Mob brothers' code words lead agents to search for leak
Key details of the government's secret, blockbuster case against the Chicago mob were leaking out.
And the man first in the FBI's crosshairs was the lawyer for the government's key snitch, Outfit hitman turned informant Nick Calabrese.
(John H. White/Sun-Times)
But it was only thanks to improved technology that FBI agents were able to hear a key, secretly recorded conversation between mobsters more clearly and pin the blame on the man they believed was the real culprit, the man tasked with guarding Calabrese -- Deputy U.S. Marshal John Ambrose, according to trial testimony in Ambrose's trial Tuesday.
Calabrese became a snitch in the FBI's Family Secrets investigation in 2002.
After DNA evidence tied him to a murder, Calabrese decided to spill the beans, revealing 14 murders he committed and 22 more that he said other members of the Chicago mob carried out.
Starting in late 2002, FBI agents secretly recorded imprisoned mob leader James "Little Jimmy" Marcello during visits with his half-brother Michael.
The agents were shocked when the brothers used code words to discuss the confidential information Calabrese provided to the government about the mob murders, FBI Agent Michael Maseth testified Tuesday at a criminal trial for Ambrose stemming from the alleged leak by him.
FBI agents immediately hunted for the leaker and suspected Calabrese's attorney.
But later, they discovered they misheard a key conversation between the Marcello brothers and the new information pointed to Ambrose as the leaker, Maseth said.
Maseth explained that the agents originally had thought they heard the Marcellos talking about something called the "Marquette Temple."
But later, the agents listened to an enhanced recording and discovered the brothers were really referring to the "Marquette 10," an infamous Chicago Police scandal involving cops who robbed drug dealers in the 1980s, Maseth said. Ambrose's father was one of the officers convicted in the Marquette 10 scandal. He died in prison.
Authorities now believe Ambrose leaked sensitive information from Calabrese's secret file to William Guide, a close friend of his father and a fellow Chicago Police officer who was convicted in the Marquette 10 scandal.
The information then made its way to the Marcellos, authorities said.
Ambrose had been working night shifts guarding Calabrese while the mob informant was kept in a safe house in Chicago to speak to FBI agents and lead them to murder scenes in 2002 and 2003.
Ambrose is accused of rifling through a confidential file containing the information Calabrese gave the FBI.
The light blue file, shown to jurors Tuesday, was kept in the safe house where Calabrese stayed. Ambrose was posted at the safe house from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1, 2002, and May 20 to May 22, 2003.
On the recordings, the Marcellos mentioned Guide but they also spoke of "the kid" and "the babysitter," which authorities believe were code words for Ambrose, who was "babysitting" Calabrese in the safe house.
Among the information the Marcellos discussed on the recordings was the fact that James Marcello was not then a suspect in the legendary 1986 murders of Michael and Anthony Spilotro, who were featured in the Hollywood film "Casino," Maseth testified.
Ambrose is charged with violating his duty to protect Calabrese by leaking the confidential information.
But one of Ambrose's attorneys, Susan Shatz, laid the groundwork for a defense that the Family Secrets investigation was anything but air-tight.
Under Shatz's cross-examination, Maseth admitted that a relative of Calabrese had spotted Calabrese at a Chicago airport the first time he was brought here from another state to speak to FBI agents about the murders.
Maseth also acknowledged that there were stories in the media as early as 2003 saying that Calabrese was cooperating with investigators and that mobsters had been secretly recorded in prison.
Authorities have not presented any evidence that Ambrose was paid to leak the confidential information or that anyone tried to harm Calabrese because of the alleged leak.
Government officials were required to submit an application for Calabrese to be accepted into the witness security program -- and part of that application was a list of people who posed a threat to him. According to the confidential file the FBI kept on Calabrese, alleged mobsters Frank Caruso, James Inendino and Peter DiFronzo were among the people the government considered threats to Calabrese's safety.
Caruso is a reputed mobster in the Chinatown area. His son was convicted in the notorious 1997 beating of a black youth, Lenard Clark, and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Inendino is a loan shark who was convicted in 2002 with the reputed mob boss of Cicero and the town's police chief with engaging in a kickback scheme to rip off the town. He was released from prison last year.
DiFronzo is a businessman and the brother of John "No Nose" DiFronzo, who Calabrese implicated in the Spilotro murders. John DiFronzo, though, was never charged in the Family Secrets case, despite being revealed on Tuesday as a one-time target of the investigation.