GUILTY for All 5 Family Secrets Mob Defendants

In a verdict announced this afternoon, a federal jury in Chicago convicted four reputed Outfit figures and a former Chicago police officer on all counts in the landmark Family Secrets mob conspiracy case.

Convicted on the most serious charge--racketeering conspiracy--were:

• James Marcello, 65, identified by authorities as Chicago's top mob boss two years ago when the indictment was handed down.
• Joey "the Clown" Lombardo, 78, a legendary reputed mob figure for decades who was convicted in the 1980s of bribing a U.S. senator.
• Frank Calabrese Sr., 70, whose brother and son provided crucial testimony for the prosecution.
• Paul "the Indian" Schiro, 69, the reputed Outfit member from Phoenix who is already serving a prison sentence for his role in a mob-connected jewelry theft ring.
• Anthony "Twan" Doyle, 62, the former Chicago cop accused of passing on confidential information about the federal probe to a mob friend.

Marcello also was convicted of conducting an illegal video gambling business, bribing Calabrese's brother in hopes of discouraging him from cooperating with authorities and obstructing the Internal Revenue Service.

Calabrese also was convicted of running a sports bookmaking operation and extorting "street taxes" from the Connie's Pizza restaurant chain.

Lombardo also was convicted of obstructing justice by fleeing from authorities after his indictment in the case. The jury deliberated four days last week and an hour this morning before reaching its verdict.

The riveting trial, which played out over 10 weeks this summer before overflow crowds in the largest courtroom in Chicago's federal courthouse, marks the most significant prosecution of the Chicago mob in decades.

According to the racketeering conspiracy charge, the defendants extorted protection payoffs from businesses, made high-interest "juice" loans and protected its interests through violence and murder.

The heart of the charges involved 18 gangland slayings dating back decades. Among them was the infamous 1986 murders of Anthony and Michael Spilotro, whose bodies were found buried in an Indiana cornfield.

The prosecution case hinged on the testimony of Calabrese's brother, Nicholas, one of the highest-ranking mob turncoats in Chicago history who linked his brother to many of the murders. Calabrese's son, Frank Jr., also secretly tape-recorded conversations with his imprisoned father. The unprecedented cooperation by relatives of a target prompted federal authorities to code-name the probe Operation Family Secrets.

Even with the guilty verdicts, the jury's duties are not yet concluded. After hearing another round of argument by lawyers and prosecutors that could take part of a day, jurors will have to decide if any of the reputed Outfit figures are guilty of any of the 18 murders. If found guilty in this second round, the defendants could face sentences of life in prison.

Frank Calabrese Sr. has been accused of taking part in 13 murders, Marcello three and Lombardo and Schiro one each. Doyle was not charged with a murder.

Thanks to Jeff Coen

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Bus Union Under Mafia Control Concludes Independent Counsel

An independent counsel appointed to investigate the union representing 15,000 New York City school bus drivers has concluded that there is substantial evidence that “organized crime has infiltrated and controlled” it.

The counsel’s report, written in January and made public yesterday by dissident union members, said that top officers of the union, Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, were involved in what it called racketeering activity that included extortion, kickbacks and bribes.

Salvatore Battaglia, the local’s former president, is facing trial on federal charges accusing him of extortion, receiving bribes and hiding Mafia involvement in the union. He has pleaded not guilty. The local’s secretary-treasurer, Julius Bernstein, was forced to resign by federal prosecutors and has pleaded guilty to obstructing justice.

The independent counsel, Richard W. Mark, called on the parent union to bring internal charges against Mr. Battaglia and Mr. Bernstein and to conduct a further investigation “to determine the extent of criminal activity.”

Leo Wetzel, the general counsel of the parent union, said the union had decided against bringing charges against those officials because they had both retired and cannot run again for union office. “It was the judgment of the union,” Mr. Wetzel said, “that the resources and attention of the international and local union were better directed to putting the local on the right course and to leave those matters to federal prosecutors.” Mr. Wetzel said the parent union assigned auditors to review Local 1181’s books for financial wrongdoing.

At a news conference yesterday, a dozen bus drivers complained that the two trustees whom the parent union had named to oversee the local had hired 11 of the local’s executive board members who had worked under Mr. Battaglia.

The drivers said those people had helped perpetuate an intimidating atmosphere that discourages criticism of union leaders. They also complained that not enough was being done to recoup the more than $2.7 million that federal officials say Mr. Battaglia obtained improperly.

“The international didn’t bring in any new faces,” said Simon Jean-Baptiste, who belongs to a dissident faction called Members for Change. “The same people are there who stopped people from talking. It’s a bad situation.”

Another bus driver, Clifford Magloire, said that in May, when he was distributing leaflets criticizing the local’s leaders, one union official pushed him against a fence and started screaming at him as others surrounded him.

Defending the decision to hire the 11, Mr. Wetzel said: “It is essential that you have experienced personnel to represent the union members. If you sweep house and bring in a bunch of people who have no experience, that is not a good idea.”

Mr. Wetzel said the 11 executive board members were hired for staff positions only after they passed a background check by the parent union. He said one executive board member was not hired because of questions about his integrity.

The independent counsel’s report criticized several officials from the parent union who knew for decades about mob involvement in Local 1181 but did nothing.

Last September, Matthew Ianniello, the acting boss of the Genovese crime family, admitted that he had helped arrange for bus companies to make payoffs to Local 1181 officials. Some payoffs, prosecutors say, went to Mr. Battaglia, who in exchange agreed not to attempt to unionize certain bus companies.

Mr. Ianniello also said he shared kickbacks and extorted money with Local 1181’s leaders. He made those admissions when he pleaded guilty in Federal District Court in Manhattan to obstructing justice.

Mr. Wetzel said that union officials planned to enact a stronger ethics code at their convention this month that would, among other things, require union officials to notify headquarters if they know of any union official mishandling funds or involved in corruption.

Thanks to Steven Greenhouse

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Restaurant Impresario Fails to Disclose Connection to Mobster

High-flying restaurant impresario Giuseppe Cipriani repeatedly omitted in his state liquor-license applications the involvement of a convicted Colombo crime-family associate in his hotspots, documents obtained by The Post show.

He also failed to list his father, Arrigo Cipriani, on numerous license applications, omissions that could lead to new criminal charges against the son.

The State Liquor Authority is examining Cipriani's failure to put down ex-con Dennis Pappas as a top executive on applications for any of the family's five famed New York restaurants, as it determines whether to yank Cipriani's licenses to sell booze. Not disclosing a senior manager, particularly one with a criminal past, "would be a very serious violation," said SLA spokesman Bill Crowley.

On the applications, reviewed by The Post, Giuseppe Cipriani, 42, president of Cipriani USA, claims to be the only owner and executive at the firm's opulent eateries and banquet halls.

In papers submitted to the SLA in 2004 for the restaurant at 200 Fifth Ave., for example, Cipriani says he has 100 percent ownership and adds, "Giuseppe Cipriani is the sole officer, director and shareholder."

But the application doesn't square with an April 2003 lease agreement Pappas signed with the restaurant in which Pappas describes himself as "CEO."

Nor does it match testimony Pappas gave in May, when at his sentencing for insurance fraud, he told a judge he had managerial control over the Ciprianis' New York operations between 2000 and 2006, reported only to Giuseppe Cipriani, hired workers, oversaw construction projects and got paid $900,000.

A reputed mob moneyman now doing time for duping insurance companies out of $1.5 million in fake disability claims, Pappas was convicted by the feds of RICO charges in 1998 for his legal work for the Colombos. He was also charged in 2006 with falsifying an application for a cabaret license for the Ciprianis' Rainbow Room by not disclosing his criminal past to the city's Department of Consumer Affairs.

The SLA is already looking to pull the Cipriani licenses after the felony conviction of patriarch Arrigo Cipriani, 75, who admitted in July he and Cipriani USA dodged $10 million in taxes.

Convicted felons are barred from holding liquor licenses unless they get a rare special permission from the court or Probation Department.

On the license applications, Giuseppe Cipriani also fails to mention the involvement of Arrigo, who heads a parent company that controls the family's New York operation.

The new documents could mean further legal trouble for Giuseppe, who also copped to helping the firm evade the taxes.

Thanks to Brad Hamilton and Susan Edelman

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Petey Cap Hits a 7 and Craps Out as He Heads Up the River

It's snake eyes for Hudson County gambling racketeer Peter "Petey Cap" Caporino, who is on his way up the river after being sentenced to an unlucky seven years in prison today, officials said.

Caporino ran illegal numbers and sports betting rackets for more than 40 years and was an FBI informant for two decades.

Helping the feds got him off the hook but he just couldn't give up the business he operated out of the Character Club, on Monroe Street in Hoboken. A portion of his take was passed up the chain to Genovese crime family bosses, law enforcement officials said.

"We are gratified that this book has reached it's final chapter," said Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio.

In 2002, Caporino pleaded guilty to money laundering involving illegal gambling proceeds and was sentenced to five years in prison. That sentence was suspended when he agreed to wear a wire for the FBI and help prosecute 15 reputed Genovese associates.

Caporino could have walked away but he didn't -- and things spiraled from there.
In June, he was arrested at his Hasbrouck Heights home and charged with leading an organized crime network, promoting gambling and possession of gambling records.

On Aug. 16 last year, he was arrested in Hoboken by Jersey City police and charged with promoting gambling and possession of gambling records, officials said. Following this arrest, the feds washed their hands of Caporino and DeFazio reinstated the five year suspended sentence.

Caporino was given seven years today by state Superior Judge Peter Vazquez, sitting in Jersey City, for leading an organized crime network, and five years for promoting gambling. Under the terms of the plea deal, the terms will run concurrently.

The sweep that netted Caporino in June also resulted in the arrest of his wife, Ann Caporino, 68, on the charge of possession of gambling records. The charge against her was dropped as part of his plea deal.

Thanks to Michaelangelo Conte

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Chicago Mob Family Secrets Infamous Locations Map

I have been procrastinating creating a map of various Chicago Outfit infamous locations . Mark Konkol created such a map for the Family Secrets Trial along with an accompanying article.

Since Mark gave me a headstart, now seems like a good time to piggyback upon his efforts and expand the map to include both Family Secrets and other infamous and historical Chicago Mob locations. You can find the current results here. As with most of my efforts, this will be a work in progress. Feel free to submit your ideas for additional locations that should be included.

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