Mobster's "trustworthiness" nothing to brag about, judge says in sentencing

Nicholas Ferriola didn't rat on nobody.

And that, said U.S. District Court Judge James Zagel, is part of the problem.

The Elmhurst mobster, 33, convicted of gambling and extortion offenses, was a loyal soldier to feared mobster Frank Calabrese, Sr., Zagel said.

"His [Ferriola's] role is one that is important because what he offered was trustworthiness," said Zagel, noting that in an ordinary business, trustworthiness is assumed, but in the Chicago Outift, because everyone is, by definition, a criminal, trustworthiness is in short supply.

"Perhaps the most inaccurate phrase ... is that there is 'honor among thieves,' so it's important [in the mob] to have someone you can trust," noted Zagel, adding that Ferriola was caught on tape trying to convince another mobster, Ronnie Jarrett Jr., not to disgrace the memory of the late Ronnie Jarrett Sr. by becoming an informant.

And while federal sentencing guidelines provide additional penalties for accountants and company officers who abuse positions of trust, they say nothing about those whose silence helps criminal enterprises, Zagel said.

"The guidelines might have been well advised to add a category for people who didn't abuse their trust and should have," said Zagel, who noted that part of his consideration in sentencing Ferriola were conversations between Ferriola and a then-imprisoned Calabrese, who gave Ferriola messages to pass along to those on the outside. The messages, assistant U.S. attorney Markus Funk alleged, included instructions on whether possible informants should be killed to keep them silent.

Ferriola's lawyer, Edmund Wanderling, denied the coded messages ever included instructions of that gravity, and if they did, Ferriola didn't know the key to the coded messages he was transmitting. But Zagel ruled that Ferriola clearly knew what the content of those messages were.

Zagel also put no stock in Wanderling's contention that the purpose of much of the conversations between the two was to discuss Scripture, faith and God. Transcripts show that Calabrese advised Ferriola never to renounce God, even if he didn't go to church. Calabrese also encouraged Ferriola to read the Bible. In one particular exchange on Noah and the ark, Ferriola noted that repopulating the earth, for Noah, meant sleeping with relatives.

"How [expletive] is that?" says Ferriola to Calabrese.

While Zagel said a newfound interest in God was not surprising for an elderly man like Calabrese facing long prison time, the transcripts clearly showed Ferriola "was uncomfortable with the conversation ... and would prefer to get down [to] whatever the business was at hand."

Zagel sentenced Ferriola to 36 months in prison, at the high end of the guideline range of 30-37 months.

Asked if he had anything to say on his own behalf, Ferriola remained true to form.

"Judge, he's indicated he isn't very comfortable with public speaking," said Wanderling.