11 Palm Beach and Broward County Residents Indicted on Organized Crime Charges with Reputed Connections to the Bonanno Crime Family

Eleven Palm Beach and Broward County residents were indicted Thursday after federal prosecutors outlined their alleged roles in an organized crime ring specializing in fraud, narcotics, gambling and mob-style shakedowns.

The crew operated out of South Florida, but regularly reported and paid tribute to the Bonanno family, a New York City-based mafia unit, according to the indictment from the U.S. attorney's office in Miami.

Boynton Beach resident Thomas Fiore, 46, is an associate of the Bonanno family and leads its South Florida operation, prosecutors said.

Each of the 11 were indicted on federal charges of Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, after a two-year undercover investigation.

The other defendants include Billie Robertson, 34, and Lee Klein, 39, both of Boynton Beach; Daniel Young, 57, and Guy Alessi, 81, both of Delray Beach; Kenneth Dunn, 44, and Nicholas Fiore, 49, both of Boca Raton; and Frank D'Amato, 48, of West Palm Beach.

The indictment also included Coral Springs residents Pasquale Rubbo, 43, Joseph Rubbo, 45, and Marc Broder, 42.

None of the defendants are ''made'' members of the Bonanno family.

According to prosecutors, an undercover FBI agent posing as a corrupt businessman infiltrated Thomas Fiore's group as part of a scam to convert fraudulent checks to cash.

With the agent in its midst, Fiore's crew laundered fake checks, acquired and planned to distribute illegal drugs and sold and purchased contraband cigarettes, stolen plasma televisions and identification documents to later be used in other scams, the indictment states. From September to January, authorities audiotaped conversations about alleged criminal activity using wiretaps on Fiore's and Pasquale Rubbo's phones.

Prosecutors also say Fiore set fire to his Royal Palm Beach gym to cash in on the insurance proceeds, then lied under oath about the fire and solicited the murder of someone to facilitate the fraud.

Prosecutors allege that members of the operation also:

• Submitted fraudulent claims to the Medicare program using illegally obtained patient records;

• Organized illegal high-stakes poker games for wealthy gamblers, although no players were named in the indictment;

• Manufactured fake checks using the names, addresses and account numbers of legitimate businesses and then cashed them at convenience stores or through foreign bank accounts and;

• Conspired to threaten business owners to extort illegal payments.

Other crimes include mail fraud, obstruction of justice and transporting stolen property across state lines, the indictment states.

Thomas and Nicholas Fiore and Pasquale and Joseph Rubbo were on either supervised release or probation after pleading guilty in recent years to engaging in criminal activities with leaders and associates of the Bonanno crime family.

At a hearing Thursday afternoon, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Seltzer set bail at $250,000 for Robertson, Joseph Rubbo and Young.

Seltzer allowed Robertson, who pleaded not guilty, to continue working at the medical offices in Boynton Beach and Boca Raton where she is employed. He ordered Jospeh Rubbo to live at a halfway house in Dania Beach and Young to live in home confinement in Delray Beach with electronic monitoring.

Fiore and the remaining defendants were being held in the Broward County Main Jail awaiting their bond hearings. The defendants could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey N. Kaplan and Paul F. Schwartz are prosecuting the case.

Thanks to Don Jordan

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Ed Burke's Palace: Powerful Chicago alderman gets zoning break, special parking

Ald. Edward M. Burke has ruled the 14th Ward for 40 years. He has used his clout to build himself a palace — right alongside the CTA’s Orange Line near Pulaski.

The house is part of a $4.6 million development that Burke and his partners built on a parking lot over the objections of Mayor Daley’s zoning administrators.

Daley’s zoning staff thought the development — one massive, three story house along with 13 town homes — wasn’t “compatible” with the Archer Heights neighborhood, where it would tower over the surrounding bungalows. But Burke, the city’s most powerful alderman, won permission from his colleagues on the City Council for the project anyway.

Then he got the city Zoning Board of Appeals’ OK to build the 4,400-square-foot house without having to leave space — as required by city ordinance — for a yard in the front or back.

The house does have an enormous rooftop deck, though, giving Burke and his wife, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne M. Burke, a bird’s-eye view of the L trains that rush by all day between the Loop and Midway Airport.

They moved in nearly four years ago.

Burke declined to discuss the project, which couldn’t have been built without City Council approval. Instead, he gave the Chicago SunTimes a copy of a June 24, 2004, letter that he sent to the Chicago Board of Ethics, assuring the city agency that he would abstain from voting on any matters involving the construction of his home and the rest of the project. And he promised he wouldn’t talk to any city officials about the development, either.

According to records obtained by the Sun-Times, Burke teamed with two of his campaign contributors — Anthony DeGrazia, a housing developer, and Eric Gonzales, a contractor whose company has worked on several projects for City Hall. They became equal partners in a new company — 51st Street Townhomes LLC — that paid $300,000 in late June 2004 to buy a little-used parking lot in the 3900 block of West 51st St. They bought it from someone who’d been a client of Burke’s law firm.

The triangular lot, about two- thirds of an acre, was zoned for businesses. Burke and his partners hired a lobbyist — Marcus Nunes, a law partner of Mayor Daley’s former chief of staff, Gery Chico — to get City Hall’s permission to build.

The city’s Zoning Department deemed the project “not recommended.” But the City Council went ahead and approved the project on Sept. 1, 2004 — with Burke abstaining.

On Sept. 10, 2004, Burke and his partners got a $480,000 construction loan from Cole Taylor Bank. They were free to begin building the town homes. But they still couldn’t build Burke’s new home unless the Zoning Board of Appeals agreed to drastically reduce the required size of the front and back yards. If the board wouldn’t agree, there wouldn’t have been enough room to build the house.

“Due to the unique shape of the property, it is impossible to place a home on it and meet the requirements for front, side and rear yard minimums,” according to documents Burke’s group gave the appeals board. “In the absence of such a variation, the property is likely to remain vacant or underutilized.’’

Shortly before Thanksgiving 2004, the appeals board gave Burke what he wanted: His house could be set back just three feet from the lot line, rather than the normal nine feet. And his backyard had to be just three feet deep, rather than the usual 30 feet.

Today, Burke’s home and three car attached garage fills the property. He has no backyard, just a paved driveway around his house. There’s no lawn, just a few flower beds.

Burke and his partners sold the home for $900,000 to the Anne M. Burke Trust on Oct. 10, 2005. The tax bills are mailed to the alderman, who paid $8,551.98 in property taxes last year.

After selling the house to his wife’s trust, Burke and his partners sold the 13 town homes for a total of $3.7 million. One of the biggest went for $280,000 to state Rep. Daniel Burke, the alderman’s brother.

Ald. Burke’s block is one-way, with a traffic barricade. And no one can park on the street without a parking permit. But there are two different permits required — one for the people who live across the street from Burke, another to park on the alderman’s side of the street.

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Drew Peterson Mock Trial to Feature Family Secrets Mob Lawyer Joseph Lopez

WGN Radio's Greg Adamski and Karen Conti will host a mock trial of the closing arguments in the murder prosecution of Drew Peterson for the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, on Thursday, May 28.

Chicago attorneys Greg Adamski and Karen Conti, hosts of WGN Radio's Legally Speaking, will host a mock trial of the closing arguments in the murder prosecution of Drew Peterson for the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, on Thursday, May 28 from 6-8pm at the IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. The event will be open to the public and taped for broadcast on WGN Radio on Sunday, June 14 and Sunday, June 21.

"The People v. Drew Peterson" will feature Greg Adamski as moderator, Karen Conti as prosecutor, and Family Secrets Mob Trial lawyer Joseph R. Lopez as Drew Peterson's defense attorney. Retired Cook County Circuit Court Judge Richard Neville will preside and a professional jury consultant will be present to quickly screen and select jurors who will be taken from the audience. The jury will be given a short period of time to deliberate and a verdict will be rendered before the night is over. The event is intended as an educational exposition, based solely on the facts that have been publicly reported.

The event will be taped and broadcast on WGN Radio on Sunday, June 14 and Sunday, June 21, prior to the Chicago Cubs broadcasts - the exact start times will be announced closer to air dates.

Drew Peterson was indicted by a Will County grand jury on two counts of murder in connection with Savio's death. Defense attorney Joel Brodsky entered a not guilty plea on Peterson's behalf on May 18. Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, has maintained his innocence in the case.

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