More denials by Calabrese
Talk of gang hits, ceremony blamed on brother's boasts
By Jeff Coen | Tribune staff reporter
August 21, 2007
During a frustrating day on the witness stand that left him shaking his head at times, Frank Calabrese Sr. testified Monday about one of the last times he saw his brother, the same brother who took the witness stand against him in the Family Secrets trial last month.
"I remember it like it was yesterday," Calabrese told jurors of the occasion on Christmas Day in 1996. "I opened up a bottle of Napoleon brandy for him."
And his brother kissed him on the lips when he left that night, Calabrese said.
A month after his brother, Nicholas, implicated him from the same witness chair in 13 gangland slayings, Calabrese spent the day trying to explain his way out of responsibility for the murders. Calabrese contended he was a mob money-maker, putting out loans on the street, and not a hit man. His brother was largely a screw-up who was boasting about things he never did, he said.
During a week on the witness stand in July, Nicholas Calabrese told jurors that fear of his brother and others in the mob led him to join in numerous murders. He said he had witnessed his brother on a number of occasions strangle a victim with a rope and slash his throat.
Frank Calabrese Sr.'s attorney, Joseph Lopez, walked his client through a series of recordings Monday that were secretly taped by Calabrese's son, Frank Calabrese Jr., in 1999 when he and his father were both imprisoned in another case. The son also testified against the father earlier in the trial.
Prosecutors are expected to use the recordings against Calabrese when he is cross-examined as soon as Tuesday.
On the tapes, the son asked Calabrese about the mob, Outfit killings and a secret making ceremony.
On the witness stand, Calabrese said he sometimes played along with his son, and at other times told him things to scare him from further Outfit involvement.
On Monday Calabrese was animated on the stand, holding onto the wooden rail or scrunching up his face.
He continued to contend that his brother was the one who took Outfit money to work for higher-ups. Calabrese likened his brother to the character Fredo Corleone, from "The Godfather" movies.
"If he wasn't running things and screwing things up, he wasn't happy," Calabrese said of his brother, the government's star witness.
Calabrese denied his brother's claim that the two had become made mob members in the same ceremony, saying he had too much respect for himself to do that.
But on his son's tapes, Calabrese described the ceremony, saying he regretted burning a holy card in his hand during the induction.
"I was trying to let him know that I couldn't do that," Calabrese testified Monday, telling jurors he was trying to convince his son to avoid Outfit life. He said his knowledge of the ceremony's details came from "The Godfather" movies and the mob book "The Valachi Papers."
Calabrese also attempted to explain himself talking on the tapes about some specific murders, including an apparent reference to the slaying of Michael "Hambone" Albergo. His brother told jurors Albergo was killed and put in a hole at a construction site near old Comiskey Park that is now a parking lot.
"He did one of those things with me, which was an OKd one," Calabrese said in one taped conversation. He also said the body was placed in an area that was replaced by a parking lot.
"Oh, that's not true," Calabrese said Monday. On the tape he can be heard to say "they dug deep" when they put in the parking lot.
"I don't remember if I said that, Joe," Calabrese told Lopez. "I could've said it. I'm not denying it.
"They dug deep, what does that mean?" Calabrese asked.
Lopez reminded him that on the tape he told his son that he went back to remove the victim's clothes.
"I told him that to humor him," Calabrese said.
Earlier Monday, Calabrese's frustration about a prosecutor's objections during his testimony boiled over.
Calabrese was attempting to tell jurors that his brother and son stole from him and that their testimony has been a conspiracy to keep him behind bars while they spend his money.
Assistant U.S. Atty. John Scully objected loudly.
"They stole $2 million from me," Calabrese said as Scully continued to object and stepped toward the witness stand.
"How am I supposed to defend myself?" answered Calabrese, raising his voice.
U.S. District Judge James Zagel removed the jury from the courtroom and chastised Calabrese for his outburst.
"If you complain to the jury about my rulings, then I will find you in contempt of court," the judge warned.
Zagel told Calabrese that some of what he wanted to present was irrelevant and some could not be proven.
When testimony resumed before the jury, Calabrese was allowed to talk about how his son took at least $1 million from him, investing the money in restaurants. In testifying last month, the son admitted to the thievery.
Calabrese acknowledged that his brother had tremendous influence over both his sons, Frank Jr. and Kurt.
Calabrese said he knew when he was in prison that his brother was talking to his sons, though he never imagined that one of his children would wear a wire for the government against him.
He said he believes his brother was just trying to cover his own tracks and save his own skin by shifting responsibility to others. He noted how his brother avoided looking his way during his testimony last month.
"Joe, I love my kids and my brother yet. It's just that they've gotta grow up," Calabrese, with a slight quiver in his voice, told his lawyer.
Calabrese said his brother's cooperation has left him with the unmistakable belief that his brother hates him.
"It made me realize that kiss he gave me for Christmas was a Judas kiss," Calabrese testified.
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jcoen@tribune.com
