UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA )No. 02 CR 1050
)
v. )Violations: Title 18,
)United States Code,
NICHOLAS W. CALABRESE, )Sections 2, 371, 894,
JAMES MARCELLO, )1001(a)(2), 1510, 1951, 1955,
JOSEPH LOMBARDO, )and 1962(d)
also known as "The Clown," )
"Lumpy," and "Lumbo," )
FRANK CALABRESE, SR., )
FRANK SCHWEIHS, also known as )
"The German," )First Superseding Indictment
FRANK SALADINO, also known as )
"Gumba," )
PAUL SCHIRO, also known as )
"The Indian," )
MICHAEL MARCELLO, also known as )
"Mickey," )
NICHOLAS FERRIOLA, )
ANTHONY DOYLE, also known as )
"Twan," )
MICHAEL RICCI, )
THOMAS JOHNSON, )
JOSEPH VENEZIA, and )
DENNIS JOHNSON )
COUNT ONE
The SPECIAL AUGUST 2003-2 GRAND JURY charges:
I. THE ENTERPRISE
1. At times material to this indictment there existed a
criminal organization which is referred to hereafter as "the
Chicago Outfit." The Chicago Outfit was known to its members and
associates as "the Outfit" and was also known to the public as
"organized crime," the "Chicago Syndicate" and the "Chicago Mob."
The Chicago Outfit was an "enterprise" as that term is used in
Title 18, United States Code, Section 1961(4), that is, it
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constituted a group of individuals associated in fact, which
enterprise was engaged in and the activities of which affected
interstate commerce. The enterprise constituted an ongoing
organization whose members functioned as a continuing unit for a
common purpose of achieving the objectives of the enterprise.
2. The Chicago Outfit existed to generate income for its
members and associates through illegal activities. The illegal
activities of the Chicago Outfit included, but were not limited to:
(1) collecting "street tax," that is, extortion payments required
as the cost of operating various businesses;(2) the operation of
illegal gambling businesses, which included sports bookmaking and
the use of video gambling machines; (3) making loans to individuals
at usurious rates of interest (hereafter referred to as "juice
loans"), which loans constituted "extortionate extensions of
credit," as that term is defined in Title 18, United States Code,
Section 891(6); (4) "collecting" through "extortionate means" juice
loans constituting "extensions of credit," as those terms are
defined in Title 18, United States Code, Sections 891(5), (7) and
(6), respectively; (5) collecting debts incurred in the Chicago
Outfit's illegal gambling businesses; (6) collecting debts incurred
in the Chicago Outfit's juice loan business, which debts carried
rates of interest at least twice the rate enforceable under
Illinois law; (7) using threats, violence and intimidation to
collect street tax and juice loan debts; (8) using threats,
violence, and intimidation to discipline Chicago Outfit members and
associates; (9) using murder of Chicago Outfit members, associates
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and others to advance the interests of the Chicago Outfit's illegal
activities; (10) obstructing justice and criminal investigations by
intimidating, bribing, retaliating against, and murdering witnesses
and potential witnesses who could provide information adverse to
the enterprise's interests; and (11) traveling in interstate
commerce to further the goals of the criminal enterprise.
3. In order to carry out its criminal activities, the
Chicago Outfit maintained a structure and chain of command. The
criminal activities of the Chicago Outfit were carried out in part
by sub-groups, or "crews," which were generally given territories
in different geographic locations in the Chicago area. These crews
were known by their geographic areas, and included the Elmwood Park
crew, the North Side/Rush Street crew, the South Side/26th Street
or Chinatown crew, the Grand Avenue crew, the Melrose Park crew,
and the Chicago Heights crew. Each crew was run by a crew leader,
also known as a street boss or "capo," and these crew bosses
reported to an underboss, or "sotto capo," who was second in
command of the Chicago Outfit, and therefore referred to at times
as "Number Two." The overall leader of the Chicago Outfit was
referred to as the Boss or "Number One." The Chicago Outfit also
utilized a "consigliere," who provided advice to the Boss.
4. When an individual conducting illegal activities on behalf
of the Chicago Outfit proved himself particularly trustworthy and
was to be given special status in the enterprise, he was given
"made" status. An individual could not normally be "made" unless
he was of Italian descent, and had committed at least one murder on
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behalf of the enterprise. An individual had to be sponsored by his
capo before he could be "made," which occurred at a ceremony in
which the person to be "made" swore allegiance to the enterprise.
This ceremony was attended by the individual's capo, as well as
other ranking members of the Chicago Outfit. Once "made," the
individual was accorded greater status and respect in the
enterprise. An individual who was "made" or who committed a murder
on behalf of the Outfit was obligated to the enterprise for life to
perform criminal acts on behalf of the enterprise when called upon.
5. Disputes between members of different crews were to be
resolved first by their respective capos, and, if no resolution
could be made between the capos, then the Boss would settle the
dispute.
6. During the course of the conspiracy, Anthony Accardo, also
known as "Big Tuna," and "Joe Batters," Joseph Aiuppa, also known
as "Doves," and "Joey O'Brien," Sam Carlisi, also known as "Wings,"
and John Monteleone, also known as "Johnny Apes," among others,
acted as Boss of the Chicago Outfit.
7. During the course of the conspiracy, Joseph Aiuppa, and
Jack Cerone, among others, acted as Sotto Capo, or Underboss, of
the Chicago Outfit.
8. During the course of the conspiracy, Joseph Ferriola was
a "made" member of the Chicago Outfit who reported directly to the
Boss. Harry Aleman, William Petrocelli, also known as "Butch,"
Jerry Scarpelli, and others, were criminal associates who reported
at various times to Joseph Ferriola.
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9. Defendant JAMES MARCELLO was a member of the Melrose Park
crew, was a "made" member of the Chicago Outfit, and committed
murder and other criminal activities on its behalf. Defendant
JAMES MARCELLO continued to conduct criminal activities on the
Outfit's behalf while incarcerated through his brother, defendant
MICHAEL MARCELLO, and others.
10. Defendant JOSEPH LOMBARDO, also known as "the Clown,"
"Lumpy," and "Lumbo," was a member of the Grand Avenue crew, and
committed murder and other criminal activities on its behalf.
11. Defendant FRANK CALABRESE, SR., was a member of the South
Side/26th Street crew, was a "made" member of the Chicago Outfit,
and committed murder and other criminal activities on its behalf.
Defendant FRANK CALABRESE, SR., continued to conduct criminal
activities on the Outfit's behalf while incarcerated through
defendants FERRIOLA, DOYLE, RICCI, and others.
12. Other members of the South Side/26th Street crew were
James Torello, also known as "Turk," Angelo LaPietra, also known as
"the Hook," and "the Bull," and James LaPietra, all of whom served
as capos of this crew during the course of the conspiracy.
Additional members of this crew included John Monteleone, John
Fecarotta, Ronald Jarrett, James DiForti, Frank Furio, and Frank
Santucci.
13. Defendant NICHOLAS CALABRESE is the brother of defendant
FRANK CALABRESE, SR., was also a member of the South Side/26th
Street crew, was a "made" member of the Chicago Outfit, and
committed murder and other criminal activities on its behalf.
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14. Defendant FRANK SCHWEIHS, also known as "the German," was
an enforcer for the Chicago Outfit, imposing and collecting "street
tax" for himself and Outfit members, and making additional
collections on behalf of the enterprise through the use of
extortionate means. Defendant SCHWEIHS also agreed to commit
murder on behalf of the Chicago Outfit.
15. Defendant FRANK SALADINO, also known as "Gumba," was a
member of the South Side/26th Street crew, and committed murder and
other criminal activities on behalf of the Chicago Outfit.
16. Defendant PAUL SCHIRO, also known as "the Indian," was a
criminal associate of defendant SCHWEIHS, "made" member Anthony
Spilotro, and Outfit associate Joseph Hansen, who committed murder
and other criminal activities on behalf of the Chicago Outfit.
17. Defendant MICHAEL MARCELLO, also known as "Mickey," is
the brother of defendant JAMES MARCELLO, and was a member of the
Melrose Park crew. Defendant MICHAEL MARCELLO assisted his
brother's participation in the activities of the enterprise while
defendant JAMES MARCELLO was in jail, by keeping his brother
informed of the enterprises's activities, delivering messages to
persons associated with the enterprise, and carrying out illegal
activities of the Chicago Outfit, including the operation of an
illegal video gambling business.
18. Defendant NICHOLAS FERRIOLA is the son of Joseph
Ferriola, and was a member of the South Side/26th Street crew who
assisted defendant FRANK CALABRESE, SR.'s participation in the
activities of the enterprise while defendant FRANK CALABRESE, SR.,
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was in jail, by keeping defendant FRANK CALABRESE, SR., informed of
the enterprise's activities, delivering messages to persons
associated with the enterprise, collecting monies generated by
extortionate demands of defendant FRANK CALABRESE, SR., and
carrying out other illegal activities of the Chicago Outfit,
including the operation of an illegal sports bookmaking business.
19. Defendant ANTHONY DOYLE, also known as "Twan," is a
retired Chicago Police Department ("CPD") officer, who, at the time
he was employed as a CPD officer, assisted defendant FRANK
CALABRESE, SR.'s participation in the activities of the enterprise
while defendant FRANK CALABRESE, SR., was in jail, by keeping
defendant FRANK CALABRESE, SR. informed of a law enforcement
investigation into the murder of John Fecarotta, committed by
defendants FRANK CALABRESE, SR., NICHOLAS CALABRESE, and others.
Defendant DOYLE also agreed to pass messages from defendant FRANK
CALABRESE, SR., in jail to other members of the Chicago Outfit,
including messages designed to determine whether defendant NICHOLAS
CALABRESE or James DiForti, now deceased, was cooperating with law
enforcement about the activities of the enterprise.
20. Defendant MICHAEL RICCI is a retired CPD officer, who at
the time he was subsequently employed with the Cook County
Sheriff's Department, assisted defendant FRANK CALABRESE, SR.'s
participation in the activities of the enterprise while defendant
FRANK CALABRESE, SR., was in jail, by agreeing to pass messages
from defendant FRANK CALABRESE, SR., to other members of the
Chicago Outfit, including messages designed to determine whether
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defendant NICHOLAS W. CALABRESE or James DiForti was cooperating
with law enforcement about the activities of the enterprise.
Defendant RICCI also agreed to assist defendant FRANK CALABRESE,
SR., in collecting monies generated by extortionate demands of
defendant FRANK CALABRESE, SR., and to provide materially false
information to special agents of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
II. THE RACKETEERING CONSPIRACY
21. From approximately the middle of the 1960s through the
date of the return of this indictment, the exact dates being
unknown to the Grand Jury, in the Northern District of Illinois,
Eastern Division, and elsewhere,
NICHOLAS W. CALABRESE,
JAMES MARCELLO,
JOSEPH LOMBARDO, also known as
"The Clown," "Lumpy," and "Lumbo,"
FRANK CALABRESE, SR.,
FRANK SCHWEIHS, also known as
"The German,"
FRANK SALADINO, also known as
"Gumba,"
PAUL SCHIRO, also known as
"The Indian,"
MICHAEL MARCELLO, also known as
"Mickey,"
NICHOLAS FERRIOLA,
ANTHONY DOYLE, also known as
"Twan," and
MICHAEL RICCI,
defendants herein, being persons employed by and associated with an
enterprise, that is, the Chicago Outfit, which enterprise engaged
in and the activities of which affected, interstate commerce, did
knowingly conspire and agree, with other persons known and unknown
to the Grand Jury, to conduct and to participate, directly and
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indirectly, in the conduct of the affairs of the Chicago Outfit
through: (1) a "pattern of racketeering activity," as that term is
defined in Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1961(1) and
1961(5), and as further specified in paragraph 49 of this count,
and (2) the "collection of unlawful debt," as that term is defined
in Title 18, United States Code, Section 1961(6), and as further
specified in paragraph 50 of this count, both in violation of Title
18, United States Code, Section 1962(c).
22. It was part of the conspiracy that each defendant agreed
that a conspirator would commit at least two acts of racketeering
in the conduct of the affairs of the enterprise.
23. It was further part of the conspiracy that the
defendants, together with other persons known and unknown to the
Grand Jury, each agreed to conduct and to participate in the
conduct of the Chicago Outfit's affairs through the collection of
unlawful debt.
24. It was further part of the conspiracy that acts of murder
would be attempted and were committed to further the criminal
objectives of the Chicago Outfit and protect the enterprise from
law enforcement. Such murders and attempted murders included:
a. the murder of Michael Albergo, also known as "Hambone," in
or about August, 1970, in Chicago, Illinois;
b. the murder of Daniel Seifert, on or about September 27,
1974, in Bensenville, Illinois;
c. the murder of Paul Haggerty, on or about June 24, 1976, in
Chicago, Illinois;
d. the murder of Henry Cosentino, on or about March 15, 1977;
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e. the murder of John Mendell, on or about January 16, 1978,
in Chicago, Illinois;
f. the murders of Donald Renno and Vincent Moretti, on or
about January 31, 1978, in Cicero, Illinois;
g. the murders of William and Charlotte Dauber, on or about
July 2, 1980, in Will County, Illinois;
h. the murder of William Petrocelli, on or about December 30,
1980, in Cicero, Illinois;
i. the murder of Michael Cagnoni, on or about June 24, 1981,
in DuPage County, Illinois;
j. the murder of Nicholas D'Andrea, on or about September 13,
1981, in Chicago Heights, Illinois;
k. the attempted murder of Individual A, on or about April 24,
1982, in Lake County, Illinois;
l. the murders of Richard D. Ortiz and Arthur Morawski, on or
about July 23, 1983, in Cicero, Illinois;
m. the murder of Emil Vaci, on or about June 7, 1986, in
Phoenix, Arizona;
n. the murders of Anthony and Michael Spilotro, on or about
June 14, 1986, in DuPage County, Illinois;
o. the murder of John Fecarotta, on or about September 14,
1986, in Chicago, Illinois.
25. It was further part of the conspiracy that at times
members of one crew would assist members of other crews in
homicides, by conducting surveillances of and luring intended
victims so that the victims would not be alerted that they were
targeted for murder.
26. It was further part of the conspiracy that cash payments
would be and were extorted from numerous individuals as "street
tax" to allow businesses run by those individuals to continue to
operate.
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27. It was further part of the conspiracy that loans made at
usurious rates, or "juice loans," would be and were made to
numerous individuals. These loans carried interest rates generally
ranging from one percent (1%) to ten percent (10%) per week, which
translate into annual rates of 52% to 520%, respectively. In
making these juice loans, the conspirators agreed to rely and did
rely upon the borrower's understanding at the time the loan was
made that delay or failure to repay the loans could result in the
use of violence or other criminal means to cause harm to the
borrower. The conspirators also understood at the time each juice
loan was made that delay or failure to repay the loans could result
in the use of violence or other criminal means to cause harm to the
particular borrower.
28. It was further part of the conspiracy that "juice loan"
payments would be and were collected from numerous juice loan
debtors, who borrowed money from conspirators at the rates
described in the previous paragraph. The conspirators each
understood at the time they collected each juice loan payment that
delay or failure to repay the loan could result in the use of
violence or other criminal means to cause harm to the particular
debtor. The conspirators used violence, intimidation and threats
to collect these debts.
29. It was further part of the conspiracy that collections
would be made of debts incurred in connection with the juice loan
business described in this Count, which business charged rates of
interest at least twice the rate enforceable under Illinois law.
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30. It was further part of the conspiracy that members and
associates of the Chicago Outfit would and did knowingly conduct,
finance, manage, supervise, direct, and own all or part of illegal
gambling businesses in violation of the laws of the State of
Illinois, including illegal sports bookmaking businesses, and
businesses which utilized video gambling machines for illegal
wagering.
31. It was further part of the conspiracy that members and
associates of the Chicago Outfit agreed to collect and did collect
debts incurred in connection with illegal gambling businesses
described in this Count.
32. It was further part of the conspiracy that members and
associates of the Chicago Outfit used violence, intimidation and
threats to: (1) instill discipline within the Chicago Outfit by
compelling adherence to the Chicago Outfit's edicts and
instructions; and (2) punish conduct by Chicago Outfit members,
associates and others, which the hierarchy of the Chicago Outfit
believed was adverse to the interests of the Chicago Outfit.
33. It was further part of the conspiracy that members and
associates of the Chicago Outfit would and did obstruct the due
administration of justice by: (1) intimidating, harming, and
killing witnesses and potential witnesses who could provide
information detrimental to the operations of the enterprise; (2)
providing false information to law enforcement officers; and (3)
paying money to individuals to keep them from cooperating with law
enforcement officials.
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34. It was further part of the conspiracy that the
conspirators would and did use nominees, "fronts," and fictitious
names to hide the proceeds of criminal activities.
35. It was further part of the conspiracy that the
conspirators would and did use coded language in their discussions
and written materials, and utilized coded names for discussing
fellow conspirators and victims of their criminal activities.
36. It was further part of the conspiracy that the
conspirators would and did collect information from corrupt law
enforcement sources to determine and disrupt legitimate law
enforcement investigation into the activities of the enterprise.
37. It was further part of the conspiracy that the
conspirators would and did steal, store, and utilize "work cars"
for use in their criminal activities, including surveillance of
murder victims and committing murders.
38. It was further part of the conspiracy that the
conspirators would and did use walkie-talkies and citizen band
radios to communicate amongst themselves while conducting criminal
activities, including murder.
39. It was further part of the conspiracy that the
conspirators would and did monitor law enforcement radio
frequencies, and acquire radio equipment, monitors, and crystals to
do so, in order to detect and avoid law enforcement inquiry into
their activities, including murder.
40. It was further part of the conspiracy that the
conspirators would and did conduct surveillance to detect the
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presence of law enforcement while they and coconspirators were
committing illegal activities, including murder.
41. It was further part of the conspiracy that the
conspirators would and did acquire explosives, explosive devices,
detonators, transmitters, and remote control devices with the
intent to murder individuals without needing to be in the immediate
vicinity of the intended victim.
42. It was further part of the conspiracy that the
conspirators would and did acquire and store firearms to be used to
commit murder.
43. It was further part of the conspiracy that the
conspirators would and did use pagers and pay phones in an effort
to reduce law enforcement's ability to intercept their
communications.
44. It was further part of the conspiracy that the
conspirators would and did maintain hidden interests in businesses,
from which they could receive income not traceable to them.
45. It was further part of the conspiracy that the
conspirators would and did maintain hidden control of labor
organizations and assets.
46. It was further part of the conspiracy that the
conspirators would and did utilize the threat of labor union
violence or disruptions to induce payments to the enterprise to
keep "union peace."
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47. It was further part of the conspiracy that the
conspirators would and did maintain written records and ledgers for
their loansharking and bookmaking activities.
48. It was further part of the conspiracy that members and
associates of the Chicago Outfit misrepresented, concealed and hid,
caused to be misrepresented, concealed and hidden, and attempted to
misrepresent, conceal and hide the operation of the Chicago Outfit
and acts done in furtherance of the enterprise.
III. PATTERN OF RACKETEERING ACTIVITY
(First Alternative Ground of Liability)
49. The pattern of racketeering activity through which the
defendants agreed to conduct and to participate in the conduct of
the Chicago Outfit's affairs, consisted of multiple violations of
the following federal and state laws:
(a) Acts and threats involving murder chargeable under
the law of the States of Illinois, Arizona, and Nevada, which are
punishable by imprisonment for more than one year; that is, first
degree murder (Illinois: Illinois Revised Statutes, Chapter 38, §9
1; Arizona: Arizona Revised Statutes §13-1105), conspiracy to
commit murder (Illinois: Illinois Revised Statutes, Chapter 38, §8
2; Arizona: Arizona Revised Statutes §13-1003; Nevada: Nevada
Revised Statutes §199.480), and attempted murder (Illinois:
Illinois Revised Statutes, Chapter 38, §8-4);
(b) Making and conspiring to make extortionate extensions
of credit, indictable under Title 18, United States Code, Section
892;
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(c) Collecting and conspiring to collect extensions of
credit by extortionate means, indictable under Title 18, United
States Code, Section 894;
(d) Interference with commerce by threats and violence,
and conspiring to commit this offense, indictable under Title 18,
United States Code, Section 1951;
(e) Acts and threats involving extortion in violation of
state law, which are punishable by imprisonment for more than one
year; that is, intimidation, in violation of Chapter 38, Illinois
Revised Statutes, §12-6 (which later became 720 ILCS 5/12-6 of the
Illinois Compiled Statutes) and conspiracy to commit intimidation,
in violation of Chapter 38, Illinois Revised Statutes, §8-2 (which
later became 720 ILCS 5/8-2 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes);
(f) Operating an illegal gambling business indictable
under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1955;
(g) Obstructing the due administration of justice,
indictable under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1503;
(h) Obstruction of criminal investigations, indictable
under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1510;
(i) Witness tampering, indictable under Title 18, United
States Code, Section 1512;
(j) Retaliating against a witness, indictable under Title
18, United States Code, Section 1513;
(k) Interstate travel in aid of racketeering enterprises,
indictable under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1952.
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IV. COLLECTION OF UNLAWFUL DEBT
(Second Alternative Ground of Liability)
50. The collection of unlawful debt through which the
defendants agreed to conduct and to participate in the affairs of
the enterprise, consisted of multiple acts of collecting and
attempting to collect debt incurred in connection with the Chicago
Outfit's operation of illegal gambling businesses and its lending
money at usurious rates, which loans were unenforceable under
Illinois laws relating to usury, such gambling and loan debts
constituting unlawful debt as defined in Title 18, United States
Code, Sections 1961(6)(A) and (B).
All of the above in violation of Title 18, United States Code,
Section 1962(d).
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COUNT TWO
The SPECIAL AUGUST 2003-2 GRAND JURY further charges:
From in or before 1996 and continuing through the date of this
indictment, in the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division,
and elsewhere,
JAMES MARCELLO,
MICHAEL MARCELLO, also known as
"Mickey,"
THOMAS JOHNSON,
JOSEPH VENEZIA, and
DENNIS JOHNSON,
defendants herein, together with other persons known and unknown to
the Grand Jury, knowingly conducted all or part of an illegal
gambling business, that is, a business involving the use of video
gambling machines and devices in the western Chicago suburbs and
surrounding areas, which business was in substantially continuous
operation for a period in excess of thirty (30) days, which
involved five or more persons who conducted, financed, managed,
supervised, directed, and owned all or part of the business, and
which was a violation of the following laws of the State of
Illinois: Illinois Revised Statutes, Chapter 38, Sections 8-2, 28
1(a)(1), (3), and (5) and 28-3, which later became 720 ILCS 5/8-2,
5/28-1(1), (3), and (5), and 5/28-3;
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1955
and 2.
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COUNT THREE
The SPECIAL AUGUST 2003-2 GRAND JURY further charges:
From in or about 1998 and continuing until at least January
2003, in the Northern District of Illinois and elsewhere,
JAMES J. MARCELLO, and
MICHAEL A. MARCELLO, also known as
"Mickey,"
defendants herein, did willfully endeavor by means of bribery to
obstruct, delay, and prevent the communication of information
relating to violations of criminal statutes of the United States by
a person to a criminal investigator; that is, the defendants paid
and caused to be paid a monthly sum of money to and on behalf of
Nicholas W. Calabrese in order to maintain his allegiance to the
Chicago Outfit and to prevent and discourage his cooperation with
law enforcement authorities;
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1510
and 2.
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COUNT FOUR
The SPECIAL AUGUST 2003-2 GRAND JURY further charges:
From sometime in the early 1980s and continuing until
approximately November 2002, in the Northern District of Illinois
and elsewhere,
FRANK CALABRESE, SR., and
NICHOLAS FERRIOLA,
defendants herein, knowingly committed extortion, as that term is
used in Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951(b)(2), which
extortion affected interstate commerce as that term is used in
Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951(b)(3), in that the
defendants would and did obtain money as "street tax" from a
restaurant operating in Chicago, with the consent of a
representative of the restaurant, induced by the wrongful use of
actual and threatened force, violence, and fear;
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1951
and 2.
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COUNT FIVE
The SPECIAL AUGUST 2003-2 GRAND JURY further charges:
From sometime in 1992 and continuing until at least sometime
in 2001, in the Northern District of Illinois and elsewhere,
FRANK CALABRESE, SR., and
NICHOLAS FERRIOLA,
defendants herein, together with other persons known and unknown to
the Grand Jury, knowingly conducted all or part of an illegal
gambling business, that is, a sports bookmaking business, which
business was in substantially continuous operation for a period in
excess of thirty (30) days, which involved five or more persons who
conducted, financed, managed, supervised, directed, and owned all
or part of the business, and which was a violation of the following
laws of the State of Illinois: Illinois Revised Statutes, Chapter
38, Sections 8-2, 28-1(a)(1), (3), and (5) and 28-3, which later
became 720 ILCS 5/8-2, 5/28-1(1), (3), and (5), and 5/28-3;
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1955
and 2.
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COUNT SIX
The SPECIAL AUGUST 2003-2 GRAND JURY further charges:
From sometime in the summer of 2001 and continuing until
approximately November 2001, in the Northern District of Illinois
and elsewhere,
FRANK SCHWEIHS, also known as
"the German,"
defendant herein, knowingly did attempt to commit extortion, as
that term is used in Title 18, United States Code, Section
1951(b)(2), which extortion would have affected interstate commerce
as that term is used in Title 18, United States Code, Section
1951(b)(3), in that the defendant would and did attempt to obtain
money as "street tax" from an adult entertainment club operating in
a suburb of Chicago, with the consent of a representative of the
club, induced by the wrongful use of actual and threatened force,
violence, and fear;
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1951
and 2.
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COUNT SEVEN
The SPECIAL AUGUST 2003-2 GRAND JURY further charges:
From sometime in October of 2001 and continuing through
November 2001, in the Northern District of Illinois and elsewhere,
FRANK SCHWEIHS, also known as
"the German,"
defendant herein, knowingly participated in the use of extortionate
means within the meaning of Title 18, United States Code, Section
891(7), to collect and attempt to collect from the former owners of
an adult entertainment store operating in Indiana, an extension of
credit, within the meaning of Title 18, United States Code, Section
891(1); that is, the defendant did expressly and implicitly
threaten the use of violence to cause harm to the former owners of
the store in an attempt to obtain a sum of money from them by
November 1, 2001;
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 894 and
2.
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COUNT EIGHT
The SPECIAL AUGUST 2003-2 GRAND JURY further charges:
On or about February 21, 2003, in the Northern District of
Illinois,
MICHAEL RICCI,
defendant herein, did knowingly and willfully make materially false
and fraudulent statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), an agency within the
executive branch of the Government of the United States, in that
the defendant, in response to questions posed to him by special
agents of the FBI, stated: 1) that he, Anthony Doyle, and Frank
Calabrese, Sr., never discussed the FBI's taking possession of
evidence regarding the murder of John Fecarotta; 2) that Frank
Calabrese, Sr., never mentioned to him any concern as to whether
Nicholas Calabrese was cooperating with law enforcement regarding
the murder of John Fecarotta; 3) that Frank Calabrese, Sr., never
asked him to pass any messages to anyone about the Fecarotta
homicide; 4) that Frank Calabrese, Sr., never asked him to pass
messages to anyone concerning gambling, street tax, or any other
type of criminal activity; 5) that he did not pass any messages to
or from Frank Calabrese, Sr., to or from anyone; 6) that before his
previous interview by special agents of the FBI on or about May 4,
1999, he had never heard of James DiForti; and 7) that he had never
discussed James DiForti with Frank Calabrese, Sr. In violation of
Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a)(2).
24
COUNT NINE
The SPECIAL AUGUST 2003-2 GRAND JURY further charges:
1. At times material herein, defendant MICHAEL MARCELLO
operated a business that involved the placement, maintenance and
use of video gambling machines and devices. This business was
known as M & M Amusement, Inc. (also known to some of its customers
as Buff Amusement, Inc.), with MICHAEL MARCELLO as the sole
shareholder and officer. MICHAEL MARCELLO employed defendants
JOSEPH VENEZIA and THOMAS JOHNSON, among others, to help him
oversee the operation and maintenance of and the collection of
proceeds from the video gambling machines and devices. JAMES
MARCELLO assisted his brother MICHAEL MARCELLO by directing him and
advising him on the operation of the business.
2. Beginning in or about January 1996 and continuing
thereafter through at least April 2004, in the Northern District of
Illinois, Eastern Division,
JAMES MARCELLO,
MICHAEL MARCELLO, also known as
"Mickey,"
JOSEPH VENEZIA and
THOMAS JOHNSON,
defendants herein, did willfully and knowingly conspire and agree
together and with others known and unknown to the grand jury, to
defraud the United States by impeding, impairing, obstructing and
defeating the lawful government functions of the Department of
Treasury, in particular, the Internal Revenue Service (hereafter
referred to as "IRS"), in the ascertainment, computation,
assessment, and collection of the revenue: to wit, income taxes.
25
MANNER AND MEANS
3. It was part of the conspiracy that defendant MICHAEL
MARCELLO caused video gambling machines and devices to be obtained
for M & M Amusement, Inc., from other companies.
4. It was further a part of the conspiracy that defendants
and others then placed and caused the placement of these video
gambling machines and devices at various locations, such as
taverns, restaurants, and fraternal clubs, primarily in Cicero and
Berwyn, Illinois, and that co-conspirator owners, managers, and
representatives of the taverns, restaurants, and fraternal clubs
accepted placement of these gambling machines and devices in return
for a portion of the profits from the machines and devices.
A. To activate these video gambling machines and
devices, players at the taverns, restaurants, and fraternal clubs
had to insert currency into the money receptacles of the video
gambling machines and devices to put credits on the machines and
devices.
B. Players earned credits based upon the success of
their resultant play. Pay-outs to winning players were based on
the total of credits accumulated. These video gambling machines
and devices could be adjusted by the defendants either to raise or
lower the amount of credits earned by players.
C. These machines and devices used electronic systems
that guaranteed that the operator retained a portion (percentage)
of the wagers as profits. From a player's standpoint, the
operation of the machine and device was essentially random. As
26
such, players had no real control over what combination of symbols
would appear, and no element of skill was involved in the game.
D. The machines and devices electronically accumulated
"credits," and players were paid based upon the number of
accumulated credits. After a winning player had been paid by a
representative of the taverns, restaurants, and fraternal clubs,
the video gambling machines and devices had a "knock off" device
(normally a button or combination of buttons) that could be pushed
to clear the accumulated credits. Also, the video gambling
machines and devices had separate electronic counters inside the
machines and devices that recorded both the total number of plays
on the machine, and the total of winning credits won on and cleared
off the machines and devices.
5. It was further a part of the conspiracy that defendants
JOSEPH VENEZIA and THOMAS JOHNSON, and others, instructed the
owners, managers, and representatives of the taverns, restaurants,
and fraternal clubs at which the video gambling machines and
devices were placed, on such topics as how to set up the machines
and devices; how properly to pay off the winners on the machines
and devices; how to "clear" or "knock off" the accumulated credits
from the machines and devices after the player had been paid off;
and other topics necessary to the conduct of the illegal gambling
business.
6. It was further a part of the conspiracy that defendants
JOSEPH VENEZIA and THOMAS JOHNSON and others entered into verbal
understandings with the owners, managers, and representatives of
27
the taverns, restaurants, and fraternal clubs, regarding the
operation of the video gambling machines and devices. These verbal
understandings included, but were not limited to, agreements
regarding reimbursement for pay-outs to the players for their
earned credits and the distribution and splitting of the proceeds
from the video gambling machines and devices.
7. It was further a part of the conspiracy that defendants
MICHAEL MARCELLO, JOSEPH VENEZIA and THOMAS JOHNSON and others
would and did conduct their business, primarily in cash, with the
persons to whom they distributed the video gambling machines and
devices, that is, the co-conspirator owners, managers, and
representatives of the taverns, restaurants, and fraternal clubs.
8. It was further a part of the conspiracy that defendants
JOSEPH VENEZIA and THOMAS JOHNSON and others would and did warn the
owners, managers, and representatives of the taverns, restaurants,
and fraternal clubs to be careful to whom they paid out money on
the video gambling machines and devices because of possible law
enforcement investigations. In particular, they warned the owners,
managers, and representatives only to pay money to winning
customers whom they knew well, and to beware of law enforcement
efforts. Those customers who were not known were to be told that
the video gambling machines were for amusement only.
9. It was further a part of the conspiracy that defendants
JOSEPH VENEZIA and THOMAS JOHNSON and others would and did visit
the taverns, restaurants and fraternal clubs, in which the video
gambling machines and devices were placed, on a fairly regular
28
basis, normally at least weekly but at times on a more frequent
basis, to collect the cash proceeds from the machines.
10. It was further a part of the conspiracy that during these
visits, defendants JOSEPH VENEZIA and THOMAS JOHNSON and others
would determine the amount of money played since the last visit on
the machines (known as the "ins"), and the amount of money paid to
winning customers on the machines (known as the "outs").
Defendants JOSEPH VENEZIA and THOMAS JOHNSON and others would open
the machines and devices and read the electronic counters inside
the machines that recorded both the total number of plays on the
machines and the total number of winning credits won, and clear off
the machines since the last collection in order to determine to
date the amount of revenue on the machines. Defendants JOSEPH
VENEZIA and THOMAS JOHNSON and others would then confer with the
representative of each location and review the accounting. If
JOSEPH VENEZIA and THOMAS JOHNSON and others visited the location
on more than one occasion per week, two written copies of the
accounting since the last visit were written on small white sheets
of paper, one of which was provided to and retained by the
representative of the location and the other of which was retained
by JOSEPH VENEZIA and THOMAS JOHNSON and others, often in a small,
locked box at the location to which only JOSEPH VENEZIA and THOMAS
JOHNSON and others employed by M & M Amusement, Inc., had access.
The owners, managers, and representatives of the taverns,
restaurants, and fraternal clubs were credited for the amount of
money paid to winning customers (the "outs"). Later, on the
29
weekly settlement date, the small white sheets of paper were then
typically destroyed by JOSEPH VENEZIA and THOMAS JOHNSON and
others employed by M & M Amusement, Inc, as well as by the
representatives of the taverns, restaurants, and fraternal clubs,
often by burning them on the premises or by other means of
destruction.
11. It was part of the conspiracy that on an agreed upon
recurring settlement day of the week, defendants JOSEPH VENEZIA and
THOMAS JOHNSON, and others, under the direction of MICHAEL
MARCELLO, issued weekly M & M Amusement, Inc. collection reports,
yellow in color, to the owners, managers, and representatives of
taverns, restaurants, and fraternal clubs when they collected M &
M Amusement, Inc.'s share of the weekly receipts of the video
gambling machines and devices placed in such taverns, restaurants
and fraternal clubs. The information recorded on the collection
reports purported to represent the following: the name of the
establishment, its address, the date of collection, the total gross
receipts from the machines for that week, which was listed on the
receipts as the "Net Amount to Divide," and the fifty percent share
of the gross receipts for the establishment, which was listed on
the collection reports as the "Merchant's Share" and the fifty
percent share of the gross receipts for M & M Amusement, Inc.,
which was listed on the collection reports as the "Balance Due
Operator."
12. It was further part of the conspiracy that the collection
reports issued weekly by defendants JOSEPH VENEZIA and THOMAS
30
JOHNSON, and others, under the direction of MICHAEL MARCELLO, were
false, in that the collection reports substantially understated the
entire gross receipts generated by the video gambling machines, and
substantially understated the amounts of money reflecting the
taverns,' restaurants' and fraternal clubs' share of the gross
receipts as well as M & M Amusement, Inc.'s share of the gross
receipts.
13. It was further a part of the conspiracy that defendants
MICHAEL MARCELLO, JOSEPH VENEZIA and THOMAS JOHNSON, and others,
kept and maintained, and caused to be kept and maintained for the
records of M & M Amusement, Inc., copies of the false collection
reports provided to the taverns, restaurants and fraternal clubs.
14. It was further a part of the conspiracy that defendants
MICHAEL MARCELLO, JOSEPH VENEZIA and THOMAS JOHNSON, and others,
created, kept and maintained, and caused to be created, kept and
maintained handwritten summary sheets of the weekly collection
reports of M & M Amusement, Inc., reflecting the amounts on the
false collection reports provided to the taverns, restaurants and
fraternal clubs, which summary sheets thus substantially
understated the amounts of money reflecting the taverns,'
restaurants' and fraternal clubs' share of the gross receipts as
well as M & M Amusement, Inc.'s share of the gross receipts.
15. It was further a part of the conspiracy that defendants
MICHAEL MARCELLO, JOSEPH VENEZIA and THOMAS JOHNSON, and others,
failed to keep permanent records of the actual gross revenues
earned as the result of the gambling operation.
31
16. It was further a part of the conspiracy that defendant
MICHAEL MARCELLO delivered to his accountant and tax preparer
handwritten summary sheets of the weekly collection reports, which
reflected the false and inaccurate income information. Defendant
MICHAEL MARCELLO knew that the amounts listed on these handwritten
summary sheets ensured that an incorrect accounting of the gross
receipts and profits collected from the video gambling machines and
amusement machines would be reported to his accountant, and that
his accountant would rely on these false summary sheets to prepare
quarterly financial reports and tax returns.
17. It was further a part of the conspiracy that defendant
MICHAEL MARCELLO verbally advised this accountant each quarter that
he was providing the accountant the entirety of the gross revenues
for that quarter when in fact the figures he was providing the
accountant did not reflect the moneys paid to bettors nor did the
figures reflect the true amount of the profits to M & M Amusement,
Inc., and to the taverns, restaurants and fraternal clubs,
collected from the video gambling machines.
18. It was further part of the conspiracy that defendants
thus caused the preparation of false S Corporation income tax
returns (IRS Forms 1120S) for M & M Amusement, Inc. for the years
1996 through 2003, by creating and providing the false documents as
described above which were used by M & M Amusement, Inc.'s
accountant in the preparation of the S Corporation income tax
returns.
32
19. It was further part of the conspiracy that defendant
MICHAEL MARCELLO then signed and caused to be filed these false S
Corporation income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service,
knowing that these S Corporation income tax returns had been
prepared using false information and that they therefore
understated M & M Amusement, Inc.'s gross receipts and profits.
20. It was further part of the conspiracy that defendant
MICHAEL MARCELLO thus caused the preparation of false individual
income tax returns (IRS Forms 1040) for himself for the years 1996
through 2003, by creating and providing the false documents as
described above which were used by his accountant in the
preparation of the individual income tax returns as well as the S
Corporation income tax returns.
21. It was further part of the conspiracy that defendant
MICHAEL MARCELLO then signed and caused to be filed these false
individual income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service,
knowing that these individual income tax returns had been prepared
using false information and that they therefore understated his
total income.
22. It was further part of the conspiracy that defendants
caused the preparation and delivery of numerous false IRS Forms
1099 to the owners of the taverns, restaurants and fraternal
clubs, as the figures reported on the IRS Forms 1099 did not
reflect the true amount of the profits to the taverns, restaurants
and fraternal clubs, collected from the video gambling machines.
The owners of the taverns, restaurants and fraternal clubs then
33
knowingly provided these false IRS Forms 1099 to their accountants
and thereafter caused false individual and corporate income tax
returns to be filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
23. It was further part of the conspiracy that defendants
caused to conceal from the Internal Revenue Service a substantial
portion of the income received from the operation of the gambling
operation for the tax years 1996 through 2003, inclusive.
24. It was further part of the conspiracy that defendants
JAMES MARCELLO and MICHAEL MARCELLO caused money generated from the
under-reporting of gross receipts from operation of the gambling
business to be used for their own benefit.
25. It was further part of the conspiracy that defendants
JAMES MARCELLO and MICHAEL MARCELLO would discuss at the Federal
Correctional Center at Milan, Michigan, the operation of M & M
Amusement, Inc., as it related to the relationship with the owners,
managers, and representatives of taverns, restaurants, and
fraternal clubs. This included discussions involving the then
current Internal Revenue Service's criminal investigation of the
operation of video gambling machines and devices in taverns,
restaurants, and fraternal clubs in the Cicero and Berwyn, Illinois
area.
26. It was further a part of the conspiracy that defendant
MICHAEL MARCELLO failed to deposit all the weekly business receipts
to M & M Amusement, Inc.'s bank account, knowing that its tax
accountant determined income based upon the bank deposit method.
34
27. It was further part of the conspiracy that the defendants
would and did misrepresent, conceal and hide, and cause to be
misrepresented, concealed and hidden the purposes of, and acts done
in furtherance of, the conspiracy.
OVERT ACTS
28. In furtherance of the conspiracy and to effect the
objects thereof, in the Northern District of Illinois and
elsewhere, the following overt acts, among others, were committed
by the named defendants and others:
A. On or about the following dates, defendant MICHAEL
MARCELLO signed and caused to be filed false individual and S
Corporation income tax returns, with the Internal Revenue Service,
knowing that these income tax returns had been prepared using false
information regarding the gross receipts and profits for his
business, M & M Amusement, Inc.:
(1) On or about July 23, 1997, defendant MICHAEL
MARCELLO knowingly signed and caused to be filed a false 1996 S
Corporation income tax return.
(2) On or about April 23, 1998, defendant MICHAEL
MARCELLO knowingly signed and caused to be filed a false 1997 S
Corporation income tax return.
(3) On or about July 16, 1999, defendant MICHAEL
MARCELLO knowingly signed and caused to be filed a false 1998 S
Corporation income tax return.
35
(4) On or about October 15, 1999, defendant MICHAEL
MARCELLO knowingly signed and caused to be filed a false 1998
individual income tax return.
(5) On or about September 15, 2000, defendant
MICHAEL MARCELLO knowingly signed and caused to be filed a false
1999 S Corporation income tax return.
(6) On or about, September 15, 2000, defendant
MICHAEL MARCELLO knowingly signed and caused to be filed a false
1999 individual income tax return.
(7) On or about July 11, 2001, defendant MICHAEL
MARCELLO knowingly signed and caused to be filed a false 2000 S
Corporation income tax return.
(8) On or about July 11, 2001, defendant MICHAEL
MARCELLO knowingly signed and caused to be filed a false 2000
individual income tax return.
(9) On or about July 30, 2002, defendant MICHAEL
MARCELLO knowingly signed and caused to be filed a false 2001 S
Corporation income tax return.
(10) On or about September 10, 2002, defendant
MICHAEL MARCELLO knowingly signed and caused to be filed a false
2001 individual income tax return.
(11) On or about March 27, 2003, defendant MICHAEL
MARCELLO knowingly signed and caused to be filed a false 2002 S
Corporation income tax return.
36
(12) On or about April 25, 2003, defendant MICHAEL
MARCELLO knowingly signed and caused to be filed a false 2002
individual income tax return.
(13) On or about February 27, 2004, defendant
MICHAEL MARCELLO knowingly signed and caused to be filed a false
2003 S Corporation income tax return.
(14) On or about April 14, 2004, defendant MICHAEL
MARCELLO knowingly caused to be electronically filed a false 2003
individual income tax return.
B. On or about the following dates, defendants MICHAEL
MARCELLO and JAMES MARCELLO had conversations at the Federal
Correctional Center at Milan, Michigan:
(1) December 20, 2002.
(2) January 9, 2003.
(3) January 30, 2003.
(4) April 24, 2003.
(5) May 15, 2003.
C. On a weekly basis from January 1996 through November
2003, defendants JOSEPH VENEZIA and THOMAS JOHNSON, and at times
others, delivered numerous false collection reports purporting to
represent the proceeds from the video gambling machines and devices
to representatives of numerous taverns, restaurants, and fraternal
clubs in the Berwyn and Cicero area of Illinois, each such delivery
constituting a separate overt act.
D. On a weekly basis from January 1996 through
November 2003, defendant MICHAEL MARCELLO deposited cash into M &
37
M Amusement, Inc.'s bank account, knowing that such cash was not
all of the weekly business receipts of M & M Amusement, Inc., and
that M & M Amusement, Inc.'s tax accountant determined income based
upon the bank deposit method, each such deposit constituting a
separate overt act.
All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section
371.
38
FORFEITURE ALLEGATION
The SPECIAL AUGUST 2003-2 GRAND JURY further charges:
1. The allegations contained in Count One of the indictment
are realleged and incorporated by reference for the purposes of
alleging forfeiture pursuant to Title 18, United States Code,
Section 1963.
2. As a result of the violation of Title 18, United States
Code, Section 1962(d), as alleged in the foregoing indictment
NICHOLAS W. CALABRESE,
JAMES MARCELLO,
JOSEPH LOMBARDO, also known as
"The Clown," "Lumpy," and "Lumbo,"
FRANK CALABRESE, SR.,
FRANK SCHWEIHS, also known as
"The German,"
FRANK SALADINO, also known as
"Gumba,"
PAUL SCHIRO, also known as
"The Indian,"
MICHAEL MARCELLO, also known as
"Mickey,"
NICHOLAS FERRIOLA,
ANTHONY DOYLE, also known as
"Twan," and
MICHAEL RICCI,
defendants herein:
(a) have acquired and maintained interests in violation of
Title 18, United States Code, Section 1962, which interests are
subject to forfeiture to the United States pursuant to Title 18,
United States Code, Section 1963(a)(1);
(b) have interests in, securities of, claims against, and
property and contractual rights affording sources of influence over
the enterprise described in Count One which defendants established,
operated, controlled, conducted, and participated in the conduct
39
of, and conspired to do so, in violation of Title 18, United States
Code, Section 1962, thereby making all such interests, securities,
claims, and property and contractual rights subject to forfeiture
to the United States of America pursuant to Title 18, United States
Code, Section 1963(a)(2);
(c) have property constituting and derived from proceeds which
obtained, directly and indirectly, from racketeering activity in
violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1963 (a)(3).
3. The interests of the defendants, jointly and severally
subject to forfeiture to the United States pursuant to Title 18,
United States Code, Section 1963(a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(3) include
but are not limited to:
(a) $10,000,000;
(b) As to defendants JAMES MARCELLO and MICHAEL
MARCELLO only:
Real property at 5533 West 25th Street, Cicero,
Illinois, being more particularly described as:
Lot 78 in E. A. Cummings and Company's 25th Street
and Central Avenue Addition, being a subdivision of
the Southwest 1/4 of the Southwest 1/4 of the
Northwest 1/4 of Section 28, Township 39 North,
Range 13, East of the Third Principal Meridian, in
Cook County, Illinois.
4. To the extent that the proceeds and property described
above as being subject to forfeiture pursuant to Title 18, United
States Code, Section 1963, as a result of any acts or omission by
any defendant:
(1) cannot be located upon the exercise of due
diligence;
40
______________________________
_________________________________
(2) have been transferred or sold to, or deposited
with, a third party;
(3) have been placed beyond the jurisdiction of the
Court;
(4) have been substantially diminished in value, or;
(5) have been commingled with other property which
cannot be subdivided without difficulty;
it is the intent of the United States of America, pursuant to Title
18, United States Code, Section 1963(m) to seek forfeiture of any
other property of the defendants up to the value of the proceeds
and property described above as being subject to forfeiture;
All pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 1963.
A TRUE BILL:
F O R E P E R S O N
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
How Do 18 Chicago Outfit Murders Remain Unsolved for Decades?
How do 18 Chicago Outfit murders remain unsolved for decades?
It might help to have the cops on your side.
This came out in the opening statement by Assistant U.S. Atty. John Scully in the historic Family Secrets trial, when Scully pointed at one of the accused, a fellow with the intriguing nickname of "Twan."
He's called Twan in the 11th Ward, in Bridgeport and Chinatown, where not only the wiseguys are nervous about this trial, but presumably some 11th Ward politicians, too, about information gushing from the mouths of Outfit informants.
Twan is a tough-looking fellow, with a muscly forehead and plates for eyebrows, a Chinatown Sammy Sosa in a nice suit, and the only one of five defendants not accused of being involved in the 18 murders.
The name Twan remains a mystery. If any of you know his longtime friend, Bridgeport's former labor boss, Frank "Toots" Caruso, and you ask Toots and he tells you, please call me. On a pay phone.
Scully's suggestion about how things work isn't in the name Twan, but in another, official name used by Twan: Chicago Police Officer Anthony Doyle.
According to Scully, Doyle was with the Outfit and a loan shark, but Doyle also worked in the evidence section of the Chicago Police Department for a time. If Scully's allegations are correct -- and Scully was correct a few years ago when he put former Chicago Police Chief of Detectives William Hanhardt behind bars for running the Outfit's jewelry-heist crew -- the Outfit's reach into local law enforcement will be demonstrated once again.
Good cops who make small mistakes are often publicly humiliated, trotted out and yelled at by politicians who wag their fingers for TV cameras. Their families are ruined. But law-and-order politicians somehow always forget to wag their fingers at cops like Hanhardt or Twan.
If you're a loyal reader, you might remember that I wrote about Outfit tough guy John Fecarotta years ago, after reporting that Chinatown crew member Nicholas Calabrese had sought refuge in the federal witness protection program, which started Family Secrets. Fecarotta was implicated in many of the 18 murders by Scully on Thursday, including the 1986 beating deaths of brothers Anthony and Michael Spilotro. It was Fecarotta's job to bury them. He blew it by inserting them in a shallow grave in an Indiana cornfield.
After the Spilotros' bodies were found, Fecarotta was invited to go on another crime, on Belmont Avenue. But he didn't know he was the intended target until Nick Calabrese pointed a gun at his face. There was a struggle, Nick was shot, and though Fecarotta ended up dead, a bloody glove was found, dripping with Nick's DNA. The glove ended up in the police evidence section where Doyle worked.
When the FBI began asking about the glove, Scully said Doyle became quite interested in this development, figuring that his Outfit superiors would be equally interested, if not more so. Scully alleged that Doyle told Nick Calabrese's brother, Frank Calabrese Sr., about the glove that could put the Calabrese family in the Fecarotta murder.
"He betrayed his oath to the public and decided to remain loyal to Outfit interests," Scully said.
There were other highlights in court Thursday, including Frank Calabrese Sr.'s lawyer, the dynamic and splendidly dressed Joseph Lopez, the only lawyer in town tough enough to pull off pink socks and work for mobsters while remaining a loyal reader of my column.
He described his client as a man ruined by an ungrateful son, another informant witness, Frank Calabrese Jr. Junior was a drug addict who didn't want to go into the trucking business and who cared more about a tarty wife than his own father's love, Lopez said.
He pointed to his client, who allegedly strangled several people until their eyes popped out but who was so soft and kindly-looking in court, he could have been in a TV commercial for facial tissue.
"Who is this man in the powder blue suit who could be a cheese salesman from Wisconsin?" Lopez asked the jury about Frank Calabrese Sr.
Gentle Wisconsin cheese salesman? I wonder where he read that one
.
Other highlights included the lists of the Outfit soldiers allegedly in on the 18 killings. And the repeated mention of Bridgeport hit man Ronnie Jarrett, who worked for Bridgeport trucking boss/mayoral favorite Michael Tadin and was the model for the James Caan crime classic "Thief."
Jarrett was gunned down in 1999, about the time that Twan was getting worried about the glove. Jarrett's murder is not included in this case.
"Unfortunately," said Lopez, arguing that his client was not involved in other murders, "people get killed for various reasons all the time."
"The truth," Lopez said, quoting a lyrical Italian proverb, "is somewhere between the clouds."
But I think it's in the evidence room of the Chicago Police Department.
Thanks to John Kass
It might help to have the cops on your side.
This came out in the opening statement by Assistant U.S. Atty. John Scully in the historic Family Secrets trial, when Scully pointed at one of the accused, a fellow with the intriguing nickname of "Twan."
He's called Twan in the 11th Ward, in Bridgeport and Chinatown, where not only the wiseguys are nervous about this trial, but presumably some 11th Ward politicians, too, about information gushing from the mouths of Outfit informants.
Twan is a tough-looking fellow, with a muscly forehead and plates for eyebrows, a Chinatown Sammy Sosa in a nice suit, and the only one of five defendants not accused of being involved in the 18 murders.
The name Twan remains a mystery. If any of you know his longtime friend, Bridgeport's former labor boss, Frank "Toots" Caruso, and you ask Toots and he tells you, please call me. On a pay phone.
Scully's suggestion about how things work isn't in the name Twan, but in another, official name used by Twan: Chicago Police Officer Anthony Doyle.
According to Scully, Doyle was with the Outfit and a loan shark, but Doyle also worked in the evidence section of the Chicago Police Department for a time. If Scully's allegations are correct -- and Scully was correct a few years ago when he put former Chicago Police Chief of Detectives William Hanhardt behind bars for running the Outfit's jewelry-heist crew -- the Outfit's reach into local law enforcement will be demonstrated once again.
Good cops who make small mistakes are often publicly humiliated, trotted out and yelled at by politicians who wag their fingers for TV cameras. Their families are ruined. But law-and-order politicians somehow always forget to wag their fingers at cops like Hanhardt or Twan.
If you're a loyal reader, you might remember that I wrote about Outfit tough guy John Fecarotta years ago, after reporting that Chinatown crew member Nicholas Calabrese had sought refuge in the federal witness protection program, which started Family Secrets. Fecarotta was implicated in many of the 18 murders by Scully on Thursday, including the 1986 beating deaths of brothers Anthony and Michael Spilotro. It was Fecarotta's job to bury them. He blew it by inserting them in a shallow grave in an Indiana cornfield.
After the Spilotros' bodies were found, Fecarotta was invited to go on another crime, on Belmont Avenue. But he didn't know he was the intended target until Nick Calabrese pointed a gun at his face. There was a struggle, Nick was shot, and though Fecarotta ended up dead, a bloody glove was found, dripping with Nick's DNA. The glove ended up in the police evidence section where Doyle worked.
When the FBI began asking about the glove, Scully said Doyle became quite interested in this development, figuring that his Outfit superiors would be equally interested, if not more so. Scully alleged that Doyle told Nick Calabrese's brother, Frank Calabrese Sr., about the glove that could put the Calabrese family in the Fecarotta murder.
"He betrayed his oath to the public and decided to remain loyal to Outfit interests," Scully said.
There were other highlights in court Thursday, including Frank Calabrese Sr.'s lawyer, the dynamic and splendidly dressed Joseph Lopez, the only lawyer in town tough enough to pull off pink socks and work for mobsters while remaining a loyal reader of my column.
He described his client as a man ruined by an ungrateful son, another informant witness, Frank Calabrese Jr. Junior was a drug addict who didn't want to go into the trucking business and who cared more about a tarty wife than his own father's love, Lopez said.
He pointed to his client, who allegedly strangled several people until their eyes popped out but who was so soft and kindly-looking in court, he could have been in a TV commercial for facial tissue.
"Who is this man in the powder blue suit who could be a cheese salesman from Wisconsin?" Lopez asked the jury about Frank Calabrese Sr.
Gentle Wisconsin cheese salesman? I wonder where he read that one
.Other highlights included the lists of the Outfit soldiers allegedly in on the 18 killings. And the repeated mention of Bridgeport hit man Ronnie Jarrett, who worked for Bridgeport trucking boss/mayoral favorite Michael Tadin and was the model for the James Caan crime classic "Thief
."Jarrett was gunned down in 1999, about the time that Twan was getting worried about the glove. Jarrett's murder is not included in this case.
"Unfortunately," said Lopez, arguing that his client was not involved in other murders, "people get killed for various reasons all the time."
"The truth," Lopez said, quoting a lyrical Italian proverb, "is somewhere between the clouds."
But I think it's in the evidence room of the Chicago Police Department.
Thanks to John Kass
Chicago Police Star Flashed by Accused Mobster
Friends of ours: Frank Calabrese Sr.,
Friends of mine: Anthony "Twan" Doyle, Michael Ricci
He's accused of working for the mob, yet he still carries a Chicago Police star.
When retired cop Anthony Doyle arrived at federal court Wednesday for opening statements in his trial, he flashed security officers a badge and police photo ID.
There's nothing improper in Doyle using the retirement badge he received for 20 years of service as a decorated officer, said his lawyer, Ralph Meczyk. Doyle didn't get special treatment, Meczyk said. It's the same as a citizen using a driver's license as proof of ID, he said.
Doyle, 62, joined the Chicago Police Department in September 1980 and retired in June 2001 on a pension, police spokeswoman Monique Bond said. He worked in the police Evidence and Recovered Property Section in the 1990s, records show. And he was arrested at his Arizona home in 2005 and charged with agreeing to pass messages from reputed mob boss Frank Calabrese Sr. to other Outfit members while Calabrese was in prison. In addition, Doyle allegedly kept Calabrese abreast of an investigation into a gangland murder.
Doyle's nickname is "Twan," short for Anthony, according to federal authorities. But he also is mysteriously referred to as "Captain Crunch" in one court document. At the time of his arrest, he was a member of the Maricopa County (Ariz.) Sheriff's Posse, an auxiliary police unit.
Another former Chicago cop, Michael Ricci, also was a co-defendant in the mob case. He died last year.
Thanks to Frank Main and Steve Warmbir
Friends of mine: Anthony "Twan" Doyle, Michael Ricci
He's accused of working for the mob, yet he still carries a Chicago Police star.
When retired cop Anthony Doyle arrived at federal court Wednesday for opening statements in his trial, he flashed security officers a badge and police photo ID.
There's nothing improper in Doyle using the retirement badge he received for 20 years of service as a decorated officer, said his lawyer, Ralph Meczyk. Doyle didn't get special treatment, Meczyk said. It's the same as a citizen using a driver's license as proof of ID, he said.
Doyle, 62, joined the Chicago Police Department in September 1980 and retired in June 2001 on a pension, police spokeswoman Monique Bond said. He worked in the police Evidence and Recovered Property Section in the 1990s, records show. And he was arrested at his Arizona home in 2005 and charged with agreeing to pass messages from reputed mob boss Frank Calabrese Sr. to other Outfit members while Calabrese was in prison. In addition, Doyle allegedly kept Calabrese abreast of an investigation into a gangland murder.
Doyle's nickname is "Twan," short for Anthony, according to federal authorities. But he also is mysteriously referred to as "Captain Crunch" in one court document. At the time of his arrest, he was a member of the Maricopa County (Ariz.) Sheriff's Posse, an auxiliary police unit.
Another former Chicago cop, Michael Ricci, also was a co-defendant in the mob case. He died last year.
Thanks to Frank Main and Steve Warmbir
Using Intel to Stop the Mob (Part 1)
Friends of ours: Al Capone, Lucky Luciano
Seventy-five years ago this December, one Special Agent B.E. Sackett penned a short article for Bureau employees on what he called "organized crime conditions in Chicago."
By 1932, organized crime in the U.S.—though a shadow of what it is today—had started to get its legs. Al Capone, who with the help of the Bureau had just landed in federal prison, had built an empire of crime in the Windy City that would continue to morph and grow. An extensive underground of hoodlums, racketeers, and gangsters had emerged in response to Prohibition and was thriving. Hundreds of rackets that used threats of violence to force businesses to ante up a percentage of their profits for "protection" existed throughout Chicago and other cities. In New York, "Lucky" Luciano had risen to power in the Mafia and was beginning to shape it into the structured, secret society of criminals that we know today.
A "valuable weapon" against these criminal rings, Agent Sackett thoughtfully stated in his article, was "accurate information"—details on the key players, their interlocking connections, their tactics and capabilities. He talked about how Chicago agents had begun building this base of knowledge, through informants and other contacts and through an extensive index of pictures and background on more than "three hundred of the notorious criminals and members of their gangs."
He didn't call it "intelligence," a concept that was still in its infancy, but that's essentially what it was. The approach was strategic, thinking about a criminal network in larger terms, gathering information and insights to take out entire criminal organizations and their support and not just select individuals, and thus preventing a litany of future crimes.
This picture of the underworld would grow in the coming years and yield significant results for the young Bureau and its partners. We would begin puncturing these networks—exposing their activities for all of law enforcement, undercutting their support structures, and tracking their most dangerous actors and elements much in the same way that we now do with terrorist cells plotting attacks on U.S. soil.
A few examples:
In Chicago and elsewhere, the fight against organized crime had just begun. And so has our story. In the next few months, we'll run a series of articles tracing how we've used intelligence to take on mobsters and even decimate entire crime families in different times and different places over the past seven decades. Stay tuned!
Thanks to the F.B.I.
Seventy-five years ago this December, one Special Agent B.E. Sackett penned a short article for Bureau employees on what he called "organized crime conditions in Chicago."
By 1932, organized crime in the U.S.—though a shadow of what it is today—had started to get its legs. Al Capone, who with the help of the Bureau had just landed in federal prison, had built an empire of crime in the Windy City that would continue to morph and grow. An extensive underground of hoodlums, racketeers, and gangsters had emerged in response to Prohibition and was thriving. Hundreds of rackets that used threats of violence to force businesses to ante up a percentage of their profits for "protection" existed throughout Chicago and other cities. In New York, "Lucky" Luciano had risen to power in the Mafia and was beginning to shape it into the structured, secret society of criminals that we know today.A "valuable weapon" against these criminal rings, Agent Sackett thoughtfully stated in his article, was "accurate information"—details on the key players, their interlocking connections, their tactics and capabilities. He talked about how Chicago agents had begun building this base of knowledge, through informants and other contacts and through an extensive index of pictures and background on more than "three hundred of the notorious criminals and members of their gangs."
He didn't call it "intelligence," a concept that was still in its infancy, but that's essentially what it was. The approach was strategic, thinking about a criminal network in larger terms, gathering information and insights to take out entire criminal organizations and their support and not just select individuals, and thus preventing a litany of future crimes.
This picture of the underworld would grow in the coming years and yield significant results for the young Bureau and its partners. We would begin puncturing these networks—exposing their activities for all of law enforcement, undercutting their support structures, and tracking their most dangerous actors and elements much in the same way that we now do with terrorist cells plotting attacks on U.S. soil.
A few examples:
- In August 1933, we prepared a detailed analysis of organized criminals and the various ways law enforcement had succeeded in stopping them. We outlined more than a hundred "rackets" in Chicago that extorted money from electric sign companies, "candy jobbers," dental labs, and others. This analysis helped paint a picture of the threat for all of law enforcement.
- When John Dillinger was on the run for a violent string of bank robberies, we put pressure on the many connections he and his gang had to all levels of the underworld—precisely because we had mapped out these connections. With the extensive cooperation of many police forces, this allowed us to track his movements and ultimately generated the leads that led to his death in a shootout outside a Chicago theater in July 1934.
- We learned everything we could about the enablers of organized crime: money launderers and fences, both organized and freelance, who helped criminals hide their loot from the law; shady doctors who performed backroom plastic surgeries to help disguise mobsters and shyster lawyers who helped shield them from justice; and the corruption-backed "spas" and criminal safe havens in places like Hot Springs, Arkansas, and St. Paul, Minnesota, that mobsters used to rest, recruit comrades, and plan their next moves in relative safety.
- Working with our law enforcement partners, we started building the criminal justice support system that has enabled a coordinated, layered attack against both criminal and terrorist networks, which includes national criminal records and crime stats…cutting edge forensic science services…and extensive training for law enforcement professionals.
In Chicago and elsewhere, the fight against organized crime had just begun. And so has our story. In the next few months, we'll run a series of articles tracing how we've used intelligence to take on mobsters and even decimate entire crime families in different times and different places over the past seven decades. Stay tuned!
Thanks to the F.B.I.
Defending Frank Calabrese Sr.
Friends of ours: Frank Calabrese Sr.
A reader wanted to paint another side of Frank Calabrese Sr.
A reader wanted to paint another side of Frank Calabrese Sr.
I know an entirely different person than the one portrayed in the papers and on the news. After my husband deserted me and my two children, I was looking for an apartment and no one wanted to rent to a single mother with small children. Everywhere, I went people had different excuses for not renting to me. I noticed a small house in Elmwood Park that was vacant and left a note in the mailbox with my number. Mr. Calabrese called me back and said he would be happy to rent the house to me and my family. I lived in that home for 18 years and in that time span he would put an envelope in the mail so Santa could buy my children gifts. If he saw them playing in the yard he would tell them to pick-up the old newspapers and he would give them $10.00. I saw his sons grow up to be fine young men and fathers and I had a great relationship with his family.
This man is not heartless, he has a soft spot for kids. Over the years I remember seeing him with his boys and they were happy. I think things changed when he remarried and started a new family. There is always a certain amount of jealousy when it happens. I've learned that know matter how much you do for your family it is never enough. I pray for this family daily and I just felt I had to send this to let someone know that there are two sides to every story.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
America's Most Wanted and The Chicago Syndicate Search for Jessie Marie Davis
America's Most Wanted and The Chicago Syndicate have partnered on AMW's upcoming episodes for Fox.
Jessie Marie Davis: This week, AMW is joining the search for the missing Ohio woman Jessie Marie Davis. Jessie is due to give birth to a baby girl on July 3rd and was reported missing on June 15th. Equusearch, a private, nonprofit search group from Texas , who has helped in other high profile cases recently joined the effort.
Mad Hatter: Attempting to rob his 17th bank, the New Jersey Mad Hatter got a red face. Much to his surprise, a teller slipped a dye pack in with the stolen cash, and when he tried to flee, it exploded. Cops say they’re hot on his tail. This week, hopefully we can put an end to his run.
Mikhail Drachev: This week we’ll recap the capture of suspected killer Mikhail Drachev. Cops say after fleeing to Canada , Drachev settled down with a new love interest. But before long, his new girlfriend spotted him on AMW.COM. A few phone calls later, Drachev was in custody as AMW’s 933rd direct-result.
Emanuel Carlos Veiga: Florida cops say that accused child rapist Emanuel Carlos Veiga cut off his tracking device and hit the road. He may be traveling with his girlfriend, Janaina Borges.
Dontay Brannon: Cops say due to a clerical error, accused killer Dontay Brannon walked right out of prison. Now police say they think he’s hiding out in New Jersey.
Jessie Marie Davis: This week, AMW is joining the search for the missing Ohio woman Jessie Marie Davis. Jessie is due to give birth to a baby girl on July 3rd and was reported missing on June 15th. Equusearch, a private, nonprofit search group from Texas , who has helped in other high profile cases recently joined the effort.Mad Hatter: Attempting to rob his 17th bank, the New Jersey Mad Hatter got a red face. Much to his surprise, a teller slipped a dye pack in with the stolen cash, and when he tried to flee, it exploded. Cops say they’re hot on his tail. This week, hopefully we can put an end to his run.
Mikhail Drachev: This week we’ll recap the capture of suspected killer Mikhail Drachev. Cops say after fleeing to Canada , Drachev settled down with a new love interest. But before long, his new girlfriend spotted him on AMW.COM. A few phone calls later, Drachev was in custody as AMW’s 933rd direct-result.
Emanuel Carlos Veiga: Florida cops say that accused child rapist Emanuel Carlos Veiga cut off his tracking device and hit the road. He may be traveling with his girlfriend, Janaina Borges.
Dontay Brannon: Cops say due to a clerical error, accused killer Dontay Brannon walked right out of prison. Now police say they think he’s hiding out in New Jersey.
Blood and Gore Highlight Opening Statements at Family Secrets Mob Trial
Friends of ours: Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, James Marcello, Frank Calabrese Sr., Paul Schiro, Anthony Doyle, Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, Nicholas Calabrese, Michael "Hambone" Albergo
Friends of mine: William Hanhardt
Chicago's biggest mob trial in years started Thursday with a prosecutor urging the jury to forget what they know about movie mobsters and see the now-elderly defendants for who they are: men who "committed brutal crimes on behalf of the Chicago Outfit."
"This is not The Sopranos. This is not The Godfather. These are real people, very corrupt and without honor," Assistant U.S. Attorney John Scully told the jury.
As Scully described a blood-drenched litany of murders, he showed the jury large photos of the victims. He talked about Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, once the Chicago mob's man in Las Vegas and the inspiration for Joe Pesci's character in the movie Casino. Spilotro and his brother were allegedly lured into a basement and beaten to death, then buried in an Indiana cornfield.
The men on trial — reputed mob boss Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, 78, James Marcello, 65, Frank Calabrese Sr., 70, Paul Schiro, 69, and former Chicago police officer Anthony Doyle, 62 — are accused in a racketeering conspiracy that included 18 murders. All have pleaded not guilty.
An anonymous jury is hearing the case, with the jurors being identified only by court-issued numbers to protect their identities.
"Four of the five defendants in this room committed brutal crimes on behalf of the Chicago Outfit," Scully told the jury in his opening statement. The fifth, Doyle, protected them, he said.
Scully described Calabrese as a violent loan shark who strangled witnesses with a rope and cut their throats to make sure they were dead.
Defense attorney Joseph Lopez painted a different picture for the jury, describing Calabrese as a much-maligned, deeply religious man "who believes in peace" and loved his family. He ripped into Calabrese's son, Frank Jr., who is expected to be a key witness for the government against his father.
"He's going to say, 'My father is a rotten S.O.B., my father never loved me' — none of this is true," Lopez said. He said the jurors would see letters between the father and son "expressing love for one another."
"You're going to hear that Frank did slap his son around on numerous occasions," Lopez said. But he said that was only because the youngster was robbing the neighbors of their jewelry and taking cocaine.
He said Calabrese's brother, Nicholas, also expected to be a key witness, once stole a rifle with a silencer from Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs, where it had been used to shoot birds that congregated on the scoreboard.
Scully described Marcello as one of the top leaders of the Chicago Outfit. He said Lombardo was the boss of the mob's Grand Avenue crew. Schiro was jailed five years ago for taking part in a jewel theft ring led by the Chicago police department's one-time chief of detectives, William Hanhardt.
Doyle, the retired Chicago police officer, also worked as a loan shark under Calabrese, according to federal prosecutors. He is the one defendant in the case not directly accused of murdering anyone. But Scully said that he aided and abetted the others in their work.
Scully was graphic in describing the killings, but it was Lopez who offered the juiciest details.
He recounted how FBI agents, acting on an informant's tip, tore up concrete in a parking lot near U.S. Cellular Field, home of the White Sox, looking for the last remains of murdered loan shark Michael Albergo. He said they found "thousands of bones" under the parking lot. But DNA testing couldn't tie any of the bones to Albergo, Lopez said, repeatedly referring to the victim by his mob nickname of "Hambone."
Friends of mine: William Hanhardt
Chicago's biggest mob trial in years started Thursday with a prosecutor urging the jury to forget what they know about movie mobsters and see the now-elderly defendants for who they are: men who "committed brutal crimes on behalf of the Chicago Outfit."
"This is not The Sopranos. This is not The Godfather. These are real people, very corrupt and without honor," Assistant U.S. Attorney John Scully told the jury.
As Scully described a blood-drenched litany of murders, he showed the jury large photos of the victims. He talked about Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, once the Chicago mob's man in Las Vegas and the inspiration for Joe Pesci's character in the movie Casino. Spilotro and his brother were allegedly lured into a basement and beaten to death, then buried in an Indiana cornfield.
The men on trial — reputed mob boss Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, 78, James Marcello, 65, Frank Calabrese Sr., 70, Paul Schiro, 69, and former Chicago police officer Anthony Doyle, 62 — are accused in a racketeering conspiracy that included 18 murders. All have pleaded not guilty.
An anonymous jury is hearing the case, with the jurors being identified only by court-issued numbers to protect their identities.
"Four of the five defendants in this room committed brutal crimes on behalf of the Chicago Outfit," Scully told the jury in his opening statement. The fifth, Doyle, protected them, he said.
Scully described Calabrese as a violent loan shark who strangled witnesses with a rope and cut their throats to make sure they were dead.
Defense attorney Joseph Lopez painted a different picture for the jury, describing Calabrese as a much-maligned, deeply religious man "who believes in peace" and loved his family. He ripped into Calabrese's son, Frank Jr., who is expected to be a key witness for the government against his father.
"He's going to say, 'My father is a rotten S.O.B., my father never loved me' — none of this is true," Lopez said. He said the jurors would see letters between the father and son "expressing love for one another."
"You're going to hear that Frank did slap his son around on numerous occasions," Lopez said. But he said that was only because the youngster was robbing the neighbors of their jewelry and taking cocaine.
He said Calabrese's brother, Nicholas, also expected to be a key witness, once stole a rifle with a silencer from Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs, where it had been used to shoot birds that congregated on the scoreboard.
Scully described Marcello as one of the top leaders of the Chicago Outfit. He said Lombardo was the boss of the mob's Grand Avenue crew. Schiro was jailed five years ago for taking part in a jewel theft ring led by the Chicago police department's one-time chief of detectives, William Hanhardt.
Doyle, the retired Chicago police officer, also worked as a loan shark under Calabrese, according to federal prosecutors. He is the one defendant in the case not directly accused of murdering anyone. But Scully said that he aided and abetted the others in their work.
Scully was graphic in describing the killings, but it was Lopez who offered the juiciest details.
He recounted how FBI agents, acting on an informant's tip, tore up concrete in a parking lot near U.S. Cellular Field, home of the White Sox, looking for the last remains of murdered loan shark Michael Albergo. He said they found "thousands of bones" under the parking lot. But DNA testing couldn't tie any of the bones to Albergo, Lopez said, repeatedly referring to the victim by his mob nickname of "Hambone."
Former Chicago Cop Reflects on Mob's Heyday
Friends of ours: Frank Calabrese Sr., John Fecarotta
Friends of mine: Philip Tolomeo
A Chicago police detective walked into The Nest, an old Outfit nightclub, looking for a shooting suspect.
The cop found his suspect -- he just hadn't been accused yet of committing any murders.
It was March of 1958 on the city's Northwest Side, and the lounge was packed to hear singer Tony Smith and his band play some trendy new rock 'n' roll dance music.
Working the midnight shift, Detective James Jack, who now lives in Palatine, and his partner Frank Czech walked in around 2 a.m. looking for a guy they knew hung at the joint. Jack, as he tells it, stepped between two guys to look up and down the bar.
One of the guys next to him swiveled around in his chair and asked him, "What the [expletive] are you looking at?"
"Nothing much," Jack answered.
With that, the guy punched Jack square in the mouth, sending him reeling against the wall. His attacker had a few inches and pounds on Jack, but the detective, a former Gold Gloves boxer, recovered and grabbed the man in a head lock.
Another guy jumped Jack's partner, but the big detective threw him aside like a doll. A police officer who happened to be standing down the bar came to help, they identified themselves as police, and together they wrestled the two hotheads outside and into a police car -- the Tony Smith band playing without skipping a note.
The perpetrator turned out to be none other than Frank Calabrese Sr., then 20. At the time, he was on parole for auto theft.
As they drove to the police station, Jack recalls, Calabrese kept saying, "I didn't know you were a cop."
"I said if I were a normal person, you and your cronies would have killed me and laughed all the way home," Jack said. "He was an animal."
As it turned out, Calabrese was not wanted in the shooting Jack was investigating, and the detective never recalls Calabrese being convicted for punching him. Federal investigators, Jack said, were more interested in bigger cases than a bar fight.
Calabrese's attorney, Joseph Lopez, noted his client was only 20 and "just getting started," but suspected there must be more to the story, saying his client treated police with respect. "I find that hard to believe," Lopez said. "He's not a bully. Something else must've happened."
In recent years, Calabrese has been in prison after pleading guilty to taking part in a long-running juice loan extortion scheme. Now, Calabrese is ready to stand trial on charges of murder and racketeering with 13 other alleged members of the Chicago Syndicate.
Calabrese was far from Jack's only run-in with the mob. His first police partner was Philip Tolomeo, who used to make Jack wait in the car while he met with cronies at a mob hangout, before leaving the force, joining witness protection and getting convicted with Calabrese.
Ironically, Jack also once arrested one of the victims of an alleged Calabrese hit. Jack arrested John Fecarotta for sticking a gun in the mouth of a parking attendant at O'Hare International Airport in 1965. Fecarotta was found shot dead in an alley in 1986.
Jack has long since retired from the force, but he plans to attend the mob trial, which will be presided over by Judge James Zagel, who once worked with Jack on the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Council 25 years ago. Jack says he wants to see some of his old combatants.
"I want to see how they act now, compared to how feisty they were in their younger days, when they didn't care who they got involved in altercations with," he said. "Let the jury throw the dice, and let justice prevail."
Thanks to Robert McCoppin
Friends of mine: Philip Tolomeo
A Chicago police detective walked into The Nest, an old Outfit nightclub, looking for a shooting suspect.
The cop found his suspect -- he just hadn't been accused yet of committing any murders.
It was March of 1958 on the city's Northwest Side, and the lounge was packed to hear singer Tony Smith and his band play some trendy new rock 'n' roll dance music.
Working the midnight shift, Detective James Jack, who now lives in Palatine, and his partner Frank Czech walked in around 2 a.m. looking for a guy they knew hung at the joint. Jack, as he tells it, stepped between two guys to look up and down the bar.
One of the guys next to him swiveled around in his chair and asked him, "What the [expletive] are you looking at?"
"Nothing much," Jack answered.
With that, the guy punched Jack square in the mouth, sending him reeling against the wall. His attacker had a few inches and pounds on Jack, but the detective, a former Gold Gloves boxer, recovered and grabbed the man in a head lock.
Another guy jumped Jack's partner, but the big detective threw him aside like a doll. A police officer who happened to be standing down the bar came to help, they identified themselves as police, and together they wrestled the two hotheads outside and into a police car -- the Tony Smith band playing without skipping a note.
The perpetrator turned out to be none other than Frank Calabrese Sr., then 20. At the time, he was on parole for auto theft.
As they drove to the police station, Jack recalls, Calabrese kept saying, "I didn't know you were a cop."
"I said if I were a normal person, you and your cronies would have killed me and laughed all the way home," Jack said. "He was an animal."
As it turned out, Calabrese was not wanted in the shooting Jack was investigating, and the detective never recalls Calabrese being convicted for punching him. Federal investigators, Jack said, were more interested in bigger cases than a bar fight.
Calabrese's attorney, Joseph Lopez, noted his client was only 20 and "just getting started," but suspected there must be more to the story, saying his client treated police with respect. "I find that hard to believe," Lopez said. "He's not a bully. Something else must've happened."
In recent years, Calabrese has been in prison after pleading guilty to taking part in a long-running juice loan extortion scheme. Now, Calabrese is ready to stand trial on charges of murder and racketeering with 13 other alleged members of the Chicago Syndicate.
Calabrese was far from Jack's only run-in with the mob. His first police partner was Philip Tolomeo, who used to make Jack wait in the car while he met with cronies at a mob hangout, before leaving the force, joining witness protection and getting convicted with Calabrese.
Ironically, Jack also once arrested one of the victims of an alleged Calabrese hit. Jack arrested John Fecarotta for sticking a gun in the mouth of a parking attendant at O'Hare International Airport in 1965. Fecarotta was found shot dead in an alley in 1986.
Jack has long since retired from the force, but he plans to attend the mob trial, which will be presided over by Judge James Zagel, who once worked with Jack on the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Council 25 years ago. Jack says he wants to see some of his old combatants.
"I want to see how they act now, compared to how feisty they were in their younger days, when they didn't care who they got involved in altercations with," he said. "Let the jury throw the dice, and let justice prevail."
Thanks to Robert McCoppin
Up-and-Coming Mobsters Will Replace Old Guard
The Family Secrets prosecution was a heavy blow to the Chicago Outfit, but surely not a fatal one, longtime observers of the city's organized crime syndicate say.
If it finally removes some of the mob's biggest names from the scene, younger players are in place to step in and take over, the experts said. There always have been, after all, even in the wake of a case such as Family Secrets, which implicated an unprecedented three "made" members of the mob.
Street "sins" such as gambling, prostitution and narcotics are profitable, and organized crime will be there to control them and collect a cut, they said.
Up-and-coming mobsters step over the old guys, known as "Mustache Petes," said former FBI agent Lee Flosi.
"There are always guys who are anxious to get up the ladder and take over," said Flosi, who now works as a consultant. "The Outfit's not dead.
"They're masters of changing colors. They're chameleons," he said.
Today's Chicago Outfit may be smaller and more spread out, experts said, with more members living in the suburbs than in the city. But the syndicate still has influence in vice, labor unions and political corruption, Flosi said.
Organized-crime observers said the Outfit has evolved and taken on a lower profile as prosecutions have mounted over the years. The Chicago mob has improved its methods, experts said, having become better at hiding its activities and laundering money through legitimate businesses.
"They'll stay in control of what they have always controlled, as long as they're willing to enforce it with an occasional body in a trunk," Flosi said.
The last known mob hit occurred in November 2001 when Anthony "Tony the Hatch" Chiaramonti was shot in a suburban chicken restaurant. His name has surfaced in the Family Secrets case as an associate of some of the men facing trial. But one Outfit figure whose name also has surfaced in the case has been missing for months. Anthony Zizzo, a reputed underboss, was last seen leaving his Westmont home in August. Days later his Jeep turned up abandoned at a restaurant in Melrose Park.
Thanks to Jeff Coen
If it finally removes some of the mob's biggest names from the scene, younger players are in place to step in and take over, the experts said. There always have been, after all, even in the wake of a case such as Family Secrets, which implicated an unprecedented three "made" members of the mob.
Street "sins" such as gambling, prostitution and narcotics are profitable, and organized crime will be there to control them and collect a cut, they said.
Up-and-coming mobsters step over the old guys, known as "Mustache Petes," said former FBI agent Lee Flosi.
"There are always guys who are anxious to get up the ladder and take over," said Flosi, who now works as a consultant. "The Outfit's not dead.
"They're masters of changing colors. They're chameleons," he said.
Today's Chicago Outfit may be smaller and more spread out, experts said, with more members living in the suburbs than in the city. But the syndicate still has influence in vice, labor unions and political corruption, Flosi said.
Organized-crime observers said the Outfit has evolved and taken on a lower profile as prosecutions have mounted over the years. The Chicago mob has improved its methods, experts said, having become better at hiding its activities and laundering money through legitimate businesses.
"They'll stay in control of what they have always controlled, as long as they're willing to enforce it with an occasional body in a trunk," Flosi said.
The last known mob hit occurred in November 2001 when Anthony "Tony the Hatch" Chiaramonti was shot in a suburban chicken restaurant. His name has surfaced in the Family Secrets case as an associate of some of the men facing trial. But one Outfit figure whose name also has surfaced in the case has been missing for months. Anthony Zizzo, a reputed underboss, was last seen leaving his Westmont home in August. Days later his Jeep turned up abandoned at a restaurant in Melrose Park.
Thanks to Jeff Coen
Chicago Mob Consigliere Revealed?
Friends of ours: Nick Calabrese, James "Jimmy the Man" Marcello, Joseph "Joey Doves" Aiuppa, Alphonse "Al the Pizza Man" Tornabene, Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo, Sam "Wings" Carlisi, Anthony "Little" Zizzo
Friends of mine: Leo Caruso
Federal documents reveal a new name in the upper crust of the Chicago outfit, a man that some mob experts believe may have become the mob's "elder statesman."
Documents filed by federal prosecutors in the case against 14 top mob figures revealed the identity of what some mobwatchers say is the Chicago outfit's current consigliere. The man's name was blotted out -- redacted --from the government filing. But, the ABC7 I-Team reveals the name behind the black mark.
Mafia initiation ceremonies are not open to the public. The only pictures are cheesy Hollywood reenactments. So when Chicago wiseguy Nick Calabrese started deep dishing outfit details to federal authorities a few years ago, one story stood out. It is explained in a government filing known as a proffer, or play-by-play, of the case that federal prosecutors plan to put on against Chicago hoodlums charged in Operation Family Secrets. The proffer states that Nick Calabrese will testify that a number of individuals were "made" (or inducted) with him in 1983, including co-defendant James "Jimmy the Man" Marcello.
During the "making ceremony," each 'inductee' was accompanied by his crew boss or "capo," according to the government. Two men "conducted the ceremony, which included an oath of allegiance to the organization."
One of the concelebrants was the late Joseph "Joey Doves" Aiuppa, then considered the top ranking boss of the mob. Aiuppa's partner in the blood ceremony was blacked out in publicly filed documents. But, the ABC7 I-Team has seen an un-redacted copy of the filing. We can reveal the name under the black mark: Alphonse Tornabene.
Tornabene is now 84 years old. He is known in mob circles as "Al the Pizza Man." A suburban pizza parlor is still in his family. Even though he owns a summer home in William's Bay, Wisconsin, the I-Team found Tournabene at the front door of his suburban Chicago house and asked him whether he was the grand mobster at an outfit initiation.
GOUDIE: "Know about that?"
TORNABENE: "I don't remember."
GOUDIE: "You don't remember?"
TORNABENE: "No."
GOUDIE: "You and Mr. Aiuppa?"
TORNABENE: "I don't remember."
GOUDIE: "You administered the oath of the Outfit according to the feds?"
TORNABENE: "I don't remember."
"Well, it shows significance, one that they took him under their trust to make such a significant ceremony, in making some mob guys," said Robert Fuesel, former federal agent.
Former IRS criminal investigator Bob Fuesel says Tornabene grew up as an outfit bookie but was apparently being groomed for higher office. With the three elder statesman of the outfit all dead, Joey Aiuppa, Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo and Sam "Wings" Carlisi, some federal lawmen believe that the role of consiglieri has fallen on Carlisi's cousin, Al Tornabene, who may have a hard time getting around these days, but is still meeting with known outfit associates.
GOUDIE: "The Crime Commission is saying that you run the mob?"
TORNABENE: (laughs) "I can't even move..."
On several days I-Team surveillance spotted Leo Caruso at Tornabene's home. Seven years ago Caruso was permanently barred from the Laborers' International Union after a federal investigation linked him to the mob's 26th Street crew. A Justice Department report stated that Caruso was "deeply involved with organized crime figures in a substantial manner."
TORNABENE: "He's just a friend..."
GOUDIE: "Mr. Caruso is a friend?"
TORNABENE: "Yes."
The FBI is currently investigating the disappearance of Tornabene's top lieutenant, Anthony "Little" Zizzo. The two men met frequently until last August, when Zizzo mysteriously vanished after leaving his west suburban condo for a meeting on Rush Street.
"Well, these indictments through the US attorney's office, just put everything in disarray, and so do they know what happened to Zizzo. I'm sure somebody does. It's hard for me to believe based upon his reputation that he has not been uncovered and/or is probably deceased," said Fuesel.
"Pizza Al" has no criminal record but comes from a mob family. His late brother Frank was convicted of vote fraud and prostitution and authorities say was active in outfit vice rackets.
The Tournabenes are also related by marriage to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Frank Tournabene was a great uncle to Blagojevich's wife Patty. A spokeswoman for the governor's wife says that while she is aware of her late uncle Frank Tornaebene, she doesn't recall a relative named Al and has no memory of ever meeting such a person.
The I-Team attempted to reach former union boss Leo Caruso about his relationship with pizza l Tornabene. A woman who answered the phone at Caruso's Bridgeport home said he wasn't interested in talking.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie
Friends of mine: Leo Caruso
Federal documents reveal a new name in the upper crust of the Chicago outfit, a man that some mob experts believe may have become the mob's "elder statesman."
Documents filed by federal prosecutors in the case against 14 top mob figures revealed the identity of what some mobwatchers say is the Chicago outfit's current consigliere. The man's name was blotted out -- redacted --from the government filing. But, the ABC7 I-Team reveals the name behind the black mark.
Mafia initiation ceremonies are not open to the public. The only pictures are cheesy Hollywood reenactments. So when Chicago wiseguy Nick Calabrese started deep dishing outfit details to federal authorities a few years ago, one story stood out. It is explained in a government filing known as a proffer, or play-by-play, of the case that federal prosecutors plan to put on against Chicago hoodlums charged in Operation Family Secrets. The proffer states that Nick Calabrese will testify that a number of individuals were "made" (or inducted) with him in 1983, including co-defendant James "Jimmy the Man" Marcello.
During the "making ceremony," each 'inductee' was accompanied by his crew boss or "capo," according to the government. Two men "conducted the ceremony, which included an oath of allegiance to the organization."
One of the concelebrants was the late Joseph "Joey Doves" Aiuppa, then considered the top ranking boss of the mob. Aiuppa's partner in the blood ceremony was blacked out in publicly filed documents. But, the ABC7 I-Team has seen an un-redacted copy of the filing. We can reveal the name under the black mark: Alphonse Tornabene.
Tornabene is now 84 years old. He is known in mob circles as "Al the Pizza Man." A suburban pizza parlor is still in his family. Even though he owns a summer home in William's Bay, Wisconsin, the I-Team found Tournabene at the front door of his suburban Chicago house and asked him whether he was the grand mobster at an outfit initiation.
GOUDIE: "Know about that?"
TORNABENE: "I don't remember."
GOUDIE: "You don't remember?"
TORNABENE: "No."
GOUDIE: "You and Mr. Aiuppa?"
TORNABENE: "I don't remember."
GOUDIE: "You administered the oath of the Outfit according to the feds?"
TORNABENE: "I don't remember."
"Well, it shows significance, one that they took him under their trust to make such a significant ceremony, in making some mob guys," said Robert Fuesel, former federal agent.
Former IRS criminal investigator Bob Fuesel says Tornabene grew up as an outfit bookie but was apparently being groomed for higher office. With the three elder statesman of the outfit all dead, Joey Aiuppa, Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo and Sam "Wings" Carlisi, some federal lawmen believe that the role of consiglieri has fallen on Carlisi's cousin, Al Tornabene, who may have a hard time getting around these days, but is still meeting with known outfit associates.
GOUDIE: "The Crime Commission is saying that you run the mob?"
TORNABENE: (laughs) "I can't even move..."
On several days I-Team surveillance spotted Leo Caruso at Tornabene's home. Seven years ago Caruso was permanently barred from the Laborers' International Union after a federal investigation linked him to the mob's 26th Street crew. A Justice Department report stated that Caruso was "deeply involved with organized crime figures in a substantial manner."
TORNABENE: "He's just a friend..."
GOUDIE: "Mr. Caruso is a friend?"
TORNABENE: "Yes."
The FBI is currently investigating the disappearance of Tornabene's top lieutenant, Anthony "Little" Zizzo. The two men met frequently until last August, when Zizzo mysteriously vanished after leaving his west suburban condo for a meeting on Rush Street.
"Well, these indictments through the US attorney's office, just put everything in disarray, and so do they know what happened to Zizzo. I'm sure somebody does. It's hard for me to believe based upon his reputation that he has not been uncovered and/or is probably deceased," said Fuesel.
"Pizza Al" has no criminal record but comes from a mob family. His late brother Frank was convicted of vote fraud and prostitution and authorities say was active in outfit vice rackets.
The Tournabenes are also related by marriage to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Frank Tournabene was a great uncle to Blagojevich's wife Patty. A spokeswoman for the governor's wife says that while she is aware of her late uncle Frank Tornaebene, she doesn't recall a relative named Al and has no memory of ever meeting such a person.
The I-Team attempted to reach former union boss Leo Caruso about his relationship with pizza l Tornabene. A woman who answered the phone at Caruso's Bridgeport home said he wasn't interested in talking.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
The Shark Attacks
Attorney Joseph "The Shark" Lopez who is representing Frank Calabrese Sr. in the Chicago Family Secrets Mob Trial has agreed to provide updates with his observations regarding the daily court proceedings. In return, I am not allowed to make fun of his pink socks anymore. Well, maybe just one more time.Joseph Lopez:
"Today we finished picking the jury and tomorrow are the opening statements. I am writing mine now it should be about an hour and focus on Nick (Calabrese) and Frank (Calabrese) Jr., the rats in this case. Also, the focus on the murders is that Frank Calabrese Sr., had no particapation in the murders and no one knows why they occurred. Basically, we will tear down the conspiracy theory of the government." jrl
Drinking Wine to Fight the Mafia
A new Italian white wine has become a symbol of the fight against organized crime, incurring the wrath of gangsters from Naples because it was produced from grapes grown on land confiscated from a Mafia godfather.
Campo Libero, which means "Free Field", was presented this month as the first wine made in Lazio region with grapes grown on land taken from an important member of the Camorra -- as the Naples version of the Mafia is known.
The lightly sparkling white wine is made from Trebbiano grapes cultivated by Il Gabbiano ("The Seagull"), a charity that employs people with troubled backgrounds, such as drug addicts and former detainees.
"The fact that we could turn a land bought with illegal earnings into something totally clean is the most important message we could send," said Dario Campagna, chairman of Il Gabbiano.
Campagna, a 50-year-old with silver hair, had no previous expertise in wine-making. At the beginning he had to rely on the knowledge of local farmers and he is modest about Campo Libero's bouquet, calling it a "farmer's wine". But he hopes it will symbolize to consumers the value of fighting organized crime.
Thanks to a law passed in 1996 by the Italian parliament, property belonging to convicted Mafiosi can be used for social purposes. In 2003, Il Gabbiano was given 10 hectares of land that had been abandoned for years.
It once belonged to Francesco Schiavone, head of the most powerful and violent Camorra family of Naples, whose empire spread from Naples to the farmland only 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Rome.
Roberto Saviano, a Camorra expert, wrote in his bestseller "Gomorra" that the Schiavone clan ran illegal drugs and arms but also had semi-legal businesses such as cement production and property developing, a shady empire worth some 5 billion euros ($7 billion).
The land on which Campo Libero grows was confiscated after Schiavone was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. The gangster had already devoted part of this land to growing grapes that were illegally sold on the market.
There is evidence that the rest of the land was used for shadier activities. When Campagna first started digging to build a dirt road inside the property, he found old Italian lira banknotes, shredded and buried less than a meter underground.
The lira was replaced with the euro in Italy in 2001 and the old notes were supposed to be disposed of safely, to avoid their toxic lead content seeping into farmland. But the Camorra is infamous for taking money to get rid of waste illegally.
"I think Schiavone got paid to dispose of the banknotes and simply decided to hide them here," said Campagna. "When we got the land, it was like a rubbish dump. It took us three years and a lot of work to change it."
This year Il Gabbiano produced 10,000 bottles of wine, but it hasn't been an easy job. Campagna, a teetotaler, first asked local farmers for practical help and advice. But every time they made an appointment to start working, the farmers mysteriously failed to show up.
"Finally someone told us that one of Schiavone's relatives lived in the area and the people were afraid he would find out they were cooperating with us," said Campagna.
He called the police and got them to drop by twice a day on patrol. He also asked an agronomist from another town to help. Soon, when local farmers saw nothing bad had happened, they agreed to come and lend the charity workers a hand.
Sabotage
"This was our first real success," recalled Campagna, who has applied for public funding to renovate an old building on the property and adapt it to receive primary school students.
His dream is to create an educational farm to show youngsters how wine, flour and other natural products are made and, at the same time, teach them the value and importance of staying on the right side of the law. But his success appears to have displeased the former owners.
One night last September, just before the first harvest was due, unidentified saboteurs destroyed half the crop by cutting the metal wire supporting the vines, which collapsed under the weight of the ripe fruit.
"We woke up and saw we had lost around 50,000 kilos of grapes out of 140,000," said Campagna. "It was a real blow."
Police are investigating but Campagna has his suspicions. "I think the Camorra are to blame. They want the law letting their assets be confiscated to fail. It's in their interests for this land to stay untouched. It's a sign of power."
That is why Campagna and his workers did not give up and last March replanted the vines from scratch. "It will take years for the vines to grow again, but it's worth it," he said. "The more we fight for this wine, the better it will taste in the end."
Campo Libero, which means "Free Field", was presented this month as the first wine made in Lazio region with grapes grown on land taken from an important member of the Camorra -- as the Naples version of the Mafia is known.
The lightly sparkling white wine is made from Trebbiano grapes cultivated by Il Gabbiano ("The Seagull"), a charity that employs people with troubled backgrounds, such as drug addicts and former detainees.
"The fact that we could turn a land bought with illegal earnings into something totally clean is the most important message we could send," said Dario Campagna, chairman of Il Gabbiano.
Campagna, a 50-year-old with silver hair, had no previous expertise in wine-making. At the beginning he had to rely on the knowledge of local farmers and he is modest about Campo Libero's bouquet, calling it a "farmer's wine". But he hopes it will symbolize to consumers the value of fighting organized crime.
Thanks to a law passed in 1996 by the Italian parliament, property belonging to convicted Mafiosi can be used for social purposes. In 2003, Il Gabbiano was given 10 hectares of land that had been abandoned for years.
It once belonged to Francesco Schiavone, head of the most powerful and violent Camorra family of Naples, whose empire spread from Naples to the farmland only 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Rome.
Roberto Saviano, a Camorra expert, wrote in his bestseller "Gomorra" that the Schiavone clan ran illegal drugs and arms but also had semi-legal businesses such as cement production and property developing, a shady empire worth some 5 billion euros ($7 billion).
The land on which Campo Libero grows was confiscated after Schiavone was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. The gangster had already devoted part of this land to growing grapes that were illegally sold on the market.
There is evidence that the rest of the land was used for shadier activities. When Campagna first started digging to build a dirt road inside the property, he found old Italian lira banknotes, shredded and buried less than a meter underground.
The lira was replaced with the euro in Italy in 2001 and the old notes were supposed to be disposed of safely, to avoid their toxic lead content seeping into farmland. But the Camorra is infamous for taking money to get rid of waste illegally.
"I think Schiavone got paid to dispose of the banknotes and simply decided to hide them here," said Campagna. "When we got the land, it was like a rubbish dump. It took us three years and a lot of work to change it."
This year Il Gabbiano produced 10,000 bottles of wine, but it hasn't been an easy job. Campagna, a teetotaler, first asked local farmers for practical help and advice. But every time they made an appointment to start working, the farmers mysteriously failed to show up.
"Finally someone told us that one of Schiavone's relatives lived in the area and the people were afraid he would find out they were cooperating with us," said Campagna.
He called the police and got them to drop by twice a day on patrol. He also asked an agronomist from another town to help. Soon, when local farmers saw nothing bad had happened, they agreed to come and lend the charity workers a hand.
Sabotage
"This was our first real success," recalled Campagna, who has applied for public funding to renovate an old building on the property and adapt it to receive primary school students.
His dream is to create an educational farm to show youngsters how wine, flour and other natural products are made and, at the same time, teach them the value and importance of staying on the right side of the law. But his success appears to have displeased the former owners.
One night last September, just before the first harvest was due, unidentified saboteurs destroyed half the crop by cutting the metal wire supporting the vines, which collapsed under the weight of the ripe fruit.
"We woke up and saw we had lost around 50,000 kilos of grapes out of 140,000," said Campagna. "It was a real blow."
Police are investigating but Campagna has his suspicions. "I think the Camorra are to blame. They want the law letting their assets be confiscated to fail. It's in their interests for this land to stay untouched. It's a sign of power."
That is why Campagna and his workers did not give up and last March replanted the vines from scratch. "It will take years for the vines to grow again, but it's worth it," he said. "The more we fight for this wine, the better it will taste in the end."
Family Secrets Bomb Threat a Fake
Friends of ours: Frank Calabrese Sr., Joseph "Shorty" LaMantia, Nicholas Calabrese
On the day a historic Chicago mob trial began in federal court, the estranged son of one of the men on trial -- reputed mob hit man Frank Calabrese Sr. -- got the shock of his life on the back porch of his north suburban home: A plastic bag containing a digital clock, wires and what looked like three sticks of dynamite.
The device looked deadly but turned out to be a fake. But the fear it created was all too real as police evacuated homes around the Kenilworth house of Kurt Calabrese and his family.
The device was the latest in a series of anonymous threats Kurt Calabrese has received, from menacing letters to dead rats placed at his home, authorities said.
What's puzzling about the threats is that Kurt Calabrese has nothing to do with the current Family Secrets case involving his father, Frank Calabrese Sr.
Other family members do. Frank Calabrese Sr.'s brother, mob hit man Nicholas Calabrese, will testify against him and describe various mob killings the two allegedly did together.
Frank Calabrese Sr.'s oldest son, Frank Jr., also will testify against his father about secret tape-recordings Frank Jr. made of his dad while they were in prison together.
Kurt Calabrese has nothing to do with his father and had only a marginal role in the 1995 loan sharking case that put Frank Calabrese Sr. in prison for nearly 10 years.
There's no love lost between father and son. Frank Calabrese Sr. allegedly repeatedly physically and verbally abused Kurt over the years, family friends have told the Sun-Times.
What's more, a rift grew between Frank Calabrese Sr. and his brother Nick Calabrese over the way Frank Calabrese Sr. treated his own two sons, such as selling them out during plea negotiations during the 1995 case.
Kurt Calabrese hasn't been subpoenaed to appear at the trial, nor is he cooperating in the case, authorities said.
Frank Calabrese Sr.'s lawyer, Joseph Lopez, said late Tuesday his client had nothing to do with the bomb threat. "My client has the perfect alibi," Lopez said. "He was sitting in a federal courthouse."
Law enforcement sources said there was a note in the bag containing the fake bomb, but it was destroyed when law enforcement obliterated the package with a water cannon.
The package was discovered about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday as Kurt Calabrese headed to his backyard. He was home alone, sources said. As he went down his porch steps, he came upon a large, clear, plastic bag. Inside, he found what appeared to be three sticks of dynamite wrapped at both ends by black tape. In the middle was a digital clock connected to two wires.
There were reports of a strange car with its lights off cruising around the Calabrese neighborhood early Tuesday, but it's unclear what connection, if any, it had to the threat.
Authorities ran a bomb-sniffing dog through the Calabrese home, which is modest for the affluent suburb, and through Calabrese's car but found nothing. Residents were allowed to return to their homes about 3:30 p.m., police said. Neighbors were stunned by the development, with one calling Calabrese and his wife "nice people who keep to themselves."
The bomb scare happened as lawyers in the Family Secrets case made significant progress in selecting a jury Tuesday. Twelve jurors and six alternates could be selected by today, and opening statements could start as early as Thursday. The courtroom was crowed with observers, including Rocky LaMantia, the son of the late mob boss Joseph "Shorty" LaMantia.
Thanks to Steve Warmbir
On the day a historic Chicago mob trial began in federal court, the estranged son of one of the men on trial -- reputed mob hit man Frank Calabrese Sr. -- got the shock of his life on the back porch of his north suburban home: A plastic bag containing a digital clock, wires and what looked like three sticks of dynamite.
The device looked deadly but turned out to be a fake. But the fear it created was all too real as police evacuated homes around the Kenilworth house of Kurt Calabrese and his family.
The device was the latest in a series of anonymous threats Kurt Calabrese has received, from menacing letters to dead rats placed at his home, authorities said.
What's puzzling about the threats is that Kurt Calabrese has nothing to do with the current Family Secrets case involving his father, Frank Calabrese Sr.
Other family members do. Frank Calabrese Sr.'s brother, mob hit man Nicholas Calabrese, will testify against him and describe various mob killings the two allegedly did together.
Frank Calabrese Sr.'s oldest son, Frank Jr., also will testify against his father about secret tape-recordings Frank Jr. made of his dad while they were in prison together.
Kurt Calabrese has nothing to do with his father and had only a marginal role in the 1995 loan sharking case that put Frank Calabrese Sr. in prison for nearly 10 years.
There's no love lost between father and son. Frank Calabrese Sr. allegedly repeatedly physically and verbally abused Kurt over the years, family friends have told the Sun-Times.
What's more, a rift grew between Frank Calabrese Sr. and his brother Nick Calabrese over the way Frank Calabrese Sr. treated his own two sons, such as selling them out during plea negotiations during the 1995 case.
Kurt Calabrese hasn't been subpoenaed to appear at the trial, nor is he cooperating in the case, authorities said.
Frank Calabrese Sr.'s lawyer, Joseph Lopez, said late Tuesday his client had nothing to do with the bomb threat. "My client has the perfect alibi," Lopez said. "He was sitting in a federal courthouse."
Law enforcement sources said there was a note in the bag containing the fake bomb, but it was destroyed when law enforcement obliterated the package with a water cannon.
The package was discovered about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday as Kurt Calabrese headed to his backyard. He was home alone, sources said. As he went down his porch steps, he came upon a large, clear, plastic bag. Inside, he found what appeared to be three sticks of dynamite wrapped at both ends by black tape. In the middle was a digital clock connected to two wires.
There were reports of a strange car with its lights off cruising around the Calabrese neighborhood early Tuesday, but it's unclear what connection, if any, it had to the threat.
Authorities ran a bomb-sniffing dog through the Calabrese home, which is modest for the affluent suburb, and through Calabrese's car but found nothing. Residents were allowed to return to their homes about 3:30 p.m., police said. Neighbors were stunned by the development, with one calling Calabrese and his wife "nice people who keep to themselves."
The bomb scare happened as lawyers in the Family Secrets case made significant progress in selecting a jury Tuesday. Twelve jurors and six alternates could be selected by today, and opening statements could start as early as Thursday. The courtroom was crowed with observers, including Rocky LaMantia, the son of the late mob boss Joseph "Shorty" LaMantia.
Thanks to Steve Warmbir
Inside the Mind of Mobster Frank Cullotta
Friends of ours: Frank Cullotta, Joe Cullotta, Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, Joey "The Clown" Lombardo
Friends of mine: Jimmy Miraglia, John "Billy" McCarthy
In the high profile mob trial that began Tuesday in Chicago, one witness for the government is expected to be Frank Cullotta. For more than 25 years, Cullotta was part of the Chicago mob.
Unit 5's Carol Marin got a rare glimpse into the mind of a mobster. Her report is presented here verbatim:
The story of Frank Cullotta is a disturbing and twisted tale. The son of a gangster, he became one himself. He befriended many of the Outfit's top leaders. He stole. He beat people. And he killed twice -- all with little thought of the consequences of his actions.
Cullotta: "There were times that I muscled people."
Frank Cullotta loved the life of the mob. He loved the scores.
Marin: "How many burglaries would you estimate?"
Cullotta: "Minimum 300. Robberies, maybe 200."
He loved the thrills.
Marin: "Your two killings, how were they done?"
Cullotta: "One was a car explosion, and the other was a guy getting shot in the head."
Cullotta shot his victim in the side, back and front of the head.
Marin: "So, you shot him three times?"
Cullotta: "About 10 times."
Cullotta: "I come from a good family, loving mother, loving father. But my father was a shady guy."
Joe Cullotta was a thief and wheelman for the mob, who died in a high speed chase with police in hot pursuit.
Frank Cullotta: "I just felt like he was the model I wanted to follow after."
Over the years, Frank Cullotta graduated from small time thug to big time mobster, aided by his friendship with Tony "The Ant" Spilotro.
Cullotta: "We met each other on Grand Avenue in Chicago ... we became friends."
But Cullotta was soon to learn a lesson about friendship and the mob -- a lesson that years later helped him make the biggest decision of his life.
Jimmy Miraglia and John "Billy" McCarthy were members of Cullotta's burglary crew. When they carried out an unauthorized hit, they were tortured. The M&M boys fell victim to mob justice. McCarthy was the first to die.
Cullotta: "They stuck his head in a vice and start turning the vice. They didn't think the eyeball was going to pop out or whatever, and his eyeball popped out. And then he gave up Jimmy's name. Then they just cut his throat."
Cullotta lead McCarthy and then Miraglia to their deaths.
Cullotta: "It bothered me for a long time. But you know, you live in that world and you say, 'You know, if I don't give 'em up ... they are going to whack me."
When we met Cullotta two weeks ago in Las Vegas, we asked how the mob justifies killing another person.
Cullotta: "First of all you are told this guy could hurt you ... he's no good so you kill 'em."
Marin: "What if you know them or their family?"
Cullotta: "You just justify it, you are doing his family a favor by getting rid of this scumbag."
Marin: "Do you think about it? Does it stay with you?"
Cullotta: "You just forget about it."
In 1979, Cullotta moved to Vegas. He and his crew, the Hole in the Wall gang, stole with abandon under the protection of his pal, Tony Spilotro.
Cullotta: "He was a good friend. For many years, he was a good friend."
But in 1982, Cullotta says, he learned Spilotro was plotting to have him killed. He quit the mob and became a government witness against his former friends. Today, it's a pen and not a pistol you will find in Cullotta's hand. In Las Vegas, he was signing autographs in a new book about his life.
Rick Halprin: "It's just a cheap, trashy book full of stories, which he knows are not true."
Rick Halprin is the lawyer for Joey "The Clown" Lombardo. Cullotta says he will testify in the "Family Secrets" trial that Lombardo has long been a leader in the outfit.
Halprin: "Frank Cullotta is a two-bit burglar who has been telling the same story since 1982."
Cullotta: "I'm old now."
A grandfather, today he is cashing in on his notoriety. He's served as a technical advisor to the mob movie "Casino," and hopes the book will spawn a movie deal.
Marin: "But you are a killer, a burglar, a thug -- I mean you robbed big people and little people, didn't you?"
Cullotta: "I was, I was ... I probably couldn't kill a fly now, really. I've changed ... They tried to kill me ... I wasn't going to become part of the list of guys that were all murdered by their friends. I was a little smarter than them."
Thanks to Carol Marin
Friends of mine: Jimmy Miraglia, John "Billy" McCarthy
In the high profile mob trial that began Tuesday in Chicago, one witness for the government is expected to be Frank Cullotta. For more than 25 years, Cullotta was part of the Chicago mob.
Unit 5's Carol Marin got a rare glimpse into the mind of a mobster. Her report is presented here verbatim:
The story of Frank Cullotta is a disturbing and twisted tale. The son of a gangster, he became one himself. He befriended many of the Outfit's top leaders. He stole. He beat people. And he killed twice -- all with little thought of the consequences of his actions.Cullotta: "There were times that I muscled people."
Frank Cullotta loved the life of the mob. He loved the scores.
Marin: "How many burglaries would you estimate?"
Cullotta: "Minimum 300. Robberies, maybe 200."
He loved the thrills.
Marin: "Your two killings, how were they done?"
Cullotta: "One was a car explosion, and the other was a guy getting shot in the head."
Cullotta shot his victim in the side, back and front of the head.
Marin: "So, you shot him three times?"
Cullotta: "About 10 times."
Cullotta: "I come from a good family, loving mother, loving father. But my father was a shady guy."
Joe Cullotta was a thief and wheelman for the mob, who died in a high speed chase with police in hot pursuit.
Frank Cullotta: "I just felt like he was the model I wanted to follow after."
Over the years, Frank Cullotta graduated from small time thug to big time mobster, aided by his friendship with Tony "The Ant" Spilotro.
Cullotta: "We met each other on Grand Avenue in Chicago ... we became friends."
But Cullotta was soon to learn a lesson about friendship and the mob -- a lesson that years later helped him make the biggest decision of his life.
Jimmy Miraglia and John "Billy" McCarthy were members of Cullotta's burglary crew. When they carried out an unauthorized hit, they were tortured. The M&M boys fell victim to mob justice. McCarthy was the first to die.
Cullotta: "They stuck his head in a vice and start turning the vice. They didn't think the eyeball was going to pop out or whatever, and his eyeball popped out. And then he gave up Jimmy's name. Then they just cut his throat."
Cullotta lead McCarthy and then Miraglia to their deaths.
Cullotta: "It bothered me for a long time. But you know, you live in that world and you say, 'You know, if I don't give 'em up ... they are going to whack me."
When we met Cullotta two weeks ago in Las Vegas, we asked how the mob justifies killing another person.
Cullotta: "First of all you are told this guy could hurt you ... he's no good so you kill 'em."
Marin: "What if you know them or their family?"
Cullotta: "You just justify it, you are doing his family a favor by getting rid of this scumbag."
Marin: "Do you think about it? Does it stay with you?"
Cullotta: "You just forget about it."
In 1979, Cullotta moved to Vegas. He and his crew, the Hole in the Wall gang, stole with abandon under the protection of his pal, Tony Spilotro.
Cullotta: "He was a good friend. For many years, he was a good friend."
But in 1982, Cullotta says, he learned Spilotro was plotting to have him killed. He quit the mob and became a government witness against his former friends. Today, it's a pen and not a pistol you will find in Cullotta's hand. In Las Vegas, he was signing autographs in a new book about his life.
Rick Halprin: "It's just a cheap, trashy book full of stories, which he knows are not true."
Rick Halprin is the lawyer for Joey "The Clown" Lombardo. Cullotta says he will testify in the "Family Secrets" trial that Lombardo has long been a leader in the outfit.
Halprin: "Frank Cullotta is a two-bit burglar who has been telling the same story since 1982."
Cullotta: "I'm old now."
A grandfather, today he is cashing in on his notoriety. He's served as a technical advisor to the mob movie "Casino," and hopes the book will spawn a movie deal.
Marin: "But you are a killer, a burglar, a thug -- I mean you robbed big people and little people, didn't you?"
Cullotta: "I was, I was ... I probably couldn't kill a fly now, really. I've changed ... They tried to kill me ... I wasn't going to become part of the list of guys that were all murdered by their friends. I was a little smarter than them."
Thanks to Carol Marin
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Family Secrets Mob Trial Has Bomb Scare
Friends of ours: Frank Calabrese Sr., Ernest Rocco Infelice, Junior Gotti, Anthony Doyle, Nicholas Ferriola, 32, Joseph Venezia, 71, Joey "the Clown" Lombardo, James Marcello, Paul "the Indian" Schiro
A fake explosive device was found outside a suburban home owned by a son of a defendant in the Family Secrets mob conspiracy trial hours after jury selection began Tuesday, prompting a federal investigation, authorities said.
Investigators said a "hoax device" was left on the back porch of a house in Kenilworth and was discovered about 1 p.m.
A defense lawyer in the case, Joseph Lopez, said the object was found at the home of a son of his client, reputed mob boss Frank Calabrese Sr., on trial for racketeering conspiracy in connection with more than a dozen mob slayings. Public records show the home belongs to one of Calabrese's sons, Kurt, but not the son who is expected to testify when a jury starts hearing evidence in the case. The son who recorded conversations with his father and is expected to take the witness stand is Frank Calabrese Jr.
Investigators said the device was not a working explosive. It was too early to know whether it was a prank or a message, but the authorities are concerned because of its timing as jury selection began in the landmark trial.
Lopez said he was worried that opening statements, which could begin as soon as Thursday, might have to be delayed. "It's shocking, and it shouldn't have happened," Lopez said. "My client loves his children."
Earlier Tuesday, at least eight people had been chosen so far as potential anonymous jurors as the trial began in the much-anticipated mob conspiracy case. U.S. District Judge James Zagel, sorting through a large pool called for jury duty, dismissed some, and lawyers used peremptory challenges to remove others.
Zagel asked potential jurors general questions about their occupations, whether they have any connections to law enforcement and if they think they could be fair. He didn't ask their names, ages or other identifying information—such as where they live.
In a rare move, Zagel decided weeks ago to seat an anonymous jury. Although the jurors will not be shielded visually by a partition, the five men accused of racketeering conspiracy for their alleged roles in controlling the Chicago Outfit will know who is deciding their fates only by court-assigned numbers.
Today, 24 possible jurors were questioned in sessions lasting more than three hours. Several were removed for cause, including a medical physicist who performs cancer treatments and a man who said he has difficulty with English. The process will continue with possible jurors led into the courtroom for questioning in groups of about 25 until 18 are picked. Twelve will be permanent jurors, the rest alternates.
Zagel agreed an anonymous jury was the best course after the prosecution filed a sealed motion citing the safety of jurors for keeping their identities secret, even from defense lawyers in the case, lawyers said.
Experts say seating an anonymous jury is a controversial practice. Judges must weigh juror safety against a defendant's right to an impartial panel. The risk is that the need for their anonymity could leave jurors thinking the defendants must be dangerous. Lawyers in the Family Secrets case said they strongly objected for just that reason.
"Now, of course, the jury can infer that these must be pretty nefarious people," said Ralph Meczyk, the lawyer for Anthony Doyle, a defendant in the case. "That puts in their mind the belief that we're dealing with very, very dangerous defendants."
In seeking to seat anonymous juries, prosecutors typically argue that panel members could be at risk, or at least that the nature of a case could leave jurors apprehensive if the defendants know who they are and where they live.
This is believed to be the first use of an anonymous jury in Chicago's federal court in 15 years, but there is precedent for the move here and across the country, particularly in organized-crime prosecutions.
The last time it was used here was at the trial of mobster Ernest Rocco Infelice, who was convicted in 1992 of racketeering and murder conspiracy.
Recently, an anonymous jury heard a Ku Klux Klan trial in Mississippi, and another decided the fate of reputed mobster John Gotti Jr. last year in New York.
Meanwhile, two more defendants from an original group of 14 pleaded guilty Monday in the Family Secrets case. Nicholas Ferriola, 32, admitted he was part of the criminal conspiracy, while Joseph Venezia, 71, pleaded guilty to being part of an illegal gambling operation. Left to stand trial in the conspiracy that allegedly included 18 slayings are reputed mob bosses Joey "the Clown" Lombardo, James Marcello and Frank Calabrese Sr. as well as Paul "the Indian" Schiro and Doyle, a former Chicago police officer.
The 6th Amendment guarantees all defendants the right to "a speedy and public trial." But as some organized-crime and terrorism defendants have learned, that doesn't necessarily include the right to know who is sitting in judgment on the jury.
Judges can seat anonymous juries for safety reasons and to prevent juror tampering, though the move usually draws cries of unfairness from the defense.
"From the defense side, you worry that the signal it sends is: We've got to be really careful here. These are dangerous individuals," said Andrew Leipold, a law professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "That's not the mind-set you want jurors to start a case with."
But the judge could have taken into account, Leipold said, that Lombardo, for example, is accused of killing a government witness—an allegation that, if true, shows a willingness to use violence to subvert the justice system. He is blamed for the 1974 killing of Bensenville businessman Daniel Seifert, who was scheduled to testify against Lombardo in a Teamsters pension-fraud trial.
For judges, Leipold said, "it's difficult in that so much of this is predictions. What's the likelihood the jury will be tampered with? How likely is it that jury will be biased against the defense?"
Judges also must factor in the right of the public and media to an open proceeding, Leipold said. In the George Ryan corruption trial last year, for example, reporters at the Tribune used publicly available juror information to discover that two jurors had misled the court about their criminal backgrounds. A federal judge dismissed the jurors as a result.
In the Family Secrets case, it's unclear exactly what evidence persuaded Zagel to keep the jury anonymous. Prosecutors made their arguments in a Feb. 16 motion that was filed under seal. But anonymous juries are more common when defendants are allegedly part of a large criminal organization, with members outside the courtroom who have a strong interest in the trial's outcome.
The process to select the Family Secrets jury began earlier this year when prospective jurors in a special pool had their backgrounds checked and were sent questionnaires that asked for in-depth personal information. In addition to personal data, the jurors were asked dozens of questions about their opinions and perceptions of the justice system, the FBI and organized crime.
Jurors were asked what they read and listen to as well as what TV shows they might watch that touch on the mob. One prospective juror listed "The Simpsons," apparently a tongue-in-cheek reference to the character "Fat Tony" and his band of hoodlums from fictional Springfield's underworld.
Also among the questions was whether the prospective juror had ever written to the editor of a newspaper, and on what topic.
Some of the defense attorneys in the case said because of the detailed questionnaire, they may wind up knowing a bit more about each juror than they would have otherwise. Still, it's a handicap not to know such basics as a person's name or where they live.
Marcello's lawyer, Marc Martin, said he, too, objected to the anonymous panel. He noted he has practiced law for 20 years and has never heard of a case of jury tampering in Chicago's federal court.
Openness in government is important, and jury tampering—in real life, as opposed to Hollywood films—is exceedingly rare, agreed Shari Seidman Diamond, law professor at Northwestern University. "I'm not persuaded that [anonymous juries] are required or that they're useful or that they contribute to justice," Diamond said. "We prefer to have the jury be a source of light, not shadow."
But Lombardo's lawyer, Rick Halprin, said he's sure the judge has plenty of reasons to want the jurors' identities withheld in such a high-profile case. "Frankly, I think the gravest danger the judge perceives are crank phone calls and media scrutiny," Halprin said. "He doesn't want the same kind of fiasco they had in the Ryan trial."
Thanks to Jeff Coen and Michael Higgins
A fake explosive device was found outside a suburban home owned by a son of a defendant in the Family Secrets mob conspiracy trial hours after jury selection began Tuesday, prompting a federal investigation, authorities said.
Investigators said a "hoax device" was left on the back porch of a house in Kenilworth and was discovered about 1 p.m.
A defense lawyer in the case, Joseph Lopez, said the object was found at the home of a son of his client, reputed mob boss Frank Calabrese Sr., on trial for racketeering conspiracy in connection with more than a dozen mob slayings. Public records show the home belongs to one of Calabrese's sons, Kurt, but not the son who is expected to testify when a jury starts hearing evidence in the case. The son who recorded conversations with his father and is expected to take the witness stand is Frank Calabrese Jr.
Investigators said the device was not a working explosive. It was too early to know whether it was a prank or a message, but the authorities are concerned because of its timing as jury selection began in the landmark trial.
Lopez said he was worried that opening statements, which could begin as soon as Thursday, might have to be delayed. "It's shocking, and it shouldn't have happened," Lopez said. "My client loves his children."
Earlier Tuesday, at least eight people had been chosen so far as potential anonymous jurors as the trial began in the much-anticipated mob conspiracy case. U.S. District Judge James Zagel, sorting through a large pool called for jury duty, dismissed some, and lawyers used peremptory challenges to remove others.
Zagel asked potential jurors general questions about their occupations, whether they have any connections to law enforcement and if they think they could be fair. He didn't ask their names, ages or other identifying information—such as where they live.
In a rare move, Zagel decided weeks ago to seat an anonymous jury. Although the jurors will not be shielded visually by a partition, the five men accused of racketeering conspiracy for their alleged roles in controlling the Chicago Outfit will know who is deciding their fates only by court-assigned numbers.
Today, 24 possible jurors were questioned in sessions lasting more than three hours. Several were removed for cause, including a medical physicist who performs cancer treatments and a man who said he has difficulty with English. The process will continue with possible jurors led into the courtroom for questioning in groups of about 25 until 18 are picked. Twelve will be permanent jurors, the rest alternates.
Zagel agreed an anonymous jury was the best course after the prosecution filed a sealed motion citing the safety of jurors for keeping their identities secret, even from defense lawyers in the case, lawyers said.
Experts say seating an anonymous jury is a controversial practice. Judges must weigh juror safety against a defendant's right to an impartial panel. The risk is that the need for their anonymity could leave jurors thinking the defendants must be dangerous. Lawyers in the Family Secrets case said they strongly objected for just that reason.
"Now, of course, the jury can infer that these must be pretty nefarious people," said Ralph Meczyk, the lawyer for Anthony Doyle, a defendant in the case. "That puts in their mind the belief that we're dealing with very, very dangerous defendants."
In seeking to seat anonymous juries, prosecutors typically argue that panel members could be at risk, or at least that the nature of a case could leave jurors apprehensive if the defendants know who they are and where they live.
This is believed to be the first use of an anonymous jury in Chicago's federal court in 15 years, but there is precedent for the move here and across the country, particularly in organized-crime prosecutions.
The last time it was used here was at the trial of mobster Ernest Rocco Infelice, who was convicted in 1992 of racketeering and murder conspiracy.
Recently, an anonymous jury heard a Ku Klux Klan trial in Mississippi, and another decided the fate of reputed mobster John Gotti Jr. last year in New York.
Meanwhile, two more defendants from an original group of 14 pleaded guilty Monday in the Family Secrets case. Nicholas Ferriola, 32, admitted he was part of the criminal conspiracy, while Joseph Venezia, 71, pleaded guilty to being part of an illegal gambling operation. Left to stand trial in the conspiracy that allegedly included 18 slayings are reputed mob bosses Joey "the Clown" Lombardo, James Marcello and Frank Calabrese Sr. as well as Paul "the Indian" Schiro and Doyle, a former Chicago police officer.
The 6th Amendment guarantees all defendants the right to "a speedy and public trial." But as some organized-crime and terrorism defendants have learned, that doesn't necessarily include the right to know who is sitting in judgment on the jury.
Judges can seat anonymous juries for safety reasons and to prevent juror tampering, though the move usually draws cries of unfairness from the defense.
"From the defense side, you worry that the signal it sends is: We've got to be really careful here. These are dangerous individuals," said Andrew Leipold, a law professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "That's not the mind-set you want jurors to start a case with."
But the judge could have taken into account, Leipold said, that Lombardo, for example, is accused of killing a government witness—an allegation that, if true, shows a willingness to use violence to subvert the justice system. He is blamed for the 1974 killing of Bensenville businessman Daniel Seifert, who was scheduled to testify against Lombardo in a Teamsters pension-fraud trial.
For judges, Leipold said, "it's difficult in that so much of this is predictions. What's the likelihood the jury will be tampered with? How likely is it that jury will be biased against the defense?"
Judges also must factor in the right of the public and media to an open proceeding, Leipold said. In the George Ryan corruption trial last year, for example, reporters at the Tribune used publicly available juror information to discover that two jurors had misled the court about their criminal backgrounds. A federal judge dismissed the jurors as a result.
In the Family Secrets case, it's unclear exactly what evidence persuaded Zagel to keep the jury anonymous. Prosecutors made their arguments in a Feb. 16 motion that was filed under seal. But anonymous juries are more common when defendants are allegedly part of a large criminal organization, with members outside the courtroom who have a strong interest in the trial's outcome.
The process to select the Family Secrets jury began earlier this year when prospective jurors in a special pool had their backgrounds checked and were sent questionnaires that asked for in-depth personal information. In addition to personal data, the jurors were asked dozens of questions about their opinions and perceptions of the justice system, the FBI and organized crime.
Jurors were asked what they read and listen to as well as what TV shows they might watch that touch on the mob. One prospective juror listed "The Simpsons," apparently a tongue-in-cheek reference to the character "Fat Tony" and his band of hoodlums from fictional Springfield's underworld.
Also among the questions was whether the prospective juror had ever written to the editor of a newspaper, and on what topic.
Some of the defense attorneys in the case said because of the detailed questionnaire, they may wind up knowing a bit more about each juror than they would have otherwise. Still, it's a handicap not to know such basics as a person's name or where they live.
Marcello's lawyer, Marc Martin, said he, too, objected to the anonymous panel. He noted he has practiced law for 20 years and has never heard of a case of jury tampering in Chicago's federal court.
Openness in government is important, and jury tampering—in real life, as opposed to Hollywood films—is exceedingly rare, agreed Shari Seidman Diamond, law professor at Northwestern University. "I'm not persuaded that [anonymous juries] are required or that they're useful or that they contribute to justice," Diamond said. "We prefer to have the jury be a source of light, not shadow."
But Lombardo's lawyer, Rick Halprin, said he's sure the judge has plenty of reasons to want the jurors' identities withheld in such a high-profile case. "Frankly, I think the gravest danger the judge perceives are crank phone calls and media scrutiny," Halprin said. "He doesn't want the same kind of fiasco they had in the Ryan trial."
Thanks to Jeff Coen and Michael Higgins
Family Secrets Trial Kicks Off
Friends of ours: Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, James Marcello, Frank Calabrese Sr., Paul Schiro, Anthony Doyle, Nicholas Calabrese, Tony "the Ant" Spilotro, Michael Marcello, Frank "The German" Schweihs, Joseph Venezia, Nicholas Ferriola,
Friends of mine: William Hanhardt, John Ambrose
It's a homecoming of sorts for reputed mob boss Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo.
Lombardo was convicted in Chicago's skyscraper federal courthouse in 1982 of conspiring with then International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Roy Lee Williams to bribe then Sen. Howard Cannon, D-Nev.
After emerging from a decade in prison, Lombardo took out a newspaper ad declaring he was not a "made guy" and vowing to steer clear of the mob. But the 78-year-old Lombardo was back at the courthouse Tuesday as jury selection was to get under way in a trial experts say will take a bite out of the city's entrenched organized crime family -- The Chicago Outfit.
"This will hurt the mob," says Gus Russo, author of "The Outfit," and other books about organized crime. "But it won't end it."
"They always find a way to redefine themselves and bounce back," says Russo. "It probably won't be as strong in the short run."
Charged with a racketeering conspiracy that included at least 18 murders are Lombardo, James Marcello, 65; Frank Calabrese Sr., 70; Paul Schiro, 69; and Anthony Doyle, 62.
Lombardo, Marcello and Calabrese are alleged to be members of the Outfit's hierarchy and are in federal custody. Schiro was convicted five years ago of taking part in a jewel theft ring run by the Chicago police department's former chief of detectives, William Hanhardt. Doyle is a former Chicago police officer.
All five men have pleaded not guilty.
By midmorning Tuesday, jury selection had not yet started as attorneys consulted with Judge James B. Zagel. Zagel has ordered an anonymous jury with lawyers having only limited information about its members.
Defense attorneys had objected, arguing it could make jurors think the defendants must be dangerous. "Traditionally, the public has a right to know. So in the interest of the public, we believe the public had a right to know who the jurors were," Joseph Lopez, an attorney for Frank Calabrese Sr., said as he entered the federal courthouse Tuesday morning. "It would be nice if they did all juries anonymous, then maybe we wouldn't have this situation," he said.
The star witness is expected to be Calabrese's brother, Nicholas Calabrese, who has pleaded guilty to the charges and is being closely guarded by federal lawmen to prevent mobsters from getting anywhere near him.
Nicholas Calabrese says he has been a "made guy" in the Outfit for decades and knows who is responsible for many of the mob murders.
Among those killed was Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, once the Chicago mob's man in Las Vegas and the inspiration for Joe Pesci's character in the movie "Casino."
Spilotro and his brother Michael were found beaten to death and buried in an Indiana cornfield, victims of an internecine feud inside the mob.
Plainly someone is worried about what Nicholas Calabrese might say.
A federal marshal, John T. Ambrose, is charged with leaking information about Nicholas Calabrese's whereabouts while in Chicago to testify before a federal grand jury. Ambrose has pleaded not guilty.
The number of defendants in the case has dwindled steadily since the first day the indictment was unsealed and one of those charged was found dead of natural causes in his suburban hotel room.
Last week, Marcello's brother, Michael, pleaded guilty along with two other men. And Zagel severed alleged mob extortionist Frank "The German" Schweihs from the trial for health reasons.
On Monday, two other defendants, Joseph Venezia and Nicholas Ferriola, pleaded guilty to gambling and other charges, bringing the number of those due to go on trial to five.
Thanks to Mike Robinson
Friends of mine: William Hanhardt, John Ambrose
It's a homecoming of sorts for reputed mob boss Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo.
Lombardo was convicted in Chicago's skyscraper federal courthouse in 1982 of conspiring with then International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Roy Lee Williams to bribe then Sen. Howard Cannon, D-Nev.After emerging from a decade in prison, Lombardo took out a newspaper ad declaring he was not a "made guy" and vowing to steer clear of the mob. But the 78-year-old Lombardo was back at the courthouse Tuesday as jury selection was to get under way in a trial experts say will take a bite out of the city's entrenched organized crime family -- The Chicago Outfit.
"This will hurt the mob," says Gus Russo, author of "The Outfit," and other books about organized crime. "But it won't end it."
"They always find a way to redefine themselves and bounce back," says Russo. "It probably won't be as strong in the short run."
Charged with a racketeering conspiracy that included at least 18 murders are Lombardo, James Marcello, 65; Frank Calabrese Sr., 70; Paul Schiro, 69; and Anthony Doyle, 62.
Lombardo, Marcello and Calabrese are alleged to be members of the Outfit's hierarchy and are in federal custody. Schiro was convicted five years ago of taking part in a jewel theft ring run by the Chicago police department's former chief of detectives, William Hanhardt. Doyle is a former Chicago police officer.
All five men have pleaded not guilty.
By midmorning Tuesday, jury selection had not yet started as attorneys consulted with Judge James B. Zagel. Zagel has ordered an anonymous jury with lawyers having only limited information about its members.
Defense attorneys had objected, arguing it could make jurors think the defendants must be dangerous. "Traditionally, the public has a right to know. So in the interest of the public, we believe the public had a right to know who the jurors were," Joseph Lopez, an attorney for Frank Calabrese Sr., said as he entered the federal courthouse Tuesday morning. "It would be nice if they did all juries anonymous, then maybe we wouldn't have this situation," he said.
The star witness is expected to be Calabrese's brother, Nicholas Calabrese, who has pleaded guilty to the charges and is being closely guarded by federal lawmen to prevent mobsters from getting anywhere near him.
Nicholas Calabrese says he has been a "made guy" in the Outfit for decades and knows who is responsible for many of the mob murders.
Among those killed was Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, once the Chicago mob's man in Las Vegas and the inspiration for Joe Pesci's character in the movie "Casino."
Spilotro and his brother Michael were found beaten to death and buried in an Indiana cornfield, victims of an internecine feud inside the mob.
Plainly someone is worried about what Nicholas Calabrese might say.
A federal marshal, John T. Ambrose, is charged with leaking information about Nicholas Calabrese's whereabouts while in Chicago to testify before a federal grand jury. Ambrose has pleaded not guilty.
The number of defendants in the case has dwindled steadily since the first day the indictment was unsealed and one of those charged was found dead of natural causes in his suburban hotel room.
Last week, Marcello's brother, Michael, pleaded guilty along with two other men. And Zagel severed alleged mob extortionist Frank "The German" Schweihs from the trial for health reasons.
On Monday, two other defendants, Joseph Venezia and Nicholas Ferriola, pleaded guilty to gambling and other charges, bringing the number of those due to go on trial to five.
Thanks to Mike Robinson
Saluting the Best Mafiosa Court Room Antics
Friends of ours: Frank "the German" Schweihs, Sam “Mad Sam” DeStefano, Vincent “The Chin” Gigante, John Gotti, Joey “Doves” Aiuppa, Jackie “The Lackey” Cerone, Tony "the Ant" Spilotro, Joey "The Clown" Lombardo
Friends of mine: Judge Thomas Maloney
“The Sopranos” might have ended, but the first episode of Chicago’s latest mob drama begins Tuesday.
How fitting that the official festivities will take place in the feds’ ceremonial courtroom. The Outfit is big on ceremony, beginning with the oath that “made” guys take. They also take an oath of Omerta, promising never to talk about family secrets to the big bad wolf with the menacing initials: FBI. But how many of us can keep a good secret for life? So, between the gangsters who are desirous of saving their own hides and those who have or will be pleading guilty to high crimes and non-misdemeanors, only five wiseguys are expected to actually be sitting on their ceremonial behinds when jury selection begins Tuesday.
The lawyers for La Cosa Nostra have some serious work ahead of them in the next four or five months. I’m talking about the new, outlandish stunts the hoods will need if they expect to get a mention in the Mob’s Greatest Trial Antics.
It appeared as though Frank “The German” Schweihs might offer the first memorable moment. The German, who was one of the Outfit’s most feared and proficient hitmen, according to federal authorities, is said to be terminally ill.
There was a time when Schweihs would have come to trial with the rest of them, his skin pasty white and IV tubes plugged into his veins, a sad and pathetic character worthy of great sympathy from the jury. But now, Schweihs has been “severed” from the trial, which seems to be an apt legal description for somebody who federal authorities say cut short a few dozen lives himself.
Judge James Zagel didn’t want Schweihs dying one day during the case and creating a mistrial for the others, so he allowed him time to heal … a consideration that Mr. Schweihs himself allegedly would rarely grant those who begged him for mercy.
Schweihs could have followed the script written by Sam “Mad Sam” DeStefano back in the ’60s. The vicious mob enforcer would feign illness so he had to be wheeled into court on a gurney while wearing pajamas. Once, Mad Sam used a bullhorn in the courtroom so he was assured of being louder than prosecutors.
The crafty New York mafia boss Vincent “The Chin” Gigante use to wear his bathrobe to court, mumble to himself and claim God was his lawyer in an effort to persuade jurors that he was deranged. It worked for many years until The Chin was eventually convicted. In 2003, two years before he died in prison, Gigante admitted it had all been an act.
The best courtroom performance by a mob lawyer was in 1986 by Bruce Cutler, who was representing John Gotti at the time. Cutler took the thick federal indictment against Gotti and stuffed it in a courtroom wastebasket. “It’s garbage,” Cutler shouted at prosecutors. “That’s where it belongs.”
Sickness and sympathy has been a favorite play by hoodlums for decades. When Chicago Outfit boss Joey “Doves” Aiuppa was on trial in Kansas City 20 years ago, Aiuppa hunched over a walker coming and going from court. Nevertheless, he managed to get in and out of a taxi and his hotel just fine.
During that same trial, Aiuppa’s vice consigliore Jackie “The Lackey” Cerone delivered a veiled threat to a Chicago news reporter while they were riding on a crowded elevator.
“How’s the wife and that new baby of yours?” Cerone asked the newsman, whose coverage he must have under appreciated. The question stunned the reporter, who certainly never had spoken to Cerone about his wife or his new daughter, Caylen Goudie.
Once, in 1983, I asked the infamous Outfit tough-guy Tony “The Ant” Spilotro a question that now seems prophetic.
“Tony, are you concerned for your personal safety?” I asked The Ant as he bailed out of Cook County jail.
Spilotro just sneered at me … a far different look than he must have displayed three years later when he and his brother were clubbed and buried alive in an Indiana cornfield.
When defrocked Cook County Judge Thomas Maloney was on trial for taking bribes to fix murder cases, the mob-connected Maloney tried his best every day to avoid TV crews staked out in front of the federal building.
Once, Maloney thought he had outsmarted news jockeys by sneaking into the federal building basement and walking up a ramp from the underground parking garage.
Not to be tricked, camera crews were waiting atop the ramp when Maloney strutted up dressed in a black trench coat and fedora. He began running across Adams Street in the Loop, pursued by TV crews until he tripped and did a belly flop onto the asphalt, staggering to his feet with a mouthful of gravel.
The finest out-of-court routine was put on by Joey “The Clown” Lombardo, who will go on trial again Tuesday. Years ago when he was free on bond, The Clown enjoyed living up to his nickname by shielding his face from photographers using a newspaper with cut-out eyeholes.
While he was a fugitive, Lombardo wrote a letter to Judge Zagel, who is hearing his case, stating that he was unfairly targeted by prosecutors who could convict “a hamburger” in federal court.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie
Friends of mine: Judge Thomas Maloney
“The Sopranos” might have ended, but the first episode of Chicago’s latest mob drama begins Tuesday.
How fitting that the official festivities will take place in the feds’ ceremonial courtroom. The Outfit is big on ceremony, beginning with the oath that “made” guys take. They also take an oath of Omerta, promising never to talk about family secrets to the big bad wolf with the menacing initials: FBI. But how many of us can keep a good secret for life? So, between the gangsters who are desirous of saving their own hides and those who have or will be pleading guilty to high crimes and non-misdemeanors, only five wiseguys are expected to actually be sitting on their ceremonial behinds when jury selection begins Tuesday.
The lawyers for La Cosa Nostra have some serious work ahead of them in the next four or five months. I’m talking about the new, outlandish stunts the hoods will need if they expect to get a mention in the Mob’s Greatest Trial Antics.
It appeared as though Frank “The German” Schweihs might offer the first memorable moment. The German, who was one of the Outfit’s most feared and proficient hitmen, according to federal authorities, is said to be terminally ill.
There was a time when Schweihs would have come to trial with the rest of them, his skin pasty white and IV tubes plugged into his veins, a sad and pathetic character worthy of great sympathy from the jury. But now, Schweihs has been “severed” from the trial, which seems to be an apt legal description for somebody who federal authorities say cut short a few dozen lives himself.
Judge James Zagel didn’t want Schweihs dying one day during the case and creating a mistrial for the others, so he allowed him time to heal … a consideration that Mr. Schweihs himself allegedly would rarely grant those who begged him for mercy.
Schweihs could have followed the script written by Sam “Mad Sam” DeStefano back in the ’60s. The vicious mob enforcer would feign illness so he had to be wheeled into court on a gurney while wearing pajamas. Once, Mad Sam used a bullhorn in the courtroom so he was assured of being louder than prosecutors.
The crafty New York mafia boss Vincent “The Chin” Gigante use to wear his bathrobe to court, mumble to himself and claim God was his lawyer in an effort to persuade jurors that he was deranged. It worked for many years until The Chin was eventually convicted. In 2003, two years before he died in prison, Gigante admitted it had all been an act.
The best courtroom performance by a mob lawyer was in 1986 by Bruce Cutler, who was representing John Gotti at the time. Cutler took the thick federal indictment against Gotti and stuffed it in a courtroom wastebasket. “It’s garbage,” Cutler shouted at prosecutors. “That’s where it belongs.”
Sickness and sympathy has been a favorite play by hoodlums for decades. When Chicago Outfit boss Joey “Doves” Aiuppa was on trial in Kansas City 20 years ago, Aiuppa hunched over a walker coming and going from court. Nevertheless, he managed to get in and out of a taxi and his hotel just fine.
During that same trial, Aiuppa’s vice consigliore Jackie “The Lackey” Cerone delivered a veiled threat to a Chicago news reporter while they were riding on a crowded elevator.
“How’s the wife and that new baby of yours?” Cerone asked the newsman, whose coverage he must have under appreciated. The question stunned the reporter, who certainly never had spoken to Cerone about his wife or his new daughter, Caylen Goudie.
Once, in 1983, I asked the infamous Outfit tough-guy Tony “The Ant” Spilotro a question that now seems prophetic.
“Tony, are you concerned for your personal safety?” I asked The Ant as he bailed out of Cook County jail.
Spilotro just sneered at me … a far different look than he must have displayed three years later when he and his brother were clubbed and buried alive in an Indiana cornfield.
When defrocked Cook County Judge Thomas Maloney was on trial for taking bribes to fix murder cases, the mob-connected Maloney tried his best every day to avoid TV crews staked out in front of the federal building.
Once, Maloney thought he had outsmarted news jockeys by sneaking into the federal building basement and walking up a ramp from the underground parking garage.
Not to be tricked, camera crews were waiting atop the ramp when Maloney strutted up dressed in a black trench coat and fedora. He began running across Adams Street in the Loop, pursued by TV crews until he tripped and did a belly flop onto the asphalt, staggering to his feet with a mouthful of gravel.
The finest out-of-court routine was put on by Joey “The Clown” Lombardo, who will go on trial again Tuesday. Years ago when he was free on bond, The Clown enjoyed living up to his nickname by shielding his face from photographers using a newspaper with cut-out eyeholes.
While he was a fugitive, Lombardo wrote a letter to Judge Zagel, who is hearing his case, stating that he was unfairly targeted by prosecutors who could convict “a hamburger” in federal court.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie
Catching Up with the Bonanno Mob Family
Gay Talese's efforts to catch up with the children of Bill Bonanno, son of Mafia boss Joseph Bonanno,brought the author to Arizona.
Talese's 1971 book "Honor Thy Father" focused on the Bonanno crime family but his latest essay, now appearing in Newsweek, seeks to find out how the children have dealt with their notoriety. Talese met with the children recently at Bill and his wife, Rosalie's, home in Tucson, according to a release promoting the article. Here's what he found:
* Son Joseph became a doctor, who says he's overcome the Bonnano surname, but hasn't escaped it, having to win acceptance in his profession. He attended the University of Arizona and interned in pediatrics at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical in Phoenix.
* Charles Bonanno is an interstate truck driver, a job he took after working in an auto-repair shop in Phoenix for 10 years. He told Talese about a trip across the Canadian border when he was questioned about his name. "Are you in any way related to either Joseph Bonanno or Bill Bonanno?" the guard asked. "They're my grandfather and father," Charles answered, and the response was: 'Well, then you're on the nonentry list.'"
* Salvatore Bonanno graduated from the University of Arizona and is a computer-systems executive with his own firm in Phoenix. However, he tells of quitting a previous job for a company installing casino security systems when he was shifted to another assignment because of the family name.
* Felippa Bonanno, who raised 10 children, is expecting another, and operates a day care center, says she has not experienced difficulty with the name.
Talese's 1971 book "Honor Thy Father" focused on the Bonanno crime family but his latest essay, now appearing in Newsweek, seeks to find out how the children have dealt with their notoriety. Talese met with the children recently at Bill and his wife, Rosalie's, home in Tucson, according to a release promoting the article. Here's what he found:
* Son Joseph became a doctor, who says he's overcome the Bonnano surname, but hasn't escaped it, having to win acceptance in his profession. He attended the University of Arizona and interned in pediatrics at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical in Phoenix.
* Charles Bonanno is an interstate truck driver, a job he took after working in an auto-repair shop in Phoenix for 10 years. He told Talese about a trip across the Canadian border when he was questioned about his name. "Are you in any way related to either Joseph Bonanno or Bill Bonanno?" the guard asked. "They're my grandfather and father," Charles answered, and the response was: 'Well, then you're on the nonentry list.'"
* Salvatore Bonanno graduated from the University of Arizona and is a computer-systems executive with his own firm in Phoenix. However, he tells of quitting a previous job for a company installing casino security systems when he was shifted to another assignment because of the family name.
* Felippa Bonanno, who raised 10 children, is expecting another, and operates a day care center, says she has not experienced difficulty with the name.
Guilty Pleas on Eve of Family Secrets Mob Trial
Friends of ours: Nicholas Ferriola, Frank Calabrese Sr., Joseph Venezia, Michael Marcello, James Marcello, Frank "The German" Schweihs
Two men accused of working with the Chicago mob pleaded guilty on the eve of the city's biggest organized crime trial in years.
The guilty pleas leave five defendants in the racketeering conspiracy case, scheduled to go to trial on Tuesday. The case is based on an FBI investigation of 18 long unsolved murders that federal prosecutors tie to the Chicago Outfit, the city's organized crime family. Neither man was among the most prominent defendants.
Nicholas Ferriola, 32, pleaded guilty to racketeering, bookmaking and squeezing extortion payments from a Chicago restaurant. He admitted he was part of the mob's South Side or Chinatown crew and that he worked with Frank Calabrese Sr., a defendant and reputed to be one of the city's top mob bosses.
Joseph Venezia, 64, pleaded guilty to running a gambling business and hiding the proceeds from the Internal Revenue Service.
No sentencing date was set. The men are to return to court Aug. 10.
The federal indictment presents a panoramic picture of the Outfit, which it says consists of six "street crews," each with a franchise over organized crime in its respective sector of the city and suburbs. The indictment details murder, gambling, pornography, extortion and loan sharking among the Outfit's activities.
The number of defendants has dwindled steadily as the date for jury selection has drawn closer.
Last week, Michael Marcello — brother of James Marcello, described by federal prosecutors as one of the top leaders of the Outfit — and two other men pleaded guilty to racketeering and other charges.
U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel also tentatively dropped reputed mob extortionist Frank "The German" Schweihs from the trial last week for health reasons.
Two men accused of working with the Chicago mob pleaded guilty on the eve of the city's biggest organized crime trial in years.
The guilty pleas leave five defendants in the racketeering conspiracy case, scheduled to go to trial on Tuesday. The case is based on an FBI investigation of 18 long unsolved murders that federal prosecutors tie to the Chicago Outfit, the city's organized crime family. Neither man was among the most prominent defendants.
Nicholas Ferriola, 32, pleaded guilty to racketeering, bookmaking and squeezing extortion payments from a Chicago restaurant. He admitted he was part of the mob's South Side or Chinatown crew and that he worked with Frank Calabrese Sr., a defendant and reputed to be one of the city's top mob bosses.
Joseph Venezia, 64, pleaded guilty to running a gambling business and hiding the proceeds from the Internal Revenue Service.
No sentencing date was set. The men are to return to court Aug. 10.
The federal indictment presents a panoramic picture of the Outfit, which it says consists of six "street crews," each with a franchise over organized crime in its respective sector of the city and suburbs. The indictment details murder, gambling, pornography, extortion and loan sharking among the Outfit's activities.
The number of defendants has dwindled steadily as the date for jury selection has drawn closer.
Last week, Michael Marcello — brother of James Marcello, described by federal prosecutors as one of the top leaders of the Outfit — and two other men pleaded guilty to racketeering and other charges.
U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel also tentatively dropped reputed mob extortionist Frank "The German" Schweihs from the trial last week for health reasons.
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