Deputy U.S. Marshal Trial to Begin on Monday

Once known as a tireless bloodhound who tracked down fugitive gang leaders, deputy U.S. marshal John T. Ambrose now faces years behind bars if he is convicted of betraying his oath and leaking secrets to the mob.

Ambrose, 40, is due to go on trial Monday for tipping off organized crime figures seven years ago that a so-called made member of the Chicago mob had switched sides and was now providing detailed information to federal prosecutors. Ambrose denies he ever broke the law in handling secret information.

"The feds are guaranteed to see this as the worst sort of treachery," says mob expert John Binder, author of "The Chicago Outfit." ''I don't think I'm overblowing it. They're going to see him the way the military sees a Benedict Arnold."

U.S. District Judge John F. Grady has ordered extraordinary security including screens in the courtroom to conceal the faces of key witnesses from spectators.

Inspectors in the government's supersecret Witness Security Program operated by the U.S. Marshal's Service will testify behind the screens and also use pseudonyms.

The idea is to prevent anyone from identifying the inspectors, whose job it is to guard heavily protected witnesses from mob assassins, terrorists or others who might want to silence them.

Ambrose defense attorney Francis C. Lipuma objected to the screens and testimony under false names. "This is going to sensationalize the trial," Lipuma told a recent hearing.

Ambrose is accused of leaking information to the mob about an admitted former hit man, Nicholas Calabrese, who was the government's star witness at the landmark 2007 Family Secrets trial that targeted top members of the Chicago mob.

As a trusted federal lawman, Ambrose was assigned to guard Calabrese on two occasions when witness security officials lodged him at "safe sites" in Chicago for questioning by prosecutors.

Ambrose is charged with stealing information out of the Witness Security Program file and passing it to a go-between believing it would go to reputed mob boss John "No Nose" DiFronzo.

He's accused of leaking information about the progress of the investigation -- nothing about the whereabouts of the closely guarded witness. But prosecutors say it still could have put Calabrese in jeopardy, and Grady seemed to agree when the issue came up at a hearing last week.

"Anyone who has even occasionally read a Chicago newspaper in the last 20 years knows what the potential consequences of testifying against the so-called Mafia are," the judge told attorneys.

The Family Secrets trial was Chicago's biggest mob trial in years. Three of the top names in the mob including Calabrese's brother, Frank, were sentenced to life in prison and two other men received long terms behind bars.

Nicholas Calabrese admitted he was involved in the murders of Tony "The Ant" Spilotro and his brother, Michael. Tony Spilotro was the model for the Joe Pesci character in the movie "Casino."

Nicholas Calabrese also said one of the Family Secrets defendants, reputed mob boss James Marcello, was among those in a suburban basement the night the Spilotro brothers were strangled.

Calabrese agreed to cooperate in the Family Secrets investigation in 2002 after a bloody glove recovered by police yielded DNA evidence placing him at a murder scene. Rather than risk capital punishment, Calabrese agreed to become a witness. He was placed in the Witness Security Program.

Ambrose was charged with stealing and leaking the contents of Calabrese's file after federal agents bugged the visitors room at the federal prison in Milan, Mich.

James Marcello was an inmate there and was visited by his brother, Michael Marcello, the operator of a video gaming company who eventually was charged in the case and pleaded guilty to racketeering.

Authorities overheard the Marcello brothers discussing a mole they had within federal law enforcement who was providing security for Calabrese. They called him "the babysitter." They said he was also providing information on the investigation.

Agents quickly narrowed the suspects to Ambrose when one of the Marcellos said "the babysitter" was the son of a Chicago policeman who went to prison decades ago as a member of the Marquette 10 -- officers convicted of shaking down drug dealers.

Ambrose's fingerprint was later found on the file.

Thanks to AP

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Would You Help Michael Corleone?

A couple of years ago, EA took on the ambitious task of creating a video game based around the iconic film, The Godfather. While video games based off of films generally turn out to be real stinkers, the developers had some interesting concepts that eventually made the video game adaptation a hit. One major aspect of the first game that was missing was the feeling of actually being a Don and controlling your crime family. EA thought this through, and due to the overwhelming request for a follow up, it was one aspect they couldn’t refuse for the sequel.

The Godfather II takes place during the eve of the Cuban revolution. In the midst of a major mob meeting in Havana, the Don of your family is killed and you take control of your battered organization. Once Michael Corleone is investigated by the Senate Committee on Organized Crime, he calls upon you to gain control and reestablish the New York operation and make an expansion into Miami. To succeed you must hire men, gain loyalty, extort businesses, and if need be, take out a made man or two. As they say, it’s only business.

Admittedly the concepts behind this new game made my mouth water with anticipation. I mean finally I get to be the Don of my own family and take siege of territories. With that said, the actual strategies of the game fare very well. You get to recruit your own members one by one, taking in consideration what strategies will be best suited for each operation. You get to have conversations with each new recruit to see if their lifestyle and goals mesh with your own. Once you have your crew established, it’s time to make some money. You can start off by taking over one business at a time, but most businesses are linked which allow you to quickly organize your own crime ring. To take over businesses you have to intimidate the owners. You don’t wanna go in guns a blazing, that does no one any good, not to mention who wants to own a bullet riddled burlesque house? Each owner can be manipulated by a series of measures, physically, destroying property, it is up to you to find the owner’s weak spot and exploit it to take over a business, and maybe even earn a little extra scratch if you take your time with such actions.

Of course just taking over business isn’t as easy as going in and roughing up the place. You will have rival families to deal with, and not just the ones who own the rackets, but other families who are just as eager to make a name for themselves. You can set up guards to hold down any businesses you control, and if need be, send one of your own family to take care of the business and increase that man’s loyalty to the family. If you find that a particular family is getting too greedy, you can take out a made guy and show that family who is boss. There will be certain circumstances where the made man is too strong to just walk in and execute, so it is up to you to find out the right way to take them out as if not to have the entire family gunning for you.

Here you can find key individuals on the street from civilians who need a favor or even corrupt officials who are on the take. They will not only tell you the location of the made guy in question, but provide clues on how to properly perform the execution.

All these factors can be controlled by looking at the “Don’s View” menu that shows you the entire map and the specific locales and people involved. It is here where you can manage your affairs such as money, how many guards to control areas, where made men hide out, etc. This all sounds good right? Well indeed the whole Don control aspects are the meat of the game and will keep anyone interested from beginning to end. I do have a few certain gripes about the way the A.I. plays out in this portion of the game, such as territories being taken over too quickly, or even retaken over once controlled. So there are a few setbacks that hamper exploration in the game.

Where The Godfather II hurts in implementation is the actual gameplay itself. With a little more polish on visuals, controls, and A.I. The Godfather II could have been something special. Not that the game is unplayable or has major problems, but little things like floaty controls, the inability to jump unless prompted, the less than next generation visuals, and extremely dumb and erratic A.I. keep the game from living up to the expectations of many gamers. All my little nitpicks are vague and if you really enjoy the strategies and aspects of the Godfather II, then you will soon forget about the issues and appreciate what it does best; allows you to finally be the Don. There are many gamers out there who will let the action portions of the game intrude on their enjoyment, which is a shame as the core of the game is very addictive.

The Godfather II offers online play, but at the time of this review (before the game’s official release), it wasn’t yet implemented, so I was unable to be apart of the game’s online experience. You can however, join up and have an all out crew battle with 16 players by taking members of your own family online, raising their ranks, and even transfer cash into the single player campaign.

I for one love what ideas the developers had in store with The Godfather II. The strategy elements were well thought out, implemented nicely, and the game really gives players the feeling of controlling your own family. If a bit more polish and time were given to the game’s action portion, The Godfather II would indeed be one you couldn’t refuse. As is, I can only suggest playing it first to see if you are the kind of gamer who appreciates the game enough to endure the subtle flaws. If you are, you can rest assured you will have a great time going to the mattresses.

Thanks to Brian Peterson

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John Ambrose - The Mob's Babysitter?

Top Chicago Outfit bosses described a deputy wiith the U.S. Marshal service as the "Mob's Babysitter."

The deputy goes to trial next week on charges that he provided sensitive witness information to the Outfit.

When the court bailiff announces "United States versus John Thomas Ambrose" on Monday in a Chicago courtroom, history will be made. It will be the only time since George Washington swore in the first U.S. Marshals that a deputy has ever been charged with leaking inside information to a criminal organization.

When Chicago Deputy Marshal John Ambrose broke down doors for the Great Lakes fugitive squad, it was seen across the country during a CNN special report. But it was what Ambrose was doing behind closed doors, away from the cameras, that authorities say makes him a criminal.

According to federal charges that Ambrose will face beginning Monday, he leaked information about mob investigations.

"The breach could have put at risk the life of one of the most important witnesses ever developed in Chicago against the Chicago Outfit. It could have put at risk US Marshals, and family members of that witness," said Robert Grant, FBI agent in charge.

That witness was Nick Calabrese, mob hitman extraordinare. In 2002, Calabrese began secretly cooperating with the FBI in an investigation called Family Secrets.

One of the primary duties of the U.S. Marshal service is to protect government witnesses. The ultra secret, cloak and dagger style witness security program, or WITSEC as it's known, has protected 17,000 people since 1970 and officials claim not one has ever been harmed.

Calabrese was a protected witness. Deputy John Ambrose was assigned to protect him.

According to federal records, as a supervisor, Ambrose had access to confidential case information, including details of Calabrese's cooperation, where he would he housed, and when he would be moved.

It was during secretly recorded prison conversations between Chicago mob bosses that federal agents knew there was a leak.

The discussions between Outfit leader Jimmy Marcello and his brother Michael were in code. But on numerous occasions when they talked about "the babysitter," feds say that was their code name for Ambrose who was babysitting Nick Calabrese and allegedly leaking inside information to the mob through an Outfit connected family friend.

"No system is perfect. And much of what we do depends on trust and confidence and honor," said Gary Shapiro, first assistant U.S. attorney.

Federal authorities said they were shaken by what they said they found and Ambrose was called in and question by his superiors on several occasions. He denied having contacts with mob lieutenants John "Pudgy" Matassa and or with "Little Tony" Rizzo who had recently gone missing and has never turned up.

Records reveal Ambrose told investigators several conflicting stories including one that he leaked outfit information to curry favor with Chicago mob boss John "No Nose" DiFronzo but only for the purpose, he said, of helping to locate federal fugitives in the future.

"John Ambrose is not connected to the mob at all...it rests on impressions and opinions of an FBI agent," said Frank Lipuma, Ambrose' lawyer.

Ambrose lives in south suburban Tinley Park. He has never publicly spoken about this case. In a 2005 TV interview, Ambrose did discuss how his father motivates him to be a federal lawman. "As corny as it may sound, I feel like he's (my dad) nudging me in a direction or opens my eyes to something," said Deputy U.S. Marshal Ambrose.

Ambrose' father, Thomas, was a Chicago police officer, highly decorated and respected until he was snared in the notorious Marquette Ten police corruption scandal in the 1980's.

Another one of the Marquette ten was William Guidie, John Ambrose' family friend, the one to whom he allegedly passed inside information.

Nothing happened as a result of the breach and Calabrese went onto help convict the top bosses.

Federal judge John Grady said that 40-year-old Ambrose isn't charged with being a member of the Outfit, of murdering anybody or being involved in the Family Secrets Trial and that he is concerned about sensationalizing the proceedings.

That said, Judge Grady is allowing some witnesses in the Ambrose trial to testify from behind screens so no one will see their faces.

Thanks to Chuck Goudie

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Mob Witnesses to Testify Behind Screens

Some federal officials being called as witnesses at the Chicago trial of a deputy U.S. marshal charged with leaking secrets of a major mob investigation will be allowed to testify behind screens so spectators won't see their faces.

The witnesses are expected to testify at the trial of John T. Ambrose, who's charged with whispering the secrets concerning the government's landmark Operation Family Secrets investigation to organized crime.

The witnesses are officials of the government's ultra-secret witness security program (WITSEC). They'll also use bogus names to keep their identities secret.

The trial is due to get under way Monday.

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Become an iPhone Mafia Kingpin

The battle to become a mafia kingpin has hit the iPhone. Zynga, the largest developer of social games, announced a new iPhone version of Mafia Wars that lets players enjoy the same exciting strategy game play competing in a virtual underworld of organized crime that has more than nine million monthly active users on Facebook and more than 11 million monthly active users on MySpace.

“Mafia Wars on Facebook and MySpace has a cult following and now players can compete in social gaming’s most popular crime-based game on the iPhone with the mobile version,” said Mark Pincus, CEO, Zynga. “We are excited about our growing slate of games for the iPhone which allows us to deliver our highly social games to mobile so players can connect with friends anytime, anywhere.”

The new mobile version of Mafia Wars was designed specifically for the iPhone and contains rich, high-quality graphics and interface including original animations and sounds, creating a fun and addictive gaming experience. With other iPhone hits such as Zynga’s “Live Poker” and “Scramble Live,” Zynga’s premium iPhone games continue to turn the iPhone into a social gaming platform. Mafia families are built up with cash, health, energy, and stamina, and equipped with attack and defense items as well as vehicles, to fight with other families in the game. Players can also track their friends’ progress through a ranking ladder and real-time newsfeed.

Mafia Wars is available on any iPhone with EDGE, 3G or Wi-Fi access as well as the iPod touch. Mafia Wars is free and premium versions ranging from $10 to $40 will be available soon.

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