Lombardo's defense: He's a hustler, not a gangster
Lawyer says 'The Clown' ran a craps game but wasn't in the mob

By Jeff Coen | Tribune staff reporter
2:28 PM CDT, August 13, 2007

Describing his client as "a hustler and not a gangster," lawyer Rick Halprin told jurors Monday that Joey "The Clown" Lombardo's ambition simply got him tangled up years ago with the wrong people.

Halprin made a 30-minute opening statement in the Family Secrets trial, a statement he had chosen to delay until the start of the defense case. The other lawyers gave their openings in late June at the start of the landmark trial in Chicago's Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.

Lombardo was an associate of men with connections to the Chicago underworld and organized crime, Halprin said. He met ranking mobsters through those relationships and ended up in prison in the 1980s, Halprin said.

Lombardo was convicted in an attempt to bribe U.S. Sen. Howard Cannon of Nevada, Halprin said, and was later convicted of skimming millions of dollars from a Las Vegas casino.

But Lombardo played a minor role, Halprin said, and didn't see a dime of any casino cash. He was caught up in the case because he spent time at labor racketeer Allen Dorfman's office, which the FBI wiretapped.

"Joey Lombardo is not, was not and never has been a capo or a made member of the Chicago Outfit," Halprin said.

Prosecutors have alleged Lombardo was a boss of the Outfit's Grand Avenue street crew, an allegation denied by Halprin. Lombardo had only one connection to that area's seedy underbelly, the lawyer said.

"He did, in fact, run the oldest, most reliable craps game on Grand Avenue," Halprin said.

Lombardo will take the stand this week and explain himself to the jury, Halprin promised jurors.

It was in prison where Lombardo had an awakening of sorts, Halprin said, and sought to remove himself from his troubled history. "He knew for the rest of his life, in the public perception, [it would be]: reputed mobster, reputed gang boss," Halprin said. "He decides to withdraw from his past life."

Lombardo took out a newspaper ad in the early 1990s claiming that he was not a made member of the mob and asking anyone who saw him committing a crime to call his probation officer or the FBI.

He has held to a lawful lifestyle ever since, Halprin said. Jurors would not see a witness come into the courtroom during the government's rebuttal case and identify Lombardo as anything "other than older, smarter, wiser and a decent citizen," Halprin promised.

Lombardo has lived a normal life and worked in an upholstery factory, he said.

As for the killing of federal witness Daniel Seifert, which Lombardo is accused of taking part in December 1974, Halprin said his client was 20 miles away in a restaurant at the time of the killing.

Halprin, speaking in his usual loud, deep voice, waved his hands as he explained his case and promised Lombardo has a lot in common with anyone else. He has a son and a daughter and grandchildren, Halprin said.

"He also bleeds when he gets cut," the lawyer said.

Earlier Monday, attorney Joseph Lopez, who represents defendant Frank Calabrese Sr., informed U.S. District Judge James Zagel that his client also will testify in his own defense. That testimony is expected this afternoon.

Calabrese's brother and son have testified against him in the trial's highlight.

Calabrese and Lombardo are among five men on trial in a sweeping Outfit conspiracy case that centers on 18 long-unsolved mob murders.

The government rested its case today, and lawyers this morning hashed out a schedule for the defense.

Lombardo himself is expected to testify Wednesday.

However, reputed mob boss James Marcello won't testify, his lawyers said Monday.

Defendant Paul Schiro expects to call no witnesses, his attorney said.

Ralph Meczyk, the lawyer for former Chicago police officer Anthony Doyle, said his client also could take the stand.

jcoen@tribune.com