Authorities say Chicago mob hitman Frank Calabrese Sr. died this week in federal prison. He was 75.
According to NBC Chicago, Calabrese Sr., one of several reputed mobsters convicted in 2007 in a racketeering conspiracy that included murder, extortion and loansharking, died Tuesday at the Butner Federal Medical Center in North Carolina.
A spokesman for the prison said while no cause of death has been determined as of yet, Calabrese suffered from several ailments, including heart disease. The former mobster’s body is expected to be delivered later Wednesday to the chief medical examiner’s office at the University of North Carolina where an autopsy can be performed.
Prior to his death, Calabrese was serving a life prison sentence for his involvement as a hit man with the Chicago Mafia.
Known as “the Outfit,” the most heinous of the Chicago mob’s crimes investigated were the 18 murders and one attempted murder that took place over the span between the years 1970 and 1986. Calabrese was blamed for 13 of the Chicago Outfit murders.
All of the murders and other crimes were allegedly committed to further the Outfit’s illegal activities such as loansharking, bookmaking and protecting the enterprise from law enforcement.
In addition to the jail-time, Calabrese was ordered to pay over $24 million, including millions in restitution to the families of murder victims.
Speaking on his father’s death, Frank Calabrese Jr. — who risked his life and secretly recorded Calabrese Sr. in prison as he bragged about mob murders — told Fox Chicago News he had “a lot of emotions” running through him.
“I believe he was taken on Christmas Day for a reason,” Calabrese Jr. said. “I hope he made peace. I hope he’s up above looking down on us.”
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Angela Wood's "Things Not Seen"
Rockford author Angela Wood is celebrating the nationwide release of her historical novel Things Not Seen.
The novel takes readers to 1939 as Elisabeth Muldern’s dream of teaching needy children is about to come true
. She has settled in the poorest section of Chicago to do exactly that.
Kenneth Derrin finally finishes medical school, but before he can begin a country practice, his father, owner of Derrin Steel Consolidated, dies, leaving Kenneth to run the vast enterprise.
With the world on the brink of another Great War, the Chicago mob sees a lucrative opportunity to seize the steel mill industry across the country. Believing Elisabeth to be a spy for the Feds and Kenneth an uncontrollable liability, the mob seeks to eliminate all threats to the Chicago plants.
In Things Not Seen, readers learn how Elisabeth’s and Kenneth’s lives become entwined for survival by Providence.
Published by Tate Publishing and Enterprises, the book is available through bookstores nationwide.
As an English teacher for nearly 30 years, Wood has been encouraging her students to love the art and enjoyment of writing. As a professional pianist, she has broadened her outreach to others through public performance and private instrumental tutoring. She lives with her husband and children in Rockford.
The novel takes readers to 1939 as Elisabeth Muldern’s dream of teaching needy children is about to come true
. She has settled in the poorest section of Chicago to do exactly that.Kenneth Derrin finally finishes medical school, but before he can begin a country practice, his father, owner of Derrin Steel Consolidated, dies, leaving Kenneth to run the vast enterprise.
With the world on the brink of another Great War, the Chicago mob sees a lucrative opportunity to seize the steel mill industry across the country. Believing Elisabeth to be a spy for the Feds and Kenneth an uncontrollable liability, the mob seeks to eliminate all threats to the Chicago plants.
In Things Not Seen, readers learn how Elisabeth’s and Kenneth’s lives become entwined for survival by Providence.
Published by Tate Publishing and Enterprises, the book is available through bookstores nationwide.
As an English teacher for nearly 30 years, Wood has been encouraging her students to love the art and enjoyment of writing. As a professional pianist, she has broadened her outreach to others through public performance and private instrumental tutoring. She lives with her husband and children in Rockford.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
A Lesson Learned From The Election: Civility In Politics Needs To Be Restored
The Stevenson family has a unique place in American political history. The first Adlai E. Stevenson, Vice President of the U.S., collected stories, jokes and aphorisms in a loose-leaf binder throughout his long career. They were jotted on napkins, cards -- anything at hand. If it was worth keeping, it went in the binder which became known as “the black book.” His son, Lewis Stevenson, Illinois Secretary of State, contributed little, but his grandson Adlai II expanded the black book in his career as a lawyer, senior official in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, Governor of Illinois, Presidential candidate and Ambassador to the UN.
Adlai E. Stevenson III inherited the black book, including contributions from friends and supporters around the world, and augmented it from his career as a Marine, lawyer, State Representative, State Treasurer, United States Senator, candidate for governor, international investment banker and ever the hereditary global sojourner and public policy activist. The black book was continuously organized and reorganized as a ready source of wit and wisdom for their speeches.
While a lack of civility is a symptom of today’s money-driven politics of ideology, tactics, religiosity and ignorance, the author believes Americans today yearn for the politics and culture which created America and made it great.
In Adlai Stevenson III’s The Black Book, he records American politics, culture and history as these men knew it. Since few, if any, American families have been as actively involved in public office and politics for as long as the Stevensons – beginning in the 1840’s with great-great-grandfather Jesse Fell who sponsored Abraham Lincoln for President -- it is a unique history covering finance and economics, law and justice, the media, politics, religion, education, war, and so much more. In order to see the future you must see the past, from The Black Book.
Adlai E. Stevenson III has lectured widely, authored numerous articles and is the recipient of many honors, including Japan’s Order of the Sacred Treasure with Gold and Silver Star, and is an Honorary Professor of Renmin University in Beijing. He is Chairman of the Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy which aims to bring practitioners from the world together to address systemic challenges to democratic systems and also Chairman of SC&M Investment Management Corp., an international financial intermediary. A graduate of Harvard College and Law School, he maintains an office in Chicago and a home with his wife, Nancy, on a farm near Galena, Illinois.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Dying Mafia Don Gives Advice to His Grandson
An old Italian Mafia Don is dying and he called his grandson to his bed and said, "Grandson I wanta you to listen to me. I wanta you to take mya 45 automatic pistol, so you will always remember me." Grandson replied, "But grandpa I really don't like guns, how about you leaving me your Rolex watch instead."
The old man replied: "You lisina to me, some day you goina run da bussiness, you goina have a beautiful wife, lotsa money, a biga home and maybe a couple of bambino, some day you goina come home and maybe finda you wife in bed with another man. Whata you gonna do then? Pointa to you watch and say, "Times Up"?
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Federal Arrest Warrants & $50,000 Reward Issued for Joseph Jose Banks and Kenneth Conley, #WeHaveAFugitive
Federal arrest warrants were issued late today for two men who were charged with escaping this morning from the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in downtown Chicago. Joseph Jose Banks and Kenneth Conley were each charged with escape in a criminal complaint filed this afternoon in U.S. District Court. A widespread manhunt for both men continues under the coordination of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, together with numerous federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
Banks, described as male/black, age 37, 5’8” tall, 160 pounds, and Conley, described as male/white, age 38, 6’0” tall, 185 pounds, were believed to be traveling together and were reportedly last seen this morning in the Tinley Park area. Both men are considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information about them is encouraged to contact local law enforcement or the Chicago FBI Field Office at 312-421-6700.
According to the complaint affidavit, Banks and Conley were cellmates and were present during a physical head count at 10 p.m. last night. MCC employees arriving for work at approximately 7 a.m. today observed what appeared to be a rope hanging from a window on the south side of the building. A physical head count was conducted, and neither Banks nor Conley were present in their cell. The window in the cell was broken and had a makeshift rope tied to its bars.
The high-rise MCC in Chicago, located at 71 West van Buren St., is a federal detention facility operated by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
Escape carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statues and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The charges were announced by Gary S. Shapiro, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Thomas R. Trautmann, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Chicago Field Office. The U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Prisons, and the Chicago Police Department are assisting in the investigation, along with other law enforcement agencies.
A complaint contains merely allegations and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Banks, described as male/black, age 37, 5’8” tall, 160 pounds, and Conley, described as male/white, age 38, 6’0” tall, 185 pounds, were believed to be traveling together and were reportedly last seen this morning in the Tinley Park area. Both men are considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information about them is encouraged to contact local law enforcement or the Chicago FBI Field Office at 312-421-6700.
According to the complaint affidavit, Banks and Conley were cellmates and were present during a physical head count at 10 p.m. last night. MCC employees arriving for work at approximately 7 a.m. today observed what appeared to be a rope hanging from a window on the south side of the building. A physical head count was conducted, and neither Banks nor Conley were present in their cell. The window in the cell was broken and had a makeshift rope tied to its bars.
The high-rise MCC in Chicago, located at 71 West van Buren St., is a federal detention facility operated by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
Escape carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statues and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The charges were announced by Gary S. Shapiro, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Thomas R. Trautmann, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Chicago Field Office. The U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Prisons, and the Chicago Police Department are assisting in the investigation, along with other law enforcement agencies.
A complaint contains merely allegations and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)