I have been asked from time to time whether various individuals were among the 18 victims that were allegedly murdered by the defendants in the Operation Family Secrets indictments. Below you will find a list of the victims along with the dates of their respective murders.
Michael Albergo in Chicago in August 1970
Daniel Seifert in Bensenville on September 27, 1974
Paul Haggerty in Chicago on June 24, 1976
Henry Cosentino on March 15, 1977
John Mendell in Chicago on January 16, 1978
Donald Renno and Vincent Moretti in Cicero on January 31, 1978
William and Charlotte Dauber in Will County on July 2, 1980
William Petrocelli in Cicero on December 30, 1980
Michael Cagnoni in DuPage County on June 24, 1981
Nicholas D'Andrea in Chicago Heights on September 13, 1981
Richard D. Ortiz / Arthur Morawski in Cicero on July 23, 1983
Emil Vaci in Phoenix on June 7, 1986
Anthony and Michael Spilotro in DuPage Co. on June 14, 1986
John Fecarotta in Chicago on September 14, 1986
Sunday, May 27, 2007
"Outfitician" to Testify at Family Secrets Chicago Mob Trial
Friends of ours: Joseph "The Clown" Lombardo, Jimmy Marcello, Frank "The German" Schweihs, Frank Calabrese Sr., Nick Calabrese, Tony Spilotro, Frank Cullota, Paul Schiro
Friends of mine: Michael Spilotro, William Hanhardt
Can you have a mob trial without a mobologist? But because this is Chicago, can you have an Outfit trial without an Outfitician?
No, according to U.S. District Judge James Zagel, who ruled Thursday that James Wagner, current president of the Chicago Crime Commission and former chief of the Chicago FBI's organized crime section, may testify for the prosecution in the historic Chicago Outfit case called "Family Secrets" expected this summer.
Wagner brings 30 years of expertise to what should be a sensational trial. He'll define Outfit terms such as "street tax" (what criminals pay the Outfit for operating licenses) and "juice" (high interest with severe penalties for late payments). Wagner will also provide an intelligence analysis of organized crime's command structure.
The case involves 18 previously unsolved killings, and it offers multiple defendants, including Joseph "The Clown" Lombardo, Jimmy Marcello, Frank "The German" Schweihs, and alleged Chinatown crew boss Frank Calabrese Sr. It will be prosecuted by several assistant U.S. attorneys led by organized-crime section chief Mitchell Mars.
"I watch 'The Sopranos
,' " wisecracked a young criminal defense attorney in the hallway. "I could be an expert."
But Zagel didn't see it that way.
"The fact that a lot of stuff is on a television show does not give [jurors] enough information to make a decision," said Zagel, a former federal prosecutor. "This command and control structure is not often understood by any individual that is not in its highest rank."
Other prosecution witnesses understand the structure, but their testimony will be on the earthy side.
The star witness is Nicholas Calabrese -- the Outfit turncoat who is the key to "Family Secrets."
In 2003, I reported that Calabrese had slipped quietly into the federal witness protection program. That disappearance rattled the Outfit from top to bottom, because they knew what he knew and they were terrified. Calabrese, a confessed murderer, will be attacked by defense attorneys. His Chicago slang will typecast him, as certainly as the actor James Gandolfini has been typecast on HBO.
Another expected witness is Frank Cullotta, Outfit hit man, burglar and technical adviser on the movie "Casino
."
A few years ago, I interviewed Cullotta about former Chicago Police Chief of Detectives William Hanhardt, who was convicted of running an Outfit-sanctioned jewelry heist crew along with Outfit enforcer Paul Schiro, who is, coincidentally, also a defendant in "Family Secrets."
"Paulie [Schiro] was making pizzas when I met him," Cullotta said in that interview. "I took him out of the pizza shop and put him to work. We were sticking up bank messengers. That was big money."
Cullotta worked under Outfit middle-managers Tony and Michael Spilotro, whose highly publicized 1986 murders are also part of the trial.
Cullotta also testified against Tony Spilotro in a federal case in Las Vegas, but his testimony was undercut by none other than Hanhardt, who was portrayed as a bona fide Chicago police hero. The jury believed Hanhardt, not Cullotta, and jurors could not come to a verdict. Spilotro lawyer Oscar Goodman got a big payday, and he later became the mayor of Las Vegas for a happy ending.
And the Spilotros walked out of Vegas -- actually, they flew back to Chicago -- but there was no happy ending for them. Unlike the movie "Casino," they were lured to a suburban Chicago basement -- one theory is that they were lured there by Tony's sponsor, a little guy known as "The Saint." They were beaten to death and later dumped in an Indiana cornfield.
So you see how layered this is? Hanhardt just happens to testify. The Spilotros come marching home to the Saint. The connections are like ligaments, holding the muscle together. This is why Wagner's testimony is important.
Wagner held his own on the witness stand in Thursday's hearing before Judge Zagel.
Defense lawyer Thomas Breen, representing defendant James Marcello, asked Wagner if there was a decent Outfit reading list to be found. Wagner rattled off the titles to some books, which loyal readers have seen mentioned here previously.
" 'CAPTIVE CITY: Chicago in Chains.
' by Ovid DeMaris," said Wagner, of the classic linking the Outfit to Chicago politics. He also mentioned non-fiction books by the late FBI supervisor William Roemer
, but he disagreed with Roemer's contention that the late Outfit boss Anthony Accardo kept his soldiers away from narcotics trafficking.
Wagner also recommended the Gus Russo books, "The Outfit
" and "Supermob: How Sidney Korshak and His Criminal Associates Became America's Hidden Powerbrokers
." If you really want to enjoy this trial, you'll read the Russo books and "Captive City" for context.
"Have you read any books by Judge Zagel?" Breen asked as Zagel smiled. "No, I have not, sir," said Wagner.
Outside the courtroom, Lombardo defense attorney Rick Halprin wisecracked that "you can't have a mob case without a mobologist."
Or an Outfitician.
Thanks to John Kass
Friends of mine: Michael Spilotro, William Hanhardt
Can you have a mob trial without a mobologist? But because this is Chicago, can you have an Outfit trial without an Outfitician?
No, according to U.S. District Judge James Zagel, who ruled Thursday that James Wagner, current president of the Chicago Crime Commission and former chief of the Chicago FBI's organized crime section, may testify for the prosecution in the historic Chicago Outfit case called "Family Secrets" expected this summer.
Wagner brings 30 years of expertise to what should be a sensational trial. He'll define Outfit terms such as "street tax" (what criminals pay the Outfit for operating licenses) and "juice" (high interest with severe penalties for late payments). Wagner will also provide an intelligence analysis of organized crime's command structure.
The case involves 18 previously unsolved killings, and it offers multiple defendants, including Joseph "The Clown" Lombardo, Jimmy Marcello, Frank "The German" Schweihs, and alleged Chinatown crew boss Frank Calabrese Sr. It will be prosecuted by several assistant U.S. attorneys led by organized-crime section chief Mitchell Mars.
"I watch 'The Sopranos
,' " wisecracked a young criminal defense attorney in the hallway. "I could be an expert."But Zagel didn't see it that way.
"The fact that a lot of stuff is on a television show does not give [jurors] enough information to make a decision," said Zagel, a former federal prosecutor. "This command and control structure is not often understood by any individual that is not in its highest rank."
Other prosecution witnesses understand the structure, but their testimony will be on the earthy side.
The star witness is Nicholas Calabrese -- the Outfit turncoat who is the key to "Family Secrets."
In 2003, I reported that Calabrese had slipped quietly into the federal witness protection program. That disappearance rattled the Outfit from top to bottom, because they knew what he knew and they were terrified. Calabrese, a confessed murderer, will be attacked by defense attorneys. His Chicago slang will typecast him, as certainly as the actor James Gandolfini has been typecast on HBO.
Another expected witness is Frank Cullotta, Outfit hit man, burglar and technical adviser on the movie "Casino
."A few years ago, I interviewed Cullotta about former Chicago Police Chief of Detectives William Hanhardt, who was convicted of running an Outfit-sanctioned jewelry heist crew along with Outfit enforcer Paul Schiro, who is, coincidentally, also a defendant in "Family Secrets."
"Paulie [Schiro] was making pizzas when I met him," Cullotta said in that interview. "I took him out of the pizza shop and put him to work. We were sticking up bank messengers. That was big money."
Cullotta worked under Outfit middle-managers Tony and Michael Spilotro, whose highly publicized 1986 murders are also part of the trial.
Cullotta also testified against Tony Spilotro in a federal case in Las Vegas, but his testimony was undercut by none other than Hanhardt, who was portrayed as a bona fide Chicago police hero. The jury believed Hanhardt, not Cullotta, and jurors could not come to a verdict. Spilotro lawyer Oscar Goodman got a big payday, and he later became the mayor of Las Vegas for a happy ending.
And the Spilotros walked out of Vegas -- actually, they flew back to Chicago -- but there was no happy ending for them. Unlike the movie "Casino," they were lured to a suburban Chicago basement -- one theory is that they were lured there by Tony's sponsor, a little guy known as "The Saint." They were beaten to death and later dumped in an Indiana cornfield.
So you see how layered this is? Hanhardt just happens to testify. The Spilotros come marching home to the Saint. The connections are like ligaments, holding the muscle together. This is why Wagner's testimony is important.
Wagner held his own on the witness stand in Thursday's hearing before Judge Zagel.
Defense lawyer Thomas Breen, representing defendant James Marcello, asked Wagner if there was a decent Outfit reading list to be found. Wagner rattled off the titles to some books, which loyal readers have seen mentioned here previously.
" 'CAPTIVE CITY: Chicago in Chains.
' by Ovid DeMaris," said Wagner, of the classic linking the Outfit to Chicago politics. He also mentioned non-fiction books by the late FBI supervisor William Roemer, but he disagreed with Roemer's contention that the late Outfit boss Anthony Accardo kept his soldiers away from narcotics trafficking.Wagner also recommended the Gus Russo books, "The Outfit
" and "Supermob: How Sidney Korshak and His Criminal Associates Became America's Hidden Powerbrokers." If you really want to enjoy this trial, you'll read the Russo books and "Captive City" for context."Have you read any books by Judge Zagel?" Breen asked as Zagel smiled. "No, I have not, sir," said Wagner.
Outside the courtroom, Lombardo defense attorney Rick Halprin wisecracked that "you can't have a mob case without a mobologist."
Or an Outfitician.
Thanks to John Kass
New York Biased Against Food Vendors with Reputed Mob Ties?
Friends of ours: John Cagginao
A produce vendor with reputed mob ties has sued city regulators who banned him from a public food market on grounds that he lacks good character.
John Caggiano, a two-time felon indicted last year on charges he helped run a gambling ring at the Hunt's Point Market, argues in a suit filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan that the city had let his C&S Wholesale Produce Inc. operate for years despite knowledge of his prior convictions and alleged ties to organized crime.
A city lawyer, Gabe Taussig, said yesterday he is confident a judge would uphold the rejection.
According to a city Law Department spokeswoman, Connie Pankratz, 161 businesses are registered to operate in wholesale markets regulated by the city. Caggiano's registration is one of four applications the city has denied since 2002.
Thanks to The Sun
A produce vendor with reputed mob ties has sued city regulators who banned him from a public food market on grounds that he lacks good character.
John Caggiano, a two-time felon indicted last year on charges he helped run a gambling ring at the Hunt's Point Market, argues in a suit filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan that the city had let his C&S Wholesale Produce Inc. operate for years despite knowledge of his prior convictions and alleged ties to organized crime.
A city lawyer, Gabe Taussig, said yesterday he is confident a judge would uphold the rejection.
According to a city Law Department spokeswoman, Connie Pankratz, 161 businesses are registered to operate in wholesale markets regulated by the city. Caggiano's registration is one of four applications the city has denied since 2002.
Thanks to The Sun
Undercover Cop Took Down the Mob by Fighting Fire with Fire
Thanks to the reader who directed me to this clip. It is certainly worth sharing with off my readers. This piece is part of the HBO Documentary, Confessions of an Undercover Cop, and various news clips. It tells the story of Mike Russell, subject of the movie script: "Fire With Fire" who was a leader of Newark's radical crime- fighting unit: "The Tactical Force" and later went Undercover to put away over fifty Mobsters.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Former FBI Agent, Now Head of Chicago Crime Commission and Mob Expert to Testify at Family Secrets Trial
Friends of ours: Joseph “Joey the Clown” Lombardo, James "Little Jimmy" Marcello, Frank Calabrese Sr., Nick Calabrese
An organized crime expert will be allowed to testify at the trial of several alleged mob figures accused of taking part in a conspiracy that included 18 murders, a federal judge ruled Thursday in Chicago.
U.S. District Judge James Zagel said former FBI agent James Wagner can discuss how the so-called Chicago Outfit is structured and how it operates, but he can’t talk about individual members or the defendants.
That was a major concern of defense attorneys, who did not want Wagner — the one-time head of the FBI’s organized crime unit in Chicago — to link their clients to the mob. Wagner now heads the Chicago Crime Commission.
Zagel disputed the argument made by defense attorneys that because organized crime has been widely covered in the media such an expert is not necessary.
“This is not well understood,” he said about the way organized crime is structured.
Zagel’s ruling, which was expected by defense attorneys and prosecutors, is nevertheless significant. In Wagner, prosecutors have an expert on the mob in Chicago whose credibility cannot be easily questioned — unlike some reputed mob members who may be called to testify.
Wagner doesn’t have “the baggage of these witnesses,” Rick Halprin, Joseph “Joey the Clown” Lombardo’s attorney said in arguing against allowing Wagner to testify.
That may be particularly important given that the prosecution’s star witness is Nicholas W. Calabrese, one of the defendants in what has been called the “Operation Family Secrets” investigation. Last week, Calabrese pleaded guilty to planning or carrying out 14 murders — including that of Tony “The Ant” Spilotro, long known as the Chicago mob’s man in Las Vegas and the inspiration for the Joe Pesci character in the film “Casino.”
Calabrese is expected to detail some of the very areas that Wagner likely will testify about the structure of the mob, but defense attorneys will surely try to attack his credibility.
The trial, expected to start next month, is the result of an investigation aimed at clearing up old, unsolved gangland slayings that date back decades. Among the 12 defendants are reputed major mob bosses James Marcello and Lombardo and Calabrese’s brother, Frank Calabrese Sr.
The case, expected to offer a glimpse into the workings of the Chicago mob, has already made the kind of headlines that might seem the stuff of novels and movies. In January, a federal marshal assigned to guard Nicholas Calabrese was charged with leaking information about Calabrese’s whereabouts to organized crime. He has pleaded not guilty.
An organized crime expert will be allowed to testify at the trial of several alleged mob figures accused of taking part in a conspiracy that included 18 murders, a federal judge ruled Thursday in Chicago.
U.S. District Judge James Zagel said former FBI agent James Wagner can discuss how the so-called Chicago Outfit is structured and how it operates, but he can’t talk about individual members or the defendants.
That was a major concern of defense attorneys, who did not want Wagner — the one-time head of the FBI’s organized crime unit in Chicago — to link their clients to the mob. Wagner now heads the Chicago Crime Commission.
Zagel disputed the argument made by defense attorneys that because organized crime has been widely covered in the media such an expert is not necessary.
“This is not well understood,” he said about the way organized crime is structured.
Zagel’s ruling, which was expected by defense attorneys and prosecutors, is nevertheless significant. In Wagner, prosecutors have an expert on the mob in Chicago whose credibility cannot be easily questioned — unlike some reputed mob members who may be called to testify.
Wagner doesn’t have “the baggage of these witnesses,” Rick Halprin, Joseph “Joey the Clown” Lombardo’s attorney said in arguing against allowing Wagner to testify.
That may be particularly important given that the prosecution’s star witness is Nicholas W. Calabrese, one of the defendants in what has been called the “Operation Family Secrets” investigation. Last week, Calabrese pleaded guilty to planning or carrying out 14 murders — including that of Tony “The Ant” Spilotro, long known as the Chicago mob’s man in Las Vegas and the inspiration for the Joe Pesci character in the film “Casino.”
Calabrese is expected to detail some of the very areas that Wagner likely will testify about the structure of the mob, but defense attorneys will surely try to attack his credibility.
The trial, expected to start next month, is the result of an investigation aimed at clearing up old, unsolved gangland slayings that date back decades. Among the 12 defendants are reputed major mob bosses James Marcello and Lombardo and Calabrese’s brother, Frank Calabrese Sr.
The case, expected to offer a glimpse into the workings of the Chicago mob, has already made the kind of headlines that might seem the stuff of novels and movies. In January, a federal marshal assigned to guard Nicholas Calabrese was charged with leaking information about Calabrese’s whereabouts to organized crime. He has pleaded not guilty.
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