Finally getting around to watching the ANP "show" and they're talking about the same thing. Said Lombardo got worked over the worst in it. Also discussing Marcello's appeals. I could be wrong, but I think he's still actively appealing his sentence. My guess is his chances of overturning are slim to none though.

As those videos of him meeting with his brother, he obviously was. I would assume he still has say over the rackets that Mickey and him run, but with a life sentence, he was knocked out of any leadership role in Cicero.

jonnynonos - I mistakenly stated in an earlier post that the govt had "a mountain of evidence" against Lombardo. They did not. All I found was a fingerprint. I think I saw the Justice Dept's display, which is probably posted on this board, and concluded there was a lot of evidence. Having a lot of physical evidence and attaching that evidence to a specific individual can prove to be very challenging.

Also, I listened (online) to the oral arguments relative to the appeal of these guys before the 7th Court Of Appeals. The govt's presentation was not very strong (imo). I wonder if the prosecution felt the decision would probably be 2 to 1 with Posner and Sykes upholding the District Court's decision and judge Wood voting to overturn the conviction of Marcello and Calabrese citing double jeopardy as the reason? Of course that's exactly what happened.

I emailed Jeff Coen about the possibility of an appeal and he indicated it was not likely.
Who knows?

Have we been able to guesstimate on when the last making ceremony was and how many inducted? I know Fosco said that Magnafichi told him that two or three have been conducted since '88.

Yeah I think Fosco said Mags told him there was a south side making ceremony some years back and that was it.

It's in the comment thread when he was going through all that nonsense about Mags trying to kill him, I think.

Fosco said in one of his threads that Magnafichi was made sometime after D'Amico went away which was in 1995. There was also a making cermony at the Como Inn around 1988-1989.
I highly doubt Marcello will win his appeal. Nick Calabrese actually tried to protect Marcello from the Spilotro murder because he was helping Nick's family while he was in jail. I don't think Nick had any reason to lie. Also Ferriola and Marcello were caught on the phone with a wire tap a day or two before the Spilotro murder arranging a meeting. The feds witnessed the meeting at the McDonalds across from the Oak Brook Mall one day before the Spilotro murders.
The evidence against Marcello was stronger then the evidence against Lombardo. I agree that the evidence against Lombardo was really weak but even if he wasen't at the Seifert murder he must have had a hand on planning it.
I think Caruso's Maxwell Street stand is pretty authentic and not one of those cheap imitations. I've passed it a bunch of times and it smells great, good greasy food.
Michael Talarico used to or maybe still does own a Italian joint a few blocks away. Can't remember the name of the place.
James Marcellos son James Jr. works down at the stock exchange. He worked with a friend of mine during the Family Secrets Trial and the day his mistress testified James Jr. apparently had a melt down at work and had to be sent home. I guess it was the first time his family found out about the mistress.
My dad has worked down at the exchange since the 70's and a lot of outfit guys kids worked down there. Aiuppa had a relative down there, Marcellos and the Borsellino's. Lots of bookmaking goes on down there.

A friend of mine worked at the CBOT and told me that Ralph Madia's brother was his boss.

Right on Lumbo they just had Nick's testimony and the fingerprint.

That's part of what I'm saying, though.

Cops and lawyers will tell you people watch too much CSI. They expect there to be absolutely conclusive physical evidence.

That is almost never the case.

IMO yeah it's just one fingerprint, but in context of things, it's pretty damning.

Also wonder if they're still doing the Joey O/NY style ceremonies or if they've gone back to the way they used to do it i.e. just assuming the top level guys are considered "made".

I'm curious to know when the last making ceremony was for the outfit.
I remember reading on the threads on Fosco's website someone posted about Bobby Abbinanti and a few other guys from that crew being made recently. I wouldn't be suprised since he did about 4-6 years in jail and kept his mouth shut. All the guys in D'Amico's crew did there time and kept there mouth shut.
I never made it out to Bobby Abbinanti's restaraunt when it was opened. I heard the food was pretty good. It was only open for a few years.
Does anyone know if Danny's Deli is still open in Melrose Park? I ate there once and the food was decent. It's owned by Carl Dote. I think he has a few places around the chicago area.
Just out of curiosity, what other restaraunts are owned in Chicago or the burbs by outfit members or associates? We've already talked about a lot of the places along Grand and Odgen. I'm sure Rush Street has a lot of mob money in those joints. I think a place called the Back Room in Jilly's is owned by Michael Spilotro's widow.

The Back Room is owned by DeStefano's nephew and managed and maybe partially owned by Michael Spilotro's widow.

I would say most of the well known Chicago spots owned by Outfit guys have been identified within the last few pages of this thread.

Talarico used to own Punchinello's on 31st, but he no longer does

Punchinello's, that was the place I couldn't think of the name of that Talarico owned.
I read somewhere that DeMarco's out in the burbs(I believe that' the name) is secretly owned by Marco D'Amico.
Here is a short interesting and kinda funny story.
A friend of mine opened a French Restaraunt on the corner of Grand and May Street a few years back. I was never a fan of the food there but my when my friend was dealing with the previous owner who had a restaraunt there he told him when he was opening his place a few old Italian guys from the Social Club across the street came in asking for the owner. The guy said he was, the Italian guys asked him what kind of food he planned to serve. The owner said Traditional American Food like sandwiches. The Italian guys asked if he planned on serving Italian food. The guy said no and the men said he better not because they run a good portion of the Italian places on Grand Ave and he would have problems if he served Italian food.

You talking about the Black Sheep or whatever was there before it are you?

Didn't Talarico rat?

He testified that he paid Frank Calabrese street tax on his book.

Also, another thing worth noting on Family Secrets convictions:

The other lawyers all blamed Frank Calabrese's testimony for sinking everyone else. Apparently he came off so miserably and there was so much evidence against him that they all felt it greatly diminshed their chances at an acquittal.

Lombardo for instance had offered to surrender as long as he was guaranteed a separate trial; of course the feds told him to pound dirt.

Who knows if Marcello and Lombardo would have been convicted if they had all had separate trials. It probably would have greatly increased the odds of acquittal though.

Funkster, yep Black Sheep was the place I was talking about. Didn't last very long.

Sam DeStefano II or Mario's son is probably still an Outfit connected thief. He went down with William Handhardt and if he is out of prison now, I would assume he is still hanging out on Rush Street.

He beefed on Frank Calabrese, even though his brother was his legal counsel. The popular theory is that Talarico and Frank Jr. were given OK's by higher-ups because the father was essentially shelved and the powers-that-be were looking to take over his rackets. Probably won't ever know the full story.

I am curious about Marcello's background and rise to power and also his relationship with Cicero guys like DeLaurentis and Inendino over the years.

What's left of Rush Street is essentially under EP isn't it?

Is Marcello's son involved?

I've heard one of Marcellos sons is involved with the outfit. I believe his name is Rocky Marcello. His one son who works at the exchange is legitimate as far as I know. My friend who used to work with him said he was a really nice guy. I think the family has a lot of money from there dad. When James was indicted the family said they would put up vacation homes in Wisconsin, Florida and other states too.
After Destafano was indicted with Handhardt he gave a interview for the Tribune and he talked about how he owns or works at the Back Room. He mentions about how Spilotro's widow was approached by some mobsters about selling and Destafano claims he confronted the men and said "You are the same guys who killed her husband" and the men walked out. Who knows how true the story is.
I'm not sure if the Rush St. area was incorporated into Elmwood Park. It would make sense. Seems like the outfit are combining crews and consolidating.

I believe Rocky Marcello is the youngest son...his oldest is James Jr. and he has another son named Sam.

That's correct, sam is Jimmy's other son.
Getting back to Johnnynono's question if Lombardo and Marcello recieved seperate trials would they have gotten off. I highly doubt it with the both of them. They had more evidence to convict Marcello with. Lombardo on the other hand they didn't have a lot to go on for a conviction. I think the only chance Lombardo would have had to get a trial with a partial jury would have been if they held it in another state where potential jurors don't know the history of Lombardo. Even the average citizen in Chicago knows the name Joey the Clown. Even if Lombardo was found not guilty the government would have kept coming after him until they would get a conviction on other charges or crimes he commited.
The reason the government went after these guys even in there old age is to send a message to the younger generation of mobsters that if you commit a crime at the age of 22 they will still go after you even if you are in your 70's. I bet Lombardo never thought in a million years that in the year 2005 he would be indicted for the Seifert murder.

Is it Rocky that's running with Cicero?

Speaking of Outfit connected spots..is Guide's Sports bar on Archer still around?

Guide's Sports Bar is still there on Archer. Never been down that way.
Al Tornebene's pizza place is still open in Stickney too. The pizza looks really good there.
Salerno's on Grand is supposed to have some outfit backing but I thought it was odd that they were selling a Sam Giancana/JFK book at the to-go/carryout section of the place.

Anyone by chance see the National Geographic movie "Killing Kennedy"? Barely touched the subject of any mafia ties within the CIA...

I really don't know about Salerno's. They have pictures of the long time owner's family up all over and as far as I know they are just nice family people. However I have met some people from the neighborhood who know *everyone* at the bar there. This guy's wife started telling stories about Lumbo, they were good friends with his family, and the man starts doing the big throat/international slash sign for stop it.

I think he was half joking... but half not.

I can't remember who told me about Salerno's connections. I'll be by that area in a hour since I have to work tonight in the neighborhood. Never been to the bar in there. I love going to local bars in the old neighborhoods in Chicago. They are few and far between now that bigger companies are buying them out and replacing them with new sports bars that charge $15 for a burger.
Marie's Pizza and Liqours on Lawrence has a great old bar in the pizzeria section of the place.
Seems like everyone has or knows a Lombardo story on Grand Ave. He used to work aka hangout at the machine shop on Racine just north of Grand before he was indicted in Family Secrets. It was next door to the Cozzo compound.