Juror says Calabrese threatened prosecutor
By Jeff Coen | Tribune staff reporter
October 20, 2007


Federal prosecutors have alerted a lawyer for convicted mobster Frank Calabrese Sr. that Calabrese may have threatened Assistant U.S. Atty. Markus Funk during the Family Secrets trial last summer.

Calabrese's attorney, Joseph Lopez, said he received a letter from the U.S. attorney's office Friday that said a juror had heard Calabrese make a threat and read his lips.

The letter indicates that U.S. attorneys met with the anonymous juror at a neutral location on Oct. 10 and were told the juror had heard and seen Calabrese say, "You are a [expletive] dead man" in Funk's direction during his closing argument in the case Aug. 27.

"The juror noted that three other jurors confirmed the juror's observations and heard Mr. Calabrese say the same thing," the letter states. "The juror said she/he brought this matter to the government's attention because she/he was unsure whether the government was aware of this episode."

Prosecutors declined to comment on the communication Friday. The letter, written by Assistant U.S. Atty. Mitchell Mars, ends with notice that the threat was being taken seriously, "as we do with all threats against the public."

Lopez said he does not believe Calabrese made any threats during the trial, but added he expects a hearing on the matter in court next week.

Calabrese and his four co-defendants were convicted of racketeering conspiracy, and Calabrese ultimately was blamed for seven murders by the jury.