Code of Silence for Reputed Mobster at Daughter's Wedding

By the time many a man and woman get married, their families aren’t speaking to each other.

In the case of an upcoming mob wedding in Chicago, though, the silence is court- ordered. A federal judge laid down the law in the wedding of Frank Caruso and Brittany Szaflarski.

Brittany’s dad, Casey Szaflarski, is the reputed video poker king of Chicago. He’s under house arrest and wanted the judge to let him out to attend his daughter’s wedding on Aug. 21 at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel.

The judge decided Szaflarski can go, but there’s a catch.

He can’t talk to his boss, the reputed head of the 26th Street mob crew, Frank “Toots” Caruso, who happens to be the father of the groom, also named Frank.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman ordered Casey Szaflarski not to utter one word to the elder Frank Caruso, or face jail. Federal prosecutors are concerned the men could talk mob business amid the nuptials.

Casey Szaflarski was arrested in March for allegedly running an illegal gambling operation. He was put under house arrest and ordered to wear an ankle monitor. He is charged in the case with seven other men, including the alleged head of the Cicero mob crew, Michael Sarno. Federal prosecutors T. Markus Funk and Amarjeet Bhachu allege Sarno ordered the bombing of a Berwyn business that was competing with Casey Szaflarski’s.

The elder Frank Caruso has not been charged in the case.

Casey Szaflarski asked the judge to let him attend a host of wedding activities. He wanted to go to his daughter’s bridal shower luncheon at the Hilton Chicago on Michigan Avenue and then the rehearsal dinner at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel Aug. 18. Casey Szaflarski also hoped to spend the night in the Palmer House, so he could attend the post-wedding brunch there the next day.

The judge nixed those requests.

As part of the judge’s ruling, prosecutors will receive a list of everyone who attends the wedding. The guest list could be interesting since the bride and groom come from families with extensive ties to organized crime.

The groom, the younger Frank Caruso, made national headlines when he was arrested for the 1997 racially charged beating of 13-year-old Lenard Clark as Clark was riding his bicycle through Armour Square. Frank Caruso was sentenced to eight years in prison. He is the great-grandson of the late Bruno Roti Sr., one of the earliest leaders of organized crime in Chicago and the head of what would become the 26th Street mob crew. The groom’s father, Frank “Toots” Caruso, was listed by the FBI as one of the Chicago mobsters who posed a threat to the safety of star mob witness Nicholas Calabrese, the onetime Outfit killer who testified in the Family Secrets case.

The bride, Brittany Szaflarski, is the granddaughter of the late Joseph “Shorty” LaMantia, a well-known mob burglar, who was accused in court papers of once paying $20,000 to one of the most corrupt judges in state history, Thomas Maloney, to acquit his son in a murder case.

Thanks to Steve Warmbir

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Angelo "The Hook" LaPietra's Former House Searched by the FBI

Chicago FBI agents are searching the home of the family of Angelo "The Hook" LaPietra, the late and widely feared mob leader, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

Authorities have said the house in Bridgeport was the target last month of burglars who believed a fortune had been stashed there — perhaps including the famed, 45-carat Marlborough diamond.

The search began this morning at the fortress-like home at 30th and Princeton. Agents appear to be looking for any stolen items.

Earlier this month, three men — including Joseph "The Monk" Scalise — were arrested as federal authorities said they cased the home for a burglary.

Scalise and one of his alleged partners, Arthur "The Genius" Rachel, were arrested in 1980 after stealing the Marlborough diamond from a London jewelry store.

They were convicted and sent to prison, but the diamond was never found. Its fate has been the subject of speculation ever since.

It was unclear if federal agents were executing a search warrant or if they were searching the home with the consent of the owner. LaPietra's daughter still lives in the home and has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

The search comes after federal agents recently went through the home of another Chicago mobster, Frank Calabrese Sr. FBI agents found more than $1 million in cash and jewelry in that search last month — much of it hidden behind a secret storage area behind a family portrait.

Thanks to NewsRadio780

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Chicago Gangland Tour iPhone App

When we think Chicago-centric iPhone apps, we usually think of the not-so-reliable CTA bus tracker. Yet there are lots of clever smartphone applications for Chicagoans on the market, and now there's one more to add to the list. Chicago Gangland Tour is a database of Chicago-area locations tied to Al Capone and his mob cronies. It includes photos and short essays for each place, unique ways to filter entries (such as "bodies found in car"), and Google map functionality. What results is a pretty comprehensive app as jam-packed with as much information as a thick history book, but is much easier to carry and is more dynamic.

Jonathan Eig, former executive editor of Chicago magazine and author of the soon-to-be-released book Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America's Most Wanted Gangster, wrote and produced Chicago Gangland Tour. For his book, Eig used newly released government documents, interviews with Capone's family, and Capone's own letters to describe the gangster's rise and fall. Chicago Gangland Tour incorporates a lot of this same information. It just uses different format. By highlighting more than 100 locations and 600 photos related to Chicago's gang past, Chicago Gangland Tour is more like a digital guidebook.

We didn't think it'd be fair to recommend the Chicago Ganglang Tour app if we hadn't tried it ourselves, but unfortunately iPhones are not included in the Chicagoist benefits package. So we asked one of our dads, proud iPhone owner, ex-cop and moderate Chicago history buff, to check it out. His literal first words were "Wowwww!!!" We asked him to elaborate. He was especially impressed by the app's ability to tell him if a business linked to the Chicago mob was still open for business, and provide him with its hours of operation and website. And, he liked how easy it was to navigate.

One of the things I like about the app is how easy it is to filter the information down to just the few sites you want to investigate. For example, select “Restaurants” and “By Neighborhood." Now, instead of a zillion different choices, you have narrowed the information down to only six different locations! I think this is very slick. - dad aka Ed Mikel

We asked him if he would tell anyone to buy it.

Priced at $2.99, I judge it a real bargain. The information provided would easily fill several volumes of books, let alone if you add all the pictures. And, unlike a book, you hold all of this information in your hand and can filter it to your needs in a matter of seconds.

He went on to suggest that this could be a useful too for all sorts of people, including history buffs, Chicago area residents, and tourists. So there you have it. Our dad liked Chicago Gangland Tour. We think you might like it, too.

Thanks to Betsy Mickel

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