The Outfit on trial

I wonder how long the FBI listened to their informant being beat.

STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: It's not clear from the conversation whether the device that the informant was wearing was only recording the conversation or recording and broadcasting it.

In short, it's not clear from the transcript or the court filing if the FBI agents were able to hear the conversation and the beating as it transpired or only figured out the informant had been beaten when they saw him.

We should get a clearer idea at trial.

It figures the lawyers have these fears and they have to defend a person to the best of their ability but you can't tell me the attorney that takes these cases thinks these guys are innocent

I am sure the feds can prove he is mobbed up and this will have some impact on his trial.

You know they sentence gang bangers in Minnesota for crimes under the law (FOR THE BENEFIT OF A GANG) which doubles the sentence when it is proven the crime this person committed benefited his gang.

I know they have racketeering and the Rico act, but you know the crimes Calabrese is committing is for the benefit of the mob.

Steve is this guy at all associated with Frank Calabrese, I know they are not related?

STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: The two men are not related, and I haven't heard anything to suggest that they had any connections.

Anthony Calabrese faces about 50 years in federal prison if he's convicted in the armed robbery charges he's facing.

how many armed robbery charges are there? and where were they?

STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: There are three armed robbery charges:

April 13, 2001--Leather Connection in Morton Grove
July 24, 2001--Metamorphous Tattoo in Lockport
Sept. 17, 2001--Morris' Meat Packing in Maywood

What caused eddie to cooperate .

STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: Edmund Frank testified that he decided to cooperate because he feared Anthony Calabrese.

Frank had cooperated with police in an unrelated drug case that had snared his brother.

Frank and his brother had a falling out, and his brother was telling people that Frank was a snitch, Frank testified.

Frank said Calabrese had spoken to his brother, and he was afraid Calabrese would harm him, given what he had seen of Calabrese's past behavior.

Who are the witnesses scheduled to testify.These guys are from my Ol neighborhood, just wondering how the trails turn out

STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: Check out the latest blog posting for details on the trial and the witnesses.

The newspaper convicted him! they call him a " mafia killer" and he has never been charged with any "murders" they can now also say that about ANYBODY!!! scary when you think about it! I am more affraid of the newspapers than any "mob guys"

STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: The Sun-Times and the Tribune are simply reporting what federal authorities have alleged in court documents.

Also, every account I've written has noted that Calabrese has not been convicted of the murder or attempted murder he's a suspect in.

Calabrese and Cooper both wiseguy wannna be's, I remember Cooper given a beaten to by some of the younger guys from Bridgeport a while back

What kind of relationship did Frank's brother have with Calabrese?

STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: Nothing came out at trial about the relationship, other than Edmund Frank stating Anthony Calabrese had spoken to Frank's brother about Frank's cooperation with authorities.

You are soooo like a politician! what I said was you title articals about him as " MAFIA KILLER" not "SOMEONE TOLD ME HE MIGHT BE, SOMEDAY,SOME WAY ACCUSED OF MURDER" like I said you know what your doing and its awful!! you helped put a man in prison for life! he has a family and children, if he was a convicted killer fine but he is not.

And you use the word "reputed" because you know that most people read that and assume it means, "known" you abuse your power and influence to sell a 50cent paper.

Why dont you tell the story of the guys who were guilty of worse crimes than tony, but will be back on the street because of the "deal" they got, all they had to do was say "Tony Calabrese" and bam! get out of jail free!!

Tony is doing all of their time..is that fare? will I read about that in you'r paper? NOT

STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: I'm happy to post your response.

I would note just a few things:

1. I'm not calling him a reputed mob killer. Federal prosecutors are, and I'm reporting it. Most people would consider this a matter of public interest.

Prosecutors have made that allegation in a court document. I've also quoted Calabrese's attorney as saying that the feds would have charged Calabrese if they had any evidence.

2. I used the word reputed because he is reputed, not convicted, which I've also noted repeatedly in stories.

Calabrese is without question the chief suspect in a mob hit and an attempted murder. He hasn't been charged in either, and people can make of that what they will.

3. I didn't convict Calabrese. A federal jury did. In less than two hours. That's an extremely short amount of time for deliberations. They heard the evidence. They made the call.

This is also the second time a federal jury has convicted Calabrese of a crime. The first instance involved a 2002 case.

4. I have told the stories of some of the witnesses. Take for instance, Robert Cooper, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for murdering Anthony Chiaramonti.

I've also reported that Calabrese's attorney argued that the witnesses against Calabrese were criminals lying about him to cut deals.

The jury was told about every deal every prosecution witness cut for their testimony at trial. The jurors knew that information, were cautioned by the judge to treat those witnesses' testimony with care and convicted him anyway.

LET HIM ROT IN JAIL!!!! TONY CALABRESE HAS AFFECTED HIS LAST VICTIM!

I LOVE THOSE OF YOU WHO SAY LET "TONY CALABRESE" ROT IN JAIL, AND I MIGHT AGREE WITH YOU IF THESE THINGS WERE TRUE.

HOW EVER WHO ARE WE TO JUDGE OTHERS BASED UPON WHAT WE HEAR IN THE NEWS PAPERS.

I WAS THERE AT THE TRIAL, AND WHEN 10 CONVICTED FELLONS,DRUG DEALERS & USERS WHO ARE ALL FACING TIME GET ON THE STAND AND POINT THE FINGER AT TONY CALABRESE TO SAVE THEIR OWN ASS THAT IS SAD.

ALL 10 OF THE WITNESSES THE FEDS BROUGHT TO TESTIFY WERE PAID OFF OR RECIEVED SOME SORT OF FRINGE BENEFIT SUCH AS A MUCH LIGHTER SENTANCE FOR TESTIFING AGINST "CALABRESE". ONE OF THE DRUG USERS IS LOOKING AT 10 MONTHS AS TO 10 YEARS IN JAIL AS A REQUEST BY THE FEDS TO THE JUDGE FOR HIS TESTIFING IN THIS CASE.

"FRANKS'RECIEVED AN AMOUNT TO EXCEED OVER 50,000, 1 MAN WAS BONDED OUT OF JAIL(1000.00), 1WOMAN WAS RELOCATED TO A SOUTHERN STATE ON THE GOVERMENTS MONEY(6500.00, BUT LATER RETURNED AT HER OWN EXPENSES, AND SO ON.

ROBERT COOPER RECIEVED 15 YEARS FOR ARMED ROBBERY AND ONLY 7 MORE YEARS FOR MURDER SO IN TOTAL 22 YEARS FOR 2 CRIMES IN WHICH HE SHOULD OF GOT LIFE.

AGAIN JUST FOR POINTING THE FINGER TO "CALABRESE". HOW MUCH CAN WE TRUST THE WORD OF A CONVICTED MURDERER THAT HAS SPENT MORE THEN 2/3'S OF HIS LIFE BEHIND BARS.

I TRULY BELIEVE THAT SOME OF THE JURY MEMBERS MAY OF BEEN AWARE OF THE CASE DUE TO A ARTICLE PRINTED IN THE NEWS PAPER PRIOR TO THE TRIAL, SO I DONT THINK IT WAS A FAIR TRIAL.

JUST REMEMBER HE IS STILL A HUMAN WHO DESERVES A FAIR TRIAL. JUST THINK HE IS A SON, HUSBAND, BROTHER, UNCLE, FATHER AND FRIEND TO MANY FAMILY MEMBERS WHO LOVE HIM ALOT.

WE KNOW HIM ON A LEVEL THAT YOU WILL NEVER. THE PAPERS DONT TELL YOU ABOUT HOW HE AND HIS FAMILY USED TO BRING COATS,HATS,AND GLOVES TO HOMELESS SHALTERS EVERY YEAR AT CHRISTMAS TIME.

ALL I ASK IS THAT YOU GIVE HIM AND HIS FAMILY THE RESPECT THAT YOU WOULD WANT OTHERS TO GIVE YOUR OWN FAMILY IN THIS SITUTATION.

I PRAY EVERY NIGHT FOR THE WITNESSES THAT LIED, AND THAT SOMEDAY THEY WILL BE FORGIVEN AND THE TRUTH WILL COME OUT AND "CALABRESE" WIL BE SET FREE.

AS "CALABRESE" STATED AT THE END OF HIS TRIAL BEFORE THE JURY CAME BACK IN THE COURT ROOM, 'I CAME IN THIS WORLD A MAN, I AM GOING OUT A MAN.

THANK GOD FINALLY SOMEONE SPEAKS THE TRUTH!!!!!! AGAIN TOO BAD THEY WOULD NOT PRINT OUR WORDS IN THE PAPER DURING THE TRIAL, THEN THE JURY COULD HAVE HEARD "BOTH" SIDES OF THE STORY!!!

i ALSO PRAY FOR ALL OF YOU WHO MAY SOMEDAY FIND YOURSELF IN A POSITION WHERE SCUMBAGS HOLD YOUR FREEDOM IN THEIR HANDS... AND DONT THINK IT CANT HAPPEN. ALSO BE VERY CARFUL... THE REAL KILLERS AND SCUMBAGS GOT A DEAL REMEMBER?

SOOOO "THEY" ARE STILL OUT THERE, AND READY TO COMMITT THERE NEXT CRIME,BECAUSE THEY KNOW ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS "MAKE A DEAL" AND BAM THEY ARE OUT AGAIN... AND SO IT GOES, THE JUSTICE SYSTEM.. A.K.A THE NEW MOB!

hmmm I guess you are not a good "reporter" after all, cooper got only 7 years for murder. Why didn't YOU know this? how the hell do you still get a paycheck every week? you don't do you'r job very well! Again you have such power to influence the public and you report bad information, I don't know how people like you sleep at nite!

STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: No, Cooper was sentenced to 22 years for the Chiaramonti murder.

You're getting confused on the argument that Anthony Calabrese's attorney made in court during Calabrese's trial.

Cooper was sentenced to 15 years for another crime and got 22 years for the murder.

The two prison sentences ran concurrently, not consecutively, so effectively, you could argue that Cooper got only an additional 7 years for the murder.

The other part of the argument that you could make to attack the deal Cooper received is that Cooper got only two years more than the minimum for the murder. The minimum is 20 years, and the maximum is Cooper effectively spending the rest of his life in prison.

Cooper got this deal because he snitched on Anthony Calabrese on the Chiaramonti murder and the armed robberies.

The jury in the armed robbery trial knew before deliberations that Cooper got these breaks, so they could take it into consideration when weighing Cooper's testimony. Still, they convicted Calabrese of the three armed robberies.

Those are the facts, and those are the arguments you can make.

It just absolutely blows my mind that the mob would contract out murders of guys like Chiarmonti to the likes of Cooper and Calabrese, it is no wonder that the mob is all but done with now.

Maybe I am a little bit "old school" but I could never imagine any of the old timers trusting anybody but their own when it came down to a matter like this. I don't know is it just me ? Well anyways, Steve keep up the great work that you have on this trial and look to see more of it in the future.

who where the attorneys involved in the case prosocuting and defending for the witnesses?

STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: The prosecutors were Markus Funk and Joel Hammerman, the defense attorney was Steven Hunter.

Ok "Jimmy" like you know anything about "old school mob guy's" just so you don't make a fool out of yourself again, words like "old school" and "mob" and "contract" or "hit" are all terms used by wannabe guys like you.

And if you ever ran into "the likes" of these guy's or any other you would....well you know, Another thing, how do YOU know the Mob is all but over??? It's people like you that talk out of turn about things you know nothing about , and it gets everbody going. SHUT UP!

First of all "Joe" I assume you are referring to me and my name is not "Jimmy", as for "old school" being part of a wannabe mobsters lingo thats pretty funny and the first time I ever heard that. Another thing I did grow up with a few of these guys and believe me when I tell you that the mob is over with, maybe a handful of guys left and as far as getting everbody going I have no idea what that means ???? I assume you are one of these loudmouth probably younger generation guys, well as an older man I do know some things and am just stating my opinion on this matter. Good night Junior

Sorry, my mistake, my last comment was aimed at "vic" not "jimmy"

To Pinchon79, Anonymous, and Maria:

This scumbag killed my father. My father was no saint, but he had a family too. My sisters and I have been without a father since 20 NOV 01. What have you got to say to us? Where is our justice?? He will be sentenced on May 2, for crimes other than the murder of my dad. I will be there to look him in the eye....will you be there to look me in the eye and tell me he's a "nice family guy"????

Cooper did not kill my father, he assisted by driving the van that took Calabrese to where my father was. I dont care about that POS. I want my justice with Calabrese.

Maria: Scumbags took my freedom away already. I am no longer able to be free to fish or hunt with my dad, or let him watch his 2 Grandsons, or his 1 Granddaughter grow up.

I am a corrections officer now. I know the value of freedom. I see people lose and gain it everyday. Don't generalize everyone here by implying that nobody knows....

I know....

To anonymous and Maria,

That wasn't me.