Reputed mobsters Frank Caruso, James Inendino and Peter DiFronzo were among the people the FBI considered threats to the safety of mob hitman turned federal witness Nick Calabrese.
The revelation came today during the testimony of FBI Agent Michael Maseth in the trial of deputy U.S. Marshal John Ambrose, who is on trial for allegedly leaking key details about Calabrese to the mob.
Ambrose, who guarded Calabrese as part of a security detail, has said he made a mistake by discussing information about Calabrese with a family friend but had no intention of the information making it to mobsters.
Calabrese began cooperating with the government on Jan. 15, 2002, after agents confronted him with DNA evidence linking him to a mob murder. Calabrese eventually admitted to committing 14 mob murders and provided the feds information about another 22 Outfit hits.
On Aug. 27, 2002, Calabrese was admitted into the federal Witness Protection Program while still in prison.
Government officials had to submit an application for Calabrese to be accepted into the program, and part of that application was a list of people who posed a threat to him
Among those listed were Caruso, Inendino and DiFronzo.
Caruso is a reputed mobster in the Chinatown area. His son was convicted in the notorious beating of a black youth, Lenard Clark, and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Inendino is a loanshark who was convicted in 2002 with the reputed mob boss of Cicero and the town's police chief with engaging in a kickback scheme to rip off the town.
DiFronzo is the brother of John "No Nose" DiFronzo, who Calabrese implicated in the infamous mob murders of Anthony and Michael Spilotro. DiFronzo, though, was never charged in the Family Secrets case.
--By Steve Warmbir and Frank Main
James Inendino? I thought I read that he was in prison. Shows what I know. Is the possibility that the task of taking care of Calabrese was delegated to him mean that he's high up in the organization?
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: Inendino is out of prison. The list that authorities put forward of possible threats to Calabrese in 2002 doesn't indicate that anyone was necessarily tasked to take care of him, it just lists people likely to want to harm Calabrese, from the FBI's perspective.
Seems unlikely that known mob leaders like DiFronzo & Caruso would make a move on a guy in witness protection.
Was there any other info, Warmbir?
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: No, the threat assessment was a list of people — that's all, no other intelligence to explain why. I understand what you're saying, but there were other mob leaders caught on tape who sure seemed interested in making a move on Calabrese.
why do they always gotta bring up the story about caruso's kid?
it has nothing to do with this at ALL.
Isn't this trial being held in one of the tiniest courtrooms? If so, is the room overflowing? And when will Fitzgerald testify?
Thanks, Steven.
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: The trial is no longer in Judge Grady's small courtroom and is in Courtroom 1719. Fitzgerald may be up later in the week, but he won't be up today. It looks like he may be coming up after Michael Marcello, who should hit the witness stand late today.
I noticed some names on the "Threat Assessment" were missing. One in particular was Frank Saladino of Rockford who died in 2005. In the threat assessment it states he was "a member of Calabrese's crew in the 80's and that he was also involved in the Rockford family of LCN." There was even info that he was the boss of the Rockford family in 2002. I thought the Rockford family was extinct?
Just wondering why the Times never ran anything on the Ambrose Trial,it was in the SouthtownStar but I found that rather strange.
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: I'm not sure what you're referring to. The Sun-Times covered the Ambrose trial pretty much day-to-day.