Six mobsters found guilty
NWI Times
Aug 17, 1991
nwitimes.com/uncategorized/six-mobsters-found-guilty-outfit-members-face/article_88726dd6-7da0-5503-b73d-dd390d82cf45.html
HAMMOND - Six mobsters were found guilty Friday of 56 of the 57 federal felony charges they faced collectively for their role in an extortion and gambling racket that netted thousand of dollars for organized crime.
Defense lawyers were stunned and visibly shaken as the guilty verdicts were read about 4 p.m. Friday. None of the lawyers expected all of the defendants to be found guilty of all but one of the charges. Most said they expect to file an appeal.
A jury of three men and nine women debated more than 18 hours over two days before reaching verdict, finding only one defendant, Nicholas "Nicky" Guzzino, 49, of Chicago Heights, innocent of a single charge of the use of interstate travel in aid of racketeering enterprises.
All of the men, some of them considered in the upper echelon of the Chicago "Outfit" organized crime family, face between 70 and 150 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines when they are sentenced Oct. 15 by U.S. District Court Judge James T. Moody.
U.S. Attorney John Hoehner said he was "pleased" with the verdict, admitting that "pleased" was probably an understatement.
Hoehner fended off criticism lodged by the defense lawyers, who said the gambling and extortion trial was victimless. "Gambling is not a victimless crime," he said. "Organized crime feeds on it."
The convictions stem an eight-year undercover investigation by the FBI and has been viewed as part of a national effort to dismantle traditional organized crime families in Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago and New York. This is the largest organized crime case ever handled by the Northern District of Indiana.
Robert Pertuso, FBI supervisory senior resident agent in charge of the Merrillville office that spearheaded the investigation, said the prosecution fulfills a national commitment to pursue complicated racketeering cases against members of the La Cosa Nostra crime family. Personally, he said, he was "very satisfied" with the results.
Pertuso and Hoehner agreed the historic prosecution will greatly diminish the influence of organized crime in Northwest Indiana.
"I would suspect that the verdict rendered today, together with the guilty pleas the government has extracted from other people in this case, will have a substantial impact on organized crime as it exists in northern Indiana,"
Hoehner said. "That's one of the reasons why I'm elated." Since some of the top chieftains were convicted in this trial, Pertuso said, "it would take a number of years for some of the Young Turks to gain the same type of controls."
The six men were found guilty of racketeering, conspiracy and conducting an illegal gambling business. They extorted protection money from other illegal gambling operators in Lake and LaPorte counties in addition to running a very lucrative sports betting operation and a high-stakes barbooth game.
The case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Thill and assisted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Simon, was presented over three and a half weeks with the introduction of more than 200 secretly tape-recorded conversations and the testimony of more than 100 witnesses, several whom were granted immunity.
The only two defendants who were free on bond - Bernard "Snooky" Morgano, 54, of Valparaiso, who controlled illegal gambling in northern Indiana; and Sam "Frog" Glorioso, 49, of Gary, who collected the so-called street tax - were ordered detained Friday by Moody.
Moody agreed with the government that detention was necessary because the crimes the two men were convicted of involved violence.
Dominick "Tootsie" Palermo, 73, of Orland Park, a territorial boss of the "Outfit;" his underboss, Guzzino; and bagman Pete "Cadillac Pete" Petros, 56, of Chicago have been detained at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago since their indictment.
Sam Nuzzo Jr., 45, of Merrillville, who controlled most of the illegal gambling in Northwest Indiana, was detained in May after he broke the terms of his bond.
The six men were among 15 indicted last December by a federal grand jury sitting in Hammond. The 30-count indictment also charged nine others of conducting illegal gambling businesses. All but two of those defendants, Ned and Yolanda Pujo of Portage, have pleaded guilty. The Pujos are expected to be tried separately later this fall.
The five who pleaded guilty were Nuzzo's father, Sam Sr., his brother Arthur, and sisters Jennifer Kaufman and Sandra Mynes, who have yet to be sentenced.
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