All 5 defendants guilty in Family Secrets mob trial
A federal jury in Chicago returned guilty verdicts this afternoon on all counts — including key racketeering and conspiracy charges — against all five defendants in the historic Family Secrets mob case.
The case involves some of the reputed top leaders in the Chicago mob, including Joseph “Joey the Clown” Lombardo and James “Little Jimmy” Marcello, as well as reputed mob hitman Frank Calabrese Sr., the Outfit’s alleged man in Phoenix, Paul Schiro, and retired Chicago Police Officer Anthony “Twan” Doyle, accused of helping the Outfit find a snitch.
The verdict comes after the jury deliberated over portions of four days. It is only the first step in the process the jury has to take.
(File photos)
A federal jury in Chicago this afternoon found all five defendants in the Family Secrets mob case guilty on all counts. Here are the defendants and what they were charged with:
The defendants:
Frank Calabrese Sr.
Anthony Doyle
Joseph Lombardo
James Marcello
Paul Schiro
Count 1
Racketeering conspiracy
All five defendants
Count 2
Running an illegal video gambling business
James Marcello
Count 3
Obstruction of justice by paying off Nicholas Calabrese
James Marcello
Count 4
Extortion
Frank Calabrese Sr., shaking down the owner of Connie's Pizza for street tax payments
Count 5
Sports bookmaking
Frank Calabrese Sr.
Count 8
Tax crime related to the video gambling by underreporting income
James Marcello
Count 9
Obstruct and impede an official proceeding
Joseph Lombardo
For allegedly fleeing after he was indicted in the Family Secrets case
Doyle is not accused of any mob murders.
At trial, prosecutors presented 18 men and women who’d been the victims of Outfit hits, some more than 30 years ago. The victims had been strangled, shotgunned or had their throats slit, prosecutors said.
Calabrese Sr., who prided himself on staying under the radar, often took center stage because he was the man prosecutors accused of most of the murders — 13 out of the 18.
Prosecutors sought to tie Lombardo to Outfit activity by the testimony of Pat Spilotro, who was Lombardo’s dentist and the brother of slain mobsters Anthony and Michael Spilotro. Pat Spilotro turned Lombardo in to the FBI when he was on the lam last year.
At trial, Lombardo’s attorneys argued Lombardo was never a “made” member of the mob, but hung out and hustled with businessmen with deep mob ties.
Calabrese Sr.’s son, Frank Jr., secretly recorded his father in prison, and jurors heard tape after tape of Calabrese Sr. describing mob murders and his alleged participation in them. Calabrese Sr.’s attorney, Joseph Lopez, argued that his client’s son conned him into talking in prison and bragging about murders he had nothing to do with.