Mayor Donald E. Stephens: I didn't meet with mob

Rosemont Mayor Donald E. Stephens adamantly denied under oath Thursday that he met with the mob in 1999 to talk about a casino for his town. And, in an ironic twist, a reputed mob boss on the lam is backing him up.

Joey "The Clown" Lombardo fired off a letter to his lawyer last month denying an FBI informant's claim that Lombardo and reputed mobsters John "No Nose" DiFronzo, his brother Peter DiFronzo, Joe "the Builder" Andriacchi, Rudy Fratto and other alleged hoodlums met with Stephens at Armand's Pizzeria, an Elmwood Park restaurant, according to Rick Halprin, Lombardo's lawyer.

"Let me inform you that it is positively a lie," the hand-printed letter, which included misspellings, read. "I have never, never, ever sat down with Mayor Stephens and the rest of the names in the article. I will take truth serum or lie detector test if the agent and there reliable witness will take one. It has to be done by a private co., not the FBI."

Lombardo, 76, has been missing since a major federal indictment linking the mob to 18 unsolved murders came down in April. Shortly after the indictment, a letter from Lombardo arrived by mail at Halprin's Chicago office. That letter, postmarked in Chicago and directed at U.S. District Court Judge James B. Zagel, proclaimed his innocence and asked for a separate trial from the others indicted. However, FBI spokesman Ross Rice said agents don't necessarily think Lombardo is hiding out in the Chicago area.

The FBI launched international manhunts for Lombardo and co-defendant Frank "the German" Schweihs and are offering rewards of up to $20,000 apiece for their arrests. Lombardo, 76, who had lived on Chicago's Near West Side for more than half a century, and Schweihs, 75, who last lived near Ft. Lauderdale, face up to life in prison if convicted.

The latest letter was dated Aug. 24 and postmarked Aug. 25 in Chicago. The letter was on three-ring notebook paper and was accompanied by two Chicago Sun-Times articles, including a July 19 clipping about Lombardo's alleged meeting with Stephens, Halprin said. "I doubt that he has a home subscription," Halprin said of Lombardo. "I have no idea where Mr. Lombardo is," Halprin said. "I'm saying the same thing I've said over and over again: It's my obligation to tell Joey, I can only tell him he should surrender himself and prepare for trial."

'Ridiculous nonsense'

FBI agent John Mallul had testified on July 18 that an informant told him of the Armand's meeting. Mallul's testimony came during a state Gaming Board hearing to revoke the license of Emerald Casino, which has been trying to open a casino in Rosemont but has been bogged down by mob allegations.

Lombardo says he also sent a separate letter to Rosemont's village attorney denying the Armand's meeting. "And also if I met with these people on that date, May 29th, 1999 I would have been in violation of my parole and probation," the letter to Halprin read.

Rosemont attorney Bob Stephenson confirmed he recently received two letters, purportedly from Lombardo. One appeared to mirror the Halprin letter, the other was a brief note in which Lombardo told Stephenson he remembered him from an old Teamsters trial, Stephenson said. The letters were signed "Joseph Lombardo I'm an innocent man," wording similar to the letter sent in the spring. The Rosemont letters were turned over to the feds, Stephenson said.

Word of the latest round of Lombardo correspondence came as Stephens testified before retired Judge Abner Mikva, who will rule whether Emerald should lose its gaming license. Stephens testified he was "absolutely not" at the Armand's meeting -- and said he had never even been to the restaurant.

Outside of the hearing, Stephens, 77, called the Armand's allegation "such ridiculous nonsense."

'I hate my son-in-law'

"The FBI agent said there was some informant. Well, at the very least, the informant's a liar," Stephens said. "As a matter of fact, I also understand that my [ex-]son-in-law was at this meeting. I've got news for you, I hate my son-in-law. I've never gone around the block with him in my car. Never."

Excerpted from articles by Carol Marin and Shamus Toomey of the Sun Times and by Matt O'Connor and John Chase of the Tribune.

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Reward Offered in Search for Mob Fugitives

Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced today that a reward of up to $20,000 is being offered for information leading to the location and arrest of suspected "Chicago Outfit" members JOSEPH "The Clown" LOMBARDO and FRANK "The German" SCHWEIHS.

Joey "The Clown" Lombardo and Frank "The German" Schweihs

Both LOMBARDO and SCHWEIHS have been the subject of an international manhunt since April 25th of this year, after being charged along with 12 other individuals by a Federal Grand Jury in Chicago with numerous violations of federal criminal law, including involvement in as many as 18 previously unsolved murders.

LOMBARDO, whose last known address was on Chicago's near west side, is described as a white/male, 76 years of age, 5'7" tall, 185 pounds, medium build, with black hair and brown eyes with glasses.

SCHWEIHS, whose last known address was in Dania, Florida, is described as a white/male, 75 years of age, 6' tall, 180 pounds, medium build, with gray hair and brown eyes and walks with a slight limp.

In announcing this reward, Mr. Grant said " In many of the investigations that the FBI conducts, we rely heavily on the assistance of the public. We're hoping that by offering a reward the public's attention will once again be focused on this investigation and will generate tips that could lead to the arrest of one or both of these fugitives."

Both men should be considered armed and dangerous. Anyone having any information as to the whereabouts of either LOMBARDO or SCHWEIHS is asked to call the Chicago FBI at (312) 431-1333 or their local police department.

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A Wiseguy's Son, Ronne Jarrett Jr., Tells How The Chicago Mob Rewards Loyalty

I thought I'd see Ronnie Jarrett's name on the chart of those 18 previously unsolved Chicago Outfit homicides this week, with the indictments of mob bosses in the FBI's Operation Family Secrets.

So did his son, Ronnie Jarrett Jr., 32, who told me what Outfit loyalty means and about the day his father was shot in 1999. "I slept late, and I was in bed and thought it was firecrackers and heard my mother run outside, and Mom was screaming and stuff," Ronnie Jr. told me Tuesday during an interview in his Bridgeport home.

"He was outside on the ground, and Mom was scared to go over by him. I ran out on the porch, and he was laying there by his car."

Ronnie Jarrett Sr. was a close friend of the FBI's key Outfit informant, Nicholas Calabrese, and was killed about the time Calabrese began falling out with his brother, mob boss Frank Calabrese Sr.

He had been a reputed hit man for the Chinatown Crew, an accomplished burglar, and a bodyguard for Angelo "The Hook" LaPietra. On the day he was shot five years ago, he was on the books as working for Marina Cartage trucking boss and mayoral friend Mike Tadin.

I visited Tadin on Jan. 26, 2004, and taped our interview. I asked him why he hired Jarrett. "I know Ronnie all my life from being in the neighborhood," Tadin said then. "He needed a break. I helped him out. He did a good job here, never had no issues here, never had no complaints from the supervisors."

Absolutely. Tadin's supervisors aren't stupid, and you don't complain about a man who is handy with tools. Ronnie was with Nick and Frank Calabrese, and the other 26th Street guys, and nobody in the 11th Ward ever tells them what to do. But Jarrett's killing wasn't on Monday's list of solved homicides in the federal building. On Tuesday, I drove out to the 11th Ward, to Jarrett's home on Lowe Avenue, to ask what his family knew.

Convicted burglar Ronnie Jarrett Jr. was home, without a leg monitor, just getting used to the idea of not wearing one. He had been given an 8-year sentence for burglary and served it by spending a few weeks in the sheriff's boot camp and a few months at home. He thought Nicholas Calabrese's information would close his father's hit. "I figured that with Nick talking and everything, I figured if anyone knew anything it would be Nick," Ronnie Jr. said. "The FBI actually told my mother that it would be part of the indictment."

A federal official said such a conversation would have been highly unlikely and added that other mob homicides are still being investigated.

The FBI "called about 6 a.m. that day," he said, meaning Monday, indictment day, when Outfit figures such as Joey "Lumby" Lombardo and Frank "The German" Schweihs were among those indicted in a murder conspiracy and extortion plot.

The father was--and the son is--a convicted criminal. Yet the Jarretts were welcome at City Hall. The Jarrett kids got City Hall jobs. Ronnie Jr. was slinging asphalt in the Department of Tony (Transportation). His younger brother trims trees. Jarrett Sr.'s widow, Rosemary, also has a political job. She's a clerk for Cook County Circuit Judge Barbara J. Disko. Mrs. Jarrett declined to comment.

Ronnie Jarrett Sr. was shot outside the home on Dec. 23, 1999. "I ran and got the comforter off my bed because it was freezing out," his son said in our one-hour interview. "He was talking to me, like, `Oh, my arm.' He was in pain."

If Jarrett knew who shot him, he didn't say. "He never said nothing," said his son. "I always tell my mom I should have asked him."

A law-enforcement theory is that he was on his way to the wake of a relative. A Bridgeport theory is that he hated the relative and was on his way to see two men known as "the twins." Another theory is that the killing of Jarrett was a message to Nick to keep his mouth shut.

When his father died in the hospital a month later, Ronnie Jr. noticed that his fathers' friends stopped visiting. "A few came, only a couple, that's about it," he said, adding that the condolence calls didn't resemble the movies, with bags of cash for the Outfit widow and kids.

Jarrett Jr. said that while on probation, he has had trouble finding a job. He remembers how great he thought it was to be a wiseguy's kid. "I'm not going to lie, it was cool. But now, you see them, you get the big hug and the big kiss in public, and you know it don't mean nothing."

His father spent much of his life behind bars and never squealed, even when facing 25 years in prison. "It's @#$% {circ} &* brutal, terrible," he said. "He did all that time for those guys, and the feds wanted him to flip and he didn't. I just felt [the Outfit] owed him more."

No matter what they owed him, they did pay him.

They paid him their way.

Thanks to John Kass

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Infrastructure of Chicago mob

The 14 Operation Family Secrets defendants indicted on racketeering, conspiracy, or gambling charges are part of the Chicago Outfit, which makes money for members and associates through illegal activities.

The chain of command:

BOSS
James Marcello
Leader of the Chicago Outfit, known as "No. 1"


CONSIGLIERE
Provides advice to the Boss

SOTTO CAPO

Second in command, also known as "No. 2," reports to Boss

CAPOS

Street boss/crew leader, reports to sotto capo

• Frank Calabrese Sr., South Side/26th Street Crew capo, continued criminal activities from jail through Nicholas Ferriola and others.
• Joseph Lombardo, Grand Avenue Crew capo

FOUR CREWS

Generally given territories throughout Chicago. May include "made men" --trustworthy people--usually of Italian descent, who have murdered for the Outfit.

1. South Side/26th Street or Chinatown

• Nicholas Ferriola - collected money made by extortion demands from Frank Calabrese.
• Frank Saladino
• Nicholas W. Calabrese - a "made man" and brother of Frank Calabrese Sr.

2. Grand Avenue

3. Melrose Park

• Michael Marcello - kept his jailed brother James informed on activities. Michael operated an illegal video gambling business.

4. Elmwood Park

ASSOCIATES

Assist the Chicago Outfit through criminal enterprise

• Frank Schweihs - an enforcer, collected and imposed "street tax" for himself and other members.
• Paul Schiro - a criminal associate of Frank Schweihs and deceased member Anthony Spilotro.
• Employees of M&M Amusement: Joseph Venezia, Dennis Johnson and Thomas Johnson operated video gambling machines in Cicero, Berwyn.

Retired Chicago Cops

• Michael Ricci - a retired Chicago police officer, assisted Frank Calabrese by delivering messages to crew members, collecting money generated by extortion demands and providing false information to FBI.
• Anthony Doyle - a retired Chicago police officer, who tipped off Frank Calabrese Sr. of law enforcement investigations into the murder of John Fecarotta and whether individuals cooperated with police about mob activities.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

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With Operation Family Secrets, Prosecutors Boast of 'a Hit on the Mob'

In one of the biggest strikes in Chicago's history against the mob, federal authorities today began rounding up alleged organized crime figures—including outfit boss Joseph "The Clown" Lombardo—in connection with a string of 18 unsolved murders and one attempted murder dating back to 1970.

In the culmination of what officials dubbed "Operation Family Secrets," a federal racketing indictment unsealed this morning took direct aim at Chicago's three dominant mob chapters: The Grand Avenue crew of Lombardo; the Melrose Park crew of brothers Jimmy Marcello and Michael Marcello, and the 26th Street crew of imprisoned mobsters Frank Calabrese Sr. and his brother, Nicholas Calabrese, who has turned mob informant.

Lombardo, 75, of Chicago, remains at large, authorities said. Lombardo previously was convicted in U.S. District Court in Chicago in another major mob investigation. He was released from prison in 1992. Another suspect was found dead of apparent natural causes— along with a substantial amount of cash and checks—in a Kane County hotel room, while a third is being sought in Florida. Everyone else named in the indictment is either under arrest or about to be arrested.

"This unprecedented indictment put a `hit' on the mob," said U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald. "It is remarkable for both the breadth of the murders charged and for naming the entire Chicago Outfit as a criminal enterprise under the anti-racketeering law."

"The outfit maintained hidden interest in businesses, maintained hidden control of labor unions, corrupted law enforcement and acquired explosives," Fitzgerald said.

Fourteen suspects were named in the sweeping indictment, discussed at length by authorities at a news conference downtown this afternoon. The unsolved murders include those of the mob's top man in Las Vegas, Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, and his brother, Michael Spilotro, according to the nine-count indictment. Tony Spilotro, 48, a Chicago mob enforcer, ruled Las Vegas in the 1970s and early 1980s. Joe Pesci played a character based on Tony Spilotro in the 1995 movie "Casino.'' Spilotro and his brother, 41, were last seen alive on June 14, 1986. Their badly beaten bodies were found buried in an Indiana cornfield eight days later.

Eleven defendants formed the backbone of the Chicago mob by allegedly participating in illegal conduct such as extorting "street taxes" from businesses to allow them to operate; running sports betting and video poker machines; loan sharking; extortion; threats and violence.

The indictment seeks forfeiture of $10 million in alleged racketeering proceeds from the 11 men and the Marcello brothers' business, M&M Amusement. Three suspects were not indicted for racketeering conspiracy, but instead face charges of illegal gambling or tax fraud conspiracy.

The mob of Al Capone and Frank Nitti has long been entrenched in Chicago with its tentacles reaching into hallways of unions, casinos and police departments. In fact, the indictment alleges that two retired Chicago police officers aided the outfit

Retired officer Anthony Doyle, known as "Twan," is accused of being a mob mole inside the police department. He allegedly worked for Frank Calabrese Sr., keeping him informed of law enforcement's investigation into the murder of John Fecarotta, according to the indictment.

The other retired officer, Michael Ricci, is accused of working for the mob while he was a Cook County Sheriff's officer, passing messages from the jailed Frank Calabrese Sr. to other members of the mob. He is accused of lying to the FBI on behalf of the mob.

After a lengthy investigation, FBI and the IRS agents today began arresting the 14 suspects in Arizona, Florida and Illinois.

The indictment gives chapter and verse on the structure and chain of the mob's chain of command and how the crews carried out its criminal activities. The crews are known by their geographic locations and included Grand Avenue, Melrose Park, 26th Street, Elmwood Park, Rush Street and Chicago Heights.

The nine-count indictment was returned by a federal grand jury Thursday and unsealed today. The investigation started with 18 previously unsolved murders and one attempted murder between 1970 and 1986, all in the Chicago area except for one slaying in Arizona.

"What makes this indictment significant to us is for the first time we have the heads of multiple crews indicted in one indictment," said Robert Grant, special agent in charge of the FBI's Chicago office.

Referring to the mob as "LCN," for La Costa Nostra, Grant said, "This is the first indictment that I can recall that involved so many murders, which really gets at the heart of what LCN is, which is a bunch of murderous thugs."

Today's arrests, he added, will have a "significant impact" on organized crime by cutting its numbers in the region.

"From everything we've learned, the LCN has been reduced to six crews from four," Grant said. "We now believe there are four crews operating in the Chicago area—the Elmwood Park crew, the South Side 26th Street crew, the Grand Avenue crew and the Melrose Park-Cicero crew. Current membership from what we can estimate is over 100 members and associates."

Arrested in Illinois were:

James Marcello, 63, of Lombard, and his brother Michael Marcello, 55, of Schaumburg.

Nicholas Ferriola, 29, of Westchester.

Joseph Venezia, 62, of Hillside.

Thomas Johnson, 49, of Willow Springs, and his nephew Dennis Johnson, 34, of Lombard.

The defendants were expected to appear this afternoon before U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Another defendant, Frank Saladino, of 59, was found dead of apparent natural causes in a hotel room in Hampshire, in rural Kane County. About $25,000 in cash and $70,000 in checks were found with the man's body, officials said.

Ricci, 75, is currently living in Streamwood and was expected to voluntarily surrender to the FBI. Doyle, 60, of Wickenburg, Ariz., was arrested in Arizona.

Frank "The German" Schweihs, 75, of Dania, Fla., and formerly of Chicago, is at large and being sought in Florida, authorities said.

Three other defendants—Frank Calabrese Sr., 68, of Oak Brook, his brother Nicholas W. Calabrese, 62, of Chicago and Paul "The Indian" Schiro, 67, of Phoenix—already were in federal custody.

Eleven of the defendants were charged with conspiracy, including conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder, in connection with illicit organized crime activities including loan sharking and bookmaking.

All 11 also face charges including obstructing justice, extorting "street taxes" from businesses, sports bookmaking, operating video gambling machines, making "juice loans" charging ruinous interest rates and using extortion, threats, violence and intimidation to collect on those loans.

Thanks to Todd Lightly

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Jury Hears of Payoffs to the Mob

For 14 years, until he disappeared in 1988 and was feared slain, the owner of an Old Town pornographic video store allegedly paid thousands of dollars in protection money, or ``street taxes,`` to the Chicago mob. On Tuesday, William ``Red`` Wemette, reappeared in public for the first time. From a witness stand in U.S. District Court, he recounted how he gave the money and dealt with six mob money collectors or their bosses. Four of them are dead or in prison. The other two, reputed mob figures Frank Schweihs, 59, formerly of Lombard, and Anthony Daddino, 60, a Rosemont building inspector, are on trial before Judge Ann Williams on charges of attempted extortion. The conspiracy in which they are charged does not include actual extortion, despite Wemette`s contention that he paid Schweihs and Daddino a total of $19,800. That`s because the 40-year-old Wemette was a paid informant for the FBI, and the money he paid was not his but that of the FBI.

A jury hearing the case was told in opening statements Tuesday that beginning in the 1970s, Wemette led two seemingly contradictory lives-one as a merchant of pornography, the other as a government mole. During the two years ending last September, when he dropped from sight by plan, Wemette recorded the alleged Schweihs-Daddino payoffs with FBI cameras and audio equipment hidden in his apartment above his X-rated video shop at 1345 N. Wells St.

``Since 1971, I provided information to the FBI and got some monetary gain, about $10,000,`` Wemette acknowledged under questioning by special attorney Thomas Knight of the Justice Department`s Organized Crime Strike Force. Knight told the jury that the evidence includes video and audio recordings made on 23 dates from May 1, 1987, until Sept. 15, 1988. Wemette testified that he began making extortion payoffs to various mobsters in 1974, when he opened his Old Town porn shop, then known as ``The Peeping Tom, and that the initial payoff sum of $250 a week was set by mob street boss Joseph Lombardo, now in prison. Others who figured in the shakedowns, he said, included Marshall Caifano, also now in prison, and two now-dead individuals, Louis Eboli and Albert ``Obbie`` Frabotta. He said Daddino and Schweihs increased the sum to ``a nice round`` figure of $1,100 a month in 1985. The increase, he explained, came after he complained to Schweihs that another collector wanted to start taxing the video porn dealer on a hot dog stand he also owned in Old Town. That collector never bothered him again, Wemette said.

He said Daddino, whom he knew as ``Jeeps,`` once sought his help to bribe police officers, saying that too many bookmakers whom Daddino collected protection money from were being arrested. Defense attorneys Allan Ackerman and John L. Sullivan contend that Wemette suffered no economic loss because of the use of FBI funds and that the FBI recordings show nothing but friendship between the three men.

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Suspected Mob Porn Boss Dies in His Apartment

Michael Glitta, 68, known to law enforcement officials as local overseer of pornography rackets, has died in his apartment at 1221 N. Dearborn St., his attorney, Adam Bourgeois, said Thursday. Glitta, who had a history of heart ailments, suffered a fatal heart attack Wednesday night, according to Bourgeois. Glitta, who operated a magazine sales firm at 1112 N. Milwaukee Ave., had syndicate ties going back nearly 30 years, according to Chicago and federal law enforcement officials.

In 1982, the Chicago Crime Commission said he supervised pornography operations for the mob in an area that ranged from the Near North Side to the Wisconsin state line. Crime Commission records say he got his start in vice rackets by running B-girl strip joints in Chicago and later branched out to embrace X-rated films and cassette tapes. Mob watchers said Glitta reported directly to Vincent Solano, a labor union leader and reputed rackets boss for the North Side and the northern suburbs.

Police and federal officials speculated Thursday that the list of likely successors to Glitta`s porn interests includes Johnny Matassa, a Solano protege, as well as Orlando Catanese and Leo Weintraub, two men described as manufacturers and sellers of books, magazines, films and sexual paraphernalia, and business associates of mob figures. Matassa, 37, recently has been observed regularly accompanying Glitta to meetings with Solano, according to federal investigators. Solano oversees Local 1 of the Laborers Union, and Matassa is a $75,000-a-year executive with Laborers Union Local 2, whose members include sewer and tunnel workers.

Although Glitta was regarded by authorities as the mob`s top man in the distribution of pornography, there have been recent indications his power was waning. A recently disclosed FBI investigation, described in a court affidavit, contended that reputed mob terrorist Frankie Schweihs had moved in on one North Wells Street pornography shop and was planning to take over another. Both would normally have been in Glitta`s territory, police said.

With federal court approval, the FBI secretly taped conversations between Schweihs and a former porn dealer from whom he was collecting protection money on behalf of the mob, the affidavit said. On one tape, the dealer, concerned about being caught in a mob territorial dispute, asked Schweihs to talk to Glitta. Schweihs told him that he didn`t talk to Glitta, but to Glitta`s boss, who was not named in the conversation. As a result of the tapes, Schweihs was charged with extortion.

At the time of his death, Glitta was awaiting trial in Chicago on federal charges of illegally possessing two .38 caliber revolvers. Glitta`s family said a funeral was planned for Monday.

Reported by John O'Brien

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