Szaflarksi, 53, faces 33 to 41 months in prison. The judge has not yet set a new sentencing date.
]]>His attorney, Jeff Steinback, considered one of the best in Chicago on sentencing issues, asked for a new court date because Steinback has a sick family member, according to a court filing.
Sarno could face 25 years in prison when he is sentenced.
]]>Polchan, 43, looked over at one of his attorneys, his eyes wide, after U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman handed down the prison sentence.
"Every dollar he made had a victim," Guzman said of Polchan, who ran a pawn shop in Cicero that the judge said was "the epicenter" of the organized criminal enterprise.
Polchan was a career criminal who treated his family well but was in the business of "terrorizing the rest of
us," the judge said.
Polchan oversaw a group of men who robbed jewelry stores and also arranged for the bombing of a Berwyn business that was competing with a video-poker business run by reputed Cicero mob boss Michael Sarno, who is to be sentenced next month.
Polchan's attorneys argued that he wasn't a leader of the organization and that much of the tesitmony against him at trial was from unreliable informants -- arguments the judge rejected.
Polchan declined to make a statement to the judge.
"You honor, I was gonna say some things, but I'm kind of overwhelmed by some of the things I heard," Polchan said, after a description of his wrongdoing by federal prosecutor Amarjeet S. Bhachu. "I can't do it."
In handing down the sentence, Guzman said, "The public needs to be protected from Mr. Polchan and the idea that organized criminal activity might be worth something, might be worth doing."
The case was investigated by the ATF, the FBI and the IRS.
U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman is set to sentence him at 10:30 a.m. at the Dirksen Federal Building, 219 S. Dearborn.
Prosecutors are asking for Sarno to be sentenced to 25 years in prison. Sarno's attorneys about 3 years is more appropriate under the law.
]]>Here are some updated sentencing dates and times for the defendants in the Michael Sarno trial.
All times are subject to change.
Sam Volpendesto: 2 p.m. 8/17
Michael Sarno: 10:30 a.m. 9/19
Casey Szaflarski: 10:30 a.m. 9/28
Mark Polchan: His sentencing date has been cancelled, and a new one has not been set yet, according to the court docket.
All sentencings take place before U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman in Courtroom 1219.
]]>Michael Sarno is to be sentenced September 19. He has hired one of the best defense attorneys in Chicago who specializes in sentencing, Jeff Steinback. It will be interesting to see what Steinback produces in his sentencing filings. Steinback has represented many high-profile defendants in Chicago.
Mark Polchan is to be sentenced August 18.
Sam Volpendesto is to be sentenced August 8. Anthony Volpendesto is to be sentenced August 4.
A new sentencing date is not listed in the court docket for Casey Szaflarski.
More details to come as they become available.
]]>Here's what's been set so far, according to the court docket.
Sam and Anthony Volpendesto 2 p.m. 6/29.
James Formato 2 p.m. 6/8.
Michael Sarno 10:30 a.m. 7/27.
If another defendant in the case isn't mentioned above, the new date hasn't been set yet, according to the court docket.
Sentencing dates typically get reset because of scheduling conflicts or to allow attorneys more time to file their motions.
]]>Juror No. 264, who was selected for the Family Secrets jury, is writing for the first time about his experience as a juror on his own family's blog that you can find here.
It's a fascinating and suprisingly funny series of anecdotes about what it's like to go through such an intense experience of sitting on a jury in judgment of some of the worst mob killers in Chicago history, under intense media scrutiny.
The juror's wife also explores what it's like for a spouse to be under great pressure too.
The juror is just getting started blogging on his experiences, so it's well worth plunging into.
]]>
At a recent organized crime trial in federal court, reputed Cicero mob boss Michael Sarno was depicted by federal prosecutors as a busy guy -- threatening a competitor and later ordering the man's business bombed, while keeping up with day-to-day Outfit business.
Around the same time, though, Sarno presented himself in a worker's compensation claim and a lawsuit as quite a different man -- one seriously injured in an accident while working as a trade show carpenter at McCormick Place -- an injury that resulted in settlements for Sarno of more than $250,000.
Sarno, 52, was convicted in December of racketeering conspiracy and faces 25 years in prison. His injury claim was briefly mentioned at trial.
"He was certainly mobile enough to threaten people and conduct his mob-related business with considerable vigor," said former federal Chicago mob prosecutor T. Markus Funk, who investigated Sarno.
"While having two jobs is, of course, not unheard of, it would not be unfair to raise a skeptic's eyebrow about a claim that Sarno, on the one hand, worked as a brutal mob boss running a multifaceted criminal enterprise, and at the same time punched his union carpenter ticket, banging in nails and whittling wood," Funk said. "Not to be uncharitable, but that, frankly, is a level of multi-tasking few on the street would -- for a variety of reasons -- credit him with possessing."
Sarno was taking down a trade show exhibit on Aug., 17, 2000, when he was asked to climb onto a forklift to provide ballast as the forklift moved some heavy material. The job usually took two people, but Sarno -- whose mob nicknames include "Large" and "the Large Guy" -- was big enough at about 330 pounds for the job at McCormick Place, then a common workplace for mobsters.
The material on the forklift started to tip, and Sarno tried to jump, but was hit in the back of the head by a handrail that had been loaded on and knocked unconscious.
"I remember going to jump, and I remember waking up on the floor," Sarno said in a 2003 deposition, about six months after a Berwyn business was bombed on his orders. He was later convicted in trial for the bombing.
Sarno suffered knee and neck injuries. While no one disputed he got hurt, the severity of his injuries came into question.
Sarno filed a worker's compensation claim against his employer, Eagle Management Group, and sued the company that ran the trade show, Freeman Decorating Co. Sarno claimed he couldn't help around the house or jog like he had in the past. Even his sex life suffered. But in the deposition, an attorney for Freeman, Bob Yelton, questioned Sarno on whether he had told his physical therapist he was strong as a bull and was not taking any pain medication. Sarno disputed that, and his attorney, Antonio Romanucci, last week in an interview rejected any suggestion that Sarno was exaggerating his injury, noting the size of the settlement, arrived at through mediation.
"You don't pay that much money for a nuisance-value case," Romanucci said.
]]>Mark Polchan, a high-ranking member of the Outlaws motorcycle gang, began shaking his head back and forth and later was heard to accuse prosecutors of being liars as he was led out in custody. He faces about 50 years in prison.
Sam Volpendesto had his head in his hand as he began hearing the guilty verdicts. Volpendesto faces about 50 years in prison too, and at 86, that's a life sentence.
Sarno kept his head down just before his verdict was read then reared back and started bobbing in his seat as the guiltys rolled in. He looked over at his wife and daughter who were crying. He faces about 25 years behind bars.
As the judge announced he was guilty of racketeering conspiracy, Anthony Volpendesto held up a piece of paper with writing on it, but what was on it could not be determined. Volpendesto has filed a variety of unusual, unsuccessful motions contesting his innocence. He faces about 20 years behind bars.
Casey Szaflarski, the video poker king of the Chicago area, was stoic as the verdict was read, but his family and friends, who filled a row in federal court, began crying as well. Szaflarksi faces much less time than the other defendants because he wasn't charged with the racketeering count, but rather with illegal gambling and tax crimes, which carry lesser sentences.
While prosecutors weren't allowed to bring up organized crime at trial, expect them to use it at sentencing.
]]>"God!" Sarno's wife, Nicole, yelled out in the courtroom as a federal judge agreed to a prosecutor's request that the mobster, out on bond, should be taken into custody immediately, just three days before Christmas. His daughter, Angelica, a college student who attended many days of the trial, broke down, sobbing loudly.
Sarno, 52, was convicted along with his friend, Outlaw motorcycle gang member Mark Polchan, 43, as well as the video poker king of the Chicago area, Casey Szaflarski, 52, mob bomber Sam Volpendesto, 86, and his son, Anthony, 48, a prolific thief.
The centerpiece of the case was the bombing in 2003 of a storefront in Berwyn, targeting a businessman competing with Sarno in the video poker business. No one was hurt in the pipe bomb blast, but it gutted the building.
Authorities say the case showed the Chicago Outfit outsourcing some of its dirty work -- the bombing of a competitor and the later intimidation of a witness -- to a motorcycle gang during a time when the Outfit was under keen pressure from the historic Family Secrets mob investigation.
Over a six-week trial, federal prosecutors Amarjeet Bhachu, Tinos Diamantatos and Michael Donovan called more than 80 witnesses, played more than 70 audio or video recordings and entered more than 300 exhibits into evidence to show a wide-ranging conspiracy, that included a slew of home robberies and jewelry store burglaries, that was investigated by the FBI, ATF and IRS.
The jury's decision marks the third conviction for Sarno in an organized crime case. Sarno started his career in organized crime at 17 as an enforcer. Working his way up the ranks, Sarno -- about 6-foot-3 and topping 300 pounds at his heaviest -- has never been known as the brains of the mob but rather as a tough guy willing to inspire fear and snatch someone else's profitable scheme. While Sarno oversaw the criminal group, he likely won't face the most time in prison when the men are sentenced in May.
Polchan and Sam Volpendesto were convicted with taking part in the bombing of the Berwyn business and face mandatory minimum sentences of 30 years behind bars for that crime alone. Each man could be sentenced to more than 50 years behind bars -- a death sentence for Sam Volpendesto.
]]>The jury got the case for a short time on Monday, and its first full day of deliberations was Tuesday, when it asked to have Christmas Eve off.
Given that the jury has a ton of evidence to consider against the five defendants, four of who are charged with one of most complicated laws for a jury to grapple with, racketeering conspiracy, it's not surprising that the jury will need some time to do its job.
Of course, keep in mind that a jury's questions or requests to the judge may indicate one outcome, and then the precise opposite one comes about.
]]>"They lied," Cheronis told jurors. "They changed their stories. They had an opportunity and a motive to deceive you. And they did."
Cheronis was referring to the testimony of burglar Mark Hay, his protege and explosives expert Kyle Knight and former crooked Berwyn cop James Formato. Cheronis gave a laundry list of what he called inconsistencies in their statements.
Polchan, an allegedly high-ranking member of the Outlaw motorcycle gang, is accused of being the go-to fence for a burglary ring those three men were involved in, as well as taking part in a jewelry store robbery himself. Polchan also is tied to another defendant on trial, reputed Cicero mob boss Michael Sarno, who supposedly used Polchan to help distribute illegal video poker machines to bars.
]]>"I take care of my boss, come here . . . do whatever else I do . . . Don't f------ tell me why am I coming home f------ miserable," Polchan said, according to a government transcript.
Which raises an interesting question, a federal prosecutor pointed out in his closing argument Thursday. If Polchan supposedly owns his pawnshop, who is he calling his boss? That would be Michael "The Large Guy" Sarno, federal prosecutor Tinos Diamantatos told jurors at the end of the five-week trial of Sarno, Polchan and three others. The feds have identified Sarno in court papers as the reputed head of the Cicero mob.
Using a multimedia presentation, Diamantatos on Thursday pieced together for jurors how Sarno allegedly led a racketeering conspiracy that included gambling, robbery and witness intimidation.
Sarno himself is cautious, once hanging up on a friend who named another reputed mobster during a cell phone call. So prosecutors used the secretly recorded words of others to show Sarno's true role in the conspiracy.
In one recorded conversation, an underling calls Sarno to get the OK to put video poker machines in a bar.
In another talk, a thief calls Polchan to see if it's OK to rob a dice game, and Polchan says he must check first with his boss -- Sarno, the feds say -- to see if it's all right. Sarno himself is caught on tape asking how various video poker machines are doing financially and ordering that another bar use only his machines.
In his closing, Diamantatos tried to tie together the wide-ranging conspiracy that involved all manner of crimes, from bombing a competing video poker business to robbing a string of jewelry stores. "Simply put, if there was money to be made, these five defendants did it regardless of the consequences," he said.
During the trial, the feds put on more than 80 witnesses, played more than 70 audio or video recordings and entered more than 320 exhibits into evidence. The defendants put on little evidence but relied on attacking the credibility of the three main prosecution witnesses -- a thief, his protégé who is also an explosives expert, and a dirty cop. Defense attorneys are expected to begin their closings this morning in federal court.
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