Whitey Bulger's Defense Team Objects to Trial Date

James “Whitey” Bulger, the reputed Boston mobster and former FBI informant who was captured last year after 16 years on the run, will face trial Nov. 5, a federal judge said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler in Boston set the trial date today over the objection of Bulger’s court-appointed attorney, J.W. Carney Jr. Prosecutors have inundated him with 580,000 pages of documents and 921 tapes of secret wiretaps related to the 48-count racketeering indictment, Carney said.

“We can’t possibly be ready,” he told the judge. His client didn’t attend today’s hearing.

Bulger, 82, and his girlfriend, Catherine Greig, were arrested in June after the Federal Bureau of Investigation, working on a tip, lured the fugitive out of an apartment building in Santa Monica, California. Bulger was wanted in connection with at least 19 murders committed from 1973 to 1985 and crimes including extortion, bookmaking and drug trafficking.

“I think it’s best I give you a strict timeline,” Bowler told Carney and federal prosecutors. “I urge you to work in a cooperative fashion. This is a monumental task.” She said Carney could request funding to hire more lawyers.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kelly told the judge that Bulger is trying to delay trial by raising issues prosecutors have already litigated.

“Mr. Bulger is trying to run out the clock,” Kelly said. He said Bulger’s attorney has suggested in court papers that he may argue his client had immunity to commit crimes while working as an informant under corrupt FBI agents.

The federal courts threw out an attempt by Bulger’s partner, Stephen Flemmi, to claim immunity as an informant.

“FBI agents don’t have the authority to grant immunity,” Kelly said.

Bulger’s and Flemmi’s former FBI handler, John J. Connolly Jr., served a 10-year federal sentence for racketeering and is now serving 40 years in state prison in Florida for his role in the murder of a former Bulger associate in Miami.

The case is U.S. v. Bulger, 99-10371, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston).

Thanks to Janelle Lawrence

Tweet

Appellate Judge Raises Concerns Over Family Secrets Mob Trial Judge

A federal appellate judge has expressed misgivings about a lower court judge's contact with jurors during Chicago's highest profile mob trial in decades — one credited with helping to weaken organized crime.

The judge commented Monday as attorneys for convicted reputed mobsters argued for a do-over of the 2007 Family Secrets trial before the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Jurors five years ago convicted reputed mob boss James Marcello and others of racketeering conspiracy that included 18 murders.

Appellate Judge Diane Wood told Monday's hearing she's concerned by accounts that trial Judge James Zagel seemed to have "private chats" with jurors that didn't become part of the official trial record.

Defense attorney Francis Lipuma singled out how Zagel dismissed one juror without consulting the trial lawyers.

Tweet

Little Jimmy Marcello Returns to Chicago After Unauthorized Trip To West Coast

After a whirlwind swing to the West Coast and back, courtesy of the American taxpayers and a monumental goof up by federal authorities, Outfit boss Jimmy Marcello is back home.

On Sunday, Marcello was once again listed on the register of the friendly confines of the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, after a federal judge angrily ordered his return last Friday.

The 68-year-old Outfit boss, serving a life term for murders and mayhem following conviction in the Operation Family Secrets trial, had been abruptly moved from the MCC two weeks ago to a prison in California. The transfer had apparently not been ordered or authorized.

When Marcello's attorney filed a motion suggesting the transfer was a result of government foul play, government attorneys last Friday said there had been a "miscommunication."

An irked U.S. District Judge James Zagel told prosecutors that, "this is something that should not have been done. I don't know how you are going to get him back here, but you're going to get him back here."

The message must have resonated with prosecutors and officials at the Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Marshals Service that operates the nation's prisoner transport network.

Although authorities on Friday declined to report exactly how Marcello would be transferred back to Chicago, it was accomplished with extraordinary speed and efficiency. The presumption is that Marcello was put on an aircraft operated by the Marshals Service, in it's division known as "JPATS," the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transport System.

Marcello made it from the Atwater penitentiary more than 150 miles east of San Francisco where he was still housed on Friday to the Chicago MCC on Sunday. The JPATS system shuttles 1,400 prisoners a day throughout the U.S. on a fleet of government and charter aircraft, buses, vans and cars.

Authorities told the I-Team on Friday that there was only one JPATS flight in and out of Chicago each week but it is not clear whether Marcello was on that flight or if authorities made separate arrangements.

The prisoner transport program, made famous by Hollywood in the movie Con Air, costs more than $150 million a year for the U.S. government to operate.

Marcello's mistaken, unnecessary trip to California and back cost taxpayers about $4,000. He will remain in Chicago as his appeal is heard, so that he can assist in case preparation according to Judge Zagel.

Thanks to Chuck Goudie

Tweet

Michael Sarno Gets 25 Years in Prison and $1.7 Million+ Fine

A reputed mob boss known for his wide girth and reputation for violence was sentenced to 25 years in prison Wednesday in a federal court in Chicago.

Michael "The Large Guy" Sarno also was ordered to pay nearly $1.8 million in restitution. A jury convicted Sarno, 54, and four co-defendants in 2010 of racketeering and other charges.

Just before U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman handed down the sentence, Sarno read from a statement in which he acknowledged "deep regrets." He asked his lawyers to read the rest after he choked up with emotion. Sarno's family sobbed as his attorney, Jeffrey Steinback, finished the statement, which referred lovingly to Sarno's children and wife.

Government attorneys say Sarno and his crew wanted to warn a game distributor not to encroach on their video-poker turf on Chicago's South Side and in the city's suburbs. To make this point, federal prosecutors say Sarno ordered C&S Coin Operated Amusements' Berwyn offices bombed in 2003.

Experts say Sarno's background as an enforcer wouldn't normally have translated into a top mob job. But with aging kingpins behind bars or dying, a weakened Chicago Outfit offered positions to men like Sarno.

His attorney said before sentencing that Sarno is in poor health, suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure, and is "not going to live 25 years."

The judge said he recognized the hardship on Sarno's family was real and "a tragedy." But he said he decided on the lengthy sentence to protect the public and send a message to others who might be tempted to "follow in (Sarno's) footsteps."

He added that Sarno's two prior felony convictions failed to deter him. "He appears single-mindedly determined to engage in criminal conduct of an organized nature," Guzman said.

Sarno's attorneys told the judge they intend to appeal.

Sarno, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, blew a kiss to his family as he was led out of the courtroom.

After the hearing, prosecutors praised the judge's decision and thanked investigators who helped build the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said the sentence "sends a very powerful message that if you are intent upon using force or violence through your connection with organized crime, you're going to pay a heavy price to do that."

Thanks to Carla K. Johnson

Tweet

Finally, The Truth About Al Capone’s Involvement In The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre

“Contrary to public opinion, Al Capone did not die in prison and he did not die of syphilis,” states Deirdre Marie Capone. The grand niece who lived in the house of her famous (and favorite) uncle knew him well and recalls the man who taught her to ride a bike, swim, and play the mandolin. Already a best-seller on Amazon, her explicit memoir, Uncle Al Capone…The Untold Story From Inside His Family (Recap Publishing LLC), tells many never-before-known facts about this iconic figure’s life and death.

As the last member of the family born with the name Capone, Deirdre recalls what life was like as a child growing up in the Capone household and shares fond memories of her relationship with Al’s sister Mafalda, affectionately known to her as Aunt Maffie.

Deirdre knows what the ‘family’ was really like, and what the ‘outfit’ was all about. In her tell-all book she shares details untold until now; that “Ralph and Al Capone lobbied the Nevada legislature to legalize gambling, alcohol and prostitution in that state; that they were the owners of the first upscale casino in Las Vegas way before Bugsy Siegel came to Vegas, and what really happened in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.”

Attempts by Deirdre’s own father to live a more legitimate lifestyle and shake the shame of the Capone name failed, resulting in him taking his own life when she was just ten years old. Deirdre had tried to hide the fact she was a Capone for most of her own life – even leaving Chicago in her early thirties to start over in Minnesota and telling no one her real name except her husband. That changed the day her son came home from school and announced they were studying Al Capone in class and she and her husband agreed it was time to tell the kids her ancestry. Her fears were put to rest when the kids announced it was totally ‘cool’ and, at age 34, she finally accepted herself as Deirdre Marie Capone and today her 14 grandchildren are proud to tell the story of their ancestry.

While Uncle Al Capone is packed with fascinating stories about Al and his family, it also contains many never-before-published photos as well as authentic Capone family recipes for the food that Al and his family enjoyed. Uncle Al Capone offers a distinctly different look at a man who was endlessly depicted as the iconic mastermind behind some of the century’s most brutal killings.

Her book is a unique piece of American history and is the result of years of research and exhaustive interviews with relatives. As the last link in the Capone chain, Deirdre felt compelled to share this with the world.

For all the dissension, for all the pain, there comes a moment in our lives where we have to stand up and say: This - the good and the bad – is who I am, says Deirdre Marie Capone. For more information on this intriguing book, please visit: www.unclealcapone.com.

Tweet