James and Michael Marcello
April 24, 2003
Milan, Mich. prison visiting room
Jimmy and Mickey Marcello had a lot to talk about when Mickey visited his half-brother at the federal prison in Milan, Mich., according to federal prosecutors.
They were worried about Outfit killer Nick Calabrese. They had been hearing he had done the unthinkable: gone over to the FBI and turned informant.
And their concern was getting ratcheted up day by day.
In the following conversation, they discuss an article that had just been published by journalist Carol Marin about the Family Secrets investigation. It was an early look at some of the Outfit hits the feds were looking into, and it caught the attention of the Marcello brothers.
Take a peek into their world through the two video excerpts on this page and the next.
Check out continuing page for the transcript to follow along with the two excerpts, as well as translation of the code, from the federal government's perspective.
The sound quality isn't great, so crank up the volume.
Here is the transcript:
James: Anything more on Krause's brother?
Michael: (Shakes his head no.) I ain't heard no more. They had the thing yesterday (unintelligible.)
James: Uh huh.
Michael: There was an article that Carol Marin wrote about the whole . . . the 19 of these things and . . .
James: Uh huh.
Michael: The whole . . . a lot of guys with problems.
James: A lot of what?
Michael: A lot of guys with problems. uh, mostly leaning toward Emmett Kelly. You know his name and his kid. They got his kid in there.
PART TWO VIDEO
Michael: But, uh, if you get, uh, it's in there, right in the first section.
James: A lot of names in it?
Michael: No, just him and his kid.
James: Uh huh.
Michael: And uh, Zhivago and his brother they mention. They had . . .
James: Uh huh.
Michael: And uh, the guy with his old lady, went way out south that time with this guy, with Krause. Remember?
James: Uh huh, yeah.
Michael: And uh, uh, Brother Hot's partner.
James: Oh, yeah, yeah.
Michael: They mentioned them three things.
James: Mmm hmm.
Michael: Knew all their names.
Know the Code
Krause — Frank Calabrese Sr.
Krause's brother — Nick Calabrese
the 19 of these things — original reports had the FBI looking at 19 Outfit hits.
Emmett Kelly — Kelly was a clown and refers to Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo
Zhivago and his brother — Anthony and Michael Spilotro, slain in 1986
The guy with his old lady — William and Charlotte Dauber, also victims of mob hits.
Brother Hot's partner — William "Butch" Petrocelli
them three things — the murders of the Spilotro brothers, the Daubers and Petrocelli. All three had been mentioned in Marin's column.
Give me a break already!! The Feds should be put on trial as well! Maybe just nominate the Fed's in the Academy Awards this year.
Talk about beating a dead horse.
Calabrese Sr. is history. If the rest of these guys are not found innocent, I will have totally lost faith in our justice system!
Hey I went to the place and talked to the guy about the thing. It was the first place, the other guy, and not this thing but that thing.
Bottom line: Conjecture is hard to prove.
Sure conjecture is hard to prove, but when it backed but other evidence--like a made man who has a made testimony that hasn't been diminished by the defense, and other supporting testimony that all links up, it tends to make more sense.
This may be a publicity attempt by the Feds, but gee, I'm not sure if you've sat in the courtroom, there's a burden on the defense right now. The only one in the defense, Lombardo, that looks like he might walk because of loose facts that hardly merit a conviction.
Who is Emmett Kelly's (Lombardo's) "kid" suppose to be?
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: They are actually referring to Lombardo's son. Nothing tricky about that one.
Steve, is the prosecution going to rest on Monday?
And, if so, can you let your blog readers (me) know if the testimony of Joey Lombardo goes past Monday?
I won't be able to make it to the actual trial, but want to know how entertaining the cross-examination of "The Clown" is going to be. Hopefully it carries over to Tuesday.
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: I don't expect Lombardo's testimony to start until Tuesday, but I'll have a better idea on Monday.
I don't think we'll be seeing him on the strand Monday.
Whatever doesn't make the story in the newspaper on Lombardo's direct and cross, you will find here, loyal blog readers.
Hi Steve, thanks a lot for your great coverage of the trial.
Is it possible for members of the public to show up at the courthouse and get a seat or does one need to make special arrangements?
STEVE WARMBIR: The public can attend the trial, although some days the line is long to get in.
The trial starts most mornings at 9:30 a.m. It runs until 5 p.m. or so, Monday through Thursday.
I would get there at least 30 minutes early to get a seat.
That is, unless you're coming to hear Joseph "Joey the Clown" testify, which may happen Tuesday. Then I'd get there as early as you can.
The trial is in Courtroom 2525 at the Dirksen Federal Building , 219 S. Dearborn.
Steve,
I’ve been reading the transcripts of the Marcello brothers on the DOJ website and was wondering if you might be able to shed some light on some of the other cryptic names and gestures used. When one of them touches his nose, it’s obvious that they’re referring to DiFronzo. But how about:
the brother with the bad knee
the Trucker
the drywall guy
Fau Fau
the Captain
They also put their hands folded in front of their stomachs and, using an index finger, make a circle in the air.
Any ideas?
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS:
The brother with the bad knee-Angelo LaPietra is the man with the bad knee. His brother is James LaPietra.
The Truck--Tony Zizzo, associate of James Marcello.
The Drywall Guy- Frank Giudice, friend of
Nick Calabrese who was allegedly passing $4,000 a month from Mickey Marcello to Nick Calabrese's wife.
Fau Fau — I'll have to research this one.
The Captain--Donald DiFazio, head of the Old Neighborhood Italian American Club
The finger motion is to show a guy with a large gut, AKA John "Pudgy" Matassa.
Fau Fau is Alphonse Tornabene, who is also referred to as "the Pizza Guy."
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: Right you are. Thanks for the addition.
On the DOJ website they post an odd number of exhibites, is evrything being posted?
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: Everything is being posted, except for graphic crime scene photos to respect the victims' families.
Steve,
Has there been any mention about who is running things in the 26th/chinatown crew these days.
And is it possible that someone from that crew might be in line to be top boss... Since alot of these old timers are out of commission...
frankie
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: There's been nothing about the current leadership of the 26th Street/Chinatown crew.
It would certainly make sense that those folks could be among the running for the leadership, but the trial hasn't touched on it.
Steve, there has been a lot of attention on the 26th street crew. Was there any testimony that they pull their operations out of that Italian Neighborhood Club in bridgeport?
Is most of the testimony, allegedly, directed at members of that crew?
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: There was no testimony as to where the current 26th Street crew runs their operations.
There's a lot of testimony involving that crew, since one of the defendants on trial is Frank Calabrese Sr.
Frank "Tootsie Babe" Caruso has been credited as the current boss of the 26th Street/Chinatown crew.
This is probably accurate and he has been mentioned several times during the course of this trial.
I doubt he is "running things" and it is possible that there is no true Boss of the Outfit right now because of the intense heat on the Outfit right now.
Many felt that the Outfit was being run by the triumvirate of Lombardo, DiFronzo, and Andriacchi before the indictment.
DiFronzo and Andriacchi were not indicted and it is most likely that if anyone is running the Outfit that it is DiFronzo or Al Tornabene.
I would lean towards DiFronzo as he is more spry (Tornabene is 84 and "can barely move" according to his interview with Chuck Gaudie).
One of the main questions that has arisen during the course of family secrets: Why was DiFronzo not indicted if Nick says that he was a participant in the murders of the Spilotro brothers?
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: A Very Capable Guy's theories are commonly held.
One factor to consider on DiFronzo. The feds, apparently, have only the word of Nick Calabrese to tie him to the Spilotro slayings.
Even with Jimmy Marcello, the feds have the secretly recorded tapes between Jimmy and half-brother Mickey, during their prison visits, in which Jimmy Marcello expresses a great deal of concern over what Nick Calabrese can tell the feds about the Spilotro murders.
At least that's some additional evidence.
That makes sense.
What happens to the other guys, like Ferriola, who've already pled guilty...making the case against the currently acused less defendable.
By that, I mean does the mob take any actions against Ferriola for stregthening the Fed's case without necessarily cooperating with them?
What kind of sentence does
Ferriola get?
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: Ferriola is in no way cooperating with the federal case against the remaining the defendants, so I assume he would have no problems because of his guilty plea.
Traditionally, simply pleading guilty in a case does not put your life in danger.
Ferriola hasn't been sentenced yet, but he's looking at significantly less time than the men on trial.
He is not, for instance, accused of any of the murders.
after this I hope they go after these crooked politicians with the same vigor.
Steve - During this trial what has been made of the attempted murder of individual A?
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: There was testimony about the attempted murder of Nicholas Sarillo, otherwise known as Individual A.
Sarillo was allegedly a bookmaker unwilling to pay street tax.
Mobsters tried to blow him up, but somehow Sarillo survived.
I need my Family Secrets blog fix! It's been nine days since your last blog. I can't take it anymore.
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: Thanks for reading! But it hasn't been nine days. I usually post at least once a day.
But you've asked for it, you got it. More posts are coming tonight and tomorrow.
what would make Frank Calabrese Sr. get on the stand? If you didn't know he was an idiot before you certainly know now. He must think people are stupid. I hope he is not a reflection on the Italian community.
I noticed that this was the last blog entry for awhile. I really enjoyed reading about this trial and the previous blog entries were insightful. I'm just wondering what happened to the blog entries at the end of the trial?
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: I've been posting. We've just been having techinical problems noting on the main page that they've been updated.
From the main Sun-Times page, click on "news" in the lefthand corner.
Under the news column on the left, click on the "Outfit on Trial."
Then click on Outfit blog.
There you will find a slew of new entries.
Sorry for the hoops you have to jump through.