Friends of Ours

Feds Claim Relative Held Colorado Ranch For Chicago Mobster; Seek Proceeds From Sale

James "Jimmy the Man" Marcello, the former Cicero crew leader from the Chicago Outfit, is serving a double life sentence for his role in the 1986 murders of the Spilotro brothers, and now the feds are combing the country for all his hidden assets which they allege include nearly $500,000 from the sale of a Colorado ranch owned by the mobster's brother-in-law as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times: "the feds contend that William Galioto was merely acting as a front," and "prosecutors call William Galioto nothing more than Marcello's 'alter ego' in the ranch sale."

Appeals Court Affirms Outfit Convictions

A federal appeals court has affirmed the convictions for the five defendants from the so-called Family Secrets trial against the Chicago Outfit as reported by Ann Pistone and Chuck Goudie for WLS. 

However, Judge Diane Wood -- a liberal hack who is on President Obama's short list for the Supreme Court -- would have reversed the convictions against one-time boss James Marcello and hitman Frank Calabrese Sr. on double jeopardy grounds.  In expressing her complete ignorance on how the Mafia is structured she contended that because Marcello and Calabrese previously were charged with conspiracy for their roles with subsidiary street crews they could not later be charged with conspiracy for their roles with the parent Chicago Outfit even when many of the underlying crimes were different.

Judge Wood simply fails to comprehend that a Mafia organization such as the Chicago Outfit is a parent organization under which multiple crews operate, and the conspiracy pursuant to which a mobster operates with the parent group is separate and distinct from the conspiracy pursuant to which he operates with a subsidiary crew.  Indeed, as Judge Richard Posner aptly concluded in writing the majority decision affirming the convictions, Calabrese and Marcello "conspired to commit murder, as members of the Outfit, not as members of street crews":  "The Outfit is more than the sum of its street crews."

Last February during oral argument on the appeal Judge Wood snidely remarked from the bench that she found it "troubling to dredge up murders that occurred when most of the prosecutors were still in diapers" as then reported by Chuck Goudie for WLS:  "Then she asked 'What's next? Go after the murders of Al Capone?'"

The Family Secrets trial involved 18 murders.  And for Judge Wood's information, "in its 100 years, the Outfit had committed more than 3,000 murders, yet before this [the Family Secrets trial] only 12 convictions had been secured" as reported by Ed Pilkington for The Guardian.  Judge Wood's purported concern about federal prosecutors bringing some ubercase encompassing all the mob hits in Chicagoland history make her sound more like an intemperate fool than a reasoned jurist.

Maybe in the future the clueless Judge Wood simply should recuse herself from Chicago Outfit cases.

Download Federal Appellate Decision Affirming Chicago Outfit Convictions

Earlier coverage:

Outfit Defendants Argue For New Trial

Lawyers for the five defendants convicted in the 2007 Family Secrets racketeering case against the Chicago Outfit argued for a new trial yesterday before a three-judge panel from a federal appeals court as reported by Annie Sweeney for the Chicago Tribune:

The criminal-defense lawyers faulted U.S. District Judge James Zagel for failing to inform lawyers on both sides during the trial after a [alternate] juror expressed concern about her safety. The lawyers only learned of the issue weeks later when Zagel excused the juror, the attorneys said.

Although appellate judge Diane Wood -- a liberal hack who is on President Obama's short list for the Supreme Court -- engaged in pointless hysterics over the manner in which Judge Zagel handled the matter, a more even-tempered judge Richard Posner aptly noted that there was no prejudice to the defendants by the dismissal of the juror.

Incredibly, Judge Wood apparently doesn't have a problem with letting mobsters get away with murder.  The jurist said it was "troubling to dredge up murders that occurred when most of the prosecutors were still in diapers" as reported by Chuck Goudie for WLS:  "Then she asked 'What's next? Go after the murders of Al Capone?'" 

The Family Secrets trial involved 18 murders.

Perhaps Judge Wood should recuse herself from deciding the appeal given her expressed bias against the prosecution of the mob defendants including one-time boss James Marcello, hitman Frank Calabrese Sr., and Grand Avenue crew leader Joey Lombardo.

Meanwhile, a "former Chicago alderman turned political science professor . . . has found that Chicago is the most corrupt city in the country" as reported by John Cody from WBBM:  "corruption, he said, is intertwined with city politics."

Federal Judge Orders Return Of Mob Boss

A federal judge is the knight in shining armor for Outfit boss James "Jimmy the Man" Marcello.

The former Cicero crew leader was shipped off to a California prison last week to serve out a double life sentence for his role in the 1986 murders of the Spilotro brothers, and now U.S. District Judge James Zagel says the Bureau of Prisons must return the caged beast to Chicago so he can work on his appeal as reported by Chuck Goudie for WLS.

Mob Boss Is Singing Jailhouse Blues

From tough guy to cry baby.

James "Jimmy the Man" Marcello was convicted five years ago in the Family Secrets trial against the Chicago Outfit for his role in the 1986 murders of the Spilotro brothers, and now that the feds have dumped him in a California prison to serve out his double life sentence the former Cicero crew leader is whining that it's too far away for his relatives to visit as reported by Chuck Goudie for WLS.

Frankly, if Marcello genuinely cared about his family then he never would have joined the life.  The consequences for a life of crime extend beyond the perpetrator, and dramatically effect the family around him as any viewer of Mob Wives can appreciate.  Of course, mobsters generally aren't thinking about anyone but themselves.

So shut up and take it like a man, Jimmy.

As WLS reporter Chuck Goudie aptly notes:  "it's always something with these guys."

Cicero, Illinois

In honor of the release from prison of "former town President Betty Loren-Maltese . . . after 6½ years in prison for fleecing taxpayers of more than $12 million in a mob-related insurance scam," Mike Robinson from The Associated Press provides a review on the sordid history of Al Capone's home base of Cicero, IL:

More than 80 years later, this sleepy-looking suburb of blue-collar bungalows and strip malls a few miles west of Chicago still hasn't shaken its reputation for mob influence, political scandal and corruption, even as leaders insist they've put it behind them. "The organized crime mystique — that's the reason for our image," says town spokesman Ray Hanania, insisting President Larry Dominick has "taken politics out of town government" since taking office in 2005. The story of Cicero and the mob, he said, is "a great story and it's easy to write but it's unfair." Critics, though, say corruption still hangs thick in the air.