A-List Could Testify about Mob Family Secrets

Friends of ours: James LaValley, Lenny Patrick, Frank "The German" Schweihs, Sal Romano, Frank Cullotta, Tony Spilotro

A former adult bookstore owner and an ex-juice loan enforcer who once threatened to cut off the remaining arm of an amputee are among the witnesses who could testify in the upcoming blockbuster Family Secrets mob trial in Chicago, the Sun-Times has learned.

Federal prosecutors are expected to put forward a parade of former wiseguys in the trial, beginning in May, that aims to solve 18 mob hits and puts some of the top reputed mobsters in Chicago on the hot seat.

Former enforcer James LaValley, who once belonged to the street crew of one-time top mobster Lenny Patrick, has cooperated with the government for more than 15 years after a career in which he specialized in so-called "hard-to-collect" debts.

LaValley, an intimidating, sizable man, testified in an earlier mob trial that he cut the hand of one deadbeat gambler and threatened to cut off the arm of a bookie who was an amputee.

Another potential witness in the Family Secrets case is former adult bookstore owner William "Red" Wemette, according to sources familiar with the matter. Wemette repeatedly helped record one defendant in the case, reputed mob killer Frank "The German" Schweihs, who was convicted of extorting Wemette during the 1980s.

Also on tap as potential witnesses are two former members of the burglary crew run by Anthony Spilotro, the Chicago mob's man in Las Vegas. Both Sal Romano and Frank Cullotta have testified previously at mob trials.

It's unclear exactly what the witnesses would testify about at trial, but they could provide jurors with expansive views of their slice of mob life in Chicago.

Attorney Joseph Lopez, who represents reputed mob hit man Frank Calabrese Sr. in the Family Secrets case, said he had seen LaValley testify in another case years ago and did not share the government's estimation of him. LaValley is "a real character," Lopez said. LaValley "loves himself to death. If he could look at himself in the mirror all day, that's all he'd do."

Thanks to Steve Warmbir

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Hughes Brothers to Direct The Ice Man

Friends of ours: Richard "Ice Man" Kuklinski, Gambino Crime Family

Allen and Albert Hughes last brought the graphic novel From Hell to the screen. Now they’ve turned to the nonfiction shelves. Daily Variety reports the filmmakers are set to direct The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer, based on the Phillip Carlo book about Richard ‘Ice Man’ Kuklinski. Kuklinski was a contract killer for the Gambino family, who kept his job a secret from his wife and three children in New Jersey. The extent of his murderous career came to light only after he was convicted and given two life sentences, and gave extensive interviews to Carlo.

Kuklinski was described as “one of the darkest, most brutal and complicated killers in contemporary organized crime," according to producer Jason Blum who is working with Lorenzo DiBonaventura on the project. "He was a serial killer who found the perfect calling, carrying out hits for the Mafia." Kuklinski bragged about carrying out over 200 killings in his career. The Hughes brothers will move to The Ice Man after their next project, a big-screen version of the 1970’s television classic Kung Fu.

Thanks to Dennis Michael

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Soprano's Say Arrivederci with less Hype

Friends of ours: Soprano Crime Family

For "The Sopranos," this almost constitutes some kind of record. When the HBO mafia series begins its final run of nine episodes on April 8, "only" 10 months will have passed since the last new episode premiered last June. The only gap between seasons that was shorter than this one was the one between the show's The first and second seasons - approximately 91/2 months from April 1999 to January 2000. That was after the show's phenomenal, groundbreaking first season (and still, in the minds of some, the best "The Sopranos" ever had) and before the show's producers (apparently) began to fuss so obsessively with the show that the gap between seasons grew and grew, culminating in the unprecedented 21-month break between seasons 5 and 6.

Now the show that was (and maybe still is) arguably the most talked-about series in the history of television is returning after less than a year and there appears to be none of the hype, anticipation and excitement that accompanied the onset of previous "Sopranos" seasons. That's probably due to a couple of factors including the most obvious, which is: The excitement over this series has dissipated. That's only natural for a series that is now nearly eight years old. That might not seem like a long time, but think about it: When "The Sopranos" premiered on Jan. 10, 1999, Bill Clinton still had two years to go in his second term. It was a different world and when "The Sopranos" came along, none of us had ever seen anything like it. Since then, however, a number of great, comparable TV dramas have come and gone.

Moreover, now that "The Sopranos" has been chopped up for broadcast on A&E, this once special series has begun to look like any other TV show that's been packaged for syndication on commercial television, with its trademark language and brutal violence sanitized to keep the sponsors happy. In addition, maybe "Sopranos" fans have learned by now to keep their
expectations low. In the past, high expectations have frequently been met by disappointment (to be fair, no show could ever meet the high expectations set for "The Sopranos"). Last season was a case in point. While the season had some great moments (the mugging of Lauren Bacall comes to mind), the major storyline involving the closeted gay mobster, Vito, seemed to be
over-emphasized, at the expense of other mob business. Now, nine installments, produced in just 10 months, are all that is left of "The Sopranos."

Arrivederci.

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