Mob Trial Judge Helps Jury Define 'Intimidation'

The jury in the Family Secrets mob trial is taking it easy. On Thursday, the 12 men and women told the judge they will not deliberate tomorrow.

CBS 2's John "Bulldog" Drummond reports, the jury worked about six hours today. There was a flurry of activity at the Dirksen Federal Building, however, when the jury sent a note to Judge James Zagel asking for a definition of the term "intimidation."

One of the biggest victims of intimidation was local pizza king James Stolfe, chief executive of Connie's. Prosecutors contend that defendant Frank Calabrese Sr. shook down Stolfe for more than $200,000 over a 20-year period. And the government argues that other defendants, including Joey "the Clown" Lombardo, were also not pikers in extorting victims.

Five defendants in the case are accused of engaging in a racketeering conspiracy including 18 murders, illegal gambling, loan sharking and extortion.

The defendants' lawyers were summoned to the courthouse to iron out what the word "intimidation" means to the jury. But it was Zagel who became a local Funk and Wagnalls and crafted what is intimidation.

"An act of intimidation occurs when a person communicates to an individual a threat to inflict physical harm to an individual or to propert," Zagel said.

The jury will resume deliberations on Monday.

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Family Secrets Trial Highlights

June 18th - Jury selection begins.

June 20th - On the day the trail is set to start, Kurt Calabrese, the son of mob hit man Frank Calabrese Sr. finds what appears to be a bomb on his back porch. The device turns out to be fake.

June 21st - In opening statements, federal prosecutors lay out the details in the deaths of 18 men and women allegedly slaying by The Outfit. "This is not 'The Sopranos,' This is not 'The Godfather.' This case is about real people, real victims," said Assistant U.S. Attorney John Scully.

June 26th - Jurors hear secret tape recordings between reputed mobster Frank "The German" Schweihs and the owner of an adult book store. The recordings are full of threats and profanities as Schweihs makes it clear the bookstore owner shouldn't be paying any other mobsters who want street tax payments.

June 29th - The widow of Daniel Siefert, a businessman gunned down in front of his young child, testifies that she believes the masked gunman who killed her husband is mobster Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo. The woman's husband was to be a federal witness.

July 3rd - Bookmaker Joel Glickman decides not to testify against reputed Outfit hit man Frank Calabrese Sr. It will mean a prison stay of several months for Glickman. "I respectfully refuse to testify," Glickman told the court when asked whether he ever had to pay a street tax to Calabrese Sr.

July 4th - Frank Calabrese Jr., testifies that his father threatened him with a gun. "He stuck it in my face and told me, 'I'd rather have you dead than disobey me,'" he told jurors. Calabrese Jr. is a star witness in the Chicago trial.

July 10th - Frank Calabrese Jr. testifies about the slaying of the Spilotro brothers and how Tony threatened his attackers. "Tony put up a fight. He kept saying, 'You guys are going to get in trouble, you guys are going to get in trouble.'" The bodies of the Spilotro brothers were found buried in an Indiana cornfield.

July 11th - Riveting secret conversations were played for jurors of Frank Calabrese Sr. discussing who was the rat in his mob crew. The evidence points to his own brother. In the tapes, Calabrese Sr. also talks about the hit on Spilotro and that one of his sins was sleeping with the wife of mob associate Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal.

July 13th - Frank Calabrese Jr., the son of reputed hit man Frank Calabrese Sr. testified that he loves his father but not his "Outfit" ways. Calabrese Jr. is a star witness in the federal case against his father.

July 16th - When a mobster says he wants to collect "a recipe" for him, he's talking code to get someone to muscle a victim for street tax payments. Jurors got a taste of mobspeak during today's testimony.

July 18th - Hitman Nicholas Calabrese implicates a close friend of Chicago Mayor Daley's as taking part in a restaurant bombing 20 years ago.

July 19th - The mob hit of Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro and his brother, Michael, were detailed by Outfit hit man Nicholas Calabrese. The hits took place in the basement of a Chicago home. Spilotro and his brother were lured there with the promise of mob promotions.

July 20th - Killer Nicholas Calabrese called himself a "coward" on the witness stand as he spilled the Outfit's family secrets.

July 24th - Pat Spilotro visited Nicholas Calabrese in prison and asked what his brothers, Anthony and Michael, did wrong to deserve getting killed.

July 30th - Bookmaker Michael Talarico took the stand against former mob boss Frank Calabrese, Senior. Talarico says Calabrese made him pay a "street tax."

Days after Michael testified, his brother, civil attorney Al Talarico sat in as counsel for Calabrese. Talarico originally requested to be Calabrese's lawyer, but was denied.

Calabrese's lawyer is defense attorney Joseph "The Shark" Lopez. Calabrese is accused of murdering 13 people during his mob career.

July 31st - Anatomy of a Skim: Prosecutors in Chicago say former mobster Paul "The Indian" Schiro may be tied to an Arizona murder and casino skim. Authorities say Schiro along with hitman Nicholas Calabrese took part in the murder of Emil Vaci.

Vaci testified to a grand jury in Las Vegas about the disappearance and presumed murder of slot-skimmer George Jay Vandermark. Vandermark oversaw the mob-run skim at the slots at the former Stardust casino.

Calabrese testified against Schiro, saying they both played a part in the murder.

Aug. 3rd - The former mistress of top Chicago mob boss James Marcello turned against him on the stand Thursday.

During the Family Secrets trial Thursday, the daughter of Michael Spilotro also tied Marcello to her father's brutal murder in 1986. Attorneys for Marcello questioned why Spilotro's daughter didn't mention this key fact to the FBI after the murders.

Michael Spilotro and his brother were both killed in the hit. Another Spilotro brother, Patrick, is expected to testify Monday about what he knows about the Chicago outfit mob.

The Spilotro brothers' murders were featured in the Hollywood movie "Casino."

Aug. 6th - Some Chicago police brass took payoffs from mob burglars, according to new testimony Monday in the Family Secrets mob trial.

As CBS 2's John "Bulldog" Drummond reports, the eye-opening testimony came from Sal Romano, a dog-loving career burglar who was whisked from Federal court by the FBI.

Romano learned the tools of the burglar trade as a youngster in Chicago.

Romano began co-operating with the government 30 years ago and closed his career as an informant with a $40,000 bonus in 1987. He specifically named the one-time chief of detectives William Hanhardt and policemen at areas five and six.

Other than the convicted Hanhardt, Romano did not name any specific cops as wrong-doers.

Romano on Monday implicated defendant Paulie "The Indian" Schiro in burglaries and other crime in Las Vegas.

Romano himself was the target of a planned gangland assassination ordered by Las Vegas crime boss Tony Spilotro and his henchmen Frank "Far-Away Frank" Cullotta.

Aug. 7th - A career burglar with ties to the mob testified Tuesday about his corrupt connection with police and attorneys in the Chicago mob trial.

Sal Romano who worked under Anthony Spilotro says he indirectly bribed police through Chicago attorneys in several mob operations. Romano also discussed his work in Las Vegas with a variety of career criminals.

He says he worked with Spilotro, who was killed in 1986, and Paul "The Indian" Schiro, another defendent in the trial. While on the stand, Romano also confessed to several robberies and home invasions during his mob career.

Aug. 9th - A notorious mobster is set to take the stand next week in the Family Secrets trial.

Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo will take the stand in his own defense next Monday. He's accused of taking part in the 1974 shotgun murder of businessman Daniel Seifert.

Lombardo, along with four other mobsters, were convicted of concealing Mafia ownership of the Las Vegas Stardust resort and casino back in 1986.

Prosecutors are wrapping up their case, which has put the highest levels of the Chicago outfit mob on the stand.

Aug. 13th - Federal prosecutors Monday rested their case at the racketeering trial of alleged mob boss Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo and four other reputed members of the Chicago underworld.

U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel quickly denied requests by the defendants for immediate acquittal and began setting the stage for perhaps a week of defense witnesses -- including Lombardo himself -- at Chicago's biggest mob trial in years.

Aug. 14th - Reputed mob boss Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo told a jury Tuesday he once shined police officers' shoes and ran a dice game approved by a Chicago alderman but denied he committed the murder that could send him to federal prison for the rest of his life.

Aug. 15th - Reputed top mobster Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo testified today that he was busy filling out a police report about his stolen wallet around the time his friend Daniel Seifert was killed in 1974.

Aug. 16th - "I only acted like a mobster." Reputed mob figure Joey "the Clown" Lombardo, continuing to testify in his own defense at the landmark Family Secrets trial today, said he was having breakfast and waiting for a shop that sold garage-door remotes to open when federal witness Daniel Seifert was killed in 1974.

Aug. 17th - "No Time to Kill People." Frank Calabrese Sr. went from eating oatmeal for dinner as a child to making millions of dollars from illegal street loans but denied Thursday from the witness stand that he ever killed anyone for the Chicago Outfit.

Aug. 20th - Frank Calabrese Sr., reputed mob hitman accused of killing 13 people, lost his cool in federal court Monday morning after a judge restricted his testimony in the Family Secrets trial.

Aug. 21st - A mobster's "Judas kiss" -- It was Christmas Eve 1996, and reputed Outfit hit man Frank Calabrese Sr. was seeing his brother Nicholas out the door after breaking out the Napoleon brandy, when his brother made an unusual request.

Aug. 22nd - Reputed mob hit man Frank Calabrese Sr., a portrait of grimaces, glares and barely contained rage, simmered for hours on the witness stand Tuesday as a federal prosecutor questioned him -- until, finally, he boiled over.

Aug. 23rd - A former Chicago Police officer said Wednesday he repeatedly drove five hours to visit Frank Calabrese Sr. in federal prison in Michigan despite being extremely bored, often not understanding what Calabrese Sr. was talking about and feeling as if he had been paroled when he finally left.

Aug. 24th - A retired Chicago Police officer admitted that he told an Outfit bookmaker and loan shark the date -- but only the date -- when Chicago Police handed over key evidence in a mob hit to the FBI.

Aug. 28th - A federal jury heard Frank Calabrese Sr.'s Greatest Hits as a federal prosecutor played tape after tape of Calabrese Sr.'s own secretly recorded voice describing in detail mob hits he allegedly committed.

Aug. 29th - Reputed top Chicago mobster Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo was "not truthful" at times in his testimony in the Family Secrets trial and was made to look like "a ridiculous old fool" under cross-examination -- but he was nothing more than a "rent-a-mobster," Lombardo's own attorney told jurors in his closing argument Tuesday.

Aug. 31st - Prosecutor: Don't buy Lombardo's song and dance. Alleged top mobster Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo is still part of the Chicago Outfit because he lied from the witness stand to protect the organization, a federal prosecutor said Thursday in the government's final argument in the Family Secrets trial.

Sept. 4th - Jury begins deliberations.

Thanks to LVN

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Intimidation Request by Jury in Mob Trial

A federal court jury considering the biggest Chicago mob trial in years has asked for the legal definition of the word "intimidation."

Federal Judge James Zagel told attorneys about the jurors' request late this morning. He asked attorneys to return at 1:30 with proposals on how the word should be defined.

The five defendants are accused of engaging in a racketeering conspiracy including 18 murders dating back to 1970, illegal gambling, loan sharking and extortion. Save 15% when you Shop by PBS Series! Expires 9.17.07

In the indictment, the Chicago Outfit is accused of using threats, violence and intimidation to discipline members and associates -- and also to collect street tax and juice loan debts.

The jury is in its third day of deliberations.

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Reputed Gambino Sentenced for Conspiracy to Commit Murder Conviction

Dominick Pizzonia shuffled into Federal District Court in Brooklyn yesterday wearing a faded and wrinkled prison uniform, his hair almost completely gray. Mr. Pizzonia, a reputed Gambino crime family captain, looked more like a middle school mop man than a hardened mobster, fragile as he entered the courtroom for sentencing after being convicted in May of conspiracy to commit murder.

Judge Jack B. Weinstein sentenced Mr. Pizzonia, 65, to 15 years in prison, a point between the 20-year maximum that prosecutors were pushing for and the 7-to-10-year term his lawyers were hoping for.

For Mr. Pizzonia, it was the latest in a long string of court proceedings that included testimony by made men, murderers and Mafia turncoats who were brought in to detail or dispute his role in the 1992 killings of Thomas and Rosemarie Uva.

The Uvas were a married couple from Ozone Park, Queens, who rode roughshod through very rough circles, robbing mobsters with an Uzi and — for a time — apparent impunity. The robberies earned them the nickname Bonnie and Clyde, as well as a bounty on their heads, according to witnesses and prosecutors. They robbed Mafia social clubs, forcing their victims to empty their pockets and drop their pants. Perhaps their gravest mistake was robbing the social club that Mr. Pizzonia managed — not once, but twice.

Prosecutors said that Mr. Pizzonia wanted the couple dead, and had given orders for anyone who found them to kill them. He even went to John A. Gotti, the boss of the Gambino family at the time, for permission for the killings, prosecutors said.

The Uvas had become marked for death by the Bonanno, Gambino and Colombo crime families.

The couple were gunned down on the morning of Dec. 24, 1992. Several bullets crashed through the windshield of their car, striking each of them in the head three times. The killings took place not far from their Queens home and Mr. Pizzonia’s social club on nearby Liberty Avenue. Mr. Pizzonia was charged with the killings, but in the end a jury found him guilty only of racketeering conspiracy for participating in planning the killings.

Joseph R. Corozzo, Mr. Pizzonia’s lawyer, pointed out the government’s disdain for Mafia members yesterday, but he cited what he said was its willingness to offer freedom or lesser charges to those who snitch on — or lie about — a bigger fish.

At trial, Mr. Corozzo cast doubt on the government’s case, picking apart the testimony of its star witnesses, who were mostly Mafia defectors, bookies and criminals, one of whom is in the federal witness protection program. The jury returned a not-guilty verdict on the more serious charges.

Prosecutors, arguing for the maximum sentence, reiterated yesterday that Mr. Pizzonia had boasted of putting an end to the Uvas. They reminded the judge that trial testimony had indicated that when another crime family tried to take credit for the killings, Mr. Gotti told the bosses of that family that it was “our Skinny Dom,” as Mr. Pizzonia is known, who killed the couple.

By yesterday afternoon, the fireworks that had preceded the day had faded. There was no commotion as the judge read Mr. Pizzonia’s sentence.

Mr. Pizzonia was seated at a large conference table in Judge Weinstein’s courtroom, directly opposite the judge. Mr. Corozzo sat to his left. The prosecution team sat to the left of Mr. Corozzo, and in the three-row gallery behind Mr. Pizzonia sat his wife and two sons and other supporters, mostly stoic old Italian men with clean-shaven faces and work-worn hands.

Before the judge rendered the sentence, he likened Mr. Pizzonia’s life to a work of cinema, a film with a split screen and a single actor portraying two roles, masterfully at times. On one side of the screen, Judge Weinstein said, you have the church member who was quiet, generous and courtly. But on the other is a hardened criminal who has been “a lifelong member of a vicious gang.”

“How much credit can be given to the worthy side?” Judge Weinstein asked. “In this case, not much.”

Thanks to Trymaine Lee

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