2 more plead guilty in mob case
By Jeff Coen
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 18, 2007, 1:40 PM CDT
Two more defendants in the sweeping Family Secrets mob conspiracy trial pleaded guilty today, one day before jury selection is set to begin.
Nicholas Ferriola, 32, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and conducting an illegal gambling business. Ferriola's plea agreement spells out that he will not be called to testify in the upcoming trial.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Mitchell Mars read the charges in court, outlining how Ferriola "agreed to participate in the affairs of the Chicago Outfit." Ferriola allegedly was a member of the Chinatown, or 26th Street, street crew, which included Family Secrets defendant Frank Calabrese Sr.
Also pleading guilty today was Joseph Venezia, 71, charged with conducting an illegal gambling business and tax-fraud conspiracy. Both men are due in court Aug. 10.
The pleas today reduced the number of defendants expected to go on trial this week to five, all reputed mobsters whom the government has accused of forming the backbone of the Chicago Outfit during much of the 1970s and '80s.
Last week, Michael Marcello, the half-brother of a reputed top Chicago mobster, pleaded guilty to racketeering and conspiracy to conduct the affairs of organized crime, admitting he was a member of the Outfit's Melrose Park crew and passed information to his incarcerated half-brother, Nicholas Calabrese.
The defendants set to go on trial Tuesday are Joey "the Clown" Lombardo; James Marcello, named as the boss of the Chicago mob at the time of his arrest; Frank Calabrese Sr., a made member of the Outfit's 26th Street crew and once the city's reputed top loan shark; Paul "the Indian" Schiro; and former Chicago police officer Anthony Doyle.
A judge ruled Friday that another defendant, reputed mob hit man Frank "the German" Schweihs, will be allowed to sit out the trial for health reasons and can be tried separately later.
The indictments were handed up in spring 2005.
Prosecutors are expected to tell the jury that Lombardo, Marcello and others helped control the crime organization that was born with Al Capone and has since flourished in all manner of illicit business, protecting itself through murder when necessary.
The most sensational of the 18 mob killings detailed in the indictment are the 1986 beating deaths of Anthony and Michael Spilotro, who were found buried in an Indiana cornfield and whose murders were featured in the movie "Casino."
The trial, which is expected to last as long as four months, is expected to feature high-ranking turncoats, including made mob member Nicholas Calabrese, who will testify against his brother, giving the case its Family Secrets code name. The parade of prosecution witnesses also is expected to include hit men, pornographers, bookies, career burglars and other mob associates.
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