Star witness at mob trial gets 12 years

A mob killer reaped the benefits of ratting out his brethren Thursday, receiving a sentence of 12 years and 4 months for 14 murders - several of them committed in the suburbs.

Nicholas Calabrese, 67, was the first made member of the Chicago Outfit to ever testify against the group. In doing so, he took down the man prosecutors said was the head of the mob, James Marcello of Lombard, as well as other mob leaders including his brother Frank Calabrese of Oak Brook and Joey "The Clown" Lombardo of Chicago.

And for that, a U.S. District Judge James Zagel begrudgingly rewarded him, giving him less than a year for each life he took. Zagel made clear he did not do it lightly, sympathizing with families present in the courtroom that, were he in their shoes, he would advocate for a life sentence as many of them did.

But, he added, were it not for Nicholas Calabrese - who turned witness after he faced the death penalty when police recovered his blood-soaked glove at the scene of his last murder - those families might still be wondering who killed their families and why. And the men responsible for ordering the murders might still be free.

Just as past deals with the government encouraged Nicholas Calabrese to make a deal and come forward, this deal must be honored if mob turncoats and even garden-variety criminals are to continue providing information, Zagel essentially said.

"On this day, there are many other hundreds of fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters," Zagel noted. "Many of them still wait."

Peggy Cagnoni did not stop afterward to tell reporters how she felt about the verdicts. But before it, she had testified and asked for a stiff sentence. Her husband, Michael Cagnoni, was killed by a remote-controlled bomb on June 24, 1981 in Hinsdale, on the I-294 on-ramp from Ogden Avenue. Peggy Cagnoni had driven the booby-trapped car before her husband was eventually killed.

"Do you have any idea how I felt (upon learning) that I had been driving a car with a live bomb with an 8-month-old?" she asked Calabrese.

Calabrese mostly hung his head as victims' family members testified. Later, he apologized for his crimes, and claimed he was sorry.

Bobby D'Andrea, whose father was killed by the mob, believes him, but he holds no illusions that remorse came only after fear motivated Calabrese to cooperate.

"You are here, quite simply, because you dropped your gloves," said D'Andrea.

Since Calabrese began serving his sentence in late 2002, he still has roughly three to four more years to serve before being released early for good behavior. But Zagel pointed out Calabrese will never be truly free, since he is now marked for death by the mob.

"The Organization ... will not forgive or relent in their pursuit of you," Zagel said.