It was Mob 101 in the Family Secrets trial Monday, and the prosecution's first witness started his history of the Outfit with its most notorious name: Al Capone.
With violence and savvy during the 1920s, Capone succeeded in uniting Chicago's underworld, which before Prohibition had been a morass of competing ethnic and racial groups, testified James Wagner, the president of the Chicago Crime Commission.
The five defendants on trial—some of whom are accused of running the modern-day mob—listened impassively, staring ahead or leaning over to whisper to their attorneys.
Wagner, a former FBI supervisor who spent his career investigating mobsters, testified with the tone of a college professor.
Capone and his organization figured out how to earn "vast sums of money" by catering to public demand for vices such as prostitution and gambling and then used that wealth in part to corrupt politicians, the legal system and law enforcement, Wagner said. Unlike New York's disparate crime families, the Chicago Outfit has been united under a single boss since Capone, its six mob crews carrying out its work, Wagner said. "That group he was able to form took control," Wagner said of Capone.
The government will rely on Wagner's primer on how the mob works to show jurors how the defendants used gambling, juice loans, street tax and violence to grow a crime empire that stretched to Las Vegas.
Many jurors took notes with their blue pens, writing as fast as Wagner spoke.
After working cases against the Genovese and Gambino families in New York, Wagner continued his mob-busting efforts in Chicago beginning in 1976, eventually heading an organized-crime squad for five years before his retirement in 2000.
On trial for racketeering conspiracy are reputed mob figures Joey "the Clown" Lombardo, James Marcello, Frank Calabrese Sr. and Paul "the Indian" Schiro as well as former Chicago police Officer Anthony "Twan" Doyle. The men are accused of playing roles in the criminal enterprise that is responsible for 18 previously unsolved Outfit killings.
Wagner said the Chicago mob expanded from its traditional bookmaking and juice-loan operations to infiltrate labor unions and then used labor's pension funds to make loans to mob associates who built the gleaming mecca of gambling that Las Vegas became.
Its members expect absolute loyalty from one another. There is an elaborate "making" ceremony to get into the upper echelon of the Outfit, Wagner said, but no retirement parties. "There are no provisions for getting out once you're in," he said.
Before trial, defense lawyers had objected to Wagner's testimony. U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel, who is presiding over the landmark trial, limited Wagner to talking about the Outfit in general terms without providing any details he might know about the defendants.
That changed, however, when Lombardo's lawyer, Rick Halprin, made the strategic decision to question Wagner about his knowledge of a case involving labor racketeer Allen Dorfman and an attempt to bribe the late U.S. Sen. Howard Cannon of Nevada.
Zagel then allowed prosecutors in a later round of questioning to ask who else had been convicted in the 1982 case. "It was Joseph Lombardo," Wagner said.
On Monday, jurors also saw a well-known photo of Lombardo with other reputed top mobsters at a restaurant in 1976, dubbed "the last supper" by lawyers in the case.
In his cross-examination of an Internal Revenue Service agent who recovered the photo in a search, Halprin made a point to note that Lombardo was the only participant wearing a suit. The lawyer has sought to portray his client as a non-violent businessman who is only associated with the mob, not a key member of the conspiracy.
But William "Red" Wemette gave jurors what the prosecution contends is a real-life taste of how Lombardo allegedly collected street tax.
Wemette told jurors that he knew the mob would come knocking when he went to open an adult bookstore called "The Peeping Tom" on Wells Street in the early 1970s. Wemette, who has been relocated by authorities because of his cooperation, exhaled deeply on the stand as he talked about doing business with Lombardo's reputed Grand Avenue street crew. The 58-year-old with thin, reddish hair and a thinner mustache wore a gray, three-piece suit.
Asked to define street tax for the jury, Wemette replied, "Basically it's permission to be in a business without being hurt by someone or possibly being burned down."
He described going to see a South Side mobster for permission to open his store and was instructed to meet up with Lombardo. "The instructions were, 'Go see Joey, he's a good boy,'" Wemette said. "'He'll take care of you.'"
Wemette said he eventually agreed to split the proceeds from peep shows in the shop with the mob because Lombardo was powerful and he didn't want to have an "accident."
Prosecutors showed Wemette a series of pictures of the men with whom he said he dealt, including an old mug shot of Lombardo in which the reputed mob boss appeared to be staring off into space. Lombardo, 78, stood up as Wemette was asked whether the man he was talking about was in court. "He looked a lot better then than he does now," Wemette said.
Testimony began Monday after the final two defense lawyers finished giving their opening statements. Attorney Paul Wagner told jurors that his client, Schiro, is a minor player in the case. Ralph Meczyk, the lawyer for Doyle, said his client is only a defendant because he's been a loyal friend to Calabrese.
Doyle was a good cop who came from the rough streets of the Bridgeport neighborhood, Meczyk said. He did not purposefully give Calabrese any damaging information on the Family Secrets case, as he is accused of doing, Meczyk said.
Doyle earned an honest living as an officer, the lawyer said, and before that pushed a street sweeper's cart for the city. Meczyk brought one of wooden carts into court, its metal wheels squeaking up the aisle. "He picked up maybe empty juice cartons," Meczyk said. "That's when he dealt in juice, ladies and gentlemen of the jury."
He told jurors that by the time the case was over, they would have an opinion about what the indictment in the case was worth and with that tossed a copy of the document into the cart with a thud.
Thanks to Jeff Coen
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Chicago Cop Only Friend to Mobster?
Friends of ours: John Fecarotta, Frank Calabrese Sr., Paul “The Indian” Schiro, Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, James Marcello, Nick Calabrese
Friends of mine: Michael Ricci, Anthony Doyle
The lawyer for retired police officer Anthony Doyle did his best Monday to explain away how his client wound up caught on tape telling alleged mob member Frank Calabrese behind-the-scenes details about an FBI investigation into a mob hit.
Prosecutors in the Chicago mob trial that began last week said it was because Doyle, of Arizona, is a mob associate who was feeding inside information in an attempt to help the mob scuttle the case against it for the hit on fellow mobster John Fecarotta Sept. 14, 1986. But Ralph Meczyk told jurors that Doyle knew Calabrese from growing up in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood, that the two used to play handball together, and that Calabrese had gotten Doyle his first job at McCormick Place.
So when Calabrese, incarcerated in 1999 in Milan, Michigan, mentioned to someone that he’d like to see Doyle again, word was sent, Meczyk said. “Anthony (Doyle) is a little stunned, but pleased that his old friend remembers him,” said Meczyk.
Doyle drove to Michigan with Michael Ricci, of Streamwood, another retired Chicago cop, claimed Meczyk. Ricci since has passed away. Once the two arrived in Michigan, Calabrese asked Doyle, who worked in the evidence room of the Chicago Police department, to find out about the case, Meczyk said.
Doyle wasn’t pleased, claimed Meczyk, but passed along what he thought would be a useless bit of information - that the FBI had taken into its possession a blood-stained glove used during the hit.
“The issue is, really, what was (Doyle’s) intent? … One of the reasons he did it is it’s innocent, innocuous information,” claimed Meczyk.
And what about all that code talk Frank Calabrese used when talking to Doyle - code only a mobster would know?
“Anthony doesn’t know what’s going on, but he feigns that he does,” said Meczyk.
Federal investigators, said Meczyk, “want to turn friendship into a federal felony.”
Also Monday, attorney Paul Augustus Wagner gave his opening statements for defendant Paul “The Indian” Schiro, accused of helping to murder his friend Emil Vaci in Phoenix June 7, 1986. Paul Wagner said the only thing that ties Schiro to the murder is the unreliable word of the government’s star witness, confessed murderer Nick Calabrese, Frank Calabrese’s brother.
The attorney for Joey “The Clown” Lombardo, Rick Halprin, decided to withhold his opening statement until the prosecution rests.
Attorneys for Frank Calabrese of Oak Brook and James Marcello of Lombard gave their opening statements Thursday. All five defendants are charged with racketeering conspiracy in the commission of several crimes, including murder.
After Meczyk’s opening, prosecutors took testimony from James Wagner, a former FBI agent, about the structure and method of operation of the Chicago mob.
Thanks to Rob Olmstead
Friends of mine: Michael Ricci, Anthony Doyle
The lawyer for retired police officer Anthony Doyle did his best Monday to explain away how his client wound up caught on tape telling alleged mob member Frank Calabrese behind-the-scenes details about an FBI investigation into a mob hit.
Prosecutors in the Chicago mob trial that began last week said it was because Doyle, of Arizona, is a mob associate who was feeding inside information in an attempt to help the mob scuttle the case against it for the hit on fellow mobster John Fecarotta Sept. 14, 1986. But Ralph Meczyk told jurors that Doyle knew Calabrese from growing up in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood, that the two used to play handball together, and that Calabrese had gotten Doyle his first job at McCormick Place.
So when Calabrese, incarcerated in 1999 in Milan, Michigan, mentioned to someone that he’d like to see Doyle again, word was sent, Meczyk said. “Anthony (Doyle) is a little stunned, but pleased that his old friend remembers him,” said Meczyk.
Doyle drove to Michigan with Michael Ricci, of Streamwood, another retired Chicago cop, claimed Meczyk. Ricci since has passed away. Once the two arrived in Michigan, Calabrese asked Doyle, who worked in the evidence room of the Chicago Police department, to find out about the case, Meczyk said.
Doyle wasn’t pleased, claimed Meczyk, but passed along what he thought would be a useless bit of information - that the FBI had taken into its possession a blood-stained glove used during the hit.
“The issue is, really, what was (Doyle’s) intent? … One of the reasons he did it is it’s innocent, innocuous information,” claimed Meczyk.
And what about all that code talk Frank Calabrese used when talking to Doyle - code only a mobster would know?
“Anthony doesn’t know what’s going on, but he feigns that he does,” said Meczyk.
Federal investigators, said Meczyk, “want to turn friendship into a federal felony.”
Also Monday, attorney Paul Augustus Wagner gave his opening statements for defendant Paul “The Indian” Schiro, accused of helping to murder his friend Emil Vaci in Phoenix June 7, 1986. Paul Wagner said the only thing that ties Schiro to the murder is the unreliable word of the government’s star witness, confessed murderer Nick Calabrese, Frank Calabrese’s brother.
The attorney for Joey “The Clown” Lombardo, Rick Halprin, decided to withhold his opening statement until the prosecution rests.
Attorneys for Frank Calabrese of Oak Brook and James Marcello of Lombard gave their opening statements Thursday. All five defendants are charged with racketeering conspiracy in the commission of several crimes, including murder.
After Meczyk’s opening, prosecutors took testimony from James Wagner, a former FBI agent, about the structure and method of operation of the Chicago mob.
Thanks to Rob Olmstead
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Mr. Capone: The Real - and Complete - Story of Al Capone
While doing some research for a reader
, I spoke with a friend of mine, Robert Schoenberg, who is the author of Mr. Capone: The Real - and Complete - Story of Al Capone. I know I have reviewed his book before, but with the Family Secrets Trial going on, this is another excellent book that gives you some historical background on the Chicago Outfit. In 1930 Al Capone was the most famous American alive. Mr. Capone reveals the real Capone and how he ran his operation. Schoenberg's scrupulous research shows that Capone was a man as calculating and brutal as his legend.
The NYTimes called it “fascinating,” the LATimes cited its “massive research” and “rich descriptions,” the Chicago Tribune said that readers will “revel in the old stories…and savor new tidbits,” The Washington Times said its “written with style and verve,” Chicago magazine called it “certainly the most thorough book on Capone yet published” and said that “Attention to detail, along with a sense of the period and a delightful writing style, makes Mr. Capone a treat for history, crime and Capone buffs.” The Detroit News simply called it “the definitive biography.”
, I spoke with a friend of mine, Robert Schoenberg, who is the author of Mr. Capone: The Real - and Complete - Story of Al Capone. I know I have reviewed his book before, but with the Family Secrets Trial going on, this is another excellent book that gives you some historical background on the Chicago Outfit. In 1930 Al Capone was the most famous American alive. Mr. Capone reveals the real Capone and how he ran his operation. Schoenberg's scrupulous research shows that Capone was a man as calculating and brutal as his legend.The NYTimes called it “fascinating,” the LATimes cited its “massive research” and “rich descriptions,” the Chicago Tribune said that readers will “revel in the old stories…and savor new tidbits,” The Washington Times said its “written with style and verve,” Chicago magazine called it “certainly the most thorough book on Capone yet published” and said that “Attention to detail, along with a sense of the period and a delightful writing style, makes Mr. Capone a treat for history, crime and Capone buffs.” The Detroit News simply called it “the definitive biography.”
Chicago Mobsters, Fraternity Pledges?
Forget about those nicknames.
So "the Clown," "the Indian," "the Breeze," "Twan" (also called "Captain Crunch") and "Little Jimmy" are now on trial at the Dirksen Federal Building. Sounds like a bunch of rascally fraternity pledges hauled into the dock for committing an overaggressive initiation prank, doesn't it?
Actually, of course, prosecutors allege that Joseph Lombardo, Paul Schiro, Frank Calabrese Sr., Anthony Doyle and James Marcello -- the real names of the above -- are ruthless killers who long presided over brutal, exploitative organized-crime activities. To me, the constant use in the media of these odd and usually unilluminating nicknames does little other than to add a little glamor, gloss and an appealingly clubby feel to the ugly business in which these men were allegedly engaged.
Media outlets that wouldn't even mention the names of Chicago street gangs for fear of giving those gangs an alluring renown think nothing of using organized-crime nicknames in a way that turns alleged mobsters into characters out of noir fiction. But they, like their alleged victims, are real people with real names. Let's use 'em.
Thanks to Eric Zorn
So "the Clown," "the Indian," "the Breeze," "Twan" (also called "Captain Crunch") and "Little Jimmy" are now on trial at the Dirksen Federal Building. Sounds like a bunch of rascally fraternity pledges hauled into the dock for committing an overaggressive initiation prank, doesn't it?
Actually, of course, prosecutors allege that Joseph Lombardo, Paul Schiro, Frank Calabrese Sr., Anthony Doyle and James Marcello -- the real names of the above -- are ruthless killers who long presided over brutal, exploitative organized-crime activities. To me, the constant use in the media of these odd and usually unilluminating nicknames does little other than to add a little glamor, gloss and an appealingly clubby feel to the ugly business in which these men were allegedly engaged.
Media outlets that wouldn't even mention the names of Chicago street gangs for fear of giving those gangs an alluring renown think nothing of using organized-crime nicknames in a way that turns alleged mobsters into characters out of noir fiction. But they, like their alleged victims, are real people with real names. Let's use 'em.
Thanks to Eric Zorn
The Last Mob Case in Chicago?
The FBI called the investigation "Operation Family Secrets,'' secrets that allegedly include at least 18 murders, pornography, bookmaking, loan-sharking, burglaries to order and more.
Members of the "Outfit,'' as the crime syndicate is known in Chicago, have been brought to trial before, but this is the first time the entire structure and enterprise have been dragged into court.
The trial, which began Tuesday before U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel, is expected to last four months. If a criminal trial is real-life drama, this one certainly has a cast of reluctant stars.
The leading players include James "Little Jimmy" Marcello, 65, considered the boss of the Outfit at the time of his arrest; Frank Calabrese Sr., 70, a member of the Mafia and once considered Chicago's top loan shark; Paul "the Indian'' Schiro, 69; and an Irish-American, former Chicago police officer Anthony Doyle 62. And don't forget Joseph "Joey the Clown'' Lombardo, 78, a wisecracker who kept the boys laughing even while he was busy killing someone.
Take Tony the Ant, for instance. That would be Anthony Spilotro. Tony liked to be known as "the Chicago mob's man in Las Vegas." Whether he was or not is open to question. But one thing is certain: Not everybody in the Outfit liked him.
Some years ago, he got the idea that it might be fun and profitable to skim the Las Vegas take that normally went to Anthony "Big Tuna'' Accardo, the fabled boss of bosses of the Outfit. Big Tuna didn't get the joke and put out a contract on the Ant. Accardo died of natural causes in 1992, one of the last of Al Capone's associates to pass on to the great sitdown in the sky. But before he died, Accardo saw the end of Tony the Ant.
In 1986, according to the feds, Joe Lombardo and Frank "the German'' Schweihs took Tony the Ant and his brother, Michael, for a ride. They stopped at a cornfield in northern Indiana, where the Clown and the German beat the two Spilotro brothers senseless with baseball bats. Then they buried them, still alive. The remains were found recently. The case was an inspiration for the plot to the 1995 Martin Scorsese film Casino, with Joe Pesci playing the Spilotro character.
The main witness for the prosecution is expected to be Nicholas Calabrese, the brother of the defendant, Frank Calabrese. He admitted taking part in 14 mob murders, and said he helped bury the Spilotro brothers alive. Frank Jr. also is expected to testify against his father.
Meanwhile, according to the Chicago Tribune, the federal courthouse in Chicago looks like a geriatric ward as the elderly bosses of the Outfit show up for trial. They come in on walkers or leaning on canes. Joey the Clown is in a wheelchair. But these were the young guns of the Roaring '20s and '30s, the capos of the 1940s and '50s.
The government even has a reputed expert witness they call a "mobologist.'' That would be James Wagner, current president of the Chicago Crime Commission and former chief of the Chicago FBI's organized crime section, according to the Tribune.
Joey the Clown appears to be enjoying all the fuss. And a former FBI agent who headed up the organized crime task force in Chicago said that this may very possibly be the last great mob case. "This will hurt the mob," Gus Russo, author of The Outfit and other books about organized crime, told The Associated Press. "But it won't end it."
"They always find a way to redefine themselves and bounce back."
Thanks to George McEvoy
Members of the "Outfit,'' as the crime syndicate is known in Chicago, have been brought to trial before, but this is the first time the entire structure and enterprise have been dragged into court.
The trial, which began Tuesday before U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel, is expected to last four months. If a criminal trial is real-life drama, this one certainly has a cast of reluctant stars.
The leading players include James "Little Jimmy" Marcello, 65, considered the boss of the Outfit at the time of his arrest; Frank Calabrese Sr., 70, a member of the Mafia and once considered Chicago's top loan shark; Paul "the Indian'' Schiro, 69; and an Irish-American, former Chicago police officer Anthony Doyle 62. And don't forget Joseph "Joey the Clown'' Lombardo, 78, a wisecracker who kept the boys laughing even while he was busy killing someone.
Take Tony the Ant, for instance. That would be Anthony Spilotro. Tony liked to be known as "the Chicago mob's man in Las Vegas." Whether he was or not is open to question. But one thing is certain: Not everybody in the Outfit liked him.
Some years ago, he got the idea that it might be fun and profitable to skim the Las Vegas take that normally went to Anthony "Big Tuna'' Accardo, the fabled boss of bosses of the Outfit. Big Tuna didn't get the joke and put out a contract on the Ant. Accardo died of natural causes in 1992, one of the last of Al Capone's associates to pass on to the great sitdown in the sky. But before he died, Accardo saw the end of Tony the Ant.
In 1986, according to the feds, Joe Lombardo and Frank "the German'' Schweihs took Tony the Ant and his brother, Michael, for a ride. They stopped at a cornfield in northern Indiana, where the Clown and the German beat the two Spilotro brothers senseless with baseball bats. Then they buried them, still alive. The remains were found recently. The case was an inspiration for the plot to the 1995 Martin Scorsese film Casino, with Joe Pesci playing the Spilotro character.
The main witness for the prosecution is expected to be Nicholas Calabrese, the brother of the defendant, Frank Calabrese. He admitted taking part in 14 mob murders, and said he helped bury the Spilotro brothers alive. Frank Jr. also is expected to testify against his father.
Meanwhile, according to the Chicago Tribune, the federal courthouse in Chicago looks like a geriatric ward as the elderly bosses of the Outfit show up for trial. They come in on walkers or leaning on canes. Joey the Clown is in a wheelchair. But these were the young guns of the Roaring '20s and '30s, the capos of the 1940s and '50s.
The government even has a reputed expert witness they call a "mobologist.'' That would be James Wagner, current president of the Chicago Crime Commission and former chief of the Chicago FBI's organized crime section, according to the Tribune.
Joey the Clown appears to be enjoying all the fuss. And a former FBI agent who headed up the organized crime task force in Chicago said that this may very possibly be the last great mob case. "This will hurt the mob," Gus Russo, author of The Outfit and other books about organized crime, told The Associated Press. "But it won't end it."
"They always find a way to redefine themselves and bounce back."
Thanks to George McEvoy
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