The Chicago Syndicate
The Mission Impossible Backpack

Thursday, November 29, 2018

Offices Raided by FBI of Ed Burke, the Powerful Chicago Alderman & Real Estate Tax Attorney for Donald Trump

Federal agents raided the City Hall office of powerful Chicago Alderman Ed Burke on Thursday morning, sources familiar with the development confirmed. A law firm headed by Burke helped Donald Trump and investors in Trump's luxury downtown Chicago hotel cut their property taxes by an incredible 39 percent over seven years, saving them $11.7 million, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis found.

Agents arrived at the office early Thursday morning, told employees to leave and papered over the glass windows at the office’s entrance to conceal the investigation going on inside, a source confirmed. A woman who left the office and did not identify herself said FBI agents were inside.

Burke’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Burke’s ward office on the Southwest Side also had the same brown paper taped over its front door with three signs that read, “Office closed.” An officer sitting in a squad car parked behind Burke's ward office said a search warrant was being executed inside but offered no further details.

Burke is the longtime chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee, where he controls much of the legislative purse strings at City Hall. He has held office since 1969 and is running for re-election to a record 14th term.

A law enforcement source told the Chicago Tribune that FBI agents raided Burke’s City Hall office and that the search was ongoing. No arrests were made or are imminent, said the source, who had no details on the nature of the investigation.

Republican State Rep Fears Mob Rule After Democrat Threatens Death to His Family

The Illinois House on Wednesday erased A Democratic lawmaker’s wish to mix a “broth of Legionella” bacteria to infect the “loved one” of her Republican colleague, who said the she would be “in custody” for the comment had she made it anywhere else.

Rep. Stephanie Kifowit caused uproar over her remark towards Republican Rep. Peter Breen during a floor debate on Tuesday concerning the deadly Legionnaire’s disease crisis at a veterans’ home, prompting calls for resignation.

“To the representative from Lombard, I would like to make him a broth of Legionella and pump it into the water system of his loved one so that they can be infected, they can be mistreated, they can sit and suffer by getting aspirin instead of being properly treated and ultimately die,” she said.

The Illinois Republican Party called on Kifowit to resign, claiming “she literally wished death upon Rep. Peter Breen and his family.”

The Democrat initially defended herself, saying her remark was mischaracterized, but she later backtracked and apologized for “the comments that were personally directed to Rep. Breen.”

The state House took a rare step to expunge the remark from the record, with the measure passing without any objections from other members of the House.

The last time the Illinois House removed someone’s comments from the record was in 2001 when a former Democratic used the hypothetical example of a phalloplasty, or penis enlargement procedure, that was used by a Republican state House leader.

Breen accepted Kifowit’s apology, but said “she’d be in custody” had she made the remark elsewhere. Instead, he said, her declaration was “met with applause instead of handcuffs.”

“We can continue down our current path of worsening threats and even violence, or we can make the difficult decision to take the path upward to civility and decency,” Breen said. “On our current downward course, we are headed toward mob rule.”

Republican state Rep. Grant Wehrli said he hopes the incident will be encourage better discourse in the chamber. “I hope that this is a first step for all of us to move toward, even in vehement disagreement, a higher and more professional discourse,” he said.

Thanks to Lukas Mikelionis.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Trump Loyalists Reputedly Act Like Mafia Members to Manipulate and Gain Favor with The President

In mid-November, the New York Times published a report detailing cracks that are allegedly starting to show in Donald Trump’s relationship with Vice President Mike Pence. According to the report, Trump has alarmed some of his advisers by constantly asking whether they think Pence is loyal. Trump disputed the claims made in the report, but even those unfamiliar with White House matters have had the opportunity to observe that the president appears to put loyalty at the top of his priority list.

As recently detailed by the Inquisitr, some journalists claim that Trump is always seeking approval, talking to aides and collaborators who nod their heads in agreement, while rejecting any and all pushback, and firing those who dare disagree with him or his administration’s policies. In an interview, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Donald Trump’s biographer Michael D’Antonio shed light on how Trump loyalists, like Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, behave.

“[Corey] Lewandowski and [David] Bossie are not exactly heavyweights, either in politics or policy,” D’Antonio explained to Ana Cabrera on CNN Sunday, Raw Story reports. “They’re a couple of guys who got very lucky to be associated with a long-shot candidate who gained the Oval Office, despite losing the popular vote, and I think they’re trying to make themselves relevant.”

“They are people who have identified themselves as almost loyal captains. You know, in the mafia structure, they would be capos. And the way that they talk is sort of in a mafia style, talking about loyalty being the most important thing and when you signed on indicates how valuable you are.”

D’Antonio’s comments about Lewandowski and Bossie are in reference to their upcoming book, "Trump's Enemies: How the Deep State Is Undermining the Presidency". In the book, according to the Washington Post, the two Republican operatives portray Trump as a victim of an elaborate conspiracy. The president, they claim, is being attacked by disloyal members of the administration and Washington “swamp creatures.” According to Trump biographer Michael D’Antonio, the fact that Lewandowski and Bossie have decided to write a book essentially defending the president comes as no surprise since the two men are thought to be ardent supporters of the president and his agenda.

Trump loyalists, D’Antonio claims, talk and act like members of the mafia. In the Sicilian mafia, much like in the Trump administration, loyalty is appreciated and perceived as invaluable, according to the writer. And much like the infamous Sicilian mafia, the administration has a hierarchical structure.

D’Antonio concluded that Lewandowski and Bossie’s mafia-like behavior appears to be paying off, since the two Trump loyalists have managed to land an interview with the president, which means that he is likely to endorse and promote their book, the journalist claims.

Thanks to Damir Mujezinovic.

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

2 Gambino Crime Family Associates Charged with Extortion, Arson and Conspiracy

Two reputed associates of one of the most notorious organized crime families in New York have been charged with extorting a businessman and torching his Mercedes Benz in New York City.

Gambino family associates Peter Tuccio, 25, and Jonathan Gurino, 25, were arrested Friday and face federal counts of extortion, arson and conspiracy in the 2015 fire, according to court filings.

Both men were released on $700,000 bail at an afternoon court appearance, despite a request by federal prosecutors that they be jailed pending trial.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nadia Moore noted that a witness to the 2015 fire found a dead rat placed on her car. Moore argued in court papers that Gurino and Tuccio have strong ties to the Gambino crime family. She said Tuccio attended the Manhattan court proceedings this year of Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino, a notorious Philadelphia mob boss sentenced to two years in prison for illegal betting.

“The defendants’ association with organized crime is significant not only because it demonstrates their proclivity for violence, but because it provides them with access to members of organized crime throughout the United States willing to harbor and assist them should they decide to flee or obstruct justice,” Moore wrote.

Gurino’s defense attorney, Todd Greenberg, called the charges “false” and said his client is “looking forward to his trial.” He said he could not comment on the discovery of the rat because he knew nothing about it.

A defense attorney for Tuccio did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The FBI said a now deceased Gambino crime family captain had extorted the businessman for annual payments, but the businessman began dodging them.

On Dec. 3, 2015, Tuccio, Gurino and a third man, Gino Gabrielli Jr., tailed the businessman “at a high rate of speed” and confronted him outside a pizzeria in Queens, prosecutors said in court filings.

The businessman, who was not identified in court papers, told authorities he heard a loud noise later that night and looked outside his Howard Beach home to see his Mercedes ablaze.

Surveillance video captured Gabrielli pouring a liquid on the vehicle about 4 a.m. and running away with his right pant leg on fire, according to the complaint. New York police recovered a lighter and what appeared to be a burned gas can near the vehicle.

Gabrielli arrived at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center about 20 minutes later with third-degree burns and “clothing that reeked of gasoline,” the complaint says. He initially told police his injuries stemmed from a kitchen fire that erupted while he was cooking chicken and rice at his home. But fire marshals interviewed Gabrielli’s mother, the complaint says, who said “no one had cooked anything that evening, and that there were no dirty dishes in the sink.”

Gabrielli pleaded guilty to arson in 2016. He faces at least five years behind bars but has not yet been sentenced.

U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said in a statement that the defendants “delivered a frightening message in the form of fire to force a businessman to pay protection money to a high-ranking gangster.”

“Today’s charges against two alleged crime family associates demonstrate that whether you are a made member or a young associate looking to advance in a crime family, the end result is the same — prosecution and prison,” Donoghue said.

The Gambino crime family’s Mafia associates have for generations used violence, threats and intimidation to wield power and generate illegal profits.

Thanks to Jim Mustain.

Thursday, November 15, 2018

How "Handsome Johnny" Roselli Infiltrated Hollywood for the Mob, Pulled Off a Major Scam, and Got Whacked

On July 28, 1976, “Handsome Johnny” Rosselli, a mobster who rose up through the ranks with Al Capone, had brunch with his sister in Miami before borrowing her car and driving to the marina. There, he boarded a private boat with two men, one of them an old friend. But when they got out to sea, the third man—someone Rosselli didn't know from Chicago—strangled the 71-year-old gangster to death. He wasn’t even on the vessel an hour and he was dead, rubbed out by a Mafia hitman who sawed off his legs, stuffed his body into a 55-gallon oil drum, and threw the barrel overboard into Dumfoundling Bay.

The barrel didn’t sink, and fishermen found it ten days later lodged on a sand bar in a canal, as the New York Times reported the following February.

It was an ignoble end for Rosselli, a self-styled playboy who acted as the Mafia’s ambassador both in Los Angeles in the 1930s and Las Vegas in the 1950s. A charming racketeer who held company with infamous mafiosos, Hollywood moneymen, stars and starlets, Rosselli even had some encounters with members of Congress before it all unraveled for him in Miami.

In the new book, HANDSOME JOHNNY—The Life and Death of Johnny Rosselli: Gentleman Gangster, Hollywood Producer, CIA Assassin, Lee Server explores the life and times of the man who helped bridge the gap between the movies and the mob. VICE talked to Server to find out how Rosselli made it into the organized crime mold—and how he brought mafia muscle to bear in Hollywood, at least for a while.

VICE: Was there one moment that you suspect kind of set Johnny Rosselli on a course to organized crime?
Lee Server: Rosselli had been drifting across America as a young man. He’d settled in Los Angeles in the 1920s, become a bootlegger, then a gambler and racketeer. A fortuitous encounter brought him to the attention of Al Capone, whose eye for criminal talent was second to no one. He recognized something in Johnny at a time when Capone was in need of a liaison between Chicago and the West Coast. He became a kind of honorary consul for the Chicago Outfit in LA

I think we all had a vague sense that the mob might have been involved in Hollywood productions, but this wasn't just a question of peripheral dabbling—it went to the top.
Part of Rosselli’s "assignment" in Los Angeles was to cultivate relationships with the film industry hierarchy. He knew everybody, dated movie stars, played golf with studio heads. His closest industry friend was the boss of Columbia Pictures, Harry Cohn. They socialized together, and Johnny was often at the studio advising the mogul on his gangster pictures. When Cohn needed a large loan in a hurry it was Johnny who put him together with East Coast mobster [Abner Zwillman]. This had its own complications, as the mobster maintained his secret piece of Cohn’s studio for many years, until he died suddenly, tortured to death or by his own hand, depending whose story you believe.

Rosselli's meddling eventually spun out of control, right?
He collaborated with Frank Nitti—Capone’s successor in the Chicago mob—on a plot to take down the entire Hollywood movie business. They did this through gaining control of a labor union, and then demanding huge under-the-table payoffs from each studio, threatening to close down all movie production if they didn’t pay. The mobsters made millions. It came undone in the end, and many of the perpetrators ended up in prison.

He did actually co-produce films like He Walked By Night and Canon City later in the 1940s—so his wasn't just a criminal gig. Did you take that as a deliberate choice, to find traditional work?
When Rosselli got out of prison on parole, he had to find legit employment. Most ex-cons usually met this parole requirement by taking day-labor jobs, working as dishwashers or similar. Rosselli being Rosselli, he got a job as an associate producer at a movie studio. He formed a production company with Bryan Foy and produced two noir crime pictures in a row. My research revealed how important Rosselli’s contribution was to developing these two great films.

I was struck by just how many public friendships he had with such big names—it was pretty brazen stuff, even after his stints in prison.
Johnny met Marilyn Monroe through the producer (and felon) Joseph Schenck. They were close for a while, lovers according to some. I could not confirm it, but the rumor was that he helped get Monroe her first prominent part in Ladies of the Chorus at Columbia.

As the virtual godfather of Las Vegas in the 50s and 60s, Rosselli knew most of the big showbiz stars who played the showrooms. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin were personal friends. They partied together. Frank and Dean sponsored Johnny’s membership in the Friar’s Club.

This guy clearly had a flair for the dramatic. Was there one episode you think captured that?
The Kefauver Hearings in the early 1950s was the first in-depth government investigation of nationwide organized crime. Few people in America knew just how far-reaching was the spread of what was known then as the Mob and the Syndicate, corrupting every area of the country. The Kefauver group from Washington hauled in every top gangster, including Johnny Rosselli. Unlike most of the mobsters, who tried to play it tough and not say anything (and some went to jail for it), Rosselli answered every question, but with a strategic skill that ultimately gave nothing away.

But what got him killed if not his (repeated) Senate testimony?
I’ll echo the words the homicide detective who found his body said to me: he had pissed off a lot of people.

Thanks to Seth Ferranti.

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