Chicago mob witnesses to testify behind screen

Some federal officials being called as witnesses at the trial of a deputy U.S. marshal charged with leaking secrets of a major mob investigation will be allowed to testify while behind screens, a federal judge said Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge James F. Grady also said that such witnesses at the trial of deputy U.S. marshal John T. Ambrose may use pseudonyms on the stand to make certain that spectators at the trial will not be able to identify them later.

Ambrose, 40, is charged with leaking secrets of the government's landmark Operation Family Secrets investigation, which resulted in the conviction of 11 mobsters and mob associates. Three of the mob's top leaders got life sentences.

Ambrose denies he ever broke the law in handling secret information.

Defense attorney Frank Lipuma objected to the use of screens to protect the identifies of witnesses, saying it would "sensationalize the trial."

The witnesses who will testify from behind screens and use fictitious names are inspectors in the government's supersecret witness security program (WITSEC).

Ambrose worked for the program, guarding star witness Nicholas Calabrese, when he allegedly stole material out of Calabrese's WITSEC file and leaked it to someone he believed would send it on to reputed mob boss John "No Nose" DiFronzo.

Among other things, the file contained information about the murders of Tony "The Ant" Spilotro and his brother Michael, who were found buried in an Indiana cornfield.

Calabrese, an admitted hit man, was the government's star witness at the Family Secrets trial. He testified that he and defendant James Marcello took part in the Spilotro murders.