in cash and about 1,000 pieces of apparently stolen jewelry — stashed
behind a large family portrait during a search of the family home of
convicted mob hit man
Authorities said they found recordings of what they
believe could be “criminal conversations” Calabrese taped with mob
associates years ago.
They also seized several recording devices,
suction-cups used to tap into telephone conversations and 10 to 15 used
microcassettes — one of which appears to bear the last name of a
convicted Outfit member, agents said.
There were “handwritten notes and ledgers” that could be records of extortion and gambling activities, authorities said.
In addition, authorities discovered seven loaded
firearms they believe had been used in criminal activity because they
were wrapped so no fingerprints would be left on them.
In a court filing Wednesday afternoon, federal authorities said they want to seize the property to satisfy some
that Calabrese was ordered to pay in forfeiture and restitution after
his conviction for a series of gangland slayings and sentence of life
imprisonment.
Calabrese, 71, was one of the five Outfit associates convicted in the landmark Family Secrets trial that riveted
The code name for the federal investigation came from the secret, unprecedented cooperation provided against
mob bosses by Calabrese’s brother, Nicholas, and his son, Frank Jr.
Their testimony peeled back layers of Outfit history as they detailed
hits, bombings, extortions and other mayhem by the mob’s
When he was sentenced to life in prison a year ago,
Calabrese denied he was a feared mob hit man responsible for more than
a dozen gangland slayings.
“I’m not no big shot,” said Calabrese, dressed in an
orange jumpsuit with a strap holding his glasses on his mostly bald
head. “I’m not nothing but a human being, and when you cut my hand, I
bleed like everybody else.”
A federal judge didn’t buy it.
Saying he had no doubt Calabrese was responsible for “appalling acts,” U.S. District Judge
testimony from victims’ relatives and a heated exchange with his own
son.
Another of Calabrese’s sons, Kurt, stepped to a lectern to tell Zagel that his father beat him throughout his life.
“In short, my father was never a father,” said the
younger Calabrese, describing him instead as an enforcer who hurled
insults as regularly as he threw punches, ashtrays, tools or whatever
else was within reach when his temper exploded.
The son asked his father whether he might want to apologize for his conduct.
“You better apologize for the lies you’re telling,”
the father barked back in the crowded courtroom. “You were treated like
a king for all the things I’ve done for you.”
“You never hit me and never beat me up?”
In another dramatic courtroom scene,
yelled at Calabrese for cutting Haggerty’s throat and stuffing him in a
trunk. Her husband had no connection to the mob, she told Calabrese.
“You murdered the wrong person,” she said. “That shows how smart you all are.”
“God will bless you for what you say,” Calabrese replied calmly from the defense table.
“Don’t you mock me, ever,” Moravecek responded through tears.
In
convicted Calabrese of racketeering conspiracy held him responsible for
seven murders: the 1980 shotgun killings of hit man and informant
Zagel, using a lower standard of proof than the
jury, held Calabrese responsible for six additional murders, making him
eligible for life imprisonment.
Allowed to address Zagel before he was sentenced,
Calabrese rambled for half an hour about how his family had conspired
to steal from him and then falsely blamed him for mob crimes to keep
him behind bars.
Cagnoni’s widow as well as relatives of Morawski and
Ortiz testified about dealing with decades of grief over the violent
deaths of their loved ones.
father was shot in a car outside his bar. Ortiz said he ran to the spot
where the killing had occurred.
“I remember the crunching of the broken glass under
my feet,” said Ortiz, who recalled that his father’s trademark cigar
was still lying on the ground.
“I picked it up and held onto it, knowing it was all I had left of him.”
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(c) 2010, Chicago Tribune.
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