Evidence In Mob Murders Surfaces In Casino Battle

The first piece of evidence in the Operation Family Secrets mob murder case surfaced Tuesday during a battle over a casino license. As CBS 2's John Drummond reports, a top FBI agent believes the undercover videotape shows a link between the mob and Rosemont Mayor Don Stephens.

James Marcello is identified by the FBI as the boss of the Chicago mob. In March 2004, the FBI videotaped a conversation between Marcello and his brother, Michael, at the federal prison at Milan, Michigan.

Stephens, the long-time mayor of Rosemont, had lobbied hard for the Emerald Casino Inc., to be granted a license to operate in Rosemont. But the Illinois Gaming Board rejected the Emerald bid, citing alleged mob ties. At a special hearing Tuesday on the Emerald license, the gaming board watched an undercover videotape from the Operation Family Secrets investigation. On the tape, the Marcello brothers discussed whether the mob would have a piece of any casino in Rosemont.

The two men did not use proper names when discussing the matter. The FBI said "he" referred to Stephens.

James Marcello: “Are we gonna be in there at all?”

Michael Marcello: “I don’t ... MGM or one of them companies will wind up with it. I mean he ain't going to get it like he wanted it before but...”

James Marcello: “They'll pay him so much a month and that'll be it.”

James Marcello: “You gotta say it. This guy really knew what he was doing, Mickey. They could say what they want about him.”

Attorney Robert Cliffford, who represents Emerald Casino, was skeptical of the meaning of the tape. “When I first saw this my reaction was you have a couple of sideways talking about stuff they don't know an awful lot about,” Clifford said. But top FBI organized crime agent John Mallul said that Stephens had a special interest in Emerald getting a license since he could exercise some control over it.

A spokesman for the Rosemont mayor ripped the FBI tape, calling it "meaningless." He said it proves nothing and suggests the gaming board has a "vendetta against Mayor Stephens."

As far as the videotape itself, this is the first time we've seen some of the mountain of evidence expected to be used against James Marcello and other alleged mobsters in the Family Secrets case. The video portion clearly showed the Marcello brothers having a chat in a day room at the Michigan prison. But the audio was difficult to make out. We had to read from a transcript provided by an FBI agent.

Thanks to Bulldog John Drummond

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Italian group criticizes Yaddo for allowing Mafia film shoot

The president of an Italian-American anti-defamation group has criticized the Yaddo Gardens artistic retreat for allowing a local independent film with Mafia content to be shot on its public grounds. But Schenectady filmmaker Christopher Bishop says the Commission for Social Justice has not read the script for the film, named "Corruption."

Bishop says his film is about a Mafia member who wants to get out of the business, and he says it doesn't show Italians in a negative light.

A spokeswoman for Yaddo, which is in Schenectady, New York, did not comment on the letter sent last week to the retreat. The Schenectady Daily Gazette reports the film shot there for one day in August.

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Gotti Jury is Hung, Judge Declares Mistrial

Friends of ours: John "Junior" Gotti, Gambino Crime Family

Jurors said they could not agree on verdicts against 41-year-old John A "Junior" Gotti, son of the late head of the powerful Gambino crime family.

Gotti, who has stayed in prison since serving out a sentence for extortion, hugged his lawyers after the decision. The jury did agree on one count - acquitting Gotti of conspiracy to commit securities fraud.

US District Judge Shira Scheindlin said she is likely to agree to a request to allow bail for Gotti. "It's my view that the time has come," Ms Scheindlin said in the courtroom. Gotti has already served a five-year sentence on other racketeering charges.

The new charges were brought against him last year before he was due to be released.
One of those who testified against Gotti was Curtis Sliwa, a former radio host and founder of the anti-crime citizens group, the Guardian Angels.

Mr Sliwa says that Gotti ordered him to be attacked in retaliation for comments made about his father on the radio programme. "It's a hung jury, it's a mistrial, it's round two for me, it doesn't mean John 'Junior' Gotti is innocent," Mr Sliwa said. Prosecutors have said they will seek a retrial.

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Pay for "Mafia Judge" David Gross, Charged as Genovese Crime Family Mob Money Launderer

New York state's top court yesterday ruled that an alleged mob-connected Long Island judge can receive his $122,700 annual judicial salary until the case is resolved. The Court of Appeals yesterday formally suspended Nassau County District Court Judge David Gross, who is accused of moonlighting as a mob money launderer.

"The statute creates a presumption in favor of suspension with pay, corresponding to the presumption of innocence that is basic to our justice system," the court found in its unanimous two-page ruling. The judges explained that the court's usual practice is to suspend a judge with pay "unless the charged misconduct is directly connected with the performance of the judicial office." The court held open the possibility of revisiting the issue if such a link is later established.

Gross, a father of two with a wife who does not have a job, had asked the court through his lawyer not to cut off his pay because it is his family's only income. "Judges aren't permitted to pursue employment outside of their responsibilities as judges," the lawyer, John Carman, wrote the Court of Appeals.

Gross, a Democrat still running for re-election, was arrested on Aug. 30 by federal agents, who also busted several reputed Genovese crime family members with nicknames like "Joe Box," "Beaver" and "Mousey," according to court papers. An undercover agent allegedly was introduced to Gross, who offered to fence diamonds in an illegal scheme, authorities charge.

The agent allegedly caught Gross on tape demanding a $500 fee for his services. Gross also was reputedly recorded bragging to the agent that he knew how to bend campaign finance rules. Gross was released on $500,000 bond and put on administrative leave.

The 71-page affidavit outlining the case against Gross said his name surfaced in the course of an investigation of reputed mob figures and gambling on Long Island. If convicted, Gross could get up to 20 years.

Thanks to Kenneth Lovett.

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Gotti Jury 'Family' Circus

The jury that was so split it couldn't decide the case against John "Junior" Gotti last week was a flawed bunch that included panelists who didn't belong on any criminal case let alone one starring the son of a notorious godfather, experts say.

Juror No. 2, a man in his 30s on disability for depression, took a drug that "gets me drowsy" and occasionally appeared to doze during the trial. Juror No. 11, a 67-year-old retired actress who once played Woody Allen's wife on stage, said she was brutally mugged in Manhattan, fought off a friend's attacker with a tap shoe and worked in a mob-run Las Vegas casino where a man was shot in the barber's chair.

"I was frightened," she said. During the trial, when the sound system made a cracking noise that sounded like gunshots, she jumped in alarm. Juror No. 5, a man in his 50s who works for a costume-wig company, admitted in pretrial questioning that he'd fibbed on the jury questionnaire by naming Al Capone as the person he least admired, in an "inept attempt to get disqualified."

Gotti's lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, had opposed the selection of a nurse who left nine questions blank on her questionnaire, saying the omissions showed a "lack of effort, lack of interest" and "incompetence." But Manhattan federal Judge Shira Scheindlin refused to dismiss the woman after prompting her to name three famous people she most admired: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sidney Poitier and Whoopi Goldberg.

Lichtman called the outcome "surprising," saying it seemed impossible to get a jury not biased against or fearful of his client's notorious name. He recalled one potential juror, eventually eliminated, who began sobbing in the courtroom. "I'm afraid I'm going to get axed," the woman whimpered. (She meant whacked.)

Jury consultant Robert Hirschhorn, who aided the defense in the Danny Pelosi murder trial, was incredulous at some of the jurors selected for a case involving charges that the son of the late Gambino big John "Dapper Don" Gotti used violence or threats to extort and abducted Guardian Angel and radio host Curtis Sliwa, who was shot several times.

Last week, the jury acquitted Gotti, 41, of securities fraud and deadlocked 10-2 and 7-5 for conviction on the kidnapping charges. In an 11-1 split, a lone holdout blocked a Gotti guilty verdict on extortion and racketeering counts.

Hirschhorn called it "a miracle" that the jury didn't convict Gotti of anything and pointed out that some panelists had admitted biases. The retired actress, who suffers from osteoarthritis, told the judge before her selection that she assumed Junior had followed in his late father's footsteps.

"I thought it was part of the family tree. If your father is a doctor, you should be a doctor. Perhaps that is what he [Gotti] is doing. It's part of the business, isn't it?" she said. She also said that she suffered a concussion and that her teeth were knocked out by a mugger who escaped. "It was very bad," she told the judge, who got the woman to vow she could still be fair on the case. But Hirschhorn asked, "Do you want somebody on the jury who has been through such a terrifying experience?" He called the medicated juror "impaired" and said it seemed the costume-wig employee who hoped to return to work by Halloween lied because "he didn't want to serve. All he wanted to do was get out of there."

Scheindlin set a hearing tomorrow to decide whether to release Gotti on bail pending a possible retrial.

Thanks to Susan Edelman

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