Gangland is a paid site. Crap, I've never seen them cover anything but Philly and NYC. Very cool. I subscribe so here's a copy&paste. (EDIT: Looks like its a guest column from Burnstein).
Rudy The Chin Returns To The Fray In Chicago; Big Mike Spano's Plans Not Clear Yet
Rudy FrattoIt seems that stretches behind bars in institutions run by the federal Bureau of Prisons have had completely different effects on two rough and tumble septuagenarian Windy City wiseguys who've been snared on racketeering charges — Rudy (The Chin) Fratto and Michael (Big Mike) Spano.
The 70-year-old Fratto, who became a "made man" in the Chicago Outfit during a Father's Day induction ceremony in 1998, was energized by the experience, has been using it to show his merit as a stand-up guy, and has been wearing the stint behind bars as a badge of honor.
The 73-year-old Spano, on the other hand, has been spreading the word that he has had some life-altering epiphanies while a guest of the BOP and has decided to change his ways and say so long to his mafia ties upon his release.
Fratto, who was sprung from a federal lock up in November after a one-year stretch for construction bid-rigging, is back on the prowl in his old Elmwood Park neighborhood, reestablishing his presence in the local rackets, according to inside sources.
Fratto was mentored in the ways of the mob by Outfit don John (Johnny No Nose) DiFronzo, the power holder at the top of the Chicago hierarchy for the past 25 years.
Rudy the Chin, who has a pronounced reputation for violence, has been identified as a suspect in numerous criminal acts of violence over the years, including murder and attempted murder. But besides the bid-rigging charge and a one-year prison term for federal income tax evasion in the late 2000s, he's been able to stay out of the can.
Michael SpanoIn his bid-rigging case, Fratto was caught bragging in a tape recorded conversation, "I'm the boss of this area around here, no one else." He avoided a harsher penalty and additional years tacked onto his most-recent 12-month bit, however, because the judge in his case, U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber, claimed that federal prosecutors couldn't link Fratto's reputed mob status to the bid-rigging.
On the other side of the equation, Spano's been in the clink for a dozen years, serving a lengthy sentence for government corruption, and is slated to come out in June 2015.
Unlike Fratto, Big Mike is telling people close to him that his career in the Outfit is over and when he returns home next summer, he'll be officially giving up his place in the Chicago Outfit, and will be retiring.
During his days on the street, Spano rose to capo of Cicero, a town right outside Chicago that is rich in gangland tradition, dating back to the 1920s when Al (Scarface) Capone set up an outpost there during Prohibition. Spano was busted in the early 2000s, alongside then Cicero Mayor Betty Loren-Maltese, and seven others on charges of bilking the city of Cicero out of $12 million dollars, siphoning it from a municipal insurance fund.
Groomed in the ways of the underworld by highly-respected Cicero crew boss Ernest (Rocky) Infelice (a former paratrooper in the Marines), Big Mike is notoriously sly and both underworld and law enforcement sources view his declaration of retirement with a skeptical eye. Some see it as an attempt that many convicted wiseguys use to divert the feds' attention away from them when they get out of prison.
Joseph MerlinoThe same tactics have been employed with varying degrees of success by currently imprisoned Outfit consigliere Joseph (Joey the Clown) Lombardo and flashy Philadelphia mob icon Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino, who was released from a 12-year prison stint a couple of years ago and currently lives in Florida. Depending on whom you ask, Merlino is either enjoying an early retirement by the beach in Miami or running things in Philly from afar.
While Spano might be having his intentions questioned as he prepares to descend back on the Windy City from his prison cell in Milan, Michigan a year from now, Fratto's intentions are never questioned by those familiar with him.
"Rudy has wanted to be a gangster since the day he could talk," said Chicago mob insider and blogger Joe Fosco. "That was always his dream, he doesn't know anything else. He's dangerous, a killer and he enjoys trading on that reputation."
