Feds set to unveil secret history of Chicago mob
FAMILY SECRETS TRIAL | Opening statements begin today
June 21, 2007
BY STEVE WARMBIR Staff Reporter
Federal prosecutors will reveal the secret history of the Chicago Outfit this morning as opening statements begin in the historic Family Secrets case.
The feds are expected to sketch out to 12 jurors and seven alternates a sweeping tale of the Chicago Outfit over the last several decades and the role of several top mobsters standing trial, including the reputed head of the Chicago mob, James "Little Jimmy" Marcello, reputed top mobster Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo and alleged mob hit man Frank Calabrese Sr.
At the center of the fed's case -- led by veteran mob prosecutors Mitchell Mars and John Scully -- are 18 previously unsolved mob hits from 1970 to 1986. The most well-known hit among them all is the double murder in 1986 of the Outfit's man in Las Vegas, Anthony Spilotro, and his brother Michael.
The slayings were immortalized in Martin Scorsese's 1995 movie "Casino," but the great director got it wrong. Scorsese had the characters based on the Spilotro brothers beaten to death and buried in an Indiana cornfield.
Jurors will learn the real story of how the brothers were driven to a home in the Bensenville area, with Marcello allegedly behind the wheel. In the home's basement, the men were strangled -- then buried in Indiana.
Leading off the defense will be the colorful attorney Joe "The Shark" Lopez, whose nickname reflects his aggressive nature. Lopez represents Frank Calabrese Sr., who is accused of the most murders -- 13 -- of any defendant.
Defense attorneys are expected to say the prosecution's case is made up of the usual snitches telling the same old tales to curry favor with the feds.
The prosecution's case is built in part on a library of secret tape recordings the feds have made over the decades of various mobsters discussing their misdeeds.
Since the mobsters often talk in code, the defense attorneys likely will argue that the feds have misinterpreted the chats.
