Sam Volpendesto, convicted last December for his role in an Outfit crew headed by reputed Cicero boss Michael "The Large Guy" Sarno, was sentenced this afternoon to thirty-five years in prison as reported by Steve Warmbir for the Chicago Sun-Times. The 87-year-old bombed a rival video poker firm and participated in a string of burglary jobs. Notwithstanding his decades around the block -- Volpendesto watched hit man Sam "Mad Sam" DeStefano dispose of a victim in a meat grinder -- this is his first conviction as reported by Andy Grimm for the Chicago Tribune. Of course, mob prosections generally are quite rare in Chicagoland.
A federal jury in Chicago, IL has convicted reputed Outfit capo Michael "The Large Guy" Sarno and three others, including reputed Outlaws motorcycle club member Mark Polchan, on racketeering charges for their roles in a criminal enterprise which involved, among other things, the bombing of a rival video poker firm and a string of burglary jobs as reported by Steve Warmbir for the Chicago Sun-Times. A fifth defendant, so-called video poker king Casey Szaflarski, was convicted on gambling and tax charges. Warmbir reports that "when the verdicts were read at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, sobs and wails could be heard from family members of the defendants in the federal courthouse."
That didn't take long. The jury had been deliberating only since late Monday as reported by Andy Grimm for the Chicago Tribune: "The jury since had sent two questions to the judge, requesting that they be given the day off Friday, though they didn't need that much time to review the evidence from the five-week trial" during which prosecutors "called 80 witnesses and entered more than 300 items into evidence." In contrast, four of the five defendants called no witnesses, and Polchan called only one.
Sarno, who had been out on bail, immediately was taken into custody. Sentencing is set for May 23, 2011, and The Large Guy faces up to 25 years in the pokey.
Video poker is one of the Chicago Outfit's more profitable rackets, and it allegedly controls "approximately 25,000 machines in bars and restaurants, generating millions of dollars in revenue" as reported by The Associated Press.
Closing arguments are scheduled for today in the racketeering trial against reputed Chicago Outfit capo Michael "The Large Guy" Sarno and several others for their alleged roles in the bombing of a rival video poker firm and a string of jewelry store heists as reported by Chuck Goudie and Barb Markoff for WLS. Other defendants include pawn broker and reputed Outlaws motorcycle club member Mark Polchan, video poker businessman Casey Szaflarski, and father and son Samuel and Anthony Volpendesto. Last April dirty cop James Formato pleaded guilty for his role in the alleged crew, and he testified as a government witness during the trial.
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.
Samuel Volpendesto, the 85-year-old reputed bomb-maker and strip club operator indicted in connection with his alleged role in the February 2003 blast of C & S Coin Operated Amusements in Berwyn, IL that was competing against the mob's video gaming business, has been denied bail by a federal magistrate judge as reported by Ann Pistone and Chuck Goudie for WLS:
"Mr. Volpendesto isn't a spring chicken but advanced age doesn't make it impossible to flee" said Judge Schenkier adding that the wheelchair-aided defendant created a pipe bomb on behalf of the Chicago outfit that might assist him in "not being around for the trial." * * * Judge Schenkier told the packed courtroom that he believed Volpendesto was still a danger to the public citing the defendant's own words caught on tape admitting to making the pipe bomb and bragging of making others. Because the bomb was placed outside the Berwyn business, it was a danger to those inside and on the street which shows his potential for danger, even at an advanced age.
According to wiretap recordings of Volpendesto released by federal prosecutors at the bail hearing today, the old timer by his own admission has been around the block a few times, knew many of the big players and relished in telling war stories including witnessing Sam DeStefano put a human being through a meat grinder. Mike Robinson writes the following for the Associated Press:
In 80 pages of recording transcript, Volpendesto speaks of knowing mob boss Sam Giancana and sadistic loan shark Sam DeStefano. Sometimes known as "Mad Sam," DeStefano was one of the most feared men in the "underworld" of organized crime until he was fatally shot in 1973. Volpendesto is recorded as he tells the informant of visiting DeStefano in his basement. "Come on down, Goomba," Volpendesto quotes DeStefano as saying before finding the mobster grinding up a human body. "Oh, he was totally insane," Volpendesto tells the informant, adding during another recording: "The guys that I knew then were like this with Al and with all the guys, the old timers." * * * "There was a whole bunch of guys who were very dangerous people," he said in the recordings. "But they aimed it in the right direction," he added. "Like they used to say in the old days, 'Make sure you get the right guy.'" He speaks fondly of John "Johnny Apes" Monteleone, the one-time boss of the Chicago mob's 26th Street crew. He claims he used to hang out at a service station that was a gathering place for Monteleone, Giancana and other mobsters. Although he didn't work directly for Capone, Volpendesto said, he knew people who were close to him. He suggests to the informant that they pay tribute to the mob boss. "Let's see Al. You wanna go see Al's grave?" he asked in the recordings.
Mike Sarno, a previously convicted member of the Chicago Outfit, has been indicted with six others, including Outlaws Motorcycle Club member Mark Polchan, Cicero policeman Dino Vitalo, and former Berwyn policeman James Formato, on federal racketeering charges involving jewel heists and illegal gambling according to Chuck Goudie from WLS. Polchan owns Goldberg Jewelers in Cicero that allegedly was used to fence the stolen goods, and allegedly bombed C & S Coin Operated Amusements in Berwyn that competed against the mob's video poker machine business.
