Boston, 1926. The '20s are roaring. Liquor is flowing, bullets are flying, and one man sets out of make his mark on the world.
Joe Coughlin, the son of a prominent Boston police captain, has long since turned his back on his proper upbringing. Now in the pay of the city's most fearsome mobsters, Joe enjoys the spoils, thrills, and notoriety of being an outlaw.
Joe embarks on a dizzying journey up the ladder of organized crime that takes him from Jazz Age Boston to Tampa's Latin Quarter to the streets of Cuba. Live by Night is a riveting epic layered with loyal friends and callous enemies, tough rumrunners and sultry femme fatales, Bible-quoting evangelists and cruel Klansmen, all battling for survival and their piece of the American dream. A compelling saga of love and revenge, it is a spellbinding tour de force of betrayal and redemption that brings to life a bygone era when sin was cause for celebration and vice was a national virtue.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
Leaders of Two Chicago-Area Drug Trafficking Organizations Among 39 Arrested on Federal Narcotics Charges
Two leaders of separate drug trafficking organizations that operated independently while sometimes supplying each other with multiple kilograms of cocaine were arrested and are among 39 defendants who are facing federal drug charges, federal and local law enforcement officials announced today. The charges contained in a criminal complaint stem from an investigation led jointly by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration that began in July 2011, with assistance from other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
Agents yesterday executed three federal search warrants at the same time as they began arresting defendants in the Chicago area, as well as in Indiana, Texas, and California. Agents seized approximately 2.5 kilograms of cocaine, $176,800 cash, and several guns. The two alleged leaders, Jesus Ramirez-Padilla and Humberto Jimenez, were among 27 defendants who were arrested, while the whereabouts of four others were accounted for, and eight remained fugitives. Previously, during the year-long investigation, agents seized more than 13 kilos of cocaine, 10 kilos of marijuana, 1.5 kilos of heroin, and approximately $75,000.
All 39 defendants were charged with various drug distribution offenses in a criminal complaint that was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court and unsealed yesterday following the arrests. The defendants who were arrested began appearing yesterday before Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez in U.S. District Court and remain in federal custody pending detention hearings scheduled for next week.
Yesterday’s operation brings to nearly 100 the number of defendants who have been arrested and charged in Chicago with federal or state drug trafficking offenses in just the last three weeks.
Gary S. Shapiro, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, praised the dedication and teamwork of the FBI, DEA, and HSI agents who worked diligently with the Chicago Police Department to disrupt these alleged drug trafficking organizations. Mr. Shapiro announced the charges with William C. Monroe, Acting Special Agent in -Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Jack Riley, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration; Gary Hartwig, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Chicago; and Garry F. McCarthy, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. The U.S. Marshals Service and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division also assisted, together with the Illinois State Police, the Cook County Sheriff’s Police, and the Berwyn and Oak Lawn Police Departments. The investigation was conducted under the umbrella of the U.S. Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).
According to the complaint affidavit, the investigation determined that Ramirez-Padilla, 39, and Jimenez, 26, both of Chicago, each led his own drug trafficking organization. Both organizations regularly bought and sold multiple kilos of powder cocaine on Chicago’s southwest side. Each organization had its own wholesale distributors, drug couriers, stash houses, workers, and suppliers. While the Ramirez and Jimenez organizations operated independently, they sometimes supplied each other with kilograms of powder cocaine. Both organizations took steps to protect themselves from detection by law enforcement, including: using code words to disguise references to narcotics and other items; regularly replacing telephones; using different vehicles to transport drugs; and engaging in counter-surveillance techniques.
The 205-page affidavit details conversations among various defendants that were intercepted on 26 different telephones during the investigation pursuant to court-authorized electronic surveillance.
Sixteen defendants, who were charged in two separate conspiracies to possess and distribute cocaine and/or heroin, face a mandatory minimum of 10 years to a maximum of life in prison and a $10 million fine. The remaining defendants face maximum sentences up to 20 or 40 years in prison and a maximum fine of $2 million or $5 million. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The government is being represented by Assistant United States Attorneys Nathalina Hudson, Joseph Thompson, and John Kness.
The public is reminded that a complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Agents yesterday executed three federal search warrants at the same time as they began arresting defendants in the Chicago area, as well as in Indiana, Texas, and California. Agents seized approximately 2.5 kilograms of cocaine, $176,800 cash, and several guns. The two alleged leaders, Jesus Ramirez-Padilla and Humberto Jimenez, were among 27 defendants who were arrested, while the whereabouts of four others were accounted for, and eight remained fugitives. Previously, during the year-long investigation, agents seized more than 13 kilos of cocaine, 10 kilos of marijuana, 1.5 kilos of heroin, and approximately $75,000.
All 39 defendants were charged with various drug distribution offenses in a criminal complaint that was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court and unsealed yesterday following the arrests. The defendants who were arrested began appearing yesterday before Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez in U.S. District Court and remain in federal custody pending detention hearings scheduled for next week.
Yesterday’s operation brings to nearly 100 the number of defendants who have been arrested and charged in Chicago with federal or state drug trafficking offenses in just the last three weeks.
Gary S. Shapiro, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, praised the dedication and teamwork of the FBI, DEA, and HSI agents who worked diligently with the Chicago Police Department to disrupt these alleged drug trafficking organizations. Mr. Shapiro announced the charges with William C. Monroe, Acting Special Agent in -Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Jack Riley, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration; Gary Hartwig, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Chicago; and Garry F. McCarthy, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. The U.S. Marshals Service and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division also assisted, together with the Illinois State Police, the Cook County Sheriff’s Police, and the Berwyn and Oak Lawn Police Departments. The investigation was conducted under the umbrella of the U.S. Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).
According to the complaint affidavit, the investigation determined that Ramirez-Padilla, 39, and Jimenez, 26, both of Chicago, each led his own drug trafficking organization. Both organizations regularly bought and sold multiple kilos of powder cocaine on Chicago’s southwest side. Each organization had its own wholesale distributors, drug couriers, stash houses, workers, and suppliers. While the Ramirez and Jimenez organizations operated independently, they sometimes supplied each other with kilograms of powder cocaine. Both organizations took steps to protect themselves from detection by law enforcement, including: using code words to disguise references to narcotics and other items; regularly replacing telephones; using different vehicles to transport drugs; and engaging in counter-surveillance techniques.
The 205-page affidavit details conversations among various defendants that were intercepted on 26 different telephones during the investigation pursuant to court-authorized electronic surveillance.
Sixteen defendants, who were charged in two separate conspiracies to possess and distribute cocaine and/or heroin, face a mandatory minimum of 10 years to a maximum of life in prison and a $10 million fine. The remaining defendants face maximum sentences up to 20 or 40 years in prison and a maximum fine of $2 million or $5 million. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The government is being represented by Assistant United States Attorneys Nathalina Hudson, Joseph Thompson, and John Kness.
The public is reminded that a complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Mark Haller, Author of "Life Under Bruno: The Economics of an Organized Crime Family" Passes Away
Mark H. Haller, 83, formerly of Center City, a professor emeritus at Temple University who was an expert on the history of organized crime, died Saturday, Sept. 22, of pneumonia at Brooke Grove, a retirement community in Sandy Spring, Md.
Dr. Haller joined Temple's faculty in 1968. He was a professor in the history and criminal justice departments, which he helped establish, before retiring in 2010.
Dr. Haller, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on the history of the eugenics movement in the United States, transferred his interest to the study of the history of crime while teaching at the University of Chicago.
On Temple's history department's website, he explained how it happened: "In the mid-1960s, I received, unsolicited, a grant to write a report on an aspect of crime and criminal justice in 1920s Chicago. I found the topic challenging."
Dr. Haller said that after joining Temple's faculty, he began to study Philadelphia organized crime, which he preferred to call "illegal enterprise."
Over the years, Dr. Haller published articles describing the structure of gambling, bootlegging, loan sharking, and drug trafficking, and the relationship between organized crime and the community - especially political connections.
In an Inquirer article about the rising rate of robberies in Philadelphia in 1996, Dr. Haller pointed out that a century earlier, people were less likely to be robbed and more likely to lose money on the street to pickpockets. "It doesn't mean you lose more money, but the feeling of safety is very different," he said."I've been mugged twice in Philadelphia in 28 years, and I can tell you that was more frightening than four attempts to pick my pocket in Rome."
In 1990, Dr. Haller was interviewed about Moses L. Annenberg and his son Walter H., former owners of The Inquirer, for a WHYY TV12 series, Mobfathers. Moses Annenberg became a multimillionaire through his monopoly of the racing wire, which telegraphed race results and tracked odds from coast to coast. Eventually, he was convicted of income-tax evasion and went to prison.
Dr. Haller is the author of a book on the eugenics movement and of Life under Bruno : The Economics of An Organized Crime Family
.
Dr. Haller joined Temple's faculty in 1968. He was a professor in the history and criminal justice departments, which he helped establish, before retiring in 2010.
Dr. Haller, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on the history of the eugenics movement in the United States, transferred his interest to the study of the history of crime while teaching at the University of Chicago.
On Temple's history department's website, he explained how it happened: "In the mid-1960s, I received, unsolicited, a grant to write a report on an aspect of crime and criminal justice in 1920s Chicago. I found the topic challenging."
Dr. Haller said that after joining Temple's faculty, he began to study Philadelphia organized crime, which he preferred to call "illegal enterprise."
Over the years, Dr. Haller published articles describing the structure of gambling, bootlegging, loan sharking, and drug trafficking, and the relationship between organized crime and the community - especially political connections.
In an Inquirer article about the rising rate of robberies in Philadelphia in 1996, Dr. Haller pointed out that a century earlier, people were less likely to be robbed and more likely to lose money on the street to pickpockets. "It doesn't mean you lose more money, but the feeling of safety is very different," he said."I've been mugged twice in Philadelphia in 28 years, and I can tell you that was more frightening than four attempts to pick my pocket in Rome."
In 1990, Dr. Haller was interviewed about Moses L. Annenberg and his son Walter H., former owners of The Inquirer, for a WHYY TV12 series, Mobfathers. Moses Annenberg became a multimillionaire through his monopoly of the racing wire, which telegraphed race results and tracked odds from coast to coast. Eventually, he was convicted of income-tax evasion and went to prison.
Dr. Haller is the author of a book on the eugenics movement and of Life under Bruno : The Economics of An Organized Crime Family
.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Jimmy Hoffa Buried Under Driveway in Roseville, Michigan?
Investigators will take soil samples from the ground beneath a suburban Detroit driveway after a man told police he believes he witnessed the burial of missing Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa about 35 years ago, police said Wednesday.
Roseville Police Chief James Berlin said his department received a tip from a man who said he saw a body buried approximately 35 years ago and "thinks it may have been Jimmy he saw interred."
"We are not claiming it's Jimmy Hoffa, the timeline doesn't add up," Berlin said. "We're investigating a body that may be at the location."
Hoffa was last seen on July 30, 1975, outside a suburban Detroit restaurant where he was supposed to meet with a New Jersey Teamsters boss and a Detroit Mafia captain. His body has not been found despite a number of searches over the years.
Innumerable theories about the demise of the union boss have surfaced over time. Among them: He was entombed in concrete at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, ground up and thrown in a Florida swamp or obliterated in a mob-owned fat-rendering plant. The search has continued under a backyard pool north of Detroit in 2003, under the floor of a Detroit home in 2004 and at a horse farm northwest of Detroit in 2006.
After Roseville police received the most recent tip, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality used ground penetrating radar on a 12-foot-by-12-foot patch beneath the driveway, said agency spokesman Brad Wurfel. It found "that the earth had been disturbed at some point in time," Berlin said.
The environmental quality department on Friday will take soil samples that will be sent to a forensic anthropologist at Michigan State University to "have it tested for human decomposition," Berlin said.
Results are not expected until next week.
The FBI had no immediate comment on the new effort in Roseville. Andrew Arena, who recently retired as head of the FBI in Michigan, told Detroit TV station WDIV that all leads must be followed, but he would be surprised if Hoffa is buried there.
Thanks to Corey Williams.
Roseville Police Chief James Berlin said his department received a tip from a man who said he saw a body buried approximately 35 years ago and "thinks it may have been Jimmy he saw interred."
"We are not claiming it's Jimmy Hoffa, the timeline doesn't add up," Berlin said. "We're investigating a body that may be at the location."
Hoffa was last seen on July 30, 1975, outside a suburban Detroit restaurant where he was supposed to meet with a New Jersey Teamsters boss and a Detroit Mafia captain. His body has not been found despite a number of searches over the years.
Innumerable theories about the demise of the union boss have surfaced over time. Among them: He was entombed in concrete at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, ground up and thrown in a Florida swamp or obliterated in a mob-owned fat-rendering plant. The search has continued under a backyard pool north of Detroit in 2003, under the floor of a Detroit home in 2004 and at a horse farm northwest of Detroit in 2006.
After Roseville police received the most recent tip, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality used ground penetrating radar on a 12-foot-by-12-foot patch beneath the driveway, said agency spokesman Brad Wurfel. It found "that the earth had been disturbed at some point in time," Berlin said.
The environmental quality department on Friday will take soil samples that will be sent to a forensic anthropologist at Michigan State University to "have it tested for human decomposition," Berlin said.
Results are not expected until next week.
The FBI had no immediate comment on the new effort in Roseville. Andrew Arena, who recently retired as head of the FBI in Michigan, told Detroit TV station WDIV that all leads must be followed, but he would be surprised if Hoffa is buried there.
Thanks to Corey Williams.
Rudy "The Chin" Fratto Gets 1 Year and 1 Day in Federal Prison
Reputed made mob member Rudy “The Chin” Fratto wasn’t shy about his status in the Chicago Outfit, the feds say.
“I’m the f------ boss of this area around here. No one else,” Fratto was caught bragging on a secret recording made by federal agents. But Fratto, a reputed leader of the Elmwood Park crew, has publicly denied being part of the mob, once joking outside court he’s a “reputed good guy.” And on Wednesday, a federal judge declined to give Fratto more years behind bars because of his organized crime connections — as federal prosecutors requested — sentencing him instead to a year and a day behind bars for a bid-rigging scheme at McCormick Place.
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber, noting Fratto’s age of 68, contended that the government did not prove that organized crime was connected to the scheme.
The feds, though, contend that mob connections were an integral part of the crime. Fratto encouraged a businessman to take part in the bid-rigging scheme and said he could intercede on the man’s behalf regarding an unpaid loan he had received from mob figures in Cleveland.
Federal prosecutors John Podliska and Amarjeet Bhachu also noted in a sentencing memorandum that mob killer Nicholas Calabrese testified as a government witness in the historic Family Secrets mob trial that Fratto became a made member of the Chicago mob in 1988.
The prison sentence of a year and a day allows Fratto to qualify for time reduction for good behavior while behind bars, which could reduce his sentence to about 10 months.
Thanks to Steve Warmbir.
“I’m the f------ boss of this area around here. No one else,” Fratto was caught bragging on a secret recording made by federal agents. But Fratto, a reputed leader of the Elmwood Park crew, has publicly denied being part of the mob, once joking outside court he’s a “reputed good guy.” And on Wednesday, a federal judge declined to give Fratto more years behind bars because of his organized crime connections — as federal prosecutors requested — sentencing him instead to a year and a day behind bars for a bid-rigging scheme at McCormick Place.
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber, noting Fratto’s age of 68, contended that the government did not prove that organized crime was connected to the scheme.
The feds, though, contend that mob connections were an integral part of the crime. Fratto encouraged a businessman to take part in the bid-rigging scheme and said he could intercede on the man’s behalf regarding an unpaid loan he had received from mob figures in Cleveland.
Federal prosecutors John Podliska and Amarjeet Bhachu also noted in a sentencing memorandum that mob killer Nicholas Calabrese testified as a government witness in the historic Family Secrets mob trial that Fratto became a made member of the Chicago mob in 1988.
The prison sentence of a year and a day allows Fratto to qualify for time reduction for good behavior while behind bars, which could reduce his sentence to about 10 months.
Thanks to Steve Warmbir.
Mike Rizzo Discusses "Gangsters and Organized Crime in Buffalo: History, Hits and Headquarters" on Crime Beat Radio
On September 27 and again on October 4th, Mike Rizzo, author of Gangsters and Organized Crime in Buffalo: History, Hits and Headquarters, discusses his research about organized crime in Buffalo, on Crime Beat Radio.
On the air since January 28, 2011, Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.
Crime Beat is currently averaging 130,000 listeners plus each week, and the figure is growing. Crime Beat is hosted by award-winning crime writer and documentary producer Ron Chepesiuk (www.ronchepesiuk.com) and broadcast journalist and freelance writer Will Hryb.
On the air since January 28, 2011, Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.
Crime Beat is currently averaging 130,000 listeners plus each week, and the figure is growing. Crime Beat is hosted by award-winning crime writer and documentary producer Ron Chepesiuk (www.ronchepesiuk.com) and broadcast journalist and freelance writer Will Hryb.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Frank Calabrese Jr "Operation Family Secrets" Movie in Development with Nicholas Pileggi, Author of "Goodfellas" and "Casino" as Executive Producer and Gary Ross of "The Hunger Games" as Director
One of Chicago's most notorious mobsters has a new home. Fox Chicago has learned convicted gangster Frank Calabrese, Sr. has been moved to a federal prison in North Carolina.
Calabrese, Sr. was recently transferred to Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina. He is serving life behind bars after his conviction in the historic Family Secrets mob trial of committing more than a dozen murders for the Chicago Outfit. For the last several years Calabrese was held under the highest level of security at a federal prison in Springfield, MO. Despite having virtually no contact with the outside world, Calabrese allegedly convinced a prison chaplain to pass messages to associates in Illinois, in an attempt to recover mob loot worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Frank Calabrese, Jr., who secretly recorded his father for the feds and testified against him during the trial, says it's clear why the Federal Bureau of Prisons moved his dad.
"My father's a hot item, meaning that nobody wants to deal with him, and a lot of time in the Bureau of Prisons, instead of dealing with problem prisoners, they'd rather ship them to another prison," Calabrese, Jr. said.
Calabrese, Jr. wrote a best-selling book about his decision to abandon the mob lifestyle and go against his father. He says that compelling story is now being turned into a movie with some Hollywood heavy hitters.
Nicholas Pileggi, who wrote the mob classics "Goodfellas" and "Casino" has signed on to executive produce the Calabrese story. Gary Ross of "The Hunger Games" has agreed to direct the movie. They've also landed Stephen Schiff as screenwriter, who wrote the recent "Wall Street" sequel. The William Morris Endeavor agency is involved, which is headed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel's brother Ari. Calabrese says rather than sell the rights to a studio, he wanted to put together an independent team to make the movie so he could retain some control.
"What I was concerned with is not just somebody that wants to make the next shoot 'em up gangster movie. This is about family. This is about the dark side of crime," he said.
Calabrese says nobody has been cast yet, but he's heard several a-list actors are interested in the role of his father, whom he calls a Shakespearian figure.
"The multiple personalities--in the book I explain there was a good side to my dad. There was a great side to my dad. There were multiple sides to my dad. He could walk in a room and win everybody over, and the next minute he could walk in a room and everybody would run for their life."
Thanks to Dane Placko.
Calabrese, Sr. was recently transferred to Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina. He is serving life behind bars after his conviction in the historic Family Secrets mob trial of committing more than a dozen murders for the Chicago Outfit. For the last several years Calabrese was held under the highest level of security at a federal prison in Springfield, MO. Despite having virtually no contact with the outside world, Calabrese allegedly convinced a prison chaplain to pass messages to associates in Illinois, in an attempt to recover mob loot worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Frank Calabrese, Jr., who secretly recorded his father for the feds and testified against him during the trial, says it's clear why the Federal Bureau of Prisons moved his dad.
"My father's a hot item, meaning that nobody wants to deal with him, and a lot of time in the Bureau of Prisons, instead of dealing with problem prisoners, they'd rather ship them to another prison," Calabrese, Jr. said.
Calabrese, Jr. wrote a best-selling book about his decision to abandon the mob lifestyle and go against his father. He says that compelling story is now being turned into a movie with some Hollywood heavy hitters.
Nicholas Pileggi, who wrote the mob classics "Goodfellas" and "Casino" has signed on to executive produce the Calabrese story. Gary Ross of "The Hunger Games" has agreed to direct the movie. They've also landed Stephen Schiff as screenwriter, who wrote the recent "Wall Street" sequel. The William Morris Endeavor agency is involved, which is headed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel's brother Ari. Calabrese says rather than sell the rights to a studio, he wanted to put together an independent team to make the movie so he could retain some control.
"What I was concerned with is not just somebody that wants to make the next shoot 'em up gangster movie. This is about family. This is about the dark side of crime," he said.
Calabrese says nobody has been cast yet, but he's heard several a-list actors are interested in the role of his father, whom he calls a Shakespearian figure.
"The multiple personalities--in the book I explain there was a good side to my dad. There was a great side to my dad. There were multiple sides to my dad. He could walk in a room and win everybody over, and the next minute he could walk in a room and everybody would run for their life."
Thanks to Dane Placko.
Fashion of the Opera!
The world of opera and fashion collide! The American Chamber Opera (ACO) presents Fashion of the Opera hosted by reigning Miss Chicago Marisa Buchheit and Jeff Conway of NBC’s 24/7 Chicago. All proceeds will benefit the Merit School of Music and their efforts to further bring music education to eager talented children and enhance current programs. Guests will experience an incomparable spectacle of music and fashion with Chicago’s best local designers on the runway to a series of live sensational opera. Designers include: Borris Powell, Anastasia Chatzka, Rachel Frank, Fraley Le and Stix and Roses by Sararose Krenger. Formal reception follows.
When: Friday, October 5th 2012
Time: 7:30pm with entertainment promptly at 8:00 and fashion show at 8:30
Where: Intercontinental Magnificent Mile
Grand Ballroom 7th Floor
505 Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL 60611
$40 General Admission $100 VIP and available at http://www.americanchamberopera.org/fashion
When: Friday, October 5th 2012
Time: 7:30pm with entertainment promptly at 8:00 and fashion show at 8:30
Where: Intercontinental Magnificent Mile
Grand Ballroom 7th Floor
505 Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL 60611
$40 General Admission $100 VIP and available at http://www.americanchamberopera.org/fashion
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Ralph Lamb, Former Sheriff, Inspires New CBS Show on Battle Between Chicago Mob in Las Vegas and Law Enforcement
A new television show based on former Clark County Sheriff Ralph Lamb debuts Tuesday night on CBS. 
"Vegas" looks at the battle between organized crime and law enforcement in the 1960s and 1970s.
Lamb was the real-life sheriff at the time and went up against the mob and the Hell's Angels on the streets of Las Vegas.
In an interview with 8 News NOW anchor Paula Francis, Lamb recounts the toughest scrape he ever experienced.
"At the Sands Hotel, I guess," he said. "I was in the Sands alone and there were… they had a big craps game going on there. Some of the biggest guys in the country were shooting craps, and one guy was keeping score on a piece of paper. He'd bet him $50,000, I'll bet you 100. I didn't have any help and no help down there, but the office and the fight broke out. I got a guy named Joe Bernstein, who you know. I drug him kinda' over to the cage and was trying to reach for the phone in there. He was a big bruiser from San Francisco, a big strike breaker, you know. He went to whippin' on me while I had the phone in one hand, and I hit him with the telephone and knocked him down. But, it got pretty hairy there before I got any help."
Lamb says he's amazed he's still alive.
"I've been very lucky... had some close calls, and I've just been blessed with being lucky and knowing what I was doing and watching out for things," he said.
Station Casinos is holding a "Vegas" premiere party Tuesday night. 8 News NOW Chief Investigative Reporter George Knapp is attending to introduce his story on Ralph Lamb. In honor of the show, Governor Brian Sandoval proclaimed Sept. 25 as "Sheriff Ralph Lamb Day."
"Vegas" premieres Tuesday night at 9 p.m. Chicago Time on CBS.
Thanks to KLAS.
"Vegas" looks at the battle between organized crime and law enforcement in the 1960s and 1970s.Lamb was the real-life sheriff at the time and went up against the mob and the Hell's Angels on the streets of Las Vegas.
In an interview with 8 News NOW anchor Paula Francis, Lamb recounts the toughest scrape he ever experienced.
"At the Sands Hotel, I guess," he said. "I was in the Sands alone and there were… they had a big craps game going on there. Some of the biggest guys in the country were shooting craps, and one guy was keeping score on a piece of paper. He'd bet him $50,000, I'll bet you 100. I didn't have any help and no help down there, but the office and the fight broke out. I got a guy named Joe Bernstein, who you know. I drug him kinda' over to the cage and was trying to reach for the phone in there. He was a big bruiser from San Francisco, a big strike breaker, you know. He went to whippin' on me while I had the phone in one hand, and I hit him with the telephone and knocked him down. But, it got pretty hairy there before I got any help."
Lamb says he's amazed he's still alive.
"I've been very lucky... had some close calls, and I've just been blessed with being lucky and knowing what I was doing and watching out for things," he said.
Station Casinos is holding a "Vegas" premiere party Tuesday night. 8 News NOW Chief Investigative Reporter George Knapp is attending to introduce his story on Ralph Lamb. In honor of the show, Governor Brian Sandoval proclaimed Sept. 25 as "Sheriff Ralph Lamb Day."
"Vegas" premieres Tuesday night at 9 p.m. Chicago Time on CBS.
Thanks to KLAS.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Joseph Giordano, Alleged Gambino Capo, Arrested on Extortion Charges
An alleged Gambino capo was dragged from his Long Island home and brought in custody to Central Booking in Manhattan today -- accused of using force and threats to extort $50,000 from a construction company official, according to law enforcement sources.
The reputed crime family captain, Joseph Giordano, was on the Gambino's ruling commission in recent years; his brother, John Giordano, was the consigliere under the notorious John Gotti, Sr.
Josephe Giordano is expected to be arraigned this afternoon before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro.
Thanks to Laura Italiano.
The reputed crime family captain, Joseph Giordano, was on the Gambino's ruling commission in recent years; his brother, John Giordano, was the consigliere under the notorious John Gotti, Sr.
Josephe Giordano is expected to be arraigned this afternoon before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro.
Thanks to Laura Italiano.
October "There Goes the Neighbor Hood" Gangster Tour
John Binder
, Mob historian and author of The Chicago Outfit (IL) (Images of America), conducts the popular "There Goes the Neighbor Hood" tour of gangster history in Oak Park and River Forest. This exterior tour visits 15 houses in these two suburbs which were previously owned by major hoodlums, including Tony Accardo, Paul Ricca, Sam Giancana, "Tough Tony" Capezio, and "Machine Gun Jack" McGurn. John will discuss the criminal careers of the former owners, the interesting features of each home, the family's time there, and answer all questions from the audience. The tour lasts two hours and is a deep immersion into the history of organized crime in Chicago from Prohibition to the present day. It is by minibus with no walking required.
Date/Time/Details:
The bus departs from (and returns to) the Oak Park Visitor Center at 1010 Lake St. in Oak Park at 11:00 a. m. and 1:30 p. m. on October 14. Please call the Visitor Center at 708-848-1500 (or www.visitoakpark.com) to purchase tickets.
, Mob historian and author of The Chicago Outfit (IL) (Images of America), conducts the popular "There Goes the Neighbor Hood" tour of gangster history in Oak Park and River Forest. This exterior tour visits 15 houses in these two suburbs which were previously owned by major hoodlums, including Tony Accardo, Paul Ricca, Sam Giancana, "Tough Tony" Capezio, and "Machine Gun Jack" McGurn. John will discuss the criminal careers of the former owners, the interesting features of each home, the family's time there, and answer all questions from the audience. The tour lasts two hours and is a deep immersion into the history of organized crime in Chicago from Prohibition to the present day. It is by minibus with no walking required.Date/Time/Details:
The bus departs from (and returns to) the Oak Park Visitor Center at 1010 Lake St. in Oak Park at 11:00 a. m. and 1:30 p. m. on October 14. Please call the Visitor Center at 708-848-1500 (or www.visitoakpark.com) to purchase tickets.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Margaret McLean Discusses "Under Oath" on Crime Beat Radio
On September 27, a former prosecutor, discusses writing crime fiction and her latest book, Under Oath, on Crime Beat Radio.
Attorney Margaret McLean is a legal thriller author and adjunct law professor at Boston College's Carroll School of Management, specializing in business law. Her legal thriller, Under Fire, features an arson and murder trial and was published in June of 2011 by Tor Forge Macmillan. Her second novel, Under Oath, was published in April 2012. She has co-written a dramatic courtroom play, based on Under Oath, which is in development with the Playwrights and Directors Unit at the Actor's Studio in New York City.
On the air since January 28, 2011, Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.
Crime Beat is currently averaging 130,000 listeners plus each week, and the figure is growing. Crime Beat is hosted by award-winning crime writer and documentary producer Ron Chepesiuk (www.ronchepesiuk.com) and broadcast journalist and freelance writer Will Hryb.
Attorney Margaret McLean is a legal thriller author and adjunct law professor at Boston College's Carroll School of Management, specializing in business law. Her legal thriller, Under Fire, features an arson and murder trial and was published in June of 2011 by Tor Forge Macmillan. Her second novel, Under Oath, was published in April 2012. She has co-written a dramatic courtroom play, based on Under Oath, which is in development with the Playwrights and Directors Unit at the Actor's Studio in New York City.
On the air since January 28, 2011, Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.
Crime Beat is currently averaging 130,000 listeners plus each week, and the figure is growing. Crime Beat is hosted by award-winning crime writer and documentary producer Ron Chepesiuk (www.ronchepesiuk.com) and broadcast journalist and freelance writer Will Hryb.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Listening In: The Secret White House Tapes of John F. Kennedy
In July 1962, in an effort to preserve an accurate record of Presidential decision-making in a highly charged atmosphere of conflicting viewpoints, strategies and tactics, John F. Kennedy installed hidden recording systems in the Oval Office and in the Cabinet Room. The result is a priceless historical archive comprising some 265 hours of taped material. JFK was elected president when Civil Rights tensions were near the boiling point, and Americans feared a nuclear war. Confronted with complex dilemmas necessitating swift and unprecedented action, President Kennedy engaged in intense discussion and debate with his cabinet members and other advisors.
Now, in conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of the Kennedy presidency, the John F. Kennedy Library and historian Ted Widmer have carefully selected the most compelling and important of these remarkable recordings for release, fully restored and re-mastered onto two 75-minute CDs for the first time. Listening In represents a uniquely unscripted, insider account of a president and his cabinet grappling with the day-to-day business of the White House and guiding the nation through a hazardous era of uncertainty.
Accompanied by extensively annotated transcripts of the recordings, and with a foreword by Caroline Kennedy, Listening In delivers the story behind the story in the unguarded words and voices of the decision-makers themselves. Listening In covers watershed events, including the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Space Race, Vietnam, and the arms race, and offers fascinating glimpses into the intellectual methodology of a circumspect president and his brilliant, eclectic brain trust.
Just as the unique vision of President John F. Kennedy continues to resonate half a century after his stirring speeches and bold policy decisions, the documentary candor of Listening In imparts a vivid, breathtaking immediacy that will significantly expand our understanding of his time in office
Now, in conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of the Kennedy presidency, the John F. Kennedy Library and historian Ted Widmer have carefully selected the most compelling and important of these remarkable recordings for release, fully restored and re-mastered onto two 75-minute CDs for the first time. Listening In represents a uniquely unscripted, insider account of a president and his cabinet grappling with the day-to-day business of the White House and guiding the nation through a hazardous era of uncertainty.
Accompanied by extensively annotated transcripts of the recordings, and with a foreword by Caroline Kennedy, Listening In delivers the story behind the story in the unguarded words and voices of the decision-makers themselves. Listening In covers watershed events, including the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Space Race, Vietnam, and the arms race, and offers fascinating glimpses into the intellectual methodology of a circumspect president and his brilliant, eclectic brain trust.
Just as the unique vision of President John F. Kennedy continues to resonate half a century after his stirring speeches and bold policy decisions, the documentary candor of Listening In imparts a vivid, breathtaking immediacy that will significantly expand our understanding of his time in office
Friday, September 21, 2012
Nick Calabrese Testimony to be Used at Sentencing of Rudy "The Chin" Fratto
In this Intelligence Report: Federal prosecutors are winding up to throw the book at one of Chicago's top organized crime figures. The I-Team has learned details of next week's sentencing for mob boss Rudy Fratto.
The government wants outfit boss Rudy "the Chin" Fratto to take it on the chin next Wednesday when he is sentenced for his role in a contract bid-rigging scheme at McCormick Place.
Even though Fratto is from a Chicago mob family, he has managed to skate through his career largely unscathed, a routine prosecutors want to end.
In the run-up to next week's federal sentencing, Fratto has seemed to relish his role as a court jester of sorts.
Even though the record of 68-year old Fratto has been devoid of serious criminal charges, something his attorneys will point to next week, prosecutors will ask that Fratto pay the price for a lifetime in mobdom.
According to new records obtained by the I-Team, prosecutors plan to use the testimony of Nick Calabrese to paint a chilling picture of Fratto. Calabrese is the outfit hitman-turned-government witness who was a central witness in Operation Family Secrets.
Quoting Calabrese, prosecutors will say that Fratto was a "made" member of the Chicago outfit, and that in a Hollywood-style fingerpricking ceremony on Father's Day of 1988, Fratto was inducted in the mob. According to the government, a "person would not even be considered for that status until he had committed a homicide on behalf of the outfit." And, Fratto prosecutors say, he "represented himself to be a boss of the Chicago outfit."
It was in that role that Fratto offered to provide mob protection in exchange for a share of the profits from forklift contracts at McCormick Place.
Fratto ran the mob's rackets in Elmwood Park, according to federal agents, where his relative, Luigi Tomaso Giuseppi Fratto, was gangland boss leader from the 1930s into the 1960s.
Luigi Fratto was also known as "Cockeyed Louie" due to his off-kilter eyeball. On Wednesday, the government wants the descendent Rudy Fratto's sentence to be "substantially in excess" of what the law prescribes for the McCormick Place scheme, making it clear he should pay a premium for all those years he got off easy.
The recommended sentence is no more than two years in prison. But the government hopes Judge Harry Leinenweber will hand Fratto much more than that.
In newly filed court documents, lawyers for Fratto claim he is remorseful and regretful and, as they say, not a bad apple.
Fratto is asking for probation -- no prison time, but rather home confinement.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie.
The government wants outfit boss Rudy "the Chin" Fratto to take it on the chin next Wednesday when he is sentenced for his role in a contract bid-rigging scheme at McCormick Place.
Even though Fratto is from a Chicago mob family, he has managed to skate through his career largely unscathed, a routine prosecutors want to end.
In the run-up to next week's federal sentencing, Fratto has seemed to relish his role as a court jester of sorts.
Even though the record of 68-year old Fratto has been devoid of serious criminal charges, something his attorneys will point to next week, prosecutors will ask that Fratto pay the price for a lifetime in mobdom.
According to new records obtained by the I-Team, prosecutors plan to use the testimony of Nick Calabrese to paint a chilling picture of Fratto. Calabrese is the outfit hitman-turned-government witness who was a central witness in Operation Family Secrets.
Quoting Calabrese, prosecutors will say that Fratto was a "made" member of the Chicago outfit, and that in a Hollywood-style fingerpricking ceremony on Father's Day of 1988, Fratto was inducted in the mob. According to the government, a "person would not even be considered for that status until he had committed a homicide on behalf of the outfit." And, Fratto prosecutors say, he "represented himself to be a boss of the Chicago outfit."
It was in that role that Fratto offered to provide mob protection in exchange for a share of the profits from forklift contracts at McCormick Place.
Fratto ran the mob's rackets in Elmwood Park, according to federal agents, where his relative, Luigi Tomaso Giuseppi Fratto, was gangland boss leader from the 1930s into the 1960s.
Luigi Fratto was also known as "Cockeyed Louie" due to his off-kilter eyeball. On Wednesday, the government wants the descendent Rudy Fratto's sentence to be "substantially in excess" of what the law prescribes for the McCormick Place scheme, making it clear he should pay a premium for all those years he got off easy.
The recommended sentence is no more than two years in prison. But the government hopes Judge Harry Leinenweber will hand Fratto much more than that.
In newly filed court documents, lawyers for Fratto claim he is remorseful and regretful and, as they say, not a bad apple.
Fratto is asking for probation -- no prison time, but rather home confinement.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
The Dixie Mafia Lonely Hearts Scam
Dixie Mafia inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola were behind a scam, in the 1980's, that brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ringleader Kirksey McCord Nix—a convicted murderer serving a life sentence without parole—believed that if he raised enough money he could buy his way out of jail.
Here’s how the scam worked: Inmates paid guards to use prison telephones. Then they placed bogus ads in homosexual publications claiming they were gay and looking for a new partner to move in with. The men who replied to the return post office box address got additional correspondence and racy pictures. But there was a catch—the scammers told their victims a variety of lies about why they needed money before they could leave where they were.
“A lot of money came flowing in,” said retired Special Agent Keith Bell. “There were hundreds of victims.” Men from all walks of life—professors, mail carriers, politicians—fell victim to the scam. “One guy in Kansas mortgaged his house and sent $30,000 to the scammers over a period of months,” Bell recalled.
To add insult to injury, some of the inmates writing letters eventually confessed the scam to their victims—and then extorted even more money by threatening to “out” the men if their demands were not met.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
Billionaire Mafia Founder Loves Attention from "Vegas High Rollers"
Addicted to reality TV villains? Odds are good you'll love or loathe Russian diva Lana Fuchs of TLC's "Vegas High Rollers."
She's clearly running out of friends after storming out of a cocktail reception during a weekend film shoot.
Just three weeks into a three-month shoot with the local socialites, the fireworks erupted Friday when the fashion designer's cast mates, concerned about her bad-mouthing, confronted her to clear the air.
Fuchs walked out, with cameras - and eyes - rolling.
"She seems to have an issue with everybody," a source said.
Fuchs appears to love the attention. At their opening shoot at the Hard Rock Hotel's pools, she arrived with an entourage of little people and bodyguards for the Black and White Party, an AIDS benefit.
Fuchs, who grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., after leaving Russia, is the founder of Billionaire Mafia and Lana Fuchs Couture.
Billionaire Mafia has been a hit with the hip-hop crowd and club scenesters.
The shooting has been taking place throughout the city, from staid Las Vegas Country Club to restaurant hot spots Firefly and Marche Baccus to Rain nightclub at the Palms for a pole dancing expo.
Thanks to Norm Clarke.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Anthony DiNunzio, Head of New England Mafia, Pleads Guilty to Racketeering
The head of the New England Mafia pleaded guilty to racketeering in federal court in Rhode Island, in yet another blow to organized crime in the region.
Anthony DiNunzio, 53, of East Boston, could serve to 63 to 78 months in prison through an agreement he reached with federal prosecutors. He pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit racketeering and is slated to be sentenced Nov. 14.
Outside the courthouse in Providence this morning, Rhode Island US Attorney Peter Neronha said the case was the product of a strong investigation that has already led to convictions of DiNunzio’s underlings in Rhode Island. “We have driven a stake through the heart of organized crime in Rhode Island and we have cut off its head in Boston,” Neronha said.
During a brief hearing this morning, Assistant US Attorney William Ferland told the court that DiNunzio assumed control of the area’s faction of La Cosa Nostra, which oversees eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, after former boss Luigi Manocchio stepped down in 2009.
DiNunzio quickly sought to continue Manocchio’s operations in Rhode Island, including the extortion of protection payments from area strip clubs. “He ultimately assumed a leadership role in the enterprise,” Ferland said
DiNunzio, wearing olive green prison garb and glasses, looked to his lawyer for answers as the proceedings continued. He answered loudly “guilty” when asked how he would plead.
Outside the courtroom, Neronha promised that the investigation into organized crime and the New England Mafia will continue, targeting anyone looking to assume DiNunzio‘s position. “When there’s money to be made, the criminal element will step up to take their place,” he said.
Thanks to Milton J. Valencia.
Anthony DiNunzio, 53, of East Boston, could serve to 63 to 78 months in prison through an agreement he reached with federal prosecutors. He pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit racketeering and is slated to be sentenced Nov. 14.
Outside the courthouse in Providence this morning, Rhode Island US Attorney Peter Neronha said the case was the product of a strong investigation that has already led to convictions of DiNunzio’s underlings in Rhode Island. “We have driven a stake through the heart of organized crime in Rhode Island and we have cut off its head in Boston,” Neronha said.
During a brief hearing this morning, Assistant US Attorney William Ferland told the court that DiNunzio assumed control of the area’s faction of La Cosa Nostra, which oversees eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, after former boss Luigi Manocchio stepped down in 2009.
DiNunzio quickly sought to continue Manocchio’s operations in Rhode Island, including the extortion of protection payments from area strip clubs. “He ultimately assumed a leadership role in the enterprise,” Ferland said
DiNunzio, wearing olive green prison garb and glasses, looked to his lawyer for answers as the proceedings continued. He answered loudly “guilty” when asked how he would plead.
Outside the courtroom, Neronha promised that the investigation into organized crime and the New England Mafia will continue, targeting anyone looking to assume DiNunzio‘s position. “When there’s money to be made, the criminal element will step up to take their place,” he said.
Thanks to Milton J. Valencia.
Jerry Castaldo Discusses "Brooklyn New York: A Grim Retrospective" on Crime Beat Radio
On September 20, Comedian Jerry Castaldo discusses his fascinating memoir Brooklyn New York: A Grim Retrospective, on Crime Beat Radio.
On the air since January 28, 2011, Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.
Crime Beat is currently averaging 130,000 listeners plus each week, and the figure is growing. Crime Beat is hosted by award-winning crime writer and documentary producer Ron Chepesiuk (www.ronchepesiuk.com) and broadcast journalist and freelance writer Will Hryb.
On the air since January 28, 2011, Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.
Crime Beat is currently averaging 130,000 listeners plus each week, and the figure is growing. Crime Beat is hosted by award-winning crime writer and documentary producer Ron Chepesiuk (www.ronchepesiuk.com) and broadcast journalist and freelance writer Will Hryb.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Dixie Mafia Flashback - The Assassination of Judge Vincent Sherry
This month marks the 25th anniversary of the murder of Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife, Margaret, whose deaths at the hands of the so-called Dixie Mafia exposed the lawlessness and corruption that had overtaken Mississippi’s Gulf Coast in the 1980s.
“It was out of control,” said retired Special Agent Keith Bell, referring to the level of corruption in Biloxi and Harrison County—so much so that in 1983 federal authorities would designate the entire Harrison County Sheriff’s Office as a criminal enterprise. Special Agent Royce Hignight initiated the investigation of the sheriff and was soon joined by Bell.
“They were doing anything and everything illegal down here,” said Bell, who grew up on the Gulf Coast. “For money, the sheriff and officers loyal to him would release prisoners from the county jail, safeguard drug shipments, and hide fugitives. Anything you can think of, they were involved in.”
Bell is quick to point out that there were plenty of honest officers on the force, and some would later help the FBI put an end to the culture of corruption in Biloxi. But for a long time, Sheriff Leroy Hobbs and his Dixie Mafia associates held sway.
The Dixie Mafia had no ties to La Cosa Nostra. They were a loose confederation of thugs and crooks who conducted their criminal activity in the Southeastern United States. When word got out that Biloxi—with its history of strip clubs and illicit gambling—was a safe haven, the criminals settled in.
At the same time, members of the organization incarcerated at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola were running a “lonely hearts” extortion scam with associates on the street. The scam targeted homosexuals and brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars—money they entrusted to their lawyer, Pete Halat. But Halat, who would later become mayor of Biloxi, spent the money. When it came time to hand it over to the crooks, he said the cash had been taken by his former law partner, Vincent Sherry. So the mob ordered a hit on Sherry, a sitting state circuit judge who had no direct ties to the criminals. On September 14, 1987, Sherry and his wife were murdered in their home.
“Gulf Coast residents were shocked by the murders,” Bell said. Local authorities worked the case unsuccessfully for two years. The FBI opened an investigation in 1989, and Bell was assisted in the investigation by Capt. Randy Cook of the revamped sheriff’s office—Leroy Hobbs was convicted of racketeering in 1984 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The federal investigation into the Sherry murders lasted eight years. In the final trial in 1997, Pete Halat was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Kirksey McCord Nix—the Dixie Mafia kingpin at Angola who ordered the hits—as well as the hit man who killed the Sherrys each received life sentences.
As a result of the cases, Bell said, “Gulf Coast citizens started demanding more professional law enforcement and better government.” Bell—who wanted to be an FBI agent since he first watched The FBI television series as a child—added, “It meant a lot to me to return to my home and do something about the corruption that had worked its way into government and law enforcement there.” He added, “The majority of citizens realized that if the FBI had not stepped in, the lawlessness and corruption would likely have continued unabated.”
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Sunday, September 09, 2012
Carl Gibson, Founder of US UNcut, to Discuss Wall Street Crimes and More on Crime Beat Radio
On September 13, Carl Gibson, founder of US UNcut discusses corporate greed, Wall Street crimes and Occupy Wall Street movement on Crime Beat Radio.
On the air since January 28, 2011, Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.
Crime Beat is currently averaging 130,000 listeners plus each week, and the figure is growing. Crime Beat is hosted by award-winning crime writer and documentary producer Ron Chepesiuk (www.ronchepesiuk.com) and broadcast journalist and freelance writer Will Hryb.
On the air since January 28, 2011, Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.
Crime Beat is currently averaging 130,000 listeners plus each week, and the figure is growing. Crime Beat is hosted by award-winning crime writer and documentary producer Ron Chepesiuk (www.ronchepesiuk.com) and broadcast journalist and freelance writer Will Hryb.
Friday, September 07, 2012
Gunshots Hit Chicago School Bus Packed with Children
Police say no one was injured when a bullet ripped through a school bus taking students to a Catholic school in the South Deering neighborhood of Chicago on Friday.
The bus had 25 children onboard and was picking up two more children for school around 7:48 a.m. at 106th Street and Calhoun Avenue when shots rang out, Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak told NBC News.
Kubiak said a bullet entered the bus through a passenger side window, shattered the glass as it went through a seat and exited through the driver's side window.
The school bus was headed to Our Lady of Guadalupe School at 9050 S. Burley Ave. when it was struck by what appeared to be a bullet, according to Ryan Blackburn from the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Officer of Catholic Schools. The incident happened about two miles from the school.
"Gratefully none of the students were harmed, and this incident demonstrates why the school's mission is so critical to its families," Blackburn told The Chicago Tribune. "Teaching our students to learn well and live as disciples of Jesus Christ is what we do, and any action that threatens our children's safety cannot be tolerated."
The bus driver told investigators he didn't know what had hit the bus, and drove the bus to the school, Kubiak said.
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
James Holmes is Profiled by Renown Forensic Psychiatrist and Tracker of Elusive Serial Killer Discusses Her Discovery
Tomorrow, on Crime Beat Radio, Paula Todd discusses how she tracked down an elusive serial killer and discovered a mother of three. Also, Dr. Michael Stone, world renowned forensic psychiatrist, will profile alleged mass murderer James Holmes and the Aurora, Colorado massacre.
On the air since January 28, 2011, Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.
Crime Beat is currently averaging 130,000 listeners plus each week, and the figure is growing. Crime Beat is hosted by award-winning crime writer and documentary producer Ron Chepesiuk (www.ronchepesiuk.com) and broadcast journalist and freelance writer Will Hryb.
On the air since January 28, 2011, Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.
Crime Beat is currently averaging 130,000 listeners plus each week, and the figure is growing. Crime Beat is hosted by award-winning crime writer and documentary producer Ron Chepesiuk (www.ronchepesiuk.com) and broadcast journalist and freelance writer Will Hryb.
Tuesday, September 04, 2012
Griselda Blanco, "Godmother of Cocaine" Killed by Motorcycle Hitman
A 69-year-old woman known throughout the drug world as the "Godmother of Cocaine" was gunned down by an assassin on a motorcycle in Colombia Monday, according to international news reports.
Griselda Blanco, once listed alongside Pablo Escobar as one of the "most notorious drug lords of the 1980s" by the Drug Enforcement Administration, was fatally shot as she left a butcher's shop in western Medellin Monday afternoon, according to a report by Univision and El Colombiano. Colombia's El Espectador reported authorities are looking for Blanco's killers and are investigating possible motives for the killing.
Blanco served nearly 20 years in an American prison on drug trafficking charges and was at one point tied to as many as 40 murders in the U.S., according to a 1997 Senate testimony given by then-director of DEA international operations Michael Horn. Horn said that Blanco ordered a Florida mall shooting in 1979 that left two dead and four injured, and she apparently enjoyed her line of work.
"To foster her reputation as the 'Godmother' of cocaine, [Blanco] named her fourth son Michael Corleone, after the fictional mob character portrayed in the movie 'The Godfather,'" Horn said.
Court documents filed in 1988, three years after Blanco was caught, detail the shadowy, decade-long hunt for the queenpin that involved federal agents chasing false identities and checking Miami hospitals for gunshot wound victims that matched Blanco's description. But she wasn't able to elude them forever and after being captured in 1985 in Irvin, Calif. and serving nearly two decades behind bars in America, Blanco was released from prison and deported back to Colombia in 2004.
The DEA referred all inquiries into Blanco's death to Colombian authorities, telling ABC News, "she served her time here." The Colombian National Police did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this report.
Thanks to Lee Ferran.
Griselda Blanco, once listed alongside Pablo Escobar as one of the "most notorious drug lords of the 1980s" by the Drug Enforcement Administration, was fatally shot as she left a butcher's shop in western Medellin Monday afternoon, according to a report by Univision and El Colombiano. Colombia's El Espectador reported authorities are looking for Blanco's killers and are investigating possible motives for the killing.
Blanco served nearly 20 years in an American prison on drug trafficking charges and was at one point tied to as many as 40 murders in the U.S., according to a 1997 Senate testimony given by then-director of DEA international operations Michael Horn. Horn said that Blanco ordered a Florida mall shooting in 1979 that left two dead and four injured, and she apparently enjoyed her line of work.
"To foster her reputation as the 'Godmother' of cocaine, [Blanco] named her fourth son Michael Corleone, after the fictional mob character portrayed in the movie 'The Godfather,'" Horn said.
Court documents filed in 1988, three years after Blanco was caught, detail the shadowy, decade-long hunt for the queenpin that involved federal agents chasing false identities and checking Miami hospitals for gunshot wound victims that matched Blanco's description. But she wasn't able to elude them forever and after being captured in 1985 in Irvin, Calif. and serving nearly two decades behind bars in America, Blanco was released from prison and deported back to Colombia in 2004.
The DEA referred all inquiries into Blanco's death to Colombian authorities, telling ABC News, "she served her time here." The Colombian National Police did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this report.
Thanks to Lee Ferran.
Monday, September 03, 2012
Friday, August 31, 2012
Where Does The Mob Keep Its Money?
THE global financial crisis has been a blessing for organized crime. A series of recent scandals have exposed the connection between some of the biggest global banks and the seamy underworld of mobsters, smugglers, drug traffickers and arms dealers. American banks have profited from money laundering by Latin American drug cartels, while the European debt crisis has strengthened the grip of the loan sharks and speculators who control the vast underground economies in countries like Spain and Greece.
Mutually beneficial relationships between bankers and gangsters aren’t new, but what’s remarkable is their reach at the highest levels of global finance. In 2010, Wachovia admitted that it had essentially helped finance the murderous drug war in Mexico by failing to identify and stop illicit transactions. The bank, which was acquired by Wells Fargo during the financial crisis, agreed to pay $160 million in fines and penalties for tolerating the laundering, which occurred between 2004 and 2007.
Last month, Senate investigators found that HSBC had for a decade improperly facilitated transactions by Mexican drug traffickers, Saudi financiers with ties to Al Qaeda and Iranian bankers trying to circumvent United States sanctions. The bank set aside $700 million to cover fines, settlements and other expenses related to the inquiry, and its chief of compliance resigned.
ABN Amro, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Lloyds and ING have reached expensive settlements with regulators after admitting to executing the transactions of clients in disreputable countries like Cuba, Iran, Libya, Myanmar and Sudan.
Many of the illicit transactions preceded the 2008 crisis, but continuing turmoil in the banking industry created an opening for organized crime groups, enabling them to enrich themselves and grow in strength. In 2009, Antonio Maria Costa, an Italian economist who then led the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, told the British newspaper The Observer that “in many instances, the money from drugs was the only liquid investment capital” available to some banks at the height of the crisis. “Interbank loans were funded by money that originated from the drugs trade and other illegal activities,” he said. “There were signs that some banks were rescued that way.” The United Nations estimated that $1.6 trillion was laundered globally in 2009, of which about $580 billion was related to drug trafficking and other forms of organized crime.
A study last year by the Colombian economists Alejandro Gaviria and Daniel MejÃa concluded that the vast majority of profits from drug trafficking in Colombia were reaped by criminal syndicates in rich countries and laundered by banks in global financial centers like New York and London. They found that bank secrecy and privacy laws in Western countries often impeded transparency and made it easier for criminals to launder their money.
At a Congressional hearing in February, Jennifer Shasky Calvery, a Justice Department official in charge of monitoring money laundering, said that “banks in the U.S. are used to funnel massive amounts of illicit funds.” The laundering, she explained, typically occurs in three stages. First, illicit funds are directly deposited in banks or deposited after being smuggled out of the United States and then back in. Then comes “layering,” the process of separating criminal profits from their origin. Finally comes “integration,” the use of seemingly legitimate transactions to hide ill-gotten gains. Unfortunately, investigators too often focus on the cultivation, production and trafficking of narcotics while missing the bigger, more sophisticated financial activities of crime rings.
Mob financing via banks has ebbed and flowed over the years. In the late 1970s and early 1980s organized crime, which had previously dealt mainly in cash, started working its way into the banking system. This led authorities in Europe and America to take measures to slow international money laundering, prompting a temporary return to cash.
Then the flow reversed again, partly because of the fall of the Soviet Union and the ensuing Russian financial crisis. As early as the mid-1980s, the K.G.B., with help from the Russian mafia, had started hiding Communist Party assets abroad, as the journalist Robert I. Friedman has documented. Perhaps $600 billion had left Russia by the mid-1990s, contributing to the country’s impoverishment. Russian mafia leaders also took advantage of post-Soviet privatization to buy up state property. Then, in 1998, the ruble sharply depreciated, prompting a default on Russia’s public debt.
Although the United States cracked down on terrorist financing after the 9/11 attacks, instability in the financial system, like the Argentine debt default in 2001, continued to give banks an incentive to look the other way. My reporting on the ’Ndrangheta, the powerful criminal syndicate based in Southern Italy, found that much of the money laundering over the last decade simply shifted from America to Europe. The European debt crisis, now three years old, has further emboldened the mob.
IN Greece, as conventional bank lending has gotten tighter, more and more Greeks are relying on usurers. A variety of sources told Reuters last year that the illegal lending business in Greece involved between 5 billion and 10 billion euros each year. The loan-shark business has perhaps quadrupled since 2009 — some of the extortionists charge annualized interest rates starting at 60 percent. In Thessaloniki, the second largest city, the police broke up a criminal ring that was lending money at a weekly interest rate of 5 percent to 15 percent, with punishments for whoever didn’t pay up. According to the Greek Ministry of Finance, much of the illegal loan activity in Greece is connected to gangs from the Balkans and Eastern Europe.
Organized crime also dominates the black market for oil in Greece; perhaps three billion euros (about $3.8 billion) a year of contraband fuel courses through the country. Shipping is Greece’s premier industry, and the price of shipping fuel is set by law at one-third the price of fuel for cars and homes. So traffickers turn shipping fuel into more expensive home and automobile fuel. It is estimated that 20 percent of the gasoline sold in Greece is from the black market. The trafficking not only results in higher prices but also deprives the government of desperately needed revenue.
Greece’s political system is a “parliamentary mafiocracy,” the political expert Panos Kostakos told the energy news agency Oilprice.com earlier this year. “Greece has one of the largest black markets in Europe and the highest corruption levels in Europe,” he said. “There is a sovereign debt that does not mirror the real wealth of the average Greek family. What more evidence do we need to conclude that this is Greek mafia?”
Spain’s crisis, like Greece’s, was prefaced by years of mafia power and money and a lack of effectively enforced rules and regulations. At the moment, Spain is colonized by local criminal groups as well as by Italian, Russian, Colombian and Mexican organizations. Historically, Spain has been a shelter for Italian fugitives, although the situation changed with the enforcement of pan-European arrest warrants. Spanish anti-mafia laws have also improved, but the country continues to offer laundering opportunities, which only increased with the current economic crisis in Europe.
The Spanish real estate boom, which lasted from 1997 to 2007, was a godsend for criminal organizations, which invested dirty money in Iberian construction. Then, when home sales slowed and the building bubble burst, the mafia profited again — by buying up at bargain prices houses that people put on the market or that otherwise would have gone unsold.
In 2006, Spain’s central bank investigated the vast number of 500-euro bills in circulation. Criminal organizations favor these notes because they don’t take up much room; a 45-centimeter safe deposit box can fit up to 10 million euros. In 2010, British currency exchange offices stopped accepting 500-euro bills after discovering that 90 percent of transactions involving them were connected to criminal activities. Yet 500-euro bills still account for 70 percent of the value of all bank notes in Spain. And in Italy, the mafia can still count on 65 billion euros (about $82 billion) in liquid capital every year. Criminal organizations siphon 100 billion euros from the legal economy, a sum equivalent to 7 percent of G.D.P. — money that ends up in the hands of Mafiosi instead of sustaining the government or law-abiding Italians. “We will defeat the mafia by 2013,” Silvio Berlusconi, then the prime minister, declared in 2009. It was one of many unfulfilled promises. Mario Monti, the current prime minister, has stated that Italy’s dire financial situation is above all a consequence of tax evasion. He has said that even more drastic measures are needed to combat the underground economy generated by the mafia, which is destroying the legal economy.
Today’s mafias are global organizations. They operate everywhere, speak multiple languages, form overseas alliances and joint ventures, and make investments just like any other multinational company. You can’t take on multinational giants locally. Every country needs to do its part, for no country is immune. Organized crime must be hit in its economic engine, which all too often remains untouched because liquid capital is harder to trace and because in times of crisis, many, including the world’s major banks, find it too tempting to resist.
Thanks to Roberto Saviano, a journalist and the author of the book “Gomorrah.” He has lived under police protection since 2006, when he received death threats from organized crime figures in Italy. This essay was translated by Virginia Jewiss from the Italian.
Mutually beneficial relationships between bankers and gangsters aren’t new, but what’s remarkable is their reach at the highest levels of global finance. In 2010, Wachovia admitted that it had essentially helped finance the murderous drug war in Mexico by failing to identify and stop illicit transactions. The bank, which was acquired by Wells Fargo during the financial crisis, agreed to pay $160 million in fines and penalties for tolerating the laundering, which occurred between 2004 and 2007.
Last month, Senate investigators found that HSBC had for a decade improperly facilitated transactions by Mexican drug traffickers, Saudi financiers with ties to Al Qaeda and Iranian bankers trying to circumvent United States sanctions. The bank set aside $700 million to cover fines, settlements and other expenses related to the inquiry, and its chief of compliance resigned.
ABN Amro, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Lloyds and ING have reached expensive settlements with regulators after admitting to executing the transactions of clients in disreputable countries like Cuba, Iran, Libya, Myanmar and Sudan.
Many of the illicit transactions preceded the 2008 crisis, but continuing turmoil in the banking industry created an opening for organized crime groups, enabling them to enrich themselves and grow in strength. In 2009, Antonio Maria Costa, an Italian economist who then led the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, told the British newspaper The Observer that “in many instances, the money from drugs was the only liquid investment capital” available to some banks at the height of the crisis. “Interbank loans were funded by money that originated from the drugs trade and other illegal activities,” he said. “There were signs that some banks were rescued that way.” The United Nations estimated that $1.6 trillion was laundered globally in 2009, of which about $580 billion was related to drug trafficking and other forms of organized crime.
A study last year by the Colombian economists Alejandro Gaviria and Daniel MejÃa concluded that the vast majority of profits from drug trafficking in Colombia were reaped by criminal syndicates in rich countries and laundered by banks in global financial centers like New York and London. They found that bank secrecy and privacy laws in Western countries often impeded transparency and made it easier for criminals to launder their money.
At a Congressional hearing in February, Jennifer Shasky Calvery, a Justice Department official in charge of monitoring money laundering, said that “banks in the U.S. are used to funnel massive amounts of illicit funds.” The laundering, she explained, typically occurs in three stages. First, illicit funds are directly deposited in banks or deposited after being smuggled out of the United States and then back in. Then comes “layering,” the process of separating criminal profits from their origin. Finally comes “integration,” the use of seemingly legitimate transactions to hide ill-gotten gains. Unfortunately, investigators too often focus on the cultivation, production and trafficking of narcotics while missing the bigger, more sophisticated financial activities of crime rings.
Mob financing via banks has ebbed and flowed over the years. In the late 1970s and early 1980s organized crime, which had previously dealt mainly in cash, started working its way into the banking system. This led authorities in Europe and America to take measures to slow international money laundering, prompting a temporary return to cash.
Then the flow reversed again, partly because of the fall of the Soviet Union and the ensuing Russian financial crisis. As early as the mid-1980s, the K.G.B., with help from the Russian mafia, had started hiding Communist Party assets abroad, as the journalist Robert I. Friedman has documented. Perhaps $600 billion had left Russia by the mid-1990s, contributing to the country’s impoverishment. Russian mafia leaders also took advantage of post-Soviet privatization to buy up state property. Then, in 1998, the ruble sharply depreciated, prompting a default on Russia’s public debt.
Although the United States cracked down on terrorist financing after the 9/11 attacks, instability in the financial system, like the Argentine debt default in 2001, continued to give banks an incentive to look the other way. My reporting on the ’Ndrangheta, the powerful criminal syndicate based in Southern Italy, found that much of the money laundering over the last decade simply shifted from America to Europe. The European debt crisis, now three years old, has further emboldened the mob.
IN Greece, as conventional bank lending has gotten tighter, more and more Greeks are relying on usurers. A variety of sources told Reuters last year that the illegal lending business in Greece involved between 5 billion and 10 billion euros each year. The loan-shark business has perhaps quadrupled since 2009 — some of the extortionists charge annualized interest rates starting at 60 percent. In Thessaloniki, the second largest city, the police broke up a criminal ring that was lending money at a weekly interest rate of 5 percent to 15 percent, with punishments for whoever didn’t pay up. According to the Greek Ministry of Finance, much of the illegal loan activity in Greece is connected to gangs from the Balkans and Eastern Europe.
Organized crime also dominates the black market for oil in Greece; perhaps three billion euros (about $3.8 billion) a year of contraband fuel courses through the country. Shipping is Greece’s premier industry, and the price of shipping fuel is set by law at one-third the price of fuel for cars and homes. So traffickers turn shipping fuel into more expensive home and automobile fuel. It is estimated that 20 percent of the gasoline sold in Greece is from the black market. The trafficking not only results in higher prices but also deprives the government of desperately needed revenue.
Greece’s political system is a “parliamentary mafiocracy,” the political expert Panos Kostakos told the energy news agency Oilprice.com earlier this year. “Greece has one of the largest black markets in Europe and the highest corruption levels in Europe,” he said. “There is a sovereign debt that does not mirror the real wealth of the average Greek family. What more evidence do we need to conclude that this is Greek mafia?”
Spain’s crisis, like Greece’s, was prefaced by years of mafia power and money and a lack of effectively enforced rules and regulations. At the moment, Spain is colonized by local criminal groups as well as by Italian, Russian, Colombian and Mexican organizations. Historically, Spain has been a shelter for Italian fugitives, although the situation changed with the enforcement of pan-European arrest warrants. Spanish anti-mafia laws have also improved, but the country continues to offer laundering opportunities, which only increased with the current economic crisis in Europe.
The Spanish real estate boom, which lasted from 1997 to 2007, was a godsend for criminal organizations, which invested dirty money in Iberian construction. Then, when home sales slowed and the building bubble burst, the mafia profited again — by buying up at bargain prices houses that people put on the market or that otherwise would have gone unsold.
In 2006, Spain’s central bank investigated the vast number of 500-euro bills in circulation. Criminal organizations favor these notes because they don’t take up much room; a 45-centimeter safe deposit box can fit up to 10 million euros. In 2010, British currency exchange offices stopped accepting 500-euro bills after discovering that 90 percent of transactions involving them were connected to criminal activities. Yet 500-euro bills still account for 70 percent of the value of all bank notes in Spain. And in Italy, the mafia can still count on 65 billion euros (about $82 billion) in liquid capital every year. Criminal organizations siphon 100 billion euros from the legal economy, a sum equivalent to 7 percent of G.D.P. — money that ends up in the hands of Mafiosi instead of sustaining the government or law-abiding Italians. “We will defeat the mafia by 2013,” Silvio Berlusconi, then the prime minister, declared in 2009. It was one of many unfulfilled promises. Mario Monti, the current prime minister, has stated that Italy’s dire financial situation is above all a consequence of tax evasion. He has said that even more drastic measures are needed to combat the underground economy generated by the mafia, which is destroying the legal economy.
Today’s mafias are global organizations. They operate everywhere, speak multiple languages, form overseas alliances and joint ventures, and make investments just like any other multinational company. You can’t take on multinational giants locally. Every country needs to do its part, for no country is immune. Organized crime must be hit in its economic engine, which all too often remains untouched because liquid capital is harder to trace and because in times of crisis, many, including the world’s major banks, find it too tempting to resist.
Thanks to Roberto Saviano, a journalist and the author of the book “Gomorrah.” He has lived under police protection since 2006, when he received death threats from organized crime figures in Italy. This essay was translated by Virginia Jewiss from the Italian.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Did the Judge Grant a Favor in Sentencing Jerry "The Monk" Scalise?
One of Chicago's most notorious mobsters was sentenced to federal prison Wednesday. But Jerry Scalise's sentence wasn't as long as it could have been.
In this Intelligence Report: Why a federal judge did a favor for Scalise's lawyer.
At the age of 74, Outfit legend Jerry "The Monk" Scalise has what federal prosecutors call an "unbroken history of criminal conduct." So, Scalise wouldn't seem to qualify for favors or special treatment by the justice system. But, Wednesday, that is just what he received when his lawyer asked for a favor in open court; and, even more surprising, received it.
Even as he was a special consultant on the Johnny Depp film about Dillinger, federal authorities say Jerry Scalise was plotting crimes for the Chicago Outfit.
The FBI had Scalise and his burglary crew under surveillance, and in 2010, the trio was arrested in mid-scheme. Scalise pleaded guilty to planning the take down of an armored car and a break-in at the home of a deceased Outfit boss.
Wednesday in court, prosecutors ticked off dozens of crimes Scalise has committed since 1960, including the 1980 theft of the 45-carat Marlborough diamond, still missing.
Assistant U.S. attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said Scalise did crimes for the thrill of hurting people and taking things, and requested a prison sentence of nearly 10 years.
Then Scalise's attorney Ed Genson asked for what he called "one favor for a man who probably doesn't deserve it": Mercy, the lowest legal sentence of eight years and 10 months.
Judge Harry Leinenweber, saying he probably shouldn't grant such a favor, did so anyway.
"It's unusual that I would ask," said Genson. "On the other hand, I don't usually step up for people who I've known for almost 40 years...Jerry Scalise is an extraordinarily exceptional man, exceptional family, he's erudite, he's gregarious, He's just an all-around good person. He's wasted his life. He knows it. This is sad for me because I'm fond of him. Hopefully he will have a few years out and make up for whatever he has done."
The I-Team asked Bhachu if he was surprised the judge granted the lawyer's requested favor. "Our response in court was that this is a man who is not deserving of mercy," said Bhachu. "He's a man who throughout his life has committed crimes and has appeared before any number of judges to be sentenced, and it seems from our position in court-- it seems somewhat incredible that you should be given mercy when you have devoted yourself over your life to the commission of criminal activity."
The rest of Jerry Scalise's mob crew is going to prison too. Wednesday, Robert Pullia received the same sentence as Scalise, after pleading guilty.
Previously, Art "The Genius" Rachel was convicted at trial and sentenced to about 8 and a half years.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie.
In this Intelligence Report: Why a federal judge did a favor for Scalise's lawyer.
At the age of 74, Outfit legend Jerry "The Monk" Scalise has what federal prosecutors call an "unbroken history of criminal conduct." So, Scalise wouldn't seem to qualify for favors or special treatment by the justice system. But, Wednesday, that is just what he received when his lawyer asked for a favor in open court; and, even more surprising, received it.
Even as he was a special consultant on the Johnny Depp film about Dillinger, federal authorities say Jerry Scalise was plotting crimes for the Chicago Outfit.
The FBI had Scalise and his burglary crew under surveillance, and in 2010, the trio was arrested in mid-scheme. Scalise pleaded guilty to planning the take down of an armored car and a break-in at the home of a deceased Outfit boss.
Wednesday in court, prosecutors ticked off dozens of crimes Scalise has committed since 1960, including the 1980 theft of the 45-carat Marlborough diamond, still missing.
Assistant U.S. attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said Scalise did crimes for the thrill of hurting people and taking things, and requested a prison sentence of nearly 10 years.
Then Scalise's attorney Ed Genson asked for what he called "one favor for a man who probably doesn't deserve it": Mercy, the lowest legal sentence of eight years and 10 months.
Judge Harry Leinenweber, saying he probably shouldn't grant such a favor, did so anyway.
"It's unusual that I would ask," said Genson. "On the other hand, I don't usually step up for people who I've known for almost 40 years...Jerry Scalise is an extraordinarily exceptional man, exceptional family, he's erudite, he's gregarious, He's just an all-around good person. He's wasted his life. He knows it. This is sad for me because I'm fond of him. Hopefully he will have a few years out and make up for whatever he has done."
The I-Team asked Bhachu if he was surprised the judge granted the lawyer's requested favor. "Our response in court was that this is a man who is not deserving of mercy," said Bhachu. "He's a man who throughout his life has committed crimes and has appeared before any number of judges to be sentenced, and it seems from our position in court-- it seems somewhat incredible that you should be given mercy when you have devoted yourself over your life to the commission of criminal activity."
The rest of Jerry Scalise's mob crew is going to prison too. Wednesday, Robert Pullia received the same sentence as Scalise, after pleading guilty.
Previously, Art "The Genius" Rachel was convicted at trial and sentenced to about 8 and a half years.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Vice Presidential Nominee, Paul Ryan, Tied to Irish Mafia?
Forget Gangs of New York, the 'Irish mafia' has a new power base: Janesville, Wisconsin.
Home to representative Paul Ryan -- Mitt Romney's vice-presidential nominee -- this town of 64,000 people has suddenly been thrown into the spotlight as journalists the world over seek to get a handle on the new Sarah Palin. And, in anything that has been written, the Ryan family association with the so-called Irish mafia of Janesville invariably gets a mention. But as John Nichols -- a Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine -- explains, the Janesville mafia is not quite as sinister as it sounds.
"It's a slightly unfair term in that it's not like the Italian mafia," said Nichols. "It's not a criminal endeavour.
"Janesville was a factory town and a lot of Irish folks came there in the early years of the 20th Century to find jobs. Some of them started construction companies and, because they happened to be Irish, people started referring to them as the Irish mafia," he added.
The Ryan family -- owners of a major road-building company -- was just one of the families who fell under that umbrella.
"In general, you'd say they're known for business success," said Wisconsin state senator Tim Cullen, himself a member of one of the 'mafia' families. "But I think the big thing about being Irish for Paul is that he inherited a lot of the stereotypical Irish skills. He's a good-looking guy, he has a great smile and a great way of greeting people and talking with them," he added.
"He has all the Irish political skill. He's a 'hail fellow, well met' with the gift of the gab. All the clichés that people want to bring into play, he's got them all," agreed Nichols. But just how important is that connection today?
"They're old-school Irish in Janesville," said Nichols. "They like their St Patrick's Day parties. It's a very Catholic town and the people take their Irish connections pretty seriously ... but I wouldn't paint it like some neighbourhoods in New York or Chicago."
"[Ryan] played on his Irish ancestry a lot when he first ran for office," said Cullen, referring to an early campaign ad which showed the then 28-year-old Ryan walking among the tombstones of his ancestors in Janesville. "But he did that to associate himself with Janesville. He hadn't been in Wisconsin from the age of 18 to when he came back to run, so that TV ad was more about identifying him with the Ryan family history in Janesville," he added. And it worked. Ryan became one of the youngest ever members of the House of Representatives and has been re-elected with ease ever since.
Now one of the most influential Republicans in Congress (not to mention the pride and joy of his party's most conservative wing, the Tea Party) Ryan has made a name for himself as a man with a plan for the economy, and a very strict ideological take on government supports such as social security, Medicare and Medicaid.
"He's very conservative and just has complete faith that the free market system has all the answers," said Cullen who, despite coming from the other side of the divide, still speaks fondly of him.
So what would Ryan make of modern-day Ireland?
According to Cullen, there's little chance that he would approve of our "European-style" government. "Almost all his views are the antithesis of the social welfare system. He talks about not letting America become Greece, and you could almost substitute Ireland for Greece," said Cullen.
Regardless of what happens on election day in November, however, Cullen believes Ryan has been catapulted to a higher level in US politics for the rest of his career.
"If he comes out of this thing with a fairly good national reputation and Romney loses, Ryan will be the frontrunner for the 2016 presidential race," he said.
Thanks to Niamh Sweeney.
Home to representative Paul Ryan -- Mitt Romney's vice-presidential nominee -- this town of 64,000 people has suddenly been thrown into the spotlight as journalists the world over seek to get a handle on the new Sarah Palin. And, in anything that has been written, the Ryan family association with the so-called Irish mafia of Janesville invariably gets a mention. But as John Nichols -- a Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine -- explains, the Janesville mafia is not quite as sinister as it sounds.
"It's a slightly unfair term in that it's not like the Italian mafia," said Nichols. "It's not a criminal endeavour.
"Janesville was a factory town and a lot of Irish folks came there in the early years of the 20th Century to find jobs. Some of them started construction companies and, because they happened to be Irish, people started referring to them as the Irish mafia," he added.
The Ryan family -- owners of a major road-building company -- was just one of the families who fell under that umbrella.
"In general, you'd say they're known for business success," said Wisconsin state senator Tim Cullen, himself a member of one of the 'mafia' families. "But I think the big thing about being Irish for Paul is that he inherited a lot of the stereotypical Irish skills. He's a good-looking guy, he has a great smile and a great way of greeting people and talking with them," he added.
"He has all the Irish political skill. He's a 'hail fellow, well met' with the gift of the gab. All the clichés that people want to bring into play, he's got them all," agreed Nichols. But just how important is that connection today?
"They're old-school Irish in Janesville," said Nichols. "They like their St Patrick's Day parties. It's a very Catholic town and the people take their Irish connections pretty seriously ... but I wouldn't paint it like some neighbourhoods in New York or Chicago."
"[Ryan] played on his Irish ancestry a lot when he first ran for office," said Cullen, referring to an early campaign ad which showed the then 28-year-old Ryan walking among the tombstones of his ancestors in Janesville. "But he did that to associate himself with Janesville. He hadn't been in Wisconsin from the age of 18 to when he came back to run, so that TV ad was more about identifying him with the Ryan family history in Janesville," he added. And it worked. Ryan became one of the youngest ever members of the House of Representatives and has been re-elected with ease ever since.
Now one of the most influential Republicans in Congress (not to mention the pride and joy of his party's most conservative wing, the Tea Party) Ryan has made a name for himself as a man with a plan for the economy, and a very strict ideological take on government supports such as social security, Medicare and Medicaid.
"He's very conservative and just has complete faith that the free market system has all the answers," said Cullen who, despite coming from the other side of the divide, still speaks fondly of him.
So what would Ryan make of modern-day Ireland?
According to Cullen, there's little chance that he would approve of our "European-style" government. "Almost all his views are the antithesis of the social welfare system. He talks about not letting America become Greece, and you could almost substitute Ireland for Greece," said Cullen.
Regardless of what happens on election day in November, however, Cullen believes Ryan has been catapulted to a higher level in US politics for the rest of his career.
"If he comes out of this thing with a fairly good national reputation and Romney loses, Ryan will be the frontrunner for the 2016 presidential race," he said.
Thanks to Niamh Sweeney.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Mara Shalhoup Discusses "Big Meech and the Black Mafia Family" on Crime Beat Radio
Mara Shalhoup, journalist, discusses her riveting book about Big Meech and the Black Mafia Family on August 30th on Crime Beat Radio.
On the air since January 28, 2011, Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.
Crime Beat is currently averaging 130,000 listeners plus each week, and the figure is growing. Crime Beat is hosted by award-winning crime writer and documentary producer Ron Chepesiuk (www.ronchepesiuk.com) and broadcast journalist and freelance writer Will Hryb.
On the air since January 28, 2011, Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.
Crime Beat is currently averaging 130,000 listeners plus each week, and the figure is growing. Crime Beat is hosted by award-winning crime writer and documentary producer Ron Chepesiuk (www.ronchepesiuk.com) and broadcast journalist and freelance writer Will Hryb.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Julie Davis on Crime Beat Radio Tonight!
Julia Davis, a former Customs and border protection agent and a national security whistleblower, discusses her case against the Department of Homeland Security, as well as national security issues, tonight on Crime Beat Radio.
On the air since January 28, 2011, Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.
Crime Beat is currently averaging 130,000 listeners plus each week, and the figure is growing. Crime Beat is hosted by award-winning crime writer and documentary producer Ron Chepesiuk (www.ronchepesiuk.com) and broadcast journalist and freelance writer Will Hryb.
On the air since January 28, 2011, Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.
Crime Beat is currently averaging 130,000 listeners plus each week, and the figure is growing. Crime Beat is hosted by award-winning crime writer and documentary producer Ron Chepesiuk (www.ronchepesiuk.com) and broadcast journalist and freelance writer Will Hryb.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Shadowbosses: Government Unions Control America and Rob Taxpayers Blind
Shadowbosses: Government Unions Control America and Rob Taxpayers Blind
tells a story of intrigue, drama, and corruption and reads like an organized crime novel. But it is actually a true story of how labor unions are infiltrating our government and corrupting our political process. This compelling and insightful book exposes how unions have organized federal, state, and local government employees without their consent, and how government employee unions are now a threat to our workers' freedoms, our free and fair elections, and even our American way of life. And, Mallory Factor reveals what's coming next: how unions are targeting millions of Americans--maybe even you--for forced unionization so that unions can collect billions more in forced dues and exert an even greater influence over American politics. A chilling expose, Shadowbosses is also a call to citizen action against those who really hold power in America today.
tells a story of intrigue, drama, and corruption and reads like an organized crime novel. But it is actually a true story of how labor unions are infiltrating our government and corrupting our political process. This compelling and insightful book exposes how unions have organized federal, state, and local government employees without their consent, and how government employee unions are now a threat to our workers' freedoms, our free and fair elections, and even our American way of life. And, Mallory Factor reveals what's coming next: how unions are targeting millions of Americans--maybe even you--for forced unionization so that unions can collect billions more in forced dues and exert an even greater influence over American politics. A chilling expose, Shadowbosses is also a call to citizen action against those who really hold power in America today.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia
Cosa Nostra vividly reconstructs the stories of the men and women who have lived and died in the mafia's shadow. It explains how the mafia began, how it responds to threats and challenges and how it maintains its grip on the society where it was born. Cosa Nostra takes us inside the thought-processes of the mafia's leaders and foot soldiers, its friends and its foes. Its cast of characters includes Antonino Giammona, the first man with a claim to the title 'boss of bosses'; Emanuele Notarbartolo, the honest and courageous banker who in 1893 became the mafia's first 'eminent corpse'; New York cop Joe Petrosino who underestimated the Sicilian mafia and paid for this with his life, and Bernardo 'the Tractor' Provenzano, the current boss of bosses who has been in hiding in Sicily since 1963.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Chicago Mob Challenged by Organized Crime Gangs from Eastern Europe
Organized crime wears a new face in Chicago — and the retiring special-agent-in-charge of the area’s FBI office says many times, it speaks a foreign language.
At the same time, the FBI’s Robert Grant said, the “Family Secrets” trial did not de-fang the Chicago Outfit.
“It’s like a cancer in remission,” or a bully who’s lost a few teeth, Grant said during the taping of Sunday’s WBBM Newsradio “At Issue” program, which airs at 9:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Grant said Eastern European-based organized crime has moved quickly into Chicago and now draws as much manpower and attention from his office as the Mafia.
“Fifteen years ago, we had two organized crime squads (in Chicago) focused strictly on the Outfit,” he said. “Now we have one that, a part of their apparatus is focused on the Outfit, but the other is focused almost exclusively on Eastern European organized crime activity.”
The Outfit, he said, has always been locally run, and has focused most of its illegal activities — gambling, prostitution, juice loans and the like — locally. Not so with these new gangs.
“Some of the actors are here in Chicago. A lot of the actors are in foreign countries,” he said.
Much of that is cyber and financial crime, he said. Grant said the FBI uses much the same techniques that it has in the past with locally-based organized crime and corrupt politicians, including wiretaps and hidden microphones, but said translating can sometimes be a problem. And he said the differences in laws can make it difficult to work with foreign law enforcement, no matter how good their intentions.
“When they pick up an organized crime figure and don’t have a place to put in in a witness protection program or they don’t have the ability to plea down their sentence in return for intelligence and cooperation that affects their ability to get inside of organized crime,” he said.
Grant said in some former Soviet-bloc countries, the distrust of clandestine agencies runs high because of the abuses of the KGB and similar organizations.
That is not to say that the problem is exclusively one with roots elsewhere.
Grant said street gangs also pose a growing problem and said the FBI continues to work closely with local law enforcement. He said that in all, more than 100 of the 500 agents in his office are devoted to organized crime activity.
Grant has headed the Chicago field office of the FBI for more than seven years, but will be stepping down Sept. 3 to work with the global security team at the Walt Disney Co., where he will assess security threats and recommend responses.
Thanks to "At Issue".
At the same time, the FBI’s Robert Grant said, the “Family Secrets” trial did not de-fang the Chicago Outfit.
“It’s like a cancer in remission,” or a bully who’s lost a few teeth, Grant said during the taping of Sunday’s WBBM Newsradio “At Issue” program, which airs at 9:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Grant said Eastern European-based organized crime has moved quickly into Chicago and now draws as much manpower and attention from his office as the Mafia.
“Fifteen years ago, we had two organized crime squads (in Chicago) focused strictly on the Outfit,” he said. “Now we have one that, a part of their apparatus is focused on the Outfit, but the other is focused almost exclusively on Eastern European organized crime activity.”
The Outfit, he said, has always been locally run, and has focused most of its illegal activities — gambling, prostitution, juice loans and the like — locally. Not so with these new gangs.
“Some of the actors are here in Chicago. A lot of the actors are in foreign countries,” he said.
Much of that is cyber and financial crime, he said. Grant said the FBI uses much the same techniques that it has in the past with locally-based organized crime and corrupt politicians, including wiretaps and hidden microphones, but said translating can sometimes be a problem. And he said the differences in laws can make it difficult to work with foreign law enforcement, no matter how good their intentions.
“When they pick up an organized crime figure and don’t have a place to put in in a witness protection program or they don’t have the ability to plea down their sentence in return for intelligence and cooperation that affects their ability to get inside of organized crime,” he said.
Grant said in some former Soviet-bloc countries, the distrust of clandestine agencies runs high because of the abuses of the KGB and similar organizations.
That is not to say that the problem is exclusively one with roots elsewhere.
Grant said street gangs also pose a growing problem and said the FBI continues to work closely with local law enforcement. He said that in all, more than 100 of the 500 agents in his office are devoted to organized crime activity.
Grant has headed the Chicago field office of the FBI for more than seven years, but will be stepping down Sept. 3 to work with the global security team at the Walt Disney Co., where he will assess security threats and recommend responses.
Thanks to "At Issue".
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Saturday, August 04, 2012
The Artist, the Philosopher, and the Warrior: The Intersecting Lives of Da Vinci, Machiavelli, and Borgia and the World They Shaped
The Renaissance was a child of many fathers—none more important than the three iconic figures whose intersecting lives provide the basis for this astonishing work of narrative history: Leonardo Da Vinci, Niccolo Machiavelli and Cesar Borgia. Each could not have been more different. They would meet only for a short time in 1502 but the events that transpired, would significantly alter their perceptions—and the course of Western history.
In 1502, Italy was riven by conflict, with the city of Florence as the ultimate prize. Machiavelli, the consummate political manipulator, attempted to placate the savage Borgia by volunteering the services of Da Vinci as Borgia's chief military engineer. That autumn, the three men embarked together on a brief, perilous, and fateful journey through the mountains, remote villages and hill towns of the Italian Romagna—the details of which were revealed in Machiavelli's often-daily dispatches and Da Vinci's meticulous notebooks.
In a book that is at once a gripping adventure story and a trenchant analysis of how men make history, The Artist, the Philosopher and the Warrior limns each man's personality, their interactions, and the forces that shaped their world. Superbly written, meticulously researched, here is a work of narrative genius—whose subject is the very nature of genius itself.
In 1502, Italy was riven by conflict, with the city of Florence as the ultimate prize. Machiavelli, the consummate political manipulator, attempted to placate the savage Borgia by volunteering the services of Da Vinci as Borgia's chief military engineer. That autumn, the three men embarked together on a brief, perilous, and fateful journey through the mountains, remote villages and hill towns of the Italian Romagna—the details of which were revealed in Machiavelli's often-daily dispatches and Da Vinci's meticulous notebooks.
In a book that is at once a gripping adventure story and a trenchant analysis of how men make history, The Artist, the Philosopher and the Warrior limns each man's personality, their interactions, and the forces that shaped their world. Superbly written, meticulously researched, here is a work of narrative genius—whose subject is the very nature of genius itself.
Friday, August 03, 2012
Eugene Mullins, Former Cook County Official, Indicted on Kickback Charges
A former Cook County official was indicted on federal charges for allegedly fraudulently steering four county contracts, each just under $25,000, to four acquaintances and then soliciting a portion of the contract payments as a kickback from each of them, totaling approximately $34,700, federal and state law enforcement officials announced today. Eugene Mullins, who was director of the Cook County Department of Public Affairs and Communications between March 2008 and November 2010, was arrested today after being indicted on fraud and corruption charges. The four individuals who allegedly received county contracts and returned a portion of the payments to Mullins were each charged with misprision of a felony for allegedly concealing Mullins’ alleged fraud and kickback crimes.
Mullins, 48, of Chicago, was charged with four counts of wire fraud and four counts of soliciting kickbacks in a 12-count indictment that was returned by a federal grand jury yesterday and unsealed today when he appeared in U.S. District Court. He pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. A status hearing was scheduled for 8:45 a.m. on September 5, 2012, before U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve.
The four co-defendants were not arrested and will be arraigned later on dates to be determined before Judge St. Eve. They are: Gary Render, 43, of Chicago; Michael L. Peery, 51, of Chicago; Clifford Borner, 45, of Chicago; and Kenneth Gregory Demos, 50, of Oak Park. Each was charged with one count of misprision of a felony.
The arrest and charges were announced by Gary S. Shapiro, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Anita Alvarez, Cook County State’s Attorney; Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Patrick Blanchard, Cook County Inspector General. The charges stem from a joint state and federal corruption investigation that resulted previously in pending state charges against Carla Oglesby, a former Cook County official, who allegedly also illegally steered county contracts under $25,000.
Between January 2010 and January 2011, Mullins allegedly used his county position to submit and cause others to submit false documents to the county to assist the four co-defendants in obtaining professional and managerial service contracts and payment from the county. Mullins then solicited the individuals who obtained contracts for payments from the contract proceeds for his own benefit, the charges allege. Mullins also allegedly steered contracts under $25,000 to two other individuals who later returned the checks they received from the county in full and were not charged.
According to the indictment, county contracts for professional and managerial services under $25,000 required approval only by the county purchasing agent and did not require approval by the county Board of Commissioners. In 2010, Mullins’ public affairs and communications department, as well as other county departments, had access to federal funds and county money to promote awareness and increase response rates by county residents for the 2010 U.S. Census, to promote awareness and assist residents impacted by floods in 2008, and to promote and increase energy efficiency and conservation.
At various times in 2010, the indictment alleges that:
As part of an effort to conceal the scheme in late 2010 and early 2011, Mullins allegedly advised the contract recipients to falsely deny the circumstances surrounding the contracts if questioned by investigators. For example, he advised Peery not to say anything about the cash payment to Mullins and advised Borner to claim ownership of the invoice submitted in support of his census contract, the charges allege.
The indictment seeks forfeiture of approximately $34,700 from Mullins.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsay Jenkins, Sarah Streicker, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Blakey, chief of the Special Prosecutions Bureau of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Each count of wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison: each count of soliciting kickbacks carries a maximum of 10 years in prison; and misprision of a felony carries a maximum of three years in prison and all counts carry a $250,000 maximum fine. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Mullins, 48, of Chicago, was charged with four counts of wire fraud and four counts of soliciting kickbacks in a 12-count indictment that was returned by a federal grand jury yesterday and unsealed today when he appeared in U.S. District Court. He pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. A status hearing was scheduled for 8:45 a.m. on September 5, 2012, before U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve.
The four co-defendants were not arrested and will be arraigned later on dates to be determined before Judge St. Eve. They are: Gary Render, 43, of Chicago; Michael L. Peery, 51, of Chicago; Clifford Borner, 45, of Chicago; and Kenneth Gregory Demos, 50, of Oak Park. Each was charged with one count of misprision of a felony.
The arrest and charges were announced by Gary S. Shapiro, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Anita Alvarez, Cook County State’s Attorney; Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Patrick Blanchard, Cook County Inspector General. The charges stem from a joint state and federal corruption investigation that resulted previously in pending state charges against Carla Oglesby, a former Cook County official, who allegedly also illegally steered county contracts under $25,000.
Between January 2010 and January 2011, Mullins allegedly used his county position to submit and cause others to submit false documents to the county to assist the four co-defendants in obtaining professional and managerial service contracts and payment from the county. Mullins then solicited the individuals who obtained contracts for payments from the contract proceeds for his own benefit, the charges allege. Mullins also allegedly steered contracts under $25,000 to two other individuals who later returned the checks they received from the county in full and were not charged.
According to the indictment, county contracts for professional and managerial services under $25,000 required approval only by the county purchasing agent and did not require approval by the county Board of Commissioners. In 2010, Mullins’ public affairs and communications department, as well as other county departments, had access to federal funds and county money to promote awareness and increase response rates by county residents for the 2010 U.S. Census, to promote awareness and assist residents impacted by floods in 2008, and to promote and increase energy efficiency and conservation.
At various times in 2010, the indictment alleges that:
- Mullins schemed to fraudulently steer a $24,980 disaster grant contract to Render, who returned $9,000 to Mullins;
- Mullins schemed to fraudulently steer a $24,985 energy grant contract to Peery, who returned $12,000 to Mullins;
- Mullins schemed to fraudulently steer a $24,995 census contract to Borner, who returned $5,000 to Mullins; and
- Mullins schemed to fraudulently steer a $24,997 census contract to Demos, who returned $8,700 to Mullins.
As part of an effort to conceal the scheme in late 2010 and early 2011, Mullins allegedly advised the contract recipients to falsely deny the circumstances surrounding the contracts if questioned by investigators. For example, he advised Peery not to say anything about the cash payment to Mullins and advised Borner to claim ownership of the invoice submitted in support of his census contract, the charges allege.
The indictment seeks forfeiture of approximately $34,700 from Mullins.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsay Jenkins, Sarah Streicker, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Blakey, chief of the Special Prosecutions Bureau of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Each count of wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison: each count of soliciting kickbacks carries a maximum of 10 years in prison; and misprision of a felony carries a maximum of three years in prison and all counts carry a $250,000 maximum fine. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Robert Grant, Head of FBI in Chicago, Retires to Join Disney
Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced today his retirement from government service, effective September 3, 2012, culminating a 29-year career with the FBI.
Mr. Grant has served as the head of the Chicago Office, the FBI’s oldest field office, since January of 2005. He is the longest serving special agent in charge in the history of the Chicago Office, which was first established in 1908. In this role, Mr. Grant has overseen many significant investigations, including the arrest of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on corruption charges, the racketeering indictment and conviction of numerous high-ranking members of the Chicago Mafia as part of the “Family Secrets” case, and the arrest of two Chicago men on charges related to the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, India.
Mr. Grant entered on duty with the FBI in 1983 and has served in the Memphis, New York, and San Antonio Field Offices, along with several different assignments at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., including Chief Inspector.
In announcing his retirement, Mr. Grant noted the many positive changes and transformation of the FBI during his career. Said Mr. Grant, “I have witnessed the FBI do some amazing things. It has grown and stretched in ways I never thought possible. What I have come to realize is there is almost nothing the FBI cannot do when it sets a proper course and supports its tremendous people. There isn’t a day that goes by where I am not impressed and amazed at the work of the men and women of this organization, who I will miss greatly.”
Mr. Grant has received numerous awards and commendations during his career and was a 2008 recipient of the Presidential Rank Service Award. Under his direction, the Chicago Office has been recognized by numerous civic and community organizations for outstanding investigative accomplishments and service to the community. Mr. Grant has accepted a position with the Walt Disney Company in Los Angeles, where he will be part of their Global Security Team.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Agent Ronald Hosko Named Assistant Director of FBI Criminal Investigative Division
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III named Ronald T. Hosko assistant director of the Criminal Investigative Division (CID) at FBI Headquarters (FBIHQ). Mr. Hosko most recently served as special agent in charge of the Washington Field Office (WFO) Criminal Division.
Mr. Hosko began his career with the FBI as a special agent in 1984. His first assignment was to the Jackson Division, where he investigated drug-related matters, white-collar crime, and organized crime. In 1988, he was transferred to the Chicago Division, where he investigated white-collar and financial crimes in addition to serving on the SWAT team. He also spent several months working undercover in the Sourmash investigation, which targeted fraudulent commodities trading at the Chicago Board of Trade.
In 1992, Mr. Hosko began serving on the Chicago Violent Crimes Task Force, where he focused on violent crime and fugitive investigations until he was promoted to supervisor in 1995. In this role, he continued to serve on the task force while also leading investigations into various federal crimes.
In 2001, Mr. Hosko reported to the Critical Incident and Response Group, first as supervisor and then as unit chief of the Crisis Management Unit. In this role, he served as deputy to the Joint Operations Center commander during the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, and led the FBI in its interagency cooperation during the 2002 sniper shootings in Washington, D.C.
In 2003, Mr. Hosko was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of the Philadelphia Division, where he was responsible for investigations into criminal matters. While in this role, he led the division’s surveillance and technical operations, and he served as the program supervisor for crisis management. In 2005, Mr. Hosko served as the on-scene commander of FBI personnel deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Later that year, he served as deputy to the senior fellow law enforcement official following Hurricane Katrina.
In February 2006, Mr. Hosko served as deputy on-scene commander for FBI personnel supporting the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. He was promoted to inspector in 2007, before being assigned to his most recent post with the Washington Field Office in 2010.
Mr. Hosko earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and criminal justice from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1980. He earned his Juris Doctorate from the Temple University in 1984.
Mr. Hosko began his career with the FBI as a special agent in 1984. His first assignment was to the Jackson Division, where he investigated drug-related matters, white-collar crime, and organized crime. In 1988, he was transferred to the Chicago Division, where he investigated white-collar and financial crimes in addition to serving on the SWAT team. He also spent several months working undercover in the Sourmash investigation, which targeted fraudulent commodities trading at the Chicago Board of Trade.
In 1992, Mr. Hosko began serving on the Chicago Violent Crimes Task Force, where he focused on violent crime and fugitive investigations until he was promoted to supervisor in 1995. In this role, he continued to serve on the task force while also leading investigations into various federal crimes.
In 2001, Mr. Hosko reported to the Critical Incident and Response Group, first as supervisor and then as unit chief of the Crisis Management Unit. In this role, he served as deputy to the Joint Operations Center commander during the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, and led the FBI in its interagency cooperation during the 2002 sniper shootings in Washington, D.C.
In 2003, Mr. Hosko was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of the Philadelphia Division, where he was responsible for investigations into criminal matters. While in this role, he led the division’s surveillance and technical operations, and he served as the program supervisor for crisis management. In 2005, Mr. Hosko served as the on-scene commander of FBI personnel deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Later that year, he served as deputy to the senior fellow law enforcement official following Hurricane Katrina.
In February 2006, Mr. Hosko served as deputy on-scene commander for FBI personnel supporting the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. He was promoted to inspector in 2007, before being assigned to his most recent post with the Washington Field Office in 2010.
Mr. Hosko earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and criminal justice from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1980. He earned his Juris Doctorate from the Temple University in 1984.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Reputed Chicago Fugitive, Jose Hernandez Saldana, Arrested in Los Angeles and Charged with Attempted Murder
The FBI’s Fugitive Task Force arrested a Lawndale man believed to have fled Chicago after shooting a man in the head at the residence of his estranged wife, announced Timothy Delaney, the Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office; and Robert Grant, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Chicago’s Field Office.
According to a federal criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, detectives with the Chicago Police Department (CPD) obtained an arrest warrant for Jose Hernandez Saldana, a Lawndale resident, based on CPD’s investigation that identified Saldana as the suspect in the September 15, 1994 shooting of an Illinois man at the residence of Saldana’s estranged wife in Chicago, Illinois. On September 16, 1994, Saldana was charged with one count of attempted murder in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.
Attempts to locate Saldana at the time were unsuccessful and investigators with the CPD and the FBI established evidence indicating that Saldana left the state of Illinois and had likely fled to his native country of Mexico.
In 2012, a Cold Case Unit with CPD’s Area South Division revisited the case and enlisted assistance from the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force in Chicago, which is comprised of FBI agents, CPD detectives, and Cook County Sheriff’s Police investigators. Detectives and agents learned that a relative of Saldana’s had been arrested recently and that the relative’s vehicle had been released to a man identified as Carlos Rosalio Gonzalez. Investigators suspected the relative identified as Gonzalez was, in fact, their suspect, Jose Saldana, using a false name.
The FBI’s Special Processing Center in Clarksburg, West Virginia, was contacted and compared Saldana’s fingerprints with the fingerprints on file for the California driver’s license being used by the man identified as Gonzalez. The analysis resulted in a positive match for Saldana and confirmed that Saldana had been using the name Gonzalez.
On July 19, 2012, a federal warrant for Saldana was obtained after he was charged in U.S. District Court in Chicago with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution (UFAP).
Members of the Los Angeles Fugitive Task Force, which is comprised of agents and officers with the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department, arrested Saldana in Lawndale without incident on Friday, July 20, 2012.
Saldana is being held in the custody of the Los Angeles Police Department pending extradition by the Cook County State Attorney’s Office. It is anticipated that the United States government will dismiss the federal warrant charging Saldana with UFAP and that he will remain in custody in Illinois while he awaits prosecution.
The fugitive investigation was the result of cooperation by the FBI’s Chicago and Los Angeles Field Offices; the Chicago Police Department, Area South, Cold Case Unit; and the Los Angeles Police Department.
According to a federal criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, detectives with the Chicago Police Department (CPD) obtained an arrest warrant for Jose Hernandez Saldana, a Lawndale resident, based on CPD’s investigation that identified Saldana as the suspect in the September 15, 1994 shooting of an Illinois man at the residence of Saldana’s estranged wife in Chicago, Illinois. On September 16, 1994, Saldana was charged with one count of attempted murder in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.
Attempts to locate Saldana at the time were unsuccessful and investigators with the CPD and the FBI established evidence indicating that Saldana left the state of Illinois and had likely fled to his native country of Mexico.
In 2012, a Cold Case Unit with CPD’s Area South Division revisited the case and enlisted assistance from the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force in Chicago, which is comprised of FBI agents, CPD detectives, and Cook County Sheriff’s Police investigators. Detectives and agents learned that a relative of Saldana’s had been arrested recently and that the relative’s vehicle had been released to a man identified as Carlos Rosalio Gonzalez. Investigators suspected the relative identified as Gonzalez was, in fact, their suspect, Jose Saldana, using a false name.
The FBI’s Special Processing Center in Clarksburg, West Virginia, was contacted and compared Saldana’s fingerprints with the fingerprints on file for the California driver’s license being used by the man identified as Gonzalez. The analysis resulted in a positive match for Saldana and confirmed that Saldana had been using the name Gonzalez.
On July 19, 2012, a federal warrant for Saldana was obtained after he was charged in U.S. District Court in Chicago with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution (UFAP).
Members of the Los Angeles Fugitive Task Force, which is comprised of agents and officers with the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department, arrested Saldana in Lawndale without incident on Friday, July 20, 2012.
Saldana is being held in the custody of the Los Angeles Police Department pending extradition by the Cook County State Attorney’s Office. It is anticipated that the United States government will dismiss the federal warrant charging Saldana with UFAP and that he will remain in custody in Illinois while he awaits prosecution.
The fugitive investigation was the result of cooperation by the FBI’s Chicago and Los Angeles Field Offices; the Chicago Police Department, Area South, Cold Case Unit; and the Los Angeles Police Department.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Former Cook County Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno and Former Chicago Alderman Ambrosio Medrano Among 8 Indicted for Alleged Corruption Scheme
Two former local public officials and five businessmen who were arrested last month on public corruption charges were formally indicted today for allegedly participating in one or more corruption schemes. A federal grand jury returned indictments against former Cook County Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno, former Chicago Alderman Ambrosio Medrano, and six others that mirror the charges filed last month in criminal complaints. One of the defendants is a businessman charged for the first time for allegedly engaging in an extortion scheme with Moreno during his tenure as an elected public official.
The new defendant, Ronald Garcia, 53, of Lockport, owned and operated Chicago Medical Equipment & Supply Co., which was certified by Cook County as a minority business enterprise (MBE). Between March 2008 and July 2009, Moreno and Garcia allegedly conspired to extort a company that won a county contract to force it to use Garcia’s company as a minority subcontractor.
The indictments also allege the following bribery schemes that were charged last month:
A 10-count indictment returned today alleges that Moreno, a Cook County commissioner for 16 years until 2010, and Medrano, the former alderman who later worked on Moreno’s county staff, accepted bribes in return for using their influence as county officials to steer public contracts to businesses. This indictment charges the alleged bribery schemes involving the contracts for bandages and the alleged extortion to hire Garcia’s company, as well as Moreno’s alleged Cicero bribe.
Moreno, also known as “Mario Moreno,” 59, of Chicago, was charged with three counts of bribery, two counts of wire fraud, and one count each of extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion. Medrano, 58, of Chicago, was charged with two counts of wire fraud and one count each of bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery. Moreno and Medrano were both released on secured bonds following their arrests last month.
Also charged in the same indictment were:
Wozniak and the Lombardis—who were agents of Chasing Lions LLC, a disabled veterans-owned business in west suburban Lisle—were also released on bond following their arrests in June. All six defendant will be arraigned on dates to be determined in U.S. District Court.
The new allegations regarding Moreno and Garcia state that Garcia provided Moreno and his wife with a $100,000 home mortgage loan in July 2007. In November 2007, Cook County requested bids on a contract to assist county health facilities in reducing costs and increasing revenue. Company A submitted a bid that proposed using Garcia’s Chicago Medical company as a minority subcontractor, which was supported by Moreno. Company B submitted a bid that proposed using minority subcontractors but did not include Chicago Medical.
Moreno and Garcia allegedly conspired to use Moreno’s influence as a commissioner to take actions adverse to Company B’s attempts to obtain and maintain the county contract unless Company B used Chicago Medical as a subcontractor for that contract. During the time that Moreno allegedly was pressuring Company B, Garcia released the $100,000 mortgage even though Moreno had not fully repaid the loan. As a result of Moreno’s and Garcia’s actions, Company B paid Chicago Medical approximately $460,000, according to the indictment.
The indictment seeks forfeiture of approximately $100,000 from Moreno and approximately $460,000 from Garcia.
A second, single-count indictment was returned today against Medrano, James Barta, 70, of Fremont, Nebraska; and Gustavo Buenrostro, 49, of Arlington Heights, charging them each with conspiracy to commit bribery. Barta, the president and owner of Sav-Rx, a Fremont, Nebraska-based national provider of managed care prescription medication services; and Buenrostro, an associate of Barta and former employee of Sav-Rx, were also released on bond following their arrests. This indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to bribe an undercover FBI agent and a fictitious official of the “County A” hospital system—with Barta allegedly making a $6,500 payment to the undercover agent last month—to do business with Sav-Rx. Medrano, Barta, and Buenrostro will be arraigned on dates to be determined in this case.
The indictments were announced by Gary S. Shapiro, Acting United States Attorney for the Northen District of Illinois; Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Thomas Jankowski, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago. The FBI’s Chicago City Public Corruption Task Force led the investigation with assistance from the Chicago Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division, a task force member.
In both cases, the government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher J. Stetler and Steven Grimes.
The charges in the indictments carry the following maximum penalties on each count: wire fraud, extortion, and extortion conspiracy—20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; bribery—10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; and conspiracy to commit bribery—five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The court may also impose a fine on the wire fraud counts totaling twice the loss to any victim or twice the gain to the defendant, whichever is greater. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The public is reminded that indictments contain only charges and are not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The new defendant, Ronald Garcia, 53, of Lockport, owned and operated Chicago Medical Equipment & Supply Co., which was certified by Cook County as a minority business enterprise (MBE). Between March 2008 and July 2009, Moreno and Garcia allegedly conspired to extort a company that won a county contract to force it to use Garcia’s company as a minority subcontractor.
The indictments also allege the following bribery schemes that were charged last month:
- an alleged effort by Moreno, Medrano, and two Chicago area businessmen to use bribery and kickbacks to sell bandages to public hospitals, including Cook County’s John H. Stroger Hospital;
- an alleged effort by Medrano and two other businessmen, including the owner of a Nebraska-based provider of prescription drug services that claims 11 million subscribers, to use bribery and kickbacks to obtain business from an unnamed out-of-state hospital system; and
- Moreno’s alleged acceptance of $5,000 as part of a bribe to ensure development of a waste transfer station in suburban Cicero while he sat on a town economic development panel.
A 10-count indictment returned today alleges that Moreno, a Cook County commissioner for 16 years until 2010, and Medrano, the former alderman who later worked on Moreno’s county staff, accepted bribes in return for using their influence as county officials to steer public contracts to businesses. This indictment charges the alleged bribery schemes involving the contracts for bandages and the alleged extortion to hire Garcia’s company, as well as Moreno’s alleged Cicero bribe.
Moreno, also known as “Mario Moreno,” 59, of Chicago, was charged with three counts of bribery, two counts of wire fraud, and one count each of extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion. Medrano, 58, of Chicago, was charged with two counts of wire fraud and one count each of bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery. Moreno and Medrano were both released on secured bonds following their arrests last month.
Also charged in the same indictment were:
- Stanley Wozniak, 49, of Chicago; two counts of wire fraud and one count of bribery;
- Gerald W. Lombardi, also known as “Jerry Lombardi, Sr.,” 59, of Darien; two counts of wire fraud and one count each of bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery;
- Jerry A. Lombardi, Gerald Lombardi’s son, 33, of Downers Grove; one count of conspiracy to commit bribery; and
- Garcia; one count each of extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion, and bribery.
Wozniak and the Lombardis—who were agents of Chasing Lions LLC, a disabled veterans-owned business in west suburban Lisle—were also released on bond following their arrests in June. All six defendant will be arraigned on dates to be determined in U.S. District Court.
The new allegations regarding Moreno and Garcia state that Garcia provided Moreno and his wife with a $100,000 home mortgage loan in July 2007. In November 2007, Cook County requested bids on a contract to assist county health facilities in reducing costs and increasing revenue. Company A submitted a bid that proposed using Garcia’s Chicago Medical company as a minority subcontractor, which was supported by Moreno. Company B submitted a bid that proposed using minority subcontractors but did not include Chicago Medical.
Moreno and Garcia allegedly conspired to use Moreno’s influence as a commissioner to take actions adverse to Company B’s attempts to obtain and maintain the county contract unless Company B used Chicago Medical as a subcontractor for that contract. During the time that Moreno allegedly was pressuring Company B, Garcia released the $100,000 mortgage even though Moreno had not fully repaid the loan. As a result of Moreno’s and Garcia’s actions, Company B paid Chicago Medical approximately $460,000, according to the indictment.
The indictment seeks forfeiture of approximately $100,000 from Moreno and approximately $460,000 from Garcia.
A second, single-count indictment was returned today against Medrano, James Barta, 70, of Fremont, Nebraska; and Gustavo Buenrostro, 49, of Arlington Heights, charging them each with conspiracy to commit bribery. Barta, the president and owner of Sav-Rx, a Fremont, Nebraska-based national provider of managed care prescription medication services; and Buenrostro, an associate of Barta and former employee of Sav-Rx, were also released on bond following their arrests. This indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to bribe an undercover FBI agent and a fictitious official of the “County A” hospital system—with Barta allegedly making a $6,500 payment to the undercover agent last month—to do business with Sav-Rx. Medrano, Barta, and Buenrostro will be arraigned on dates to be determined in this case.
The indictments were announced by Gary S. Shapiro, Acting United States Attorney for the Northen District of Illinois; Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Thomas Jankowski, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago. The FBI’s Chicago City Public Corruption Task Force led the investigation with assistance from the Chicago Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division, a task force member.
In both cases, the government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher J. Stetler and Steven Grimes.
The charges in the indictments carry the following maximum penalties on each count: wire fraud, extortion, and extortion conspiracy—20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; bribery—10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; and conspiracy to commit bribery—five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The court may also impose a fine on the wire fraud counts totaling twice the loss to any victim or twice the gain to the defendant, whichever is greater. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The public is reminded that indictments contain only charges and are not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Sale of James Marcelle's Reputed Ranch Could Get Expensive for Former Owners
Being married to the mob can get expensive. For one senior citizen couple, William and Ann Galioto, it could wind up costing them $473,485.62. Plus interest.
The potentially big bill marks the end of a fascinating tale involving a horse ranch in Big Rock, just west of Aurora, a chatty mistress, and the head of the Chicago mob.
It begins as many sad stories do, as a love story — or at least as a story of mutual attraction in the flattering lighting of a Cicero strip club more than 25 years ago. That 's where a young woman, tending bar, met an up-and-coming Chicago mobster named James “Little Jimmy” Marcello. Marcello fell hard for the bartender, so hard he began a relationship with her lasting for decades.
In 1986, Marcello signed a contract to buy a ranch in Big Rock for him and his mistress. They used assumed names, Connie and James Donofrio, and even gave the property a cute name — the C&J Ranch, records show.
Marcello paid his mistress thousands of dollars a month for living expenses. He figured she would never rat on him, even though Marcello learned early on that his mistress had once been a snitch for the federal government. Little Jimmy was wrong.
Just how wrong he would learn in 2007, as he sat in a federal courtroom in Chicago, as a defendant in the historic Family Secrets mob trial, watching his former mistress testify against him.
By then, Marcello ran organized crime in Chicago. His conviction in the Family Secrets case would send him to prison for life. Marcello helped murder several people for the Chicago mob, including setting up Anthony and Michael Spilotro. In 1986, Marcello drove the brothers to the Bensenville area home where they thought they were receiving promotions within the mob. Instead, they were beaten to death.
As part of Marcello’s sentence, a federal judge ordered him to pay more than $4.4 million in restitution. The court order would create complications for the Galiotos.
Ann Galioto is James Marcello’s sister and an entrepreneur in her own right. She is listed as the president of a company that ran a strip joint, Allstars Gentlemen’s Club, for years in west suburban Northlake, before the club burned down in 2010. At the time, the fire attracted the attention of federal investigators, as did the financially creative way some of the club’s strippers were allegedly being paid, according to a law enforcement source.
Ann’s husband, William, is a former Chicago cop, who made headlines in 1995 when Mayor Daley killed a multimillion-dollar low-interest city loan to him and his partners to build a movie studio on the West Side, over concerns about Galioto’s past.
More recently, William Galioto had his name on another real estate deal — Marcello’s horse ranch in Big Rock, the feds say.
While the feds allege Marcello bought the property, it was put in William Galioto’s name. At one point, while Marcello was in prison, he was secretly taped by the feds discussing whether the property should be transferred out of his brother-in-law’s name to one of Marcello’s flunkies. Marcello was worried he couldn’t trust the Galiotos, according to the feds.
That never happened, and in 2008, after Marcello was convicted in the Family Secrets case, Galioto sold the ranch for about $500,000. The feds contend that William Galioto was merely acting as a front for his brother-in-law, Little Jimmy. Prosecutors call William Galioto nothing more than Marcello’s “alter ego” in the ranch sale. The feds want those sale proceeds, however they can get it.
A federal judge will decide if the Galiotos will be on the hook for the money. An attorney for the Galiotos declined to comment Monday.
So for now, the federal tab goes to the couple — $473,485.62. Plus interest.
Thanks to CST.
The potentially big bill marks the end of a fascinating tale involving a horse ranch in Big Rock, just west of Aurora, a chatty mistress, and the head of the Chicago mob.
It begins as many sad stories do, as a love story — or at least as a story of mutual attraction in the flattering lighting of a Cicero strip club more than 25 years ago. That 's where a young woman, tending bar, met an up-and-coming Chicago mobster named James “Little Jimmy” Marcello. Marcello fell hard for the bartender, so hard he began a relationship with her lasting for decades.
In 1986, Marcello signed a contract to buy a ranch in Big Rock for him and his mistress. They used assumed names, Connie and James Donofrio, and even gave the property a cute name — the C&J Ranch, records show.
Marcello paid his mistress thousands of dollars a month for living expenses. He figured she would never rat on him, even though Marcello learned early on that his mistress had once been a snitch for the federal government. Little Jimmy was wrong.
Just how wrong he would learn in 2007, as he sat in a federal courtroom in Chicago, as a defendant in the historic Family Secrets mob trial, watching his former mistress testify against him.
By then, Marcello ran organized crime in Chicago. His conviction in the Family Secrets case would send him to prison for life. Marcello helped murder several people for the Chicago mob, including setting up Anthony and Michael Spilotro. In 1986, Marcello drove the brothers to the Bensenville area home where they thought they were receiving promotions within the mob. Instead, they were beaten to death.
As part of Marcello’s sentence, a federal judge ordered him to pay more than $4.4 million in restitution. The court order would create complications for the Galiotos.
Ann Galioto is James Marcello’s sister and an entrepreneur in her own right. She is listed as the president of a company that ran a strip joint, Allstars Gentlemen’s Club, for years in west suburban Northlake, before the club burned down in 2010. At the time, the fire attracted the attention of federal investigators, as did the financially creative way some of the club’s strippers were allegedly being paid, according to a law enforcement source.
Ann’s husband, William, is a former Chicago cop, who made headlines in 1995 when Mayor Daley killed a multimillion-dollar low-interest city loan to him and his partners to build a movie studio on the West Side, over concerns about Galioto’s past.
More recently, William Galioto had his name on another real estate deal — Marcello’s horse ranch in Big Rock, the feds say.
While the feds allege Marcello bought the property, it was put in William Galioto’s name. At one point, while Marcello was in prison, he was secretly taped by the feds discussing whether the property should be transferred out of his brother-in-law’s name to one of Marcello’s flunkies. Marcello was worried he couldn’t trust the Galiotos, according to the feds.
That never happened, and in 2008, after Marcello was convicted in the Family Secrets case, Galioto sold the ranch for about $500,000. The feds contend that William Galioto was merely acting as a front for his brother-in-law, Little Jimmy. Prosecutors call William Galioto nothing more than Marcello’s “alter ego” in the ranch sale. The feds want those sale proceeds, however they can get it.
A federal judge will decide if the Galiotos will be on the hook for the money. An attorney for the Galiotos declined to comment Monday.
So for now, the federal tab goes to the couple — $473,485.62. Plus interest.
Thanks to CST.
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