The Outfit on trial

John "Pudgy" Matassa

U.S Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald showed an interest in reputed mob boss John "Pudgy" Matassa when he questioned a deputy marshal accused of leaking secrets to the Outfit.

It's one of several fascinating facts that came up during the hearing for the deputy marshal, John Ambrose.

The hearing centered on Ambrose's effort to get the statements he made to Fitzgerald and FBI Chicago Chief Robert Grant tossed out and not allowed in at trial.

Ambrose contends he gave those statements when he was in custody, without receiving his Miranda rights.

Fitzgerald testified during Ambrose's hearing that he was there to pitch him to cooperate and talk to the case agents. Fitzgerald said he clearly told Ambrose he wasn't under arrest.

The prosecutor did ask Ambrose some questions, after Ambrose persisted during their September 2006 meeting in giving his account of what he had done.

The feds contend Ambrose leaked information about Nicholas Calabrese, a mob killer who would decide to flip for the feds and go into witness protection.

When Calabrese came to Chicago to take FBI agents to murder sites, one of his guards would be Ambrose at times.

The feds discovered that Ambrose was the leak when two mobsters, Outfit boss James Marcello and his half-brother, Michael, were secretly recorded talking about information that Nicholas Calabrese was providing to the feds, well before Calabrese's cooperation became public, according to court records.

The two mobsters never named Ambrose but described him in such specifics that the details pointed straight at him, according to the feds.

In Ambrose's discussion with Fitzgerald, the top prosecutor wanted to know if Ambrose ever met with Matassa at a Chinese restaurant, according to hearing testimony.

Ambrose denied knowing Matassa, much less ever meeting him in a Chinese restaurant, according to hearing testimony.

Matassa has strong ties to the Marcellos. When Outfit chief James Marcello got out of prison, Matassa was Marcello's driver, a trusted, important position, given Marcello's high rank

Matassa has said he grew up with Michael Marcello and would routinely meet him as an adult, according to testimony Matassa gave during a labor union hearing.

Matassa was described in those hearings as a made member of the North Side crew, who oversaw mob interests in pornography businesses and helped run mob gambling operations in Chicago and Rosemont.

As a younger man, Matassa was a driver for the man picture below, Michael Glitta, who oversaw the mob's control of the porn business for the North Side crew.

Mobster Michael Glitta

For those mob ties, Matassa was booted in 1999 from Laborers' Local Union 2 where he was president and business manager.

As for Ambrose's hearing, it will continue in January, when the judge is expected to issue a ruling.

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IRS Special Agent William Paulin

When a crooked private detective worried his life was threatened by a brutal loan shark, he turned to IRS Special Agent William Paulin — and wound up helping the feds uncover some of the deepest secrets of mobbed-up Cicero.

When a bookmaker got jittery while secretly recording mobsters for the feds and worried Outfit guys would throw him out a high-rise window, Paulin was sent to calm him down.

For roughly a quarter century, Paulin, 54, has been a go-to guy for the feds as a top mob investigator, uncovering millions of dollars in rip-offs and taking down top Outfit bosses.

Next week, Paulin will retire.

It's a loss to the federal team that battles the Outfit, authorities said.

"I consider him a legend for what he accomplished," said Bob Fuesel, a long-time Outfit fighter, now retired, who once ran the organized crime group for the IRS.

Colleagues describe Paulin as a rare triple threat.

The son of a truck driver and a homemaker who grew up on the South Side, Paulin is known a street-smart agent who brings an analytical mind to reviewing mounds of evidence. He has a reputation on the street for keeping his word, colleagues said

So when a bad guy decided to flip and cooperate with federal investigators, he knew he could rely on Paulin.

Paulin has pulled mountains of evidence together for trials — from the case of Cicero Village President Betty Loren-Maltese to the Family Secrets trial involving 18 mob murders.

Those trials demand brutally long hours that take a toll on personal lives.

"Some people talk about it, Bill has done it," said former colleague Thomas Moriarty, a retired IRS special agent famed for getting bookmaker William "B.J." Jahoda to cooperate against top mobsters.

"When Bill Paulin is in the room, he gives you a confidence that things are going to go right," Moriarty said.

"He had this confidence, and it put Bill Jahoda at ease, because he knew we had the A-Team in there with Bill Paulin."

What's more, Paulin has been able to adapt with the times as criminals have gotten more sophisticated, colleagues said, whether it's cracking an early Internet gambling case or uncovering sophisticated financial fraud by a mobbed-up insurance company ripping off Cicero for millions of dollars.

"As the bad guys got smarter, we tried to keep up," Paulin said in an interview last week.

The Outfit "is a more subtle organization," Paulin said. "In the 70s and 80s, there were bodies all over the place. They've become a more financially savvy organization."

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