Chicago mob trial jury to continue mulling murder blame
Jurors have already found four aging defendants guilty of decades of loan sharking, gambling extortion and racketeering. Now they've got to decide what roles the four played in 18 mob murders dating back decades.
Jurors were expected to continue deliberations Thursday about whether the four _ Frank Calabrese Sr., 70; James Marcello, 65; Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, 78, and Paul Schiro, 70 _ should receive life sentences.
A fifth defendant, retired policeman Anthony Doyle, was also convicted Monday but is not accused of involvement in any murders and doesn't face a life sentence.
As jurors deliberated Wednesday, Doyle withstood an attack on his credibility by U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel, who will decide whether Doyle should be released on bond.
Zagel said Doyle's testimony on the witness stand was so hard to believe that it brought his sound judgment into question.
"What he was saying was profoundly unimpressive," Zagel said.
He said Doyle might flee to avoid prison if he were released, mistakenly assuming that his daughter and several former police officers would not forfeit the homes they have offered as security for any bond.
But Zagel agreed to take the bail request under consideration.
Doyle claimed that his sick wife needs him to be with her. The decorated former police officer appeared in court Wednesday in the bright orange jumpsuit of a federal prisoner for the first time as his attorney, Ralph E. Meczyk, pleaded with the judge to free him on bond.
Doyle, 62, is the only one of the five defendants who had been free on bond; the others have been in federal custody for more than a year. Doyle was taken into custody only after the jury deliberated for less than 20 hours over evidence presented by the government at the 10-week Operation Family Secrets mob trial.
A major part of the prosecution's case were tapes secretly made by the FBI at a federal prison in Milan, Mich., where Doyle visited Calabrese. On the tapes, Calabrese allegedly discussed mob business.
Prosecutors maintain that the tall, broad-shouldered Doyle was a loan collector for Calabrese while also working as a Chicago police officer.
Doyle testified that he went to the prison not to discuss business but merely to visit a friend. He said he didn't understand much of what Calabrese was telling him and considered it "mind-boggling gibberish."
No date has been set for sentencing. Racketeering conspiracy carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, although prosecutors estimated that the recommended sentence for Doyle under federal sentencing guidelines would be 12 to 15 years.