Mob enforcer faces at least 15 years on gun conviction
BY KIM JANSSEN Federal Courts Reporter kjanssen@suntimes.com February 27, 2013 4:43PM
Updated: February 27, 2013 6:12PM
Mob enforcer Mario Rainone faces at least 15 years behind bars after a federal jury Wednesday found him guilty on a gun charge.
The 60-year-old faces what amounts to a potential life term for what otherwise might have been a relatively minor gun conviction because of his lengthy rap sheet.
Jurors took just two hours to reject Rainone’s claims that the stolen .357 Smith & Wesson revolver police found in his night stand in Addison back in February 2009 wasn’t his.
Rainone — who served 15 years for a 1991 extortion conviction, once allegedly threatened to decapitate a restaurateur’s children, and also spent time in the federal witness protection program — showed no emotion as U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber announced the verdict Wednesday afternoon.
His attorney, Joe “The Shark” Lopez, unsuccessfully tried to convince jurors that the gun might have been placed in the bedroom by someone else.
Following the verdict, he added that the “feds have 98 percent conviction rate because federal rules guarantee it.”
Rainone is due to be sentenced June 5.
