Those who knew him say 80-year-old Vaughn “Curly” Fitzgerald loved to play cards and shoot pool. Fitzgerald, a World War II veteran, was shot and killed by police Oct. 16, apparently while trying to foil an armed robbery on his property at 3307 Kishwaukee St.
Although police are tight-lipped about numerous details, it is widely believed a high-stakes “executive” card game was the target of robbers armed with handguns-not the first such game Fitzgerald has allegedly played. He was formally charged with keeping a gambling place in 2002, but the case was dismissed in 2004.
Responding to this year’s Oct. 16 Kishwaukee Street 911 call, reporting an armed robbery in progress, Officer Cheryl Buntjer, a veteran of more than 18 years, was first to arrive on the scene. Officer Jeffrey Oberts, a seven-and-a-half-year veteran, arrived shortly thereafter.
Police say officers witnessed two gunmen attempting to flee the scene. One of the men, Byron Starks, was ordered to the ground as he surrendered to police. A second suspect eluded officers.
Police Chief Chet Epperson stated Fitzgerald then fired two shots at Starks, hitting him once, before officers were able to take Starks into custody.
Epperson reported officers identified themselves and ordered Fitzgerald to drop his weapon several times.
“The first officer by the doorway fires her weapon at the armed subject, as he continues to point the barrel at her and the subject that was just shot, and a third officer behind this female officer,” Epperson recounted at a press conference Oct. 17.
Fitzgerald, who was hearing impaired, was allegedly told to drop his weapon again. Fitzgerald’s rifle barrel then allegedly swung in the direction of Oberts, who responded by firing his weapon at the property owner. Fitzgerald is then said to have retreated behind an entryway, and the area was quickly secured, according to Epperson, before medical response was summoned.
Starks, whom Epperson described as “a victim of a shooting,” was said to be in “guarded condition” by the chief. Epperson reserved commenting about whether Starks is cooperating in the investigation.
Coroner Sue Fiduccia indicated Fitzgerald was struck “more than one time” in the torso.
Per procedure, Buntjer and Oberts were placed on leave pending a grand jury investigation. Epperson said the shooting incident is tentatively slated to go before the grand jury Oct. 31.
Based on the information he’d received, Epperson said Buntjer and Oberts “acted appropriately, professionally and used the proper amount of force in this incident.
“I would have been very upset if they had not done what they did last evening,” the chief added during the Oct. 17 briefing.
Fitzgerald’s family, along with their attorney, were said to have been present at the press conference, but have been unwilling to speak with the media.
The morning after the incident, Mayor Larry Morrissey (I) said, “We don’t want [officers] to have to use deadly force, but in the situation where their lives are at risk, when they’re following the protocol that they’ve been trained on, they need to use deadly force when it’s appropriate and when the circumstances justify it.”
The use of deadly force by police is not the only matter being investigated. Epperson told The Rock River Times gambling and the armed robbery are also facets of the investigation.
According to Deputy Chief Greg Lindmark, Starks was charged Oct. 22 with armed robbery and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. His bond was set at $1 million, according to police, who would not release Starks’ mugshot “due to the nature of the investigation.”
Judge Gary Pumilia, who dismissed the case against Fitzgerald in 2004, will arraign Starks Nov. 29.
Starks’ rap sheet reflects a number of prior charges, including disorderly conduct, aggravated discharge of a firearm, battery, attempted criminal damage to property and home invasion.
A press release issued Oct. 23 states, “The victims of the robbery were involved in a card game at the time of the incident,” and that further charges related to the incident are possible.
In 2002 the alleged gambling related to the charge against Fitzgerald was said to have occurred at 5526 Linden Road, a property owned by son Gregory and his wife Patricia.
Fitzgerald, the owner of nine properties in Winnebago County, is known to have hosted many such card games throughout the region. A prior charge against him, alleging he’d kept a place of gambling, was dismissed in 2004 after the search warrant was quashed. Reportedly, police were unable to turn over video evidence, which was part of a separate ongoing investigation into a sports betting operation.
Rockford Police and the FBI began that joint investigation into a bookmaking business in August 2000. Evidence leading to guilty pleas from nine local men included wire taps and surveillance.
This year, U.S. District Court Judge Philip G. Reinhard sentenced Joseph F. “Pep” Fiorenza, along with sons Nicolas T. and Rick J., John P. “Tiger” Frisella, Frank C. Giardono, Nick Provenzano, Charles A. Purin, John F. Salamone and Joseph W. Saladino for their roles in the gambling ring.
Epperson wouldn’t say how many suspects were involved in the Oct. 16 incident, or who had been present. Instead, he described the occurrence as “another incident involving the use of illegal firearms.
“Police business today, here and throughout this country has changed dramatically because of the continued heightened use of illegal firearms,” Epperson told reporters. “Illegal firearms, which Rockford police officers confiscate from dangerous criminals every day.”
Asked whether Fitzgerald possessed a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID), the chief answered, “That’s still under investigation.”
Asked the same question five days later, Epperson said he still didn’t have an answer.
Mayor Morrissey reported about a third of Rockford shootings this year have been perpetrated by convicted felons, who are not legally able to possess firearms. Morrissey believes there’s a lack of reporting when guns change hands after the initial sale.
“I have nothing against people who are lawfully using guns,” asserted Morrissey, who said he hunted while growing up and still has a FOID in his wallet. “The vast majority of cases where guns are being used in the commission of crimes; these are folks who don’t have a Firearm Owner’s Identification card.”
Asked if any other weapons had been recovered from the crime scene, the chief responded, “It’s still under investigation.”
Asked if thieves had gotten away with any cash, Epperson again replied, “It’s still under investigation.”
Rockford regional FBI Supervisory Senior Resident Agent G.B. Jones was also summoned to the scene in the early morning hours of Oct. 17, although he could say no more about any possible federal involvement.
The Rock River Times asked Chief Epperson why the FBI had been called in. After a 6-second pause, he responded: “Well, the gambling did take place, and some of the names of the individuals who were there rose some attention. …There has been some investigations in the past.”
During the 2004 case against Fitzgerald, court records show Rockford Police Detective Jeffrey Stovall indicated the illegal card games were part of a gambling operation known as the “Soccer Club.”
Stovall’s affidavit also reports a confidential source identified brothers Salvatore “Sam” Galluzzo and Natale Galluzzo to be running the Soccer Club. The local daily identified Salvatore Galluzzo as an alleged Mob figure in 1984.
Asked who was present at the card game, Epperson said: “I know who was there. I don’t want to comment, because it’s an ongoing investigation.”
Stovall’s 2002 affidavit indicates sites hosting the high-stakes games are commonly equipped with surveillance systems for security. Players are typically buzzed-in from the outside after being identified, according to Stovall.
Asked whether an on-site video surveillance system had yielded any evidence from the incident, the chief responded, “If it was there, it’d be part of the investigation, so I wouldn’t want to comment about that.”
During this summer’s blockbuster Family Secrets trial in Chicago against the Chicago Mob, Department of Justice exhibits included surveillance photos of Salvatore Galluzzo with Frank G. “Gumba” or “Fat Frank” Saladino.
Saladino was found dead April 25, 2005, apparently of natural causes, when authorities raided his Hampshire, Ill., hotel room during the simultaneous arrests of numerous reputed Chicago Mobsters related to Operation Family Secrets indictments.
Saladino was also named as a co-conspirator in the Rockford sports gambling ring, which many argue is a clear indication Rockford is a territory of the Chicago Outfit.
Prosecutors said Saladino was involved in five of the Family Secrets trial’s 18 murders.
At the press conference where Phil Nicolosi was named the Republican appointee for Winnebago County State’s Attorney June 24, he was asked by The Rock River Times, considering his Italian-American heritage, if he’d pursue the prosecution of organized crime in Rockford. When that question was asked, many Italian-Americans in the room groaned loudly in protest.
“I intend to prosecute vigorously any crime that’s committed in this county,” Nicolosi pledged confidently in response, which elicited supportive laughter from those who had protested.
Although all the local media were present in the room, most did not report on those questions or the response of Nicolosi or those present at the press conference.
Before taking over for Paul Logli as state’s attorney, Nicolosi was an attorney for Nicolosi & Associates. Gerlando “Gino” Galluzzo, son of Salvatore, is a partner with the firm. Paul S. Nicolosi, the state’s attorney’s brother, is also a firm partner and a past business associate of Salvatore and Natale Galluzzo, as reported in the Nov. 2-8, 2005, issue.
Asked what impact the list of those involved in the Oct. 16 shooting might have on his prosecution of the case, Phil Nicolosi responded: “Since I have not gotten the police reports, I don’t know, officially, the names of the parties that were there. What I will tell you is, if there is any party that’s there that I, you know, have either an acquaintance of or prior relationship with, I would recuse myself and then, in all likelihood, if I felt there was even an appearance of a conflict, ask the Attorney General’s office to step in.”
Phil Nicolosi could not be reached by police the night of the incident. He said the reason he could not be reached was the officer who had his personal home phone number was on vacation.
Thanks to Stuart R. Wahlin
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
In Italy, Organized Crime Does Pay
Organized crime represents the biggest segment of the Italian economy, accounting for more than $127 billion in receipts, according to a report issued Monday.
The new figure reflects a trend that has been under way for a few years, the annual report says. The figure last year was $106 billion, making it not quite the biggest segment of the economy.
The report also said the line between legitimate business and criminal activity was becoming harder to discern.
The annual report was released by the Confesercenti, an association of small businesses. It says that through various activities — extortion, usury, contraband, robberies, gambling and Internet piracy — organized crime accounts for 7 percent of Italy’s gross domestic product.
“From the weaving factories, to tourism to business and personal services, from farming to public contracts to real estate and finance, the criminal presence is consolidated in every economic activity,” the 86-page report said.
The report also points to a disturbing trend of collusion in which big businesses participate, especially in public works. “The businessmen prefer to make a pact with the Mafia rather than denounce the blackmail,” the report said.
The report comes on the heels of a visit to Naples by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday, when he condemned “deplorable” mob violence that he said had insinuated itself into everyday life.
Recent news reports have described threats to journalists in Sicily and the Campania region from organized-crime families.
Usury represents the most lucrative activity by organized crime, with syndicates taking in $43 billion while racketeering brings in $14 billion, the report estimated. Illegal construction nets about $19 billion.
The businesses most afflicted by organized crime are in the south — in Sicily, Campania, Calabria and Puglia, the report found.
The report says 80 percent of the businesses in the Sicilian cities of Catania and Palermo regularly pay protection money, known as “pizzo.”
Thanks to Peter Kiefer
The new figure reflects a trend that has been under way for a few years, the annual report says. The figure last year was $106 billion, making it not quite the biggest segment of the economy.
The report also said the line between legitimate business and criminal activity was becoming harder to discern.
The annual report was released by the Confesercenti, an association of small businesses. It says that through various activities — extortion, usury, contraband, robberies, gambling and Internet piracy — organized crime accounts for 7 percent of Italy’s gross domestic product.
“From the weaving factories, to tourism to business and personal services, from farming to public contracts to real estate and finance, the criminal presence is consolidated in every economic activity,” the 86-page report said.
The report also points to a disturbing trend of collusion in which big businesses participate, especially in public works. “The businessmen prefer to make a pact with the Mafia rather than denounce the blackmail,” the report said.
The report comes on the heels of a visit to Naples by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday, when he condemned “deplorable” mob violence that he said had insinuated itself into everyday life.
Recent news reports have described threats to journalists in Sicily and the Campania region from organized-crime families.
Usury represents the most lucrative activity by organized crime, with syndicates taking in $43 billion while racketeering brings in $14 billion, the report estimated. Illegal construction nets about $19 billion.
The businesses most afflicted by organized crime are in the south — in Sicily, Campania, Calabria and Puglia, the report found.
The report says 80 percent of the businesses in the Sicilian cities of Catania and Palermo regularly pay protection money, known as “pizzo.”
Thanks to Peter Kiefer
"Family Businesses" Endorse Rudy
The National Italian-American Foundation met in Washington Friday and endorsed Rudy Giuliani. They feel very grateful to him. After Rudy Giuliani got finished prosecuting their relatives there were a lot of job openings in the family businesses.
Monday, October 22, 2007
The Rogues' Hall of Fame
Johnny Roselli was the mob's ambassador-without-portfolio, corrupting the film industry's unions in Hollywood and becoming the go-to guy in Las Vegas and Miami. After testifying before a Senate committee and emerging as a player in the mob's long-rumored involvement in JFK's assassination, his body washed up off Miami.
Meyer Lansky was the mob's gambling czar and set up casinos in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Hot Springs, Ark., New Orleans, Las Vegas, Florida and Cuba. Refused citizenship in Israel, he retired to Miami. Immortalized by actor Lee Strasberg as Hyman Roth in "The Godfather II."
Vito Genovese sought to dethrone Lucky Luciano as capo di tutti capi; conspired to assassinate mob rival Frank Costello, leading to the ill-fated mob conference in Apalachin, N.Y., that put the Mafia under the eye of investigators. Died in federal prison after mob cohorts reportedly set him up on a heroin rap.
Paul Castellano, Gambino's heir, ran meat and poultry businesses and lived sumptuously in a Todt Hill, S.I., mansion known as "The White House." Dapper Don John Gotti supposedly orchestrated his Dec. 16, 1985, assassination outside a Manhattan steakhouse.
Frank Costello was a Tammany Hall fixer and diplomat whose gravel-voiced persona supposedly was the inspiration for Marlon Brando's Don Corleone in "The Godfather." Lived on Park Avenue and in Sands Point, L.I.; retired after Vito Genovese's failed assassination bid in May 1957.
Carmine Galante, a feared hit man and dope dealer, assumed the reins of the Bonanno crime family in the '70s; was gunned down at an Italian restaurant in Bushwick, Brooklyn, where his bullet-riddled body lay crumpled on the ground, a cigar still hanging from his mouth.
Mickey Cohen, head of Los Angeles gambling rackets, maintained a host of powerful friends, including Frank Sinatra - who once appealed to him to get mobster Johnny Stompanato to stop dating Ava Gardner. Depicted by Harvey Keitel in the 1991 film "Bugsy" and by Paul Guilfoyle in 1997's "L.A. Confidential."
Carlo Gambino infiltrated the garment industry while heading the country's largest and most powerful mob family, yet managed to avoid the limelight - and the scrutiny of cops - by living quietly at 2230 Ocean Parkway in Gravesend, Brooklyn. Died of a heart attack in 1976.
James Ralph "Bottles" Capone was the lesser-known and benignly named brother of the Windy City's uber-gangster, Al "Scarface" Capone. Lived with a sister at Martha Lake, near Mercer, Wis., and was said to have had numerous arrests - but no felony convictions. He reputedly owned a vending machine business in western Chicago.
Charles "Lucky" Luciano, considered a visionary in mob history, helped engineer the five-family crime structure in New York City. Given 30 years for running brothels, he served only a decade behind bars, with the proviso that he be deported to Italy.
A Story for Martin Scorsese to Bring to the Big Screen
Are you familiar, as the lawyers say, with a man named Alphonse Persico, known as Allie Boy? How about Nicky Black, Wild Bill, Joe Waverly, Joey Brains and Joe Brewster? Or Lawrence Mazza, James Delmasto, John Pate and Carmine Sessa?
If not, good luck following the blockbuster murder case on trial in Brooklyn Supreme Court before a spellbound audience of journalists, promoters, authors, conspiracy theorists, gadflies and some who answer to three or more of those designations. You need a scorecard just to track the players.
Fortunately, their nicknames give them away: All are figures associated with the Mafia, that fetishistically documented secret society responsible for long-ago crime waves, more recent cinematic masterpieces and, above all, an enduring modern marketing bonanza. Some are dead and some are living; in their lives the press loved them all.
These latter days find the waning wiseguys reduced to walk-on roles in an ensemble gathered for the trial of Roy Lindley DeVecchio, a retired Federal Bureau of Investigation supervisor. Mr. DeVecchio, 67, has been charged with helping his prized Mafia informer kill four people in the 1980s and early 1990s. Prosecutors say he disclosed confidential information to set up assassinations.
This contemporary Mafia trial’s more prominent players include a 1960s campus radical turned dapper judge whose taste in courtroom décor runs to the eccentric, an aspiring author planning a book with a self-styled love, dating, sex and relationship coach and an amateur private investigator who was choked (not fatally) in a strange, unexplained attack last year.
The publicity circus surrounding big mob trials was already in full churn last week. Satellite trucks idled on Jay Street. Photographers ascended stepladders to gain some purchase over their rivals. A high school class visited the courtroom on a field trip. Mr. DeVecchio, free on $1 million bond, mingled with his supporters. And tabloid newspapers reflexively chronicled every twist under headlines such as “Weird Mafia Love Triangle” and “G-Man and G-Strings; Plied With Bimbos: DA.”
The basic accusations against Mr. DeVecchio date to the Bensonhurst war for control of the Colombo crime family in the early ’90s, when Mr. DeVecchio led an F.B.I. squad charged with crippling the Colombos. His informer was Gregory Scarpa Sr., proprietor of the Wimpy Boys Social Club and a capo in the family.
After the war ended, federal prosecutors admitted that Mr. DeVecchio had passed confidential information to Mr. Scarpa. Investigators for the Department of Justice failed to turn up evidence to support criminal charges or even disciplinary action, and Mr. DeVecchio soon retired.
In a way, his new trial can be considered the triumph of the hangers-on, the true believers and the Mafia aficionados.
The Brooklyn district attorney’s office has credited Angela Clemente, a single mother from New Jersey, amateur private eye (and victim of that unexplained choking) with research that helped revive the case. The office has also acknowledged the work of Peter Lance, a writer who attends the trial in pinstripe suits, telling anyone who will listen his theories linking the case to global terrorism. But at center stage is the main prosecution witness, Linda Schiro, aspiring author of a book tentatively titled “Marriage, Mafia Style.” Supporting testimony is expected from her son, Gregory Scarpa Jr., who is in prison for racketeering. Mr. Scarpa is a prolific informer who has at times claimed to have the goods on his own father and on Ramzi Yousef, orchestrator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Mr. DeVecchio’s defense lawyers speak of a darker side to all this Mafia obsession. Over the years, they argue, Ms. Schiro has tried time and again to sell the story of her life as the common-law wife of the senior Mr. Scarpa, who died in prison in 1994.
With each new telling and each new potential co-author (including the love and dating coach, Sandra Harmon), she has sharpened her portrayal of Mr. DeVecchio. In her evolving accounts, defense lawyers argue, Mr. DeVecchio has gone from a man who met privately with her husband to a man she heard giving orders to kill.
“That’s pure fantasy,” said a defense lawyer, Douglas Grover, in his opening statement. “She’s making it up.”
Prosecutors built the groundwork for her credibility last week with testimony from a Mafia expert and from F.B.I. agents who had worked with Mr. DeVecchio.
The Mafia expert, Sgt. Fred Santoro of the Police Department, seemed well at ease. A product of Bensonhurst himself, he lent the trial an old-time touch by cracking wise on Mafia policies for drug-dealing (frowned upon) and murder (get permission first). The federal agents recounted their suspicions about Mr. DeVecchio’s relationship with his informer.
By the end of the week, a real live Mafia associate cried on the witness stand, to the evident delight of the gallery. The witness, Lawrence Mazza, told of hunting Colombo rivals, armed to the teeth in a frequently repainted station wagon.
The judge overseeing the case, Gustin L. Reichbach, interjected with his own questions. He knew a thing or two about the F.B.I.; its agents had once counted him among the most dangerous protest organizers at Columbia University. When the witness mentioned a newspaper account of one killing, Justice Reichbach offered a qualification.
“Just because it appears in the newspapers,” he said, “doesn’t make it so.”
The writers packed into the gallery laughed and laughed. The judge leaned back in his big leather chair. The scales of justice glowed over his shoulder, in neon, bright red and blue.
Thanks to Michael Brick
If not, good luck following the blockbuster murder case on trial in Brooklyn Supreme Court before a spellbound audience of journalists, promoters, authors, conspiracy theorists, gadflies and some who answer to three or more of those designations. You need a scorecard just to track the players.
Fortunately, their nicknames give them away: All are figures associated with the Mafia, that fetishistically documented secret society responsible for long-ago crime waves, more recent cinematic masterpieces and, above all, an enduring modern marketing bonanza. Some are dead and some are living; in their lives the press loved them all.
These latter days find the waning wiseguys reduced to walk-on roles in an ensemble gathered for the trial of Roy Lindley DeVecchio, a retired Federal Bureau of Investigation supervisor. Mr. DeVecchio, 67, has been charged with helping his prized Mafia informer kill four people in the 1980s and early 1990s. Prosecutors say he disclosed confidential information to set up assassinations.
This contemporary Mafia trial’s more prominent players include a 1960s campus radical turned dapper judge whose taste in courtroom décor runs to the eccentric, an aspiring author planning a book with a self-styled love, dating, sex and relationship coach and an amateur private investigator who was choked (not fatally) in a strange, unexplained attack last year.
The publicity circus surrounding big mob trials was already in full churn last week. Satellite trucks idled on Jay Street. Photographers ascended stepladders to gain some purchase over their rivals. A high school class visited the courtroom on a field trip. Mr. DeVecchio, free on $1 million bond, mingled with his supporters. And tabloid newspapers reflexively chronicled every twist under headlines such as “Weird Mafia Love Triangle” and “G-Man and G-Strings; Plied With Bimbos: DA.”
The basic accusations against Mr. DeVecchio date to the Bensonhurst war for control of the Colombo crime family in the early ’90s, when Mr. DeVecchio led an F.B.I. squad charged with crippling the Colombos. His informer was Gregory Scarpa Sr., proprietor of the Wimpy Boys Social Club and a capo in the family.
After the war ended, federal prosecutors admitted that Mr. DeVecchio had passed confidential information to Mr. Scarpa. Investigators for the Department of Justice failed to turn up evidence to support criminal charges or even disciplinary action, and Mr. DeVecchio soon retired.
In a way, his new trial can be considered the triumph of the hangers-on, the true believers and the Mafia aficionados.
The Brooklyn district attorney’s office has credited Angela Clemente, a single mother from New Jersey, amateur private eye (and victim of that unexplained choking) with research that helped revive the case. The office has also acknowledged the work of Peter Lance, a writer who attends the trial in pinstripe suits, telling anyone who will listen his theories linking the case to global terrorism. But at center stage is the main prosecution witness, Linda Schiro, aspiring author of a book tentatively titled “Marriage, Mafia Style.” Supporting testimony is expected from her son, Gregory Scarpa Jr., who is in prison for racketeering. Mr. Scarpa is a prolific informer who has at times claimed to have the goods on his own father and on Ramzi Yousef, orchestrator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Mr. DeVecchio’s defense lawyers speak of a darker side to all this Mafia obsession. Over the years, they argue, Ms. Schiro has tried time and again to sell the story of her life as the common-law wife of the senior Mr. Scarpa, who died in prison in 1994.
With each new telling and each new potential co-author (including the love and dating coach, Sandra Harmon), she has sharpened her portrayal of Mr. DeVecchio. In her evolving accounts, defense lawyers argue, Mr. DeVecchio has gone from a man who met privately with her husband to a man she heard giving orders to kill.
“That’s pure fantasy,” said a defense lawyer, Douglas Grover, in his opening statement. “She’s making it up.”
Prosecutors built the groundwork for her credibility last week with testimony from a Mafia expert and from F.B.I. agents who had worked with Mr. DeVecchio.
The Mafia expert, Sgt. Fred Santoro of the Police Department, seemed well at ease. A product of Bensonhurst himself, he lent the trial an old-time touch by cracking wise on Mafia policies for drug-dealing (frowned upon) and murder (get permission first). The federal agents recounted their suspicions about Mr. DeVecchio’s relationship with his informer.
By the end of the week, a real live Mafia associate cried on the witness stand, to the evident delight of the gallery. The witness, Lawrence Mazza, told of hunting Colombo rivals, armed to the teeth in a frequently repainted station wagon.
The judge overseeing the case, Gustin L. Reichbach, interjected with his own questions. He knew a thing or two about the F.B.I.; its agents had once counted him among the most dangerous protest organizers at Columbia University. When the witness mentioned a newspaper account of one killing, Justice Reichbach offered a qualification.
“Just because it appears in the newspapers,” he said, “doesn’t make it so.”
The writers packed into the gallery laughed and laughed. The judge leaned back in his big leather chair. The scales of justice glowed over his shoulder, in neon, bright red and blue.
Thanks to Michael Brick
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