials) are a lot more colorful than, what, Enron and like that."

Defendants in all of the Mafia cases have pleaded not guilty.

In Chicago, Lombardo and his associates are charged with plotting to kill a potential grand jury witness. They're also charged in the June 1986 killings of Chicago organized crime figure Tony "Ant" Spilotro and his brother Michael, who were beaten, then buried alive in a cornfield. The episode was fictionalized in Casino, a 1995 movie in which actor Joe Pesci played a character based on Spilotro.


MAFIA CONVICTIONS AT A GLANCE
During the past nine years, federal and local prosecutors in New York City have secured convictions and prison sentences for defendants they described as the bosses or acting bosses of all five of the city's Mafia "families."
Family Boss Conviction Sentence
Genovese Vincent "Chin" Gigante Racketeering (1997) 12 years (died in prison, 2005)
Gambino Peter Gotti Conspiracy; money laundering (2003) 9 1/2 years
Colombo Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico Racketeering (2003) 13 years
Luchese Steven "Stevie Wonder" Crea Construction bid rigging (2004) 3 to 6 years
Bonanno Joseph "Big Joe" Massino Multiple murders (2005) Life


In federal court in Brooklyn, testimony is scheduled to begin Feb. 22 in the murder, racketeering, bookmaking and extortion trial of Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, 46. Court papers describe him as the acting head of the Bonannos, one of five Mob "families" in New York City. Since mid-January, jury selection has been going on in secret to protect potential jurors' identities, court spokesman Robert Nardoza said.

Basciano, whose nickname, Capeci says, derived from a Bronx beauty parlor Basciano once owned, is charged with killing a Mob associate and plotting two other slayings. Patrick "Patty from the Bronx" DeFilippo, 66, an alleged Bonanno capo, or crime crew chief, is accused of killing another family associate.

Both men also face gambling, loan sharking and extortion charges. The charges are based in part on secret recordings made by convicted Bonanno boss Joseph Massino, 66, in January 2005, when he and Basciano met in a detention center in New York City, court papers say.

Basciano, awaiting trial, was unaware that Massino — who was awaiting sentencing for a racketeering conviction — had agreed to work for the FBI, Basciano's attorneys say in court papers.

"That's huge," says Ronald Kessler, who has written two books on the FBI. "Getting a family leader to wear a wire is something that's never happened before. It should make for very interesting testimony."

One of the most interested parties might be DeFilippo, Basciano's co-defendant and, according to prosecutors, his fellow Bonanno family member.

Transcripts of the tapes in court papers indicate that Basciano asked Massino, the family leader, for permission to "jocko" — Mob slang for kill — DeFilippo in a dispute over money and Basciano's leadership style. "I have a problem living in the same world as this guy," Basciano said of DeFilippo, the court papers say.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the retrial of John A. Gotti in federal court in Manhattan. Gotti, 41, called "Junior" in court papers, is charged with ordering the kidnapping and non-fatal shooting of Curtis Sliwa, a New York City radio talk-show host and founder of the Guardian Angels citizen-patrol group. Sliwa was abducted by Gambino family crime members under Gotti's control in 1992, prosecutors allege, because Gotti was upset by Sliwa's criticism of his father. When Gotti was first tried in September, jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict on the kidnapping and extortion and loan-sharking charges. He was found not guilty of securities fraud. His attorneys disputed prosecutors' claims that he is boss of the crime family his father once led. They said he had severed his ties with organized crime.

The younger Gotti was convicted of racketeering in 1999 and was imprisoned for six years.

This week, Judge Shira Scheindlin turned down Gotti's request that Sliwa not be allowed to criticize him on Sliwa's show during the trial. Gotti said Sliwa's comments could unfairly influence jurors.

On Feb. 21, also in federal court in Brooklyn, jury selection is scheduled to begin in the murder and racketeering trial of former New York City police detectives Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa.

Eppolito, 57, and Caracappa, 64, are charged with accepting up to $4,000 a month in the 1980s and early 1990s to give members of the Luchese crime family information on police surveillance and help them find the targets of seven family-ordered hits.

The retired detectives also are accused of fatally shooting a Mafia member who had agreed to turn over information to the government.

Jack Weinstein, the judge in the case, has asked for a larger courtroom to accommodate crowds.

"They don't get better than this," Capeci says.

Thanks to Richard Willing

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Detectives Who Broke "Mafia Cops" Case Won't Testify At Trial

Friends of mine: Louis Eppolito, Stephen Caracappa

The former detectives credited with breaking the so-called "mafia cops" case will not testify at the upcoming trial.

Former NYPD detectives Thomas Dades and William Oldham were able to get a key informer to speak, which led to the charges against disgraced former police officers Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa. However, the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's office said Tuesday it has decided not to use Dades and Oldham as witnesses.

The news comes as the defense team works to uncover disciplinary action about Dades and Oldham which could hurt their credibility.

Eppolito and Caracappa are charged with helping to carry out hits for the mob while they were on the police force. Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges. The two men are currently under house arrest, out on $5 million bail. The trial is set to begin later this month.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Mafia-run Hospital Scam is in the Works

USA Network is taking a second look at "Organized Medicine," a Mob-based project that has been in the development pipeline for more than 18 months as a miniseries.

The cable network is redeveloping the project, about a Mafia-run hospital scam, as a pilot for a drama series. It will be written by Michael Angeli, a writer-producer on Sci Fi Channel's hit "Battlestar Galactica."

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Structure of a Mafia Crime Family

The "Honored Society" as the Mafia is commonly known among its members is structured much like a modern corporation in the sense that duties and responsibilities are disseminated downward through a "chain of command" that is organized in pyramid fashion.

1. Capo Crimini/Capo de tutti capi (super boss/boss of bosses)

2. Consigliere (trusted advisor or family counselor)

3. Capo Bastone (Underboss, second in command)

4. Contabile (financial advisor)

5. Caporegime or Capodecina (lieutenant, typically heads a faction of ten or more soldiers comprising a "crew.")

6. Sgarrista (a foot soldier who carries out the day to day business of the family. A "made" member of the Mafia)

7. Piciotto (lower-ranking soldiers; enforcers. Also known in the streets as the "button man.")

8. Giovane D'Honore (Mafia associate, typically a non-Sicilian or non-Italian member)

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Co-Defendants Won't Speak to Reputed Hit Man

Friends of ours: Frank Calabrese Sr., Frank Calabrese Jr., Nick Calabrese, James Marcello, Joey "the Clown" Lombardo

Mob loan shark and reputed hit man Frank Calabrese Sr. has been shunned by his family. His brother, Nick, is testifying against him at trial. So is his son, Frank Jr. And now, even his fellow reputed mobsters behind bars with him aren't eager to chat with him, according to court filings.

Calabrese Sr. is banned from associating in jail with several of the reputed mobsters who are charged with him in a federal case that lays 18 unsolved murders on the Outfit. Calabrese Sr. is charged with taking part in 13 slayings.

Calabrese Sr. wants to talk about the court case and work on a defense with the other men charged, including reputed Chicago mob boss James Marcello. But his fellow mobsters aren't lining up for a chat. None of their lawyers has joined in Calabrese's request, according to the feds. "Put another way," federal prosecutor Mitchell A. Mars writes, "while [Calabrese Sr.] expresses an interest in meeting with his co-defendants, none has expressed an interest in meeting with him."

Calabrese Sr.'s family has provided a mother lode of evidence for the federal government. Calabrese Sr.'s brother, Nick, has confessed to 15 mob hits and is cooperating with the investigators. Calabrese Sr.'s son, Frank Jr., secretly recorded his father while both men were in prison on another case. Calabrese Jr., who is not charged in the current case, made the recordings at risk to his life in an effort to ensure his father never gets out of prison.

On the recordings, Calabrese Sr. allegedly talks of murders that he and other men were involved in. The tapes are expected to be key evidence at trial, which could take place later this year.

Calabrese Sr.'s attorney, Joseph Lopez, said he can't believe his client's co-defendants wouldn't want to meet with him. There is no bad blood, for instance, between Calabrese Sr. and Marcello, Lopez said. "I don't think anything was ever bad between them," Lopez said.

Rick Halprin, the attorney for reputed mobster Joseph "The Clown" Lombardo, said his client has no need to meet with Calabrese Sr. because Lombardo doesn't know him. A source familiar with both men, however, has said that while the two men didn't socialize in public, they did know each other.

It's not uncommon for prosecutors or jail officials to keep criminal defendants charged in conspiracy cases -- whether mobsters or gang-bangers -- separated from one another at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, officials said.

Prosecutors contend that letting the men meet could allow them to conspire against witnesses. Lopez scoffed at that, saying "that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." "What legitimate reason do they have? I see none," Lopez said.

Thanks to Steve Warmbir

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