The late federal mob prosecutor Mitch Mars wasn't a man who sought the limelight.
After his court victories against the Outfit, and there were many, he had to be pushed to attend news conferences.
But the bad guys sure knew who he was.
Take for instance, a fascinating conversation from February 1999 between mob killer Frank Calabrese Sr. and two crooked cops who were trying to help him figure out if the government was building a case against him.
The chat involves Calabrese Sr., Anthony "Twan" Doyle and Michael Ricci.
Calabrese Sr. and Doyle were convicted in the recent Family Secrets trial, in which Mars was the lead prosecutor. Ricci died before the trial started and was never convicted.
Much of the conversation between the men is in code.
Calabrese Sr. was worried that someone would overhear him and the two cops chatting in the prison visiting room at Milan, Mich., where Calabrese Sr. was serving a stretch on a loan-sharking case.
Calabrese Sr. was right to be paranoid. The feds were secretly listening in and recording the conversation. They used it against Calabrese Sr. and Doyle at the Family Secrets trial.
In the conversation, Doyle is speculating on who's behind a certain federal investigation, according to a government transcript.
"I'll bet you once it comes to light," Doyle says, "I'll bet you it's that f------ Mitch Mars that's what I think I said."
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