Did marshal turn mob snitch?
Deputy accused of leaks to Outfit on witness
In 2003, Chicago mob bosses nicknamed Deputy U.S. Marshal John Ambrose the "Babysitter Guy" because he guarded an informant in a federal investigation into 38 slayings, authorities said.
On Thursday, Ambrose, 38, was charged with violating his duty to protect that witness -- reputed mobster Nick Calabrese.
Ambrose is accused of leaking information about Calabrese's whereabouts and his cooperation with the FBI. The information allegedly wound up in the hands of mobsters, including Jimmy and Michael Marcello, who are charged in the sweeping conspiracy case.
(Scott Stewart/Sun-Times)
Ambrose is accused of rifling through a confidential file containing information that Calabrese gave the FBI. The file was kept in a safe house where Calabrese stayed. Calabrese was brought to Chicago to help the FBI find mob murder scenes.
Ambrose guarded Calabrese from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1, 2002, and May 20 to May 22, 2003. He peered at the file while he was on night security duty and leaked the information to "Individual A," according to an FBI affidavit. Sources have identified Individual A as William Guide, who could not be reached for comment.
Guide was a Chicago Police officer convicted in the Marquette 10 scandal, in which cops shook down heroin dealers in the 1980s. Ambrose's father, Thomas Ambrose, also was convicted in the scandal in 1983 and died in prison.
Ambrose had placed a 14-minute call to Guide on May 23, 2003, the day after his security duty ended, authorities said.
Initially, Ambrose told investigators he didn't read the Calabrese file. Later, he acknowledged he did. His fingerprints were on it, authorities said.
In September, Ambrose told investigators he gave the information to Guide to ingratiate himself with reputed mobster John "No Nose" DiFronzo, authorities said. Guide allegedly knows DiFronzo from their days in prison. Ambrose considers Guide a "father figure," according to authorities.
Ambrose allegedly told investigators he hoped DiFronzo's "good will" would help him capture mob fugitive Joseph "The Clown" Lombardo. In another interview, though, Ambrose said he never thought the information was going to be passed to DiFronzo or other mob members.
Still, Ambrose admitted he told Guide that Calabrese was escorted to an area near Sox Park in 2003 to see if he could find where mobster Michael Albergo was murdered and buried, authorities said. No body was found.
In 2003, the FBI secretly recorded Michael Marcello talking to his brother Jimmy about Ambrose, authorities said. "That stuff was on the desk, and he started going through it," Michael Marcello allegedly said of Ambrose.
Speaking in code, Jimmy Marcello allegedly asked his brother what Calabrese told the FBI, and Michael responded that Calabrese only said he knew him. Later on the tape, Michael talked about paying Ambrose, according to the FBI affidavit.
"Try to do something for the guy," Michael Marcello allegedly said. "The guy said no."
Michael Marcello called Ambrose the "Babysitter guy," the affidavit said.
Ambrose is a married father of four and coaches youth wrestling. He has won six Justice Department awards, is a hostage negotiator and a member of the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force.
In a 2005 interview with CNN, Ambrose said he serves the government with a passion, even though it imprisoned his father, who he says was wrongly accused.
"You know, as corny as it may sound, I feel like he may -- he's nudging me in a direction or opens my eyes to something," Ambrose told CNN.
