The crew had their own unique ways of dealing with dead-beat gamblers. The funeral home tactic was just one method. In the case of Steve Hospodar, a diminutive, 65-year-old gambler who fell seriously behind in his payments, Solly DeLaurentis and his partner and fellow underboss, Lou Marino of Palos Heights, decided to really put the fear of God into him.
What follows is a portion of a tape-recorded conversation at a south suburban restaurant between Lou Marino and the indebted Hospodar concerning the monies due the outfit. One can readily see that Marino is not a Shakespearean scholar – but is a man that can emphatically make his point. The transcript of the following conversation was introduced into evidence at the Infelise racketeering and extortion trial in a federal court.
Marino: You will find some fuckin' money.
Hospodar: I'm gonna try. I…
Marino: You will find some fuckin' money…
Hospodar: Like I say, I'm gonna try.
Marino: You motherfucker.
Hospodar: I'm gonna try.
Marino: You will find money.
Hospodar: Well, we'll see what happens. I, I'll make every…
Marino: Hey, I ain't seein'…
Hospodar: Every effort…
Marino: what happens!
Hospodar: I'll make every effort!
Marino: I ain't seein' what happens, you make a date you motherfucker, you cannot fulfill, you can't live with it. You will fuckin' get me money today.
Hospodar: All right.
Marino: I give a fuck where you get it.
Hospodar: All right.
Marino: You get me money. Go steal the motherfucker!
Hospodar: I'll have to.
Marino: You, I don't give a fuck! If I was in that spot that's what the fuck I'd be doin'! You just go fuck and do it, Steve, the, the game's over, Steve. I'll tell ya'.
Hospodar: All right.
Marino: Right now.
Hospodar: All right.
Marino: You'll fuckin' be here tonight. Here what I'm tellin' you, Steve?
Hospodar: Okay.
Marino: You fuckin' be here. What time?
Hospodar: You said between six, six-thirty.
Marino: All right. I wanna make it a right fuckin' time. I don't be…
Hospodar: All right.
Marino: fuckin' sitting in this joint.
According to the testimony given by a 38-year-old government informant, one Sam Joseph Malatia, at the racketeering trial, DeLaurentis then led Hospodar into the men's room and "messed him up a little." Solly "D" was suspicious that Hospodar was wearing a wire. He was, as it turned out, but they didn't find it. "When he came out, his (Steve's) wig was wet. Sol had thrown the wig into the toilet and put it back on his head." Lou Marino and Solly "D" were good at their jobs and so was the entire street crew, as we shall see.
source:
http://www.ipsn.org/lolli1.html
