Convicted Chicago mob enforcer indicted

A convicted enforcer for the Chicago mob has been indicted on a charge of illegally possessing a gun, federal officials announced Friday.

Mario J. Rainone, 54, was charged after police searched his suburban Addison home and found a .357-caliber pistol, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

The search followed the Feb. 13 arrest of Rainone in suburban Lincolnshire on charges of committing a residential burglary. Rainone is in custody of Lake County authorities and bond has been set at $500,000.

Rainone, charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury with being a career criminal in possession of a gun, faces a minimum sentence of 15 years or a maximum of life if convicted. The name of his attorney in the current case was not immediately known.

Rainone pleaded guilty in 1992 to a racketeering charge that specified he was a member of a street crew that was part of the Chicago mob.

Among other things, Rainone allegedly went to a restaurant owner and demanded payments of $2,000 a month. According to prosecutors, he told the restaurant owner that unless he paid up "they would find him in his walk-in freezer."

Rainone then allegedly punched the man in the jaw and said: "I know where your family lives. I know how to get your kids."

Rainone was sentenced to 17ˆ½ years in federal prison and was released in 2006.