Wiseguy/Ivy posted this on another forum. Good find.
Man charged with theft from Naperville area stores
Naperville Sun Times
October 10, 2014
A reputed, lower-level mobster is in jail as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged organized crime activity targeting retailers in Naperville and nearby communities.
Naperville police on Thursday would not comment on their involvement in the case, in which thousands of dollars worth of merchandise was allegedly stolen last year from at least nine area retail shops.
One of the suspects, convicted syndicated gambling operator Anthony Giannone, remained Thursday in DuPage County Jail on $250,000 bail. He was arrested Monday in northwest suburban Rosemont.
Giannone, 51, lives on the 2500 block of Sagamore Circle in Aurora. He faces trial on a felony charge of theft of stolen property worth more than $500 but less than $10,000, according to records on file in DuPage County Circuit Court in Wheaton.
A $250,000 warrant has been issued for the arrest of Giannone’s alleged accomplice, convicted burglar Vincent T. Forliano, 44, who reportedly last lived in Bloomingdale. Court records indicated he is to be tried on the same charge.
An assistant DuPage County state’s attorney on Monday filed a motion in the case. It read in part that charges were brought against Giannone and Forliano “as a result of a Naperville Police Department investigation into the activities of organized crime operating in the city of Naperville and other Chicago suburbs.”
Judge Robert G. Kleeman “reviewed and signed search warrants, for the search of the defendants’ (homes) and vehicles,” the motion continued. Evidence that Forliano and Giannone “are engaged in an ongoing, criminal enterprise was seized” during those searches, the motion declared.
Authorities contend the men “derive a substantial portion, if not all, of their income from the sale of stolen merchandise and other illegal activities,” according to the motion. “Despite the defendants’ claims to have legitimate employment, neither was observed working during the 10-month Naperville police investigation.”
A formal complaint filed by a Naperville police detective said Giannone and Forliano on Dec. 3 “knowingly obtained control over certain stolen property of numerous retail establishments.”
The allegedly victimized businesses included Ann Taylor, Bath & Body Works, Eddie Bauer, J. Jill, L.L. Bean, Men’s Wearhouse, Pottery Barn, Toys R Us and Williams-Sonoma. Court records revealed their losses totaled $3,297.78.
Several of those corporations have locations in or near downtown Naperville, although the detective’s narrative did not provide the addresses of the allegedly victimized stores.
Sgt. Bill Davis, the Naperville police public information officer, declined to comment on the matter.
“This case is an ongoing, active investigation, and no information can be released on it at this time,” Davis wrote Thursday in an email.
Giannone has been described in court documents as being an alleged, mob-connected bookmaker. Undercover FBI agents in 2001 placed wagers as part of their probe into an illegal gambling enterprise they believed Giannone was running.
Surreptitious tape-recordings made earlier that year by the FBI had Giannone plotting to kill a government informer. The witness “has got to go, because (he is) causing a really, really big problem now,” Giannone said on tape, according to federal files.
Giannone also threatened a client who had run up a gambling debt of more than $50,000. He implied he would beat the man badly, saying, “When I find you, every day it rains, you’re going to remember me.”
DuPage County court records showed Giannone in February 2003 was sentenced to two years in prison on a felony charge of syndicated gambling. He also was sentenced to six months in DuPage County Jail, for illegally having a pistol and a box of ammunition in his vehicle during a February 2000 traffic stop in Hanover Park, records indicated.
Forliano in early 1989 was charged with burglary and possession of burglary tools in DuPage County, according to records. He ultimately violated the terms of the probation he received in that case, and was sentenced in March 2004 to three years in prison.
Giannone reportedly is able to post his $25,000 bond, but prosecutors suspect he earned the money through criminal activity. A prosecution-requested “source of funds hearing” is set for Wednesday, after which Giannone might or might not be freed on bond prior to his trial.
http://napervillesun.suntimes.com/2014/10/09/man-charged-theft-naperville-area-stores/
