Buffalo Grove man gets life sentence in kidnap-torture plot
A Buffalo Grove man will spend the rest of his life in prison for plotting to kidnap and kill a suburban businessman using a torture chamber he and an accomplice set up for the purpose.
Steven Mandell, 64, was sentenced Thursday to life plus five years, the latter a mandatory consecutive sentence for possessing a firearm in the commission of a violent crime.
"Your actions in this case were evil and show a complete disregard for human life," U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve said in sentencing Mandell, a former Chicago policeman and onetime death row inmate.
Mandell, also known as Steven Manning, was convicted in February of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, conspiracy to commit extortion and several firearm charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu described him as a "psychopath" who masterminded "a truly barbaric crime."
Mandell, aided by former Willow Springs police officer Gary Engel, outfitted a Chicago storefront they dubbed "Club Med" with handcuffs, a meat cleaver, knife and circular saw they intended to use to torture and then dispose of the Riverside businessman whose money and property Mandell coveted.
"This man did not care about the law. He did not care about the safety of others," said Bhachu, who described Mandell as a master manipulator and narcissist.
Defense attorney Frank Lipuma argued against a life sentence for his client.
"What we have here is words. No one was killed in this case," said Lipuma, who asked for a 20-year sentence, "at which point one would hope criminal behavior would be concluded."
Mandell is no stranger to criminal proceedings. A 1983 conviction for insurance fraud led to his dismissal from the Chicago Police Department. He was convicted of burglary in 1987. In 1993, he was convicted of murdering trucking company owner Jimmy Pellegrino and sentenced to death. That conviction was overturned, as was a Missouri kidnapping conviction involving Kansas City drug dealers, in which Engel was also implicated.
Awaiting sentencing at Chicago's Metropolitan Correctional Center, Mandell sent threatening letters and solicited harm to a federal witness, Bhachu said.
That witness was George Michael, a Chicago real estate developer turned FBI informant who, over several months in 2012, secretly recorded conversations in which he and Mandell discussed killing the businessman. Michael also secretly videotaped Mandell and Engel at the Devon Avenue storefront discussing the murder.
Authorities arrested Mandell and Engel in October 2012. Engel committed suicide several days later at the McHenry County Jail.
Speaking on his own behalf Thursday, Mandell insisted it was all a hoax. He said he never intended to kill anyone and was merely engaging in "malicious mischief," making money off Michael. Mandell claimed Michael paid him $1,000 per week to investigate the owners of a suburban strip club in which Michael tried to purchase a stake.
"They (federal authorities) took advantage of this silly charade and transformed it into federal charges," Mandell said.
In a lengthy, loquacious rebuke, Mandell called his prosecution contrived and retaliatory, suggesting it resulted from a $6.5 million judgment he received for wrongful prosecution. He railed against his "grossly ineffective" trial counsel and "dishonest and paranoid" prosecutors. He insisted he was framed by Michael, who Mandell claimed cooperated with authorities in exchange for consideration on some tax problems.
"I was falsely charged and convicted because I didn't report George Michael to the police sooner," he said.
Mandell's protestations didn't sway St. Eve, who referenced Mandell's attention to detail; the methodical way he planned to kidnap, torture and kill an innocent man; his crafting of an alibi and his resolve to eliminate the man's daughter if she got in his way.
Noting Mandell's 14-year prison stint, including time on death row, St. Eve expressed doubt he will ever change.
"If that experience did not deter you, I don't think anything will deter you," she said.
"I do not see an inkling of remorse ... which is disturbing."
Most disturbing of all was the "pure delight" Mandell showed in the video where he plotted the gruesome deed in detail, she said.
"It was chilling to watch," she said.