Lombardo Might Argue He Dropped Out of Conspiracy

Friends of ours: Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo

When Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo was out of prison in the early 1990s, he felt his parole officer was hassling him over his alleged leadership of the Chicago Outfit.

So Lombardo told the parole officer that he would make him the head of the Chicago Outfit, a source familiar with the matter said. Of course, Lombardo did nothing of the sort, but that didn't stop Lombardo from aggravating his parole officer when the man came by on surprise visits to check up on him.

Had the parole officer called any mob meetings? Lombardo would ask.

More important, was the parole officer getting his take?

Lombardo even took out a newspaper ad saying he wasn't a "made" member and telling anyone who heard his name used in connection with crimes to call his parole officer. Beneath the clownery of more than a decade ago lie the seeds of a possible defense today.

Lombardo, 77, is charged along with other reputed top Chicago mobsters in one of the most significant cases ever against the Outfit. Prosecutors place responsibility for 18 mob hits on the organization Lombardo was allegedly a part of for decades.
The feds have charged Lombardo with only one of the murders specifically, that of Daniel Seifert, who was shotgunned in front of his family in 1974 before he could testify against Lombardo in a criminal case. Lombardo will argue he has an alibi for the time the murder happened.

Lombardo was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1983 for conspiring to bribe Sen. Howard Cannon to kill or at least delay legislation deregulating the trucking industry. In 1986, he was sentenced to 16 years -- later reduced to 14 -- for his role in maintaining hidden interests in several Las Vegas casinos and skimming their proceeds. He got out in 1992.

In the current case against him, Lombardo is expected to deny ever being a "made" member of the mob. But if the jury doesn't buy that, then Lombardo could argue he clearly dropped out of any criminal conspiracy more than five years ago -- given the ad he took out in 1992.

By law, withdrawing from a conspiracy more than five years before an indictment is brought is a valid defense to not being part of any ongoing conspiracy. The feds charged the case last year.

Lombardo's attorney, Rick Halprin, declined to comment on the defense but when pressed did not deny that Lombardo's defense team is considering a so-called withdrawal defense, among its options.

It's a defense that's rarely used, because the standard for withdrawing from a criminal conspiracy is high -- for instance, calling the cops and telling them you're no longer part of a criminal conspiracy. It would likely be up to a jury to decide whether Lombardo's actions, such as taking out the ad, met the standard, and whether he truly did drop out -- a claim federal officials are expected to contest vigorously. The possible defense was suggested in a recent court filing by Lombardo's defense team that sought copies of all his parole and probation material.

Lombardo reportedly has an unblemished record since his release from prison, and that information could be used to buttress his claim that he had nothing to do with organized crime after his release.

Thanks to Steve Warmbir

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Mobsters Battle World Trade Center?

Last month, Paramount Pictures held a cocktail party at the tony Hollywood restaurant Mortons to honor director Oliver Stone. Studio chief Brad Grey took the stage to praise the director for his work on "World Trade Center," which Paramount distributed. The movie's composer tapped out a few tunes from the film's original score, while star Nicolas Cage mingled with the assembled executives and movie-industry media.

Held under the guise of celebrating Mr. Stone's award for director of the year from the Hollywood Film Festival, the event was widely seen as the starting gun for Paramount's campaign for an Oscar nomination for "World Trade Center." After a few barren seasons at the Academy Awards, Paramount's top brass are determined to win recognition at next February's Oscar ceremony.

Paramount's attempt to tackle the 9/11 attacks might seem like an Oscar natural except for one problem: rival 9/11 movie "United 93" from Universal Pictures. While the two films tiptoed around each other at the box office this year as audiences questioned whether it was too soon for Hollywood to take on the subject, they are going head-to-head for an Oscar nomination.

Mindful that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is unlikely to nominate both 9/11 movies for one of the five contender slots set aside for the Best Picture award, Paramount and Universal are preparing sharp-elbowed campaigns to reel in Oscar voters. In stark contrast to the low-key marketing they used when the two movies hit theaters, the studios are spending many millions of dollars to blitz Academy members with big-bang advertising and glitzy events such as the one at Mortons.

Each fall, studios lavish much time and money on campaigns aimed at winning an Oscar nod for their movies. The aggressive lobbying by filmmakers such as Harvey Weinstein for "Shakespeare in Love," "Chicago" and other movies proved that such promotion can pay off. "Crash" upset the apple cart by winning Best Picture at the last awards in March after a finely tuned campaign that targeted the biggest presence in the Academy: actors.

This year's Oscar playing field is wide open. Possible early contenders include Martin Scorsese's mob thriller "The Departed," the quirky, low-budget comedy "Little Miss Sunshine," the musical "Dreamgirls" (which opens next month) and Clint Eastwood's war epic "Flags of Our Fathers." But no title has yet emerged as a slam-dunk for a Best Picture nomination.

Both Universal and Paramount have strong motivation to get their 9/11 movies nominated. Universal has been an aggressive presence in the pre-Oscar race in recent years but has few other candidates to push this year. At Paramount, Mr. Grey is eager for some Oscar glitter after turning around the Viacom-owned studio. His boss Sumner Redstone also has been talking up the movie's Oscar chances around town.

To help craft its campaign, Universal's team has tapped former Weinstein strategist Tony Angellotti, who has guided 17 movies to best-picture nominations, including "Shakespeare in Love" and "The English Patient." Paramount, meantime, has dedicated a sprawling team to its lobbying, including Hollywood public-relations maven Pat Kingsley.

Both campaigns share an obvious challenge: their subject matter. "United 93" is a documentary-style, real-time account of United Airlines Flight 93, the hijacked jet that crashed in Pennsylvania. "World Trade Center" is a more polished drama about police officers buried in the rubble of the towers. While "United 93" literally ends with a plane crash, "World Trade Center" concludes with an uplifting rescue scene. "It's going to be tough getting the voters to watch these movies," said Sasha Stone, editor Oscarwatch.com, a Web site dedicated to tracking the awards. "Who wants to devote their time to feeling awful for two hours?"

Historically, the Academy members have sometimes had trouble embracing difficult material based on real-life events. "Hotel Rwanda," a gritty drama about the civil war in that African nation, was snubbed in 2005 for a Best Picture nomination after winning nominations and awards in other competitions. After "Saving Private Ryan" missed out to "Shakespeare in Love" in 1999, the filmmakers of the war drama discovered that many Academy members hadn't seen the movie. (The Academy tells its 5,800-plus voters each year not to vote for films they haven't watched.)

If the box office is anything to go by, "World Trade Center" has had more success at finding an audience than "United 93." Pitching itself as a more elaborate Hollywood production about courage and survival, Paramount's movie sold about $152 million worth of tickets world-wide, while "United 93" brought in about half that, despite having an edge with the critics.

Indeed, a big part of Paramount's campaign is positioning its movie as the "successful 9/11 movie," based on its ability to draw a bigger audience. Two-page ads in Hollywood's trade publications this week featured the world-wide ticket sales figures for "World Trade Center" in huge print. Of course, the audience has little to do with how profitable each movie was: "World Trade Center" cost considerably more. But "United 93" does face a bigger challenge in creating the aura of being a big Oscar movie.

The Academy is set to announce its nominations on Jan. 23. (The Oscars awards ceremony is Feb. 25.) That gives the studios just six weeks to work on voters before the ballots are sent out.

The Universal team got a head start last month by blanketing Academy members with DVD versions of the films, called screeners. The team's challenge is to rebuild interest in the title: The movie came out in April, and publicity for the DVD debut in September has come and gone. Studios often release their Oscar contenders in the fall to keep them fresh in the minds of members. Still, "Crash" showed that an early-in-the-year release can succeed if it is backed by an aggressive push.

The "United 93" screeners arrived on desks and mailboxes in Hollywood at the same time as an expensive advertising campaign: eye-catching, three-page ads in newspapers and magazines featuring a single tagline on the first page: "A movie can matter." The ads used no images, just words, and played up the decent reviews the movie garnered. To some in the movie business, the big ads were more striking than the low-key campaign Universal used during "United 93"'s actual run in theaters.

By striking early, Universal hopes to get Oscar voters to see the movie before they get bogged down with other contenders. Following close on its heels, though, was the screener for "World Trade Center," which was released in theaters in August. Paramount is running continuous print ads showing dramatic images from the movie and also plans to use the DVD release of the movie next month to boost its Academy push. The DVD will be accompanied by yet more advertising and possibly another elaborate event featuring the stars.

The fact that "World Trade Center" is the product of a popular if polemic director and features a well-known cast including Mr. Cage may give the movie a leg up. For one thing, it will be considered in the acting-awards categories of the Oscars, something unlikely for "United 93" because that film used mostly unknown performers, with some people involved in the events that day playing themselves.

The big question is whether Paramount will wheel out survivors of the World Trade Center disaster to support its campaign. Both studios are aware that highlighting the filmmaking over the subject material is a safer route as the time to check off Oscar ballots nears. Academy members say they rarely vote to make a statement, which may have had something to do with why "Crash" overturned "Brokeback Mountain" at the last awards.

Ms. Stone says a big risk for the studios is that the audience for the two 9/11 movies may be divided and thus diluted, with members favoring one film or the other. "The two films might cancel each other out," she says. "There's a good chance that will happen."

Thanks to Merissa Marr

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Mob Movie Lessons

Ever been to the circus? Ever see a whole pile of clowns get inside a tiny little Volkswagen? Well, Hollywood is kind of like that, except that those clowns don't have red noses; they have cameras and no clue.

I get all sorts of e-mails from you guys asking me about Goodfellas and The Godfather. One guy says, "I love the part when Pesci shoots Spider in the foot over a drink," and then I don't even have to read what comes next. The guy writes: "Does that kind of stuff really happen, man?"

Of course, the guy hopes that I will respond as follows: "Oh yeah! We have guys shooting each other in the foot all the time. I once stabbed a guy for breaking wind at the dinner table. Boy, if I had a nickel for every time I..."

Come on guys, get serious. We don't shoot each other every few hours. We want to apply pressure to our customers, not gunshot wounds. I got news for you: These mob movies are entertaining and cinematically satisfying, kind of like a good cigar, but there are a few flaws in the logic, capisce? As much as the Hollywood babbos get wrong, though, here's a few of the things they got right.


Whack the boss and you’ll get whacked

In Goodfellas, Pesci kills a made guy and later gets killed for his insubordination.

That's right: Bosses bite back. Tommy whacks Batts, Tommy gets whacked. Gross insubordination rarely goes unpunished. I don't care what organization you're in; if you take out a top guy without it being sanctioned by the management, expect retribution. We love guys who break the rules, as long as it happened 30 years ago. As for those in the present who disrespect the status quo, just read a newspaper: The world hates them.







Keep a low profile

In The Untouchables, Capone thinks he has the world on a string, and Costner snips his fantasy.

You can't fight City Hall. Capone tried to run Chicago, and he almost did. But there's always a Dudley Do-Right growing up somewhere, some little bugger who had too much baseball and apple pie. I'm talking about Eliot Ness. Guys like him restore the world to a plausible degree of corruption. This happened in New York not that long ago, with guys like Rudy Giuliani taking down the Gotti boys. If you're a wiseguy, you have to stay under the radar and not attract the attention of chattering newsmen. The world appreciates a certain amount of underground; problems only arise when the underground starts peeking into the daylight. Unless the thugs expect a revolution, they need to check their ambition and be content to rule quietly.



Always be skeptical

Pacino backs out of a billion-dollar deal because it doesn't smell right.

Talk is cheap. Remember The Godfather? Sure you do -- your e-mails are testimony to that. When Michael Corleone goes to Cuba, he's about to enter a billion-dollar deal with a bunch of glad-handers who say, " Havana is it, baby, we're gonna be filthy rich." Michael is skeptical, and they say, "Hey, don't worry, it's all worked out. Have a drink!". A day later, the government falls to a young man named Castro. The lesson here? Get the information. Don't get sweet-talked without seeing every angle. Do your homework and don't let a room full of clever suits outweigh common sense.





You have no friends

In Miller's Crossing, Gabriel Byrne says very coldly to a friend, "Friendship's got nothing to do with it."

And he's right. In many adult situations, decisions have to transcend friendship; otherwise, you get bogged down in mediocrity. Good organizations rely less on friendship than on impartial rules of order. When the time comes for a promotion, there's a good chance you'll be pitted against a friend, and as you step on his head to climb the ladder, remember to say, "Sorry, pal, it's nothin' personal."









You can’t be Mr. Nice Guy

In Casino, De Niro compares two muffins, one with a lot of blueberries and one with very few. He calls the cook onto the carpet and says, "I want the same number of blueberries in every muffin." The cook argues, "Do you know how long that's going to take?" De Niro says, "I don't care."

Somebody's got to be the asshole. In Casino, De Niro plays an anal-retentive jerk who is obsessed with perfection in his work. He seems to go overboard, but unfortunately, running a tight ship requires a disciplinarian. Take a look at sports teams and classrooms or just go into a McDonald's; it's easy to tell where the management is working. In a perfect world, we'd have nice, soft conversations, and everyone would work hard for eight hours and go home to a family meal. The truth is, people shirk, they screw around, and they like to eat out. On a side note, it's good to have a complimentary manager to offset the "cruel" manager. Giving the underlings someone they can talk to will help morale. Nobody wants to be a doormat.



Never believe you’re invincible

In Road to Perdition, Tom Hanks is a mob enforcer on the run. Just when he thinks he's safe, he gets smoked.

What goes around comes around. You live by the sword, you die by the sword. That punk kid you roughed up way back when? He will remember you until the day he dies. There's a good example of this in Road to Perdition, when the enforcer gets a taste of his own lead medicine. Treachery never goes out of style. No matter how strong you feel, there is always someone stronger or someone who knows where the chink is in your armor. Domination never lasts forever, so it's best to keep that in mind when you have power and control. That's what they called the "wheel of fortune" before it became a game show. Things change, often much faster than you'd like.



Keep your home in order

In Goodfellas, Henry Hill goes off snorting coke with his mistress while his home falls to pieces.

If you live a secret life and expect to have an orderly homebody wife to put up with it and wait back at the ranch to serve your every need, then in addition to "in sickness and in health," you might as well add "crazy" to your wedding vows. It's one thing to stray -- as any man may do. It's another to outright neglect your responsibilities to your home.









You have to gain people’s trust

In Donnie Brasco, Pacino puts his trust in someone who seems like a stand-up guy, but is really a narc.

You are who you say you are. Trust is something that is earned, and usually the best liar is the most trusted person. That's why guys like Donnie Brasco can infiltrate their enemies. Think about it: How do you gain trust? Really, all you have to do is make a sequence of consistent appearances, and pretty soon people will start to believe you’re the real deal. How else would a politician get elected?







The streets ain’t hollywood

Enjoy the movie, but never forget: It's a movie. Life on the street consists in a lot of rejections and hard knocks, but Hollywood likes to soup up the life, make a Cadillac out of a Chevy. I'd love it if I had as many pay days and naked babes as Tony Soprano.

Come to think of it, maybe I should have been an actor.

Thanks to Mr. Mafiosa

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FBI Has Mole within Chicago Mob

Friends of ours: Michael "Mickey" Marcello, James "Little Jimmy" Marcello

For 20 years, the FBI has had an informant in the Chicago Outfit who apparently is a "made" member and has taken part in major crimes, according to a court filing in a federal prosecution of top mobsters.

The information is in a court motion by lawyers for Michael "Mickey" Marcello, the half-brother of Chicago's reputed mob boss, James "Little Jimmy" Marcello. Attorneys Catharine O'Daniel and Arthur Nasser want the 2005 indictment against Michael Marcello dismissed because of the FBI's continued reliance on the informant.

The major federal prosecution involving 18 mob-related killings allegedly involving top organized crime figures is scheduled for trial in May.

In their motion, the defense attorneys blast the government for allegedly "cavorting with and protecting a 'made mob member' who still must be active in the commission of 'mob' criminal activities."

"No court should sanction the government's use of ... a past and current made member of the 'Chicago Outfit' as a confidential informant in this case," the motion argues.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago had no comment on the defense filing.

The defense attorneys do not try to guess the identity of the informant. He's referred to in court papers as CI-1 and is part of a sworn statement by an FBI agent in 2002 that asks for court permission to tape the conversations of James Marcello when he receives guests in the visiting room at the federal prison in Milan, Mich.

The defense motion appears to make some assumptions based on the FBI agent's affidavit. It assumes the informant is a so-called "made" member based on his associations with top mobsters and his criminal activity with them. And it assumes that the FBI is still using the person, even though the affidavit is four years old.

Nasser, Michael Marcello's attorney, declined to comment on the filing.

Michael Marcello also wants barred from use at trial any tape and video recordings made when he was talking to his brother in the prison visiting room.

The Chicago Sun-Times first reported on the contents of some of those conversations in February 2005. The brothers talked about the benefits of a proposal to legalize video gambling in Illinois as well as the progress of the federal case against Michael Marcello, who at the time was out of jail.

James Marcello's questions about the investigation were nothing more than "brotherly concern," according to Michael Marcello's motion.

Thanks to Steve Warmbir

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