The Chicago Syndicate
The Mission Impossible Backpack

Saturday, December 06, 2008

"Chicago Jane Doe" ID'd as Marlaina Reed and Her Case is to be Featured on America's Most Wanted

Chicago Jane Doe: When AMW first told the story of "Chicago Jane Doe" we knew nothing about her. She was a victim without a name but police in the Windy City were determined as ever to solve her case. With the help of a local dentist, Chicago Police identified Jane Doe as teenager Marlaina Reed. You might remember that Jane Doe had distinctive braces on her teeth and it looked like she had tried to pull them off herself. A Chicago dentist and his receptionist saw sketches in a local professional journal and recognized the young girl and the dental work. They contacted police and a positive identification was made. Windy City detectives are now one step closer to solving Marlaina's case, but they still need your help to find her killer.

Noe Torres: On the night of Sept. 15, 2005, 10-year-old Carlos Perez went to bed knowing that he had a big day ahead of him: it was to be his 11th birthday. That night, in his sleep, Carlos was killed in a hail of gunfire in his bed. The accused shooter, Noe Torres, is still at large, and an accomplice who has already been convicted of the crime -- Edward Salas -- has escaped from a New Mexico jail.

George Perez: Cops in Baltimore, Md. say a bookkeeper there was not only cooking his employer's books, he was placing bets with his employer's money. Police say 32-year-old George Michael Perez embezzled more than $1 million from the company he worked for in order to fund his luxury lifestyle, but when his plan to beat the charges went up in smoke, he hit the road.

Curi Tapia-Martinez: A few short years ago, authorities in North Dakota and Minnesota thought they'd all but solved their methamphetamine crisis, shutting down most of the region's clandestine labs. What no one realized was that Mexican drug cartels were prepared to bring their laboratory-grade product to the market.

Courtenay Savage: On nights when the moon was full, a Florida family was awakened by the sound of gunshots blasting their home and their cars, the shooter sometimes firing into bedrooms where children were sleeping. Now, police say an AMW tipster helped take the woman responsible down.

Ask John Walsh Feature: The AMW Safety Center gets flooded with questions from viewers like you. This week AMW viewer Jennifer Harris from Richmond, VA asks AMW Host John Walsh about how to stay protected at home without overreacting.

Adam Klutz: Deputy Klutz is survived by his parents. Deputy Adam Klutz was shot to death when he responded to a 9-1-1 hang-up call. The suspect, an ex-cop and Iraq War veteran, fled, launching a statewide manhunt, but later killed himself.

Nadia Kersh: Nadia Kersh was last seen leaving her job at the Tria Market in Homeland, Ala. for lunch. Family and friends became alarmed when she didn't return to work, and she failed to pick up her young son from daycare.

Omar Nunes: Police say that when accused father-and-son drug dealing team Calvin and Omar Nunes went to buy crack from their supplier, things didn't go as smoothly as planned. Cops tell us the trio began arguing over money, and all three pulled guns -- but only two of them left the room alive.

Tobechi Onwuhara: The FBI says Nigerian Tobechi Enyinna Onwuhara worked to defraud banks and individuals, including Sen. Strom Thurmond's former chief of staff, and the consummate con man with a seemingly-bottomless bag of tricks managed to steal tens of millions. Now, the feds need your help to catch him.

Michael Wilson: Police in South Carolina are looking for a sex offender who they say is likely to strike again. He's been convicted of sexually assaulting one woman, and cops now want him for the rape of a 15-year-old girl.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

The Chicago Crime Commission Remains Concerned about Rosement's Casino Bid and the Illinois Gaming Board's Transparency

The Chicago Crime Commission remains unconvinced Rosemont is "clean" as the suburb - long the target of mob-influence allegations - tries to land the state's 10th casino again.

The Chicago Crime Commission Remains Concerned about Rosement's Casino Bid and the Illinois Gaming Board's TransparencyThe organized crime watchdog group, formed in the days of Al Capone, is coming out today to argue against giving Rosemont's bidder, Trilliant Gaming, the state's last casino license as it also urges gambling regulators to demonstrate more transparency.

"We certainly do not believe Rosemont has earned the trust and confidence of the public at large," said commission CEO J.R. Davis on Wednesday.

Rosemont was rejected by regulators after landing the license in 1999 following allegations of mob ties. The dispute led to years of legal wrangling.

This time, Rosemont officials have made an effort to distance themselves from the current casino bid headed by a former MGM executive.

Davis said Trilliant is led by "responsible business people," but he said he doesn't believe Rosemont has changed since it lost the Emerald Casino license.

Rosemont spokesman Gary Mack called the commission's allegations "nothing new" and he argued the village has been "transparent" in its attempt to land the license.

Trilliant bid $435 million for the license, and it is now being considered by gambling regulators along with bids from Waukegan and neighboring Des Plaines.

Trilliant's bid topped the next highest from Waukegan by more than $200 million.

"We have a new mayor in Rosemont. We have a new bidder," Mack said. "This is a completely different circumstance."

Rosemont Mayor Bradley Stephens, who succeeded his father after his death, has said he will pass laws banning village employees from working at the casino, village contractors from working for the casino and trustees from gambling at the casino.

Davis called Rosemont's assurances "superficial."

Additionally, Davis said the Illinois Gaming Board should release staff reports on all of the bids for the 10th license. The reports are not traditionally made public.

"The Chicago Crime Commission is gravely concerned with the dead silence of this process," Davis said.

Representatives from the Illinois Gaming Board declined to comment. The gaming board has already heard formal pitches from the remaining three bidders and is scheduled to hear public comment Monday.

Thanks to Joseph Ryan

Reputed Mob Bosses, Frank Calabrese Sr, and James Marcello Seek Delay in Sentencing

Two reputed mob bosses convicted of taking part in a murder conspiracy have asked a federal judge to postpone their sentencing.

James Marcello and convicted hit man Frank Calabrese Sr. filed their requests Wednesday with Judge James B. Zagel. Calabrese is due for sentencing Dec. 11 and Marcello Dec. 17. They were convicted at the landmark Operation Family Secrets trial.

Marcello says he needs time to prepare and Calabrese says he needs more time to talk with his lawyer because he has been thrown into "a segregation unit commonly known as 'the hole'" in the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

Federal spokesman Randall Samborn had no comment.

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Frank Calabrese Held in Solitary Confinement

An attorney for a reputed Chicago mobster says his client is being held in isolation as he awaits sentencing on federal charges.

Attorney Joseph Lopez says he's been trying to visit Frank Calabrese (KAL'-uh-brees) at the Metropolitan Correctional Center since last week. Lopez says he got a letter from the U.S. Attorney's office saying Calabrese had been put in isolation.

Randall Samborn, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office, said he could not comment on the situation late Tuesday.

Media reports say the FBI can now listen in on Calabrese's conversations with family members and attorneys and that his cell is being bugged.

Calabrese is among those convicted in September 2007 of taking part in a vast crime network.

Thanks to WBBM 780

Judge Finds the Feds Forum Shopped the Junior Gotti Trial and Orders it Moved to New York

A Florida judge ordered the latest prosecution of John A. "Junior" Gotti returned to Manhattan, finding that the government left the "unmistakeable and disquieting impression" it had shopped for a trial location where it might finally win.

U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday said Tuesday that an indictment brought against Gotti in Tampa features the same racketeering conspiracy charge that had failed to result in a conviction after three trials in Manhattan.

He said Gotti's notoriety, his apparently acknowledged role in organized crime before he announced he had left the life behind and the frustration prosecutors feel after repeated losses "contribute to the temptation to extend to Florida the 'quest' to convict Gotti."

Merryday added that the U.S. attorney in Florida "oddly" chose to charge a crime of RICO conspiracy that allegedly occurred largely outside that state.

"In this context, the charging decision of the United States, apparently unaccountable on neutral principles, creates the unmistakeable and disquieting impression of 'forum shopping,'" the judge said.

Gotti was charged last year with crimes involving three gangland slayings. He has denied wrongdoing.

A spokesman for federal prosecutors in Florida did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment. Yusill Scribner, a spokeswoman for prosecutors in New York, said her office had no comment.

Charles Carnesi, Gotti's New York lawyer, said the tone of the ruling made it seem the judge believed the decision to prosecute in Florida "was just a strategic move to try to deprive him of his ability to put forth his defense."

He said he would probably seek bail in Florida so Gotti could return to New York out of custody. "I'm looking forward to having him home for Christmas," Carnesi said.

Three juries in Manhattan have deadlocked on charges against Gotti. His lawyers asserted in his defense that he had quit the Gambino family by July 1999, protecting him from charges because the statute of limitations — five years for racketeering charges — would have expired.

Prosecutors have said Gotti assumed control of the powerful Gambino family after his father's 1992 conviction on racketeering and murder charges. His father died in prison in 2002.

Thanks to Larry Neumeister

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