Gambler, Yes; Bookie, Yes; Boss of Mafia Crew, No?

Friends of ours: Colombo Crime Family, Joseph Colombo
Friends of mine: Soprano Crime Family, Chris Colombo, Anthony Colombo

Chris Colombo carries a famous gangster's name and "looks like he just walked off the set of 'The Sopranos' " - but he's really just a simple bookie and gambler, his lawyer said yesterday.

Defense lawyer Jeremy Schneider cut his losses as Colombo's racketeering trial got under way, conceding guilt on gambling charges, but denying that the son of murdered mob boss Joseph Colombo ran a renegade crew that used threats of violence to rake in cash.

"He looks like he just walked off the set of ' the Sopranos.' He's going to sound like he just auditioned for 'The Sopranos,' " Schneider said of Colombo, whose real-life try at stardom fell flat when HBO pulled the plug on his reality show, "House Arrest," in 2005. "He's a gambler. He's a bookie. He is not a boss of a crew," Schneider said as the barrel-chested Colombo, dressed in a flashy pinstriped suit and silver tie, listened from the defense table in Manhattan federal court.

The admission came after Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Baroni told jurors how Chris Colombo and his brother Anthony terrorized victims and lined their pockets as "bosses" of the "Colombo Brothers' Crew."

Prosecutors have conceded they invented the crew's name for the purposes of the indictment, but not the criminal organization itself. They claim the brothers were on the losing side of the Colombo crime family war in the 1990s and struck out on their own. Chris and his lower-key sibling Anthony, who leans on a cane and came to court in a plain gray suit, are on trial for a slew of racketeering charges, including gambling, loan-sharking, extortion and fraud.

The feds claim Anthony was double-trouble for DoubleClick - an Internet ad company that has serviced Microsoft, General Motors and Coca-Cola - after a cohort landed a job overseeing cleaning contracts during construction of the firm's new offices. Baroni said the insider ensured the contract went to a cleaning service under the crew's control and approved payment for "work that was done and work that wasn't done" to the tune of more than $100,000 in a "massive double-billing scheme."

Chris Colombo is accused of overseeing the crew's gambling operations in East Harlem and The Bronx and receiving cash deliveries at his Orange County compound. Meanwhile, Anthony allegedly shook down the owner of a small construction company, forcing him to write paychecks to his wife in a no-show job scheme.

Thanks to Kati Cornell

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Ex-Cop Denies He Passed Info to the Mob

Friends of ours: James Marcello, Michael Marcello, Nick Calabrese, John "No-Nose" DiFronzo
Friends of mine: William Guide, John Ambrose

Speaking publicly for the first time, a former cop accused of receiving sensitive information about the mob from a deputy U.S. marshal denied he did anything wrong.

William Guide became agitated Tuesday when asked if he passed on to a reputed mobster sensitive information he got from deputy U.S. Marshal John Ambrose. "I didn't do anything," an emphatic Guide told the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday. "I didn't do anything wrong. You don't know the whole story. You're making me out to be the bad guy in this whole thing."

Guide was responding to a story in Tuesday's Sun-Times in which Ambrose's lawyer, Frank Lipuma, said if the government's allegations were true, Guide "may or may not have taken advantage of Mr. Ambrose."

Ambrose, 38, was charged last week with theft of information after the government said he leaked confidential material about protected mob witness Nick Calabrese to "Individual A." Sources say that is Guide. Guide has not been charged in the case.

His lawyer, Rick Beuke, said Guide looks at Ambrose as a son. Beuke said he doesn't believe there was anything sinister going on between Ambrose and Guide, two longtime friends. If Ambrose talked about anything sensitive, he may have just been bragging, Beuke said. "He wanted to impress Guide like he'd want to impress a father," Beuke said. "It's like a kid coming home and saying: 'Dad, I hit a home run.' "

Ambrose twice briefly guarded Calabrese, who is set to testify in a mob trial this spring, when he was in Chicago. Shortly after, the feds say Ambrose revealed to Guide confidential facts he obtained from a file on Calabrese.

That information made its way to mobsters, the government alleges. The feds released transcripts of prison surveillance tapes in which reputed mobsters -- Jimmy and Michael Marcello -- can be heard discussing specifics about Calabrese's movements in Chicago and his cooperation. In coded language, they refer to both Guide and Ambrose, the FBI said. Information about Calabrese came from a file Ambrose had accessed, the feds allege.

The Marcellos refer to getting information from the "baby-sitter," whose father was a cop convicted in the Marquette 10. Federal authorities say that's specific information identifying Ambrose.

They allege that a third party passed the information to mobsters and do not allege that Ambrose disclosed sensitive information intending it to go to the mob. Ambrose denies wrongdoing.

Guide briefly served prison time with reputed mobster John "No Nose" DiFronzo.

Guide was a Chicago Police officer when he was convicted in the Marquette 10 scandal in the 1980s along with Ambrose's father, Thomas. Thomas Ambrose died in prison at age 37. Since then, Guide and John Ambrose have been close friends, talk often and share a love for wrestling, both of their attorneys said. "John was seeking out Bill's approval. He wanted Bill to be proud of him as a marshal," Beuke said.

Beuke said Guide and DiFronzo know each other. But he doesn't believe there's an ongoing friendship. Beuke said Guide, a South Sider, runs a pizza business and is too busy working to be a mob associate. "I don't think there's any evidence of Bill passing along any information to the mob," Beuke said.

Thanks to Natasha Korecki

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Was Arrest of a US Marshall a Terrific Mistake?

Friends of ours: Nick Calabrese, Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, John "No Nose" DiFronzo, Aldo Cardellicchio
Friends of mine: John Ambrose, William Guide

Like his late father, John Ambrose was a distinguished, decorated law enforcement officer, respected by his peers. And also like his dad, Ambrose doesn't believe he should be facing criminal charges.

The elder Ambrose, Thomas, was a decorated Chicago cop before he was prosecuted as one of the Marquette 10, a police corruption case in the 1980s. At age 37, Thomas Ambrose died of a heart attack in prison -- just seven days after John's 18th birthday.

John Ambrose, 38, grew up to become a deputy U.S. marshal known for hunting down violent fugitives, including gang-bangers, and hauling them in to face a judge. But last week, it was Ambrose who had to face a judge's questions after he was accused of leaking sensitive government information. With short-cropped hair, Ambrose, well-built and intense, answered in an almost military style -- "Yes, your honor" -- to each of the questions.

His intensity, tenacity and strong work ethic made him such a successful law enforcement officer, colleagues say.

Despite what the FBI and federal prosecutors allege, Ambrose doesn't believe he should face prison time and plans vigorously to fight the charges, said his lawyer, Frank Lipuma. "I think they've made a terrific mistake," Lipuma said. "I think it's going to come out that other people's names have been identified, other people could have been the source of the material . . . not John."

Ambrose is accused of leaking information about what mob witness Nick Calabrese was telling the feds. After guarding Calabrese during short stints with the federal witness security program in 2002 and 2003, Ambrose allegedly leaked information from a sensitive file to a longtime family friend, William Guide. His fingerprints were found on the file, but his lawyer said the file was not secured and Ambrose was allowed to review it.

Guide, also one of the Marquette 10, allegedly passed on the information -- including details about Calabrese's movements and his cooperation -- to the mob. It caught authorities' attention when two reputed mobsters under surveillance were heard discussing the information and referred to Ambrose as "the babysitter," according to charges.

If the allegations are true, what was Ambrose's motivation? The feds do not allege Ambrose was paid. In fact, transcripts of conversations between the reputed mobsters indicate Ambrose refused money.

"Perhaps Mr. Ambrose had a father figure in this person [Guide] who may or may not have taken advantage of Mr. Ambrose," Lipuma suggested. "John did not knowingly disclose any confidential information to Guide. Whether Guide conveyed that information to someone else, we don't know."

Lipuma said Ambrose was open with his superiors about his longtime friendship with Guide, who shares Ambrose's interest in wrestling.

Ambrose, married and a father of four, grew up on the South Side and was an avid wrestler while attending St. Laurence High School. He went to Lewis University in Romeoville. Ambrose is a wrestling coach today.

Ambrose allegedly told investigators he was just bragging to Guide, described only as "Individual A" by the feds. He said he hoped his goodwill with Guide would ingratiate Ambrose with reputed mobster John "No Nose" DiFronzo.

DiFronzo and Guide are reportedly friends. That relationship could help Ambrose track down Joey "the Clown" Lombardo if he were to become a fugitive, Ambrose allegedly told investigators last September. The alleged leaks to Guide happened in 2002 and 2003. Lombardo was charged in April 2005 and then became a fugitive.

Ambrose was in his mid-teens when he saw his father go to prison. "It was very painful and hurt him a great deal when his father was convicted," Lipuma said. "He missed having his father in his life since then."

The Marquette 10 prosecution was considered ground-breaking because it was among the first to put drug dealers on the stand to testify against police officers. Some saw it as a slap in the face to local law enforcement. "I think there was a certain element of the community that resented it," said former prosecutor Dean Polales.

Lipuma dismissed any notion that Ambrose harbored resentment against the FBI or prosecutors for charging his father.

He pointed to dangerous fugitives Ambrose has hunted down, including gang-bangers on the most wanted list and mobster Aldo Cardellicchio, wanted by Italian authorities. "His job meant everything to him, to the point where he sacrificed his time with his family to do his job," Lipuma said.

Ambrose, a supervisory inspector with the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force, was involved in the hunt for six Cook County jail escapees last year. He also helped capture a man whose disappearance in the federal courthouse caused it to be shut down for hours last year. "John was so highly regarded," said attorney Thomas C. Royce, who represented Ambrose's father. "I would see him in the courthouse and he would say, 'I haven't slept in two days because I've been chasing a fugitive to Milwaukee.' "

There's a reason federal authorities are taking the Calabrese matter so seriously. Calabrese is among one of the most significant witnesses developed in Chicago's history, Chicago FBI chief Robert Grant said at a news conference.

Calabrese is poised to testify this May in the Operation Family Secrets trial as a witness to 16 mob killings that he allegedly carried out with others. But his cooperation is delicate; Calabrese has allegedly admitted to taking part in slayings, has promised to testify against family members but has no deal with prosecutors to do so.

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Feds Learn of 38 Hits and Chicago Mob Hierarchy from Mobster

Friends of ours: Nick Calabrese, Jimmy Marcello, Frank Calabrese Sr., Tony Spilotro
Friends of mine: Michael Spilotro

Made mobster Nick Calabrese has told the FBI more about mob hits than any other witness in Chicago history.

He should know. He took part in 16 of them, the feds say. And filled the feds in on 22 more.

Apart from the murders, Calabrese described to the FBI the secret ceremony mobsters underwent to get "made" into the organization -- promoted to its top echelon. He told them what other mobsters were made with him in 1983. And he outlined the hierarchy of organized crime in Chicago.

So it's little wonder the reputed head of the Chicago mob, Jimmy Marcello, had a great deal of curiosity when he heard in prison that Nick Calabrese was cooperating with the feds.

Calabrese, who has no deal with the feds, is one of the key witnesses in the upcoming Family Secrets mob trial in May -- one of the most important ever in the federal effort to wipe out the Outfit in Chicago.

Calabrese is testifying against his brother Frank Calabrese Sr., a brutal loan shark and alleged mob hit man. Calabrese Sr. and Marcello are charged along with other top mob leaders in a case that pins 18 previously unsolved murders on the Outfit.

Frank Calabrese Sr. will also have to face his own recorded words at trial. His son Frank Jr. put his life on the line by secretly recording his father while both were in prison on another matter. Frank Calabrese Sr. allegedly talked about mob hits and other matters he never should have spoken about.

Nick Calabrese can tell jurors about allegedly taking part in mob hits with both his brother and Marcello.

Nick Calabrese, for instance, can relate to jurors how Marcello allegedly drove mobsters Anthony and Michael Spilotro to a home in the Bensenville area in June 1986 on the ruse that they were to be promoted in the Outfit.

Instead, they were beaten and strangled to death in the basement, with Tony Spilotro, the mob's man in Las Vegas, denied his last request: to say a novena before he was slain.

Thanks to Steve Warmbir, Natasha Korecki, and Frank Main

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Department of Justice Details Felony Charge Against US Marshall

Friends of ours: Nick Calabrese, Frank Calabrese Sr., James Marcello, Michael Marcello

A Deputy U.S. Marshal was taken into custody today on a federal felony theft charge for allegedly illegally disclosing highly sensitive, confidential information about a federally- protected organized crime witness. The defendant, John Thomas Ambrose, was charged in a criminal complaint filed today with theft of government property for allegedly revealing information relating to the status, substance of cooperation, and travel of cooperating witness/defendant Nicholas Calabrese, while Calabrese was in the United States Marshals Service's Witness Security Program (WSP), also known as "WITSEC."

Ambrose, 38, a deputy marshal since January 1998, was a supervisory inspector of the U.S. Marshals Service's Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force. He was placed on administrative leave last September when he was questioned by federal agents conducting this investigation. He was scheduled to appear at 1:30 p.m. today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Mason in U.S. District Court. He surrendered voluntarily earlier today at the FBI's Chicago office, announced Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Gary S. Shapiro, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and U.S. Marshal Kim R. Widup.

"While this defendant's conduct in revealing closely guarded and highly sensitive information regarding a protected witness constitutes an egregious breach of his law enforcement duties, the investigation, so far, has not uncovered any evidence that either this witness or any other was ever in danger, and there is no evidence that any attempt was made to harm any protected witness," Mr. Shapiro said. "I remain confident in the integrity of the United States Marshals Service and the government's Witness Security Program, and am grateful for the Marshals Service full participation in the investigation with the FBI, which allowed the investigation to reach this successful outcome."

Mr. Grant said: "I am also confident that the Witness Security Program remains a vitally important resource for law enforcement and that its effectiveness is not diminished by this isolated problem. The Marshals Service participation was integral to this investigation and we didn't hesitate to ask them to join the investigation once it began to focus on this defendant."

According to the FBI's detailed complaint affidavit, Nicholas Calabrese admitted to the government that he was a "made" member of the "Chicago Outfit" (also known as the "Chicago Mob") and has provided federal law enforcement with the most expansive overview ever of Chicago Outfit murders. In 2002, he agreed to cooperate in the investigation of alleged Outfit members, including his brother Frank Calabrese, Sr., and brothers James and Michael Marcello. Nicholas Calabrese was formally admitted to the WSP in August 2002, and he was moved to a secure prison facility within the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, based upon an application prepared by federal agents and prosecutors detailing his ability to testify about 16 murders in which he participated and 22 other murders about which he had some secondary information from others. The application also provided an analysis of the significant danger posed to Nicholas Calabrese by members of the Chicago Outfit.

The ensuing investigation resulted in the April 2005 indictment of 14 defendants in U.S. v. Nicholas Calabrese, et al., 02 CR 1050, which alleges, among other crimes, a 40-year racketeering conspiracy involving 18 previously unsolved Outfit murders, often of suspected government cooperators and witnesses, between 1970 and 1986. The case against 12 remaining defendants (two others are deceased) is scheduled for trial in May 2007.

As part of his cooperation, Nicholas Calabrese was brought to the Chicago area by WSP Inspectors on two occasions: first, on October 31 - November 1, 2002, for his then-sealed court arraignment, and, second, on May 20-22, 2003, when he assisted the FBI in locating some of the murder scenes and other relevant locations. Both of these trips involved highly secret travel details to which only a handful of government personnel were privy. During both of Nicholas Calabrese's stays in Chicago, Ambrose served on the night shift security detail assigned to protect him. The affidavit explains that the role of and chain of command of WSP Inspectors is distinct from that of Deputy U.S. Marshals. WSP Inspectors occasionally request supplemental security services from Deputy U.S. Marshals, such as Ambrose, but the Deputy Marshal's role is restricted to providing a limited support function.

Between January and June 2003, the government intercepted 11 prison conversations between James and Michael Marcello when Michael visited James, ordinarily once or twice a month, at the federal prison in Milan, Mich., where James was incarcerated. The conversations indicated that Michael Marcello had an inside source of information concerning Nicholas Calabrese. The affidavit states that James Marcello was highly interested in learning the nature of the government's continuing investigation into his alleged criminal activities. The content of the intercepted cryptic conversations indicated that Michael Marcello's source of information was someone within federal law enforcement who had access to WSP protectees. The content of the conversations also confirmed that the source of information had access to documents and material that only a small number of individuals within the federal government would be in a position to retrieve.

In approximately five of the recorded conversations, large portions of which were coded and whispered, Michael Marcello reported to James Marcello information relating to Nicholas Calabrese that allegedly was obtained from Ambrose -- including information concerning Nicholas Calabrese's whereabouts, his status as a cooperator, and the level of his cooperation. These conversations -- excerpts of which are contained in the affidavit -- took place on January 30, March 6, March 24, April 24, and June 12, 2003.

The affidavit states that the intercepted conversations captured Michael Marcello providing James Marcello with current details concerning Calabrese's cooperation with the government, including non-public, sensitive matters regarding organized crime homicides that were the subject of Nicholas Calabrese's May 2003 trip to Chicago. This information would have been known to a very limited number of people, including federal law enforcement officers involved in providing security to Nicholas Calabrese on that trip.

In a recorded conversation on March 24, 2003, Michael Marcello identified his inside source of information regarding Calabrese as Ambrose, not by name, but by a description that could fit no other law enforcement officer. Michael Marcello told James Marcello that this source, whom he referred to as "the Babysitter," was the son of a deceased defendant prosecuted in the so-called "Marquette 10" case with then Chicago police officers Frank DeRango and Individual A. Ambrose's father, Thomas Ambrose, was the lead defendant, and Frank DeRango and Individual A were co-defendants, in U.S. v. Ambrose, et al., a police corruption case commonly referred to as "the Marquette 10" case. Thomas Ambrose died in prison while serving his sentence after being convicted of bribery.

According to telephone records cited in the affidavit, on May 23, 2003, (the last day of the second Calabrese detail) Ambrose placed a 14-minute phone call to Individual A's work telephone number. The call was made within hours of Ambrose completing his last night shift of the Calabrese protection detail, and phone records show no other calls over three minutes between Ambrose and Individual A for months prior to and after this 14-minute call, according to the complaint.

During other recorded conversations, Michael Marcello indicated that his source had access to information provided to the government by Nicholas Calabrese. According to the complaint, Ambrose's fingerprints were recovered just last summer from the originals of the confidential documents maintained by WSP personnel in a secure location. These highly-confidential documents were within Nicholas Calabrese's WSP file, which included details provided by Nicholas Calabrese regarding organized crime. The January 30, 2003, recorded conversation between James and Michael Marcello was the first time that they were heard discussing Nicholas Calabrese's cooperation. During Nicholas Calabrese's October 31 - November 1, 2002, visit to Chicago, records concerning him, including his background, criminal history/involvement, names of individuals about whom he had provided information, murders about which he had provided first and second-hand information, and names of individuals who could potentially pose a threat to him, were maintained in a locked cabinet within the control room located inside the secure WSP facility in Chicago.

According to the affidavit, on June 22, 2006, WSP personnel provided the FBI with the secured WSP Production File concerning Nicholas Calabrese. The FBI performed a latent fingerprint examination of the paperwork contained in this file, and two latent fingerprints identified as Ambrose's were found on two of the original WSP documents. One of the documents was included in the WSP application for Nicholas Calabrese's admission into the WSP, and Ambrose's fingerprint was found on the last page which included the signature of the U.S. Attorney.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys T. Markus Funk, John Scully and Mitchell Mars.

If convicted, each charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The Court, however, would determine the appropriate sentence to be imposed.

The public is reminded that a complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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