Banks Family Rules

In the overly gentrified Bucktown community on the city's North Side, neighbors call the gigantic gray stone home on Wood Street by a special name: the "French Embassy." But why not give it a proper name -- "La Palais de la famiglia du Pastries Banks."

The massive single-family home that dwarfs neighbors and casts a humongous shadow was featured in the Tribune's amazing series on zoning this week "Neighborhoods for Sale."

Written by Tribune reporters Dan Mihalopoulos, Robert Becker and Darnell Little, the series -- with more installments to come -- focused on what critics call Chicago's corrupt pay-to-play zoning system, and how neighborhoods suffer as real estate developers intersect with aldermanic ambition.

So I stood there on Wood Street on Wednesday, staring at the so-called French Embassy, the mountain of frozen gray stone, the wrought iron-covered balconies, the security cameras right out of a Ludlum novel. It didn't feel like Paris.

It felt more like Albania, at some Ministry of Information, or perhaps the compound of their late dictator, the psychotic communist Enver Hoxha. But I say live and let live. A property owner has the right to build what they choose to build on their own land. Yet not at the expense of their neighbors, merely because they touched their alderman with contributions and got the zoning lawyer whose uncle runs the zoning committee.

The problem with Chicago zoning, according to this series, is that everything is so haphazard, with some aldermen invoking some standards and other aldermen invoking other standards, so there is no one standard.

Except for the Banks Family Standard.

They're the powerful political family on the Northwest Side, picking judges, congressmen and Department of Transportation bosses. Some even consider them the second most powerful family in Chicago politics, behind, of course, Bruno and Toots Caruso from Chinatown.

I don't know if the Banks Family Standard is measured in pounds sterling, or cannoli from the city's finest bakeries, but when it comes to zoning in Chicago, the Banks Family Rules. After the mayor's brother Michael, the Banks family is the alpha and omega of zoning.

You'll find a Banks that sells property. Another that buys property. Another Banks is the city's busiest zoning lawyer.

Ald. William J.P. Banks, chairman of the Committee on Zoning, is the powerful boss of the 36th Ward. He's the boss when his big brother Sam "Pastries" Banks, a powerful attorney, lets him run things. And Pastries is the boss when state Sen. Jimmy DeLeo (D-How You Dooin?) is busy in Springfield, where he's the real governor, having to sometimes keep the pretend governor, Rod Blagojevich, in line.

And what about Jimmy Banks, son of Pastries, and a top zoning lawyer in his own right?

Jimmy Banks was the zoning lawyer for the "French Embassy" expansion, or, as neighbors may call it forevermore, "La Palais de la famiglia du Pastries Banks," and guess what?

It got approved. And the Bankses don't even live there.

His uncle, the alderman, excuses himself from the zoning meeting, as he does periodically when nephew Jimmy's cases come up. He walks into the City Council's back room, and has a sandwich and waits. And like so many times before, the aldermen approve Jimmy's zoning cases, not because he's Pastries' son or the alderman's nephew, or on account of 36th Ward muscle, but because of Jimmy's amazing legal abilities.

Cynics may scoff at such intellectual purity coming from City Hall on zoning issues, but don't be fooled. Chicago aldermen are known to be prisoners of their own virtue.

Pastries and his 36th Ward boys were also mentioned in the recent federal Family Secrets trial of Chicago Outfit crime bosses.

An Outfit sanctioned burglar, Sal Romano, testified that he bribed corrupt police with the help of Sam Banks, though Banks remained mum at the time of the testimony. And Annie Spilotro, widow of Michael "Magnum P.I." Spilotro, also testified that she had disagreements with DeLeo and Jimmy Banks over the sale of her husband's restaurant, after Michael and his brother Tony were murdered.

Apparently, there is bad blood between the families. Annie Spilotro testified that she appealed to Outfit boss James Marcello to iron out things between the Spilotros and Bankses. But the sit-down never took place. And that should have told the Spilotros where they stood.

Like those neighbors living next to the gargantuan structure on Wood Street, there are certain political dictums, (or is that dicta?) in Chicago, as "Neighborhoods For Sale" proved.

One is that you can't fight City Hall. And the other is that when it comes to building and zoning, the Banks Family Rules.

Thanks to John Kass

Tweet

"Tony Soprano" Punches Fan at Airport

"Sopranos" star James Gandolfini launched a violent attack on a fan at a New York airport after he was approached for an autograph.

The 46-year-old became enraged when the man, brandishing a notepad and pen, came too close to the actor's fiance, Deborah Lin, and Gandolfini hit out, grabbing him by the collar and punching him in the face.

The altercation -- captured on camera -- took place as the couple passed through JFK airport on their way back from the Screen Actor's Guild Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, where Gandolfini picked up the Best Actor gong for his role in the hit TV series.

But the actor soon calmed down, and before leaving he apologized to the fan, taking time to sign the autograph and pose for a picture, according to the New York Daily News.

Tweet

Cook County State's Attorney Candidate Lobbied for Reputed Mob Associate's Company

Larry Suffredin -- a self-styled reformer running for Cook County state's attorney -- lobbied for a landfill controlled by Fred Bruno Barbara, a businessman once charged with extortion and implicated in the mob bombing of a restaurant, the Sun-Times has learned.

Suffredin, a Cook County commissioner (D-Evanston), has come under attack by rivals for his work as a lobbyist on behalf of casino and drug-company interests. State records show he also lobbied for Kankakee Regional Landfill LLC -- a company tied to Barbara -- in 2005, 2006, and 2007.

"I don't think I've ever met Fred [Barbara] in my life," Suffredin said. "I didn't know he had an interest in it."

Barbara, 59, is a multimillionaire involved in trucking, waste hauling, banking, and other businesses. A friend of Mayor Daley's, Barbara at one time got more than 60 percent of his garbage-hauling business from city contracts. He has also been a consultant to the city's much-criticized blue bag recycling program. He has been arrested five times, including a 1982 arrest for extortion in an FBI sting. Barbara was acquitted in that case -- and has never been convicted of any crime.

During the Family Secrets mob trial last year, Outfit hit man Nicholas Calabrese said Barbara participated in the 1980s bombing of Horwath's Restaurant in Elmwood Park. Barbara is the grandson of Bruno Roti Sr., an organized crime boss, and the nephew of late Ald. Fred Roti, who allegedly represented mob interests on the City Council.

Documents on file with the state list Barbara as Kankakee Regional's manager as far back as May 31, 2006. The company's address is given as 2300 S. Archer Ave., the address of other Barbara businesses. At a hearing held last June, an official from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency identified Barbara as one of three partners in the landfill.

Barbara did not return calls seeking comment.

Kankakee Regional has been trying to build a 240-acre dump in Kankakee since at least 2004. But the project has faced opposition from local groups and from Waste Management, the trash-removal giant that has a competing proposal. Kankakee Regional has been granted a development permit to build infrastructure but not to accept waste, according to IEPA spokeswoman Maggie Carson.

The project has been approved by the Kankakee city council and the Illinois Pollution Control Board, but it is bogged down in litigation and has not opened. In June 2007, Attorney General Lisa Madigan sued Kankakee Regional for illegally dumping construction and demolition debris at the site. That suit and another are pending.

Tom Volini, one of the partners in the project, said the landfill is environmentally sound and the dumping was permitted by the city and under state law. "The issuance of the Illinois EPA permit is the best evidence of the soundness," said Volini, the brother-in-law of former 48th Ward alderman Marion Volini.

Suffredin -- who has made fighting political corruption central to his campaign for state's attorney -- said he "interacted with the Illinois EPA" and dealt with "hydrology issues" on the landfill's behalf.

Suffredin said he has not worked on the project in over a year, and pointed to a public filing made by his law firm, Shefsky & Froelich, stating it withdrew on July 27, 2007.

"Tom Volini is the only person I ever dealt with on this project," Suffredin said.

Suffredin said he was told "there was a falling out with the partners, and Tom was removed as the person in charge," prompting the Shefsky firm to stop representing the landfill. But in its own filing dated Aug. 23, 2007, Kankakee Regional lists both Suffredin and the Shefsky firm as its lobbyists. The company has not yet filed a lobbying disclosure form for 2008, according to the secretary of state's office.

Suffredin is competing in a tight race against five other candidates for the Democratic nomination to succeed state's attorney Dick Devine. The winner in the Feb. 5 primary will face Republican Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica. In a recent TV ad, Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool says of Suffredin, ''On the county board he's a reformer. He'll take on political corruption.''

Suffredin said he saw no problem with representing the Barbara-controlled company. "He's not been a client. He's been an owner of a client that I worked for ... If I had directly represented him, it'd bother me," Suffredin said.

Thanks to Eric Herman and Tim Novak

Tweet

The Chicago Outfit Stretches into Rockford

Stuart R. Wahlin has shared with us several articles that he has written that examine the reach of the Chicago Outfit into Rockford along with a current case with organized crime ties.

Chicago's Family Secrets Told in Rockford provides a recap of the Family Secrets Trial and includes information on a case in Rockford in which nine men were sentenced this past summer, between May and June, on federal charges of operating an illegal gambling business in Rockford since the 1980s.

Possible Organized Crime Link to Rockford Shooting investigates the police shooting death of 80-year-old Vaughn “Curly” Fitzgerald as he was apparently trying to foil an armed robbery on his property. 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. Fitzgerald had gambling charges brought up against him in the past and he had been associated with reputed mafia figures at that time..

Winnebago County State’s Attorney the Office of Illinois Attorney General Fold on Card Game Robbery reveals how citing conflicts of interest, Winnebago County State’s Attorney Phil Nicolosi (R) and the office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D) have opted out of prosecuting a case stemming from the incident that led to the death by police shooting of 80-year-old Vaughn “Curly” Fitzgerald. The recusals mean the case will be handled by a special prosecutor. There are also allegations that law enforcement officials may have been in attendance at the card game.

Tweet

Chicago's FBI Joint Task Force on Gangs Featured on AMW

Dionne Garcia: After several years of hard work, the Chicago FBI's Joint Task Force on Gangs was able to indict 52 people in relation to the manufacture and distribution of PCP on the streets of the Windy City . Of all those indictments, only two people remain on the run. Agents say Dionne Garcia fled after being charged, probably with her common-law husband and their four children.

Jimmy Trindade: "Jimmy T" Trindade was a seasoned sportsman and an avid boater, but he hasn't been seen since leaving the Bahamas for Florida in 2006 at the helm of a 38' speed boat. The boat was found 11 hours after his departure, and his family, his friends, the FBI, and now Immigration and Customs Enforcement are trying to figure out what happened.

Roy Hyatt: Cops say Roy Stephen Hyatt is a convicted sex offender on the run who still has an appetite for children. Police are looking for him on charges of downloading, possessing, and possibly distributing child pornography.

Anthony Harris: Father of five daughters Jesse Brown was murdered on August 25, 2006 in a senseless crime has shocked a community and torn a family apart. Now Anthony "Tone" Harris -- the man cops say is responsible -- is on the run, and police need your help to find him.

Jose Lopez: Jose Orlando Lopez has been deported twice for crimes committed in the U.S., and authorities still can't seem to get rid of him. They say Lopez has so little respect for this country that he raped a stranger on a busy street in New York . Police believe he's running from his latest charges from 2004 to prevent being deported, again.

Special Ops: Coast Guard Feature: The U.S. Coast Guard broke drug interdiction records in 2007, seizing 355,755 pounds of cocaine with a street value of more than $4.7 billion. This week, AMW’s Tom Morris takes you to San Diego , Calif. for an inside look at what makes the Coast Guard so successful.

Joseph Garcia: In the border town of Laredo , Texas , walk a few steps and you could be in an entirely different country. But without going anywhere, Laredo teens face the temptation of crossing into another world: a world in which greed, money, and drugs reign supreme. Cops say a kid named Joseph Allen Garcia fell prey to the lifestyle's allure, and now they hope AMW will help them find him.

Brianna Denison: A man sought for questioning in 19-year-old Brianna Denison's disappearance has been located and cleared of any involvement in the case. Reno authorities say that the man came forward after seeing news reports about the investigation. Meanwhile, the search effort continues as search dogs have failed to find any indication of the missing teen: Reno cops say they were hoping to get a few more areas canvassed before a snowstorm began.

James Malave: Cops in New York and Pennsylvania have been working together to track down alleged killer James Malave. Now, all of their hard work has paid off: thanks to an AMW tipster, Malave is behind bars.

Kenneth Freeman: Accused child rapist Kenneth John Freeman, described by the U.S. Marshals as the 'King of the Child Exploitation Suspects', is now back in the United States, and AMW cameras were the only ones to catch a glimpse of the elusive fugitive. On November 29, 2007, Freeman's third wife, Maleka May Freeman, was sentenced to 6 months home confinement and 240 hours of community service as part of a 3 year term of probation for lying to two different law enforcement agencies on multiple occasions about knowledge of her husband's whereabouts.

Warren Villalta: Warren Villalta is no longer a free man. An AMW tipster led U.S. Marshals to Puerto Rico, where they found Warren Villalta hiding in a town near San Juan . Villalta is now behind bars in New Jersey.

Tweet