Jurors in Chicago's "
Family Secrets" trial were briefed yesterday on the history of the local
Outfit by James Wagner, president of the Chicago Crime Commission, according to
a story by Jeff Coen of the Chicago Tribune.
Wagner's history went back to the Prohibition Era and the reign of
Al Capone. Wagner is a former FBI supervisor who spent his career investigating organized crime. He participated in investigations of the
Genovese and
Gambino Crime Families in New York before being assigned to study the Chicago Outfit beginning in 1976.
Wagner described the one-way membership of the organization, saying, "There are no provisions for getting out once you're in." That statement could be important to the prosecution of five accused Chicago mobsters.
| "There are no provisions for getting out once you're in." |
At least one defendant,
Frank Calabrese Sr., could employ a statute of limitations defense. In an opening statement, Calabrese's attorney Joseph R. Lopez argued that Calabrese left the Outfit back in the 1980s.
Prosecution witness
William "Red" Wemette described what Chicago businesses gained by paying the "street tax" assessed by the Outfit: "Basically it's permission to be in a business without being hurt by someone or possibly being burned down." Wemette said he split the profits from his Wells Street "peep show" business with defendant
Joe Lombardo because he didn't want to have an "accident."
The other defendants in the case are
James Marcello,
Paul Schiro and former police officer
Anthony Doyle.
Related
MobNews posts:
