Boss or Not Boss - James "Little Jimmy" Marcello

There seems to be some disagreement among a handful of my readers regarding James "Little Jimmy" Marcello. Several media sources report that Marcello is the currently "the man" of the Chicago Mob. Others report that Marcello is not the boss now nor has he ever been boss.

With Little Jimmy back in custody and looking at a possible long prison term as a result of Operation Family Secrets, it is probably a moot point. Most likely, "The Outfit" has begun it's search for Marcello's successor, if he is in fact the guy in charge.

I am curious for my readers and fellow mobologists to weigh in with their comments and thoughts. Feel free to share your opinion by sending me an email. I will report back on any new revelations that you might have for us.

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Dapper Don Took Secrets to His Grave

Friends of ours: John Gotti, Junior Gotti

As doctors tried to ease the pain from his cancer, John Gotti had one request.

"No truth serum," he wrote on a chalkboard to his youngest son, Peter, who was at his father's bedside in the final days of the mob boss' life.

Gotti, who died in prison in 2002, was loyal to the end to the Mafia code of silence, his other son, John "Junior" Gotti told the Daily News for an interview in Wednesday's editions. "I'm proud of my father, right down to his last breath," Gotti said.

The elder Gotti kept famously mum about the mob, never publicly acknowledging his role in the organization or even its existence. Before his 1992 sentencing for murder and racketeering, Gotti instructed his lawyer to "get it over with without anybody making any speeches."

"Junior" Gotti, 42, is scheduled to go on trial again in August after two previous juries deadlocked on charges alleging he arranged the beating of Guardian Angels founder and radio host Curtis Sliwa.

His lawyers have argued that he gave up all mob activities after he pleaded guilty in another racketeering case in 1999, serving five years in prison. Last month a federal grand jury charged that Gotti never gave up that life, accusing him in a written indictment of committing a series of mob-related crimes in the last year.

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Search For Bulger Goes To Chicago

Friends of ours: James "Whitey" Bulger

Investigators searching for fugitive gangster James "Whitey" Bulger went to Chicago last week, delivering subpoenas to two labor union officials and taking a Palm Pilot from one of them, a lawyer representing the union said.

The Palm Pilot was turned over by a union employee with Local 134 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said attorney Matthew J. Cleveland. Cleveland said the union was told by federal investigators that neither the union nor its employees was being investigated. "They were just following up on some leads regarding the Whitey Bulger case," Cleveland said. "The union itself is not a target, nor any employees or the officers of the union."

Subpoenas were delivered to two union employees, Charles Dunn, a business representative for the union, and Michael Caddigan, the union's office manager, according to a report in The Boston Globe.

Cleveland would not confirm the identities of the union employees who received subpoenas, but said that the employees had already spoken to investigators. "They cooperated with the federal agents," he said.

Neither Caddigan nor Dunn could immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. Messages were left for both men at the union's office in Chicago. Cleveland said he did not know that kind of lead investigators were following in Chicago.

Samantha Martin, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan, would not comment on the leads investigators are following in Chicago. The FBI in Boston referred calls to Sullivan's office.

"We can't confirm or deny any specific investigative activity for Whitey Bulger," Martin said.

This is not the first time that the search for Bulger has led investigators to Chicago. Kevin Weeks, a former enforcer for Bulger's Winter Hill Gang, has told investigators that he delivered fake identification to Bulger in Chicago in 1996.

Bulger, 76, a longtime informant for the FBI, disappeared 11 years ago, fleeing Boston just before he was indicted on federal racketeering charges in January 1995. He's been charged in 19 murders and is on the FBI's "10 Most Wanted" list.

Bulger's former FBI handler, retired FBI agent John Connolly Jr., was convicted of racketeering charges in 2002 for warning Bulger to flee before his 1995 indictment. Connolly is serving a 10-year prison sentence.

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