Panel Discussion: Crooked City

Attended one of the most interesting presentations in some time. I felt honored to be invited. Cook County States Attorney, Corporation Councils Office and the Police Union were called out big time. None would attend. I left with one burning question. Is real Justice attainable in Cook County?

Opinion: The Age of Mafia Government

By Joy Pullmann (The Federalist)

Chicago is a home base of the American mafia, and it seems to have sent a satellite office to run the country from Washington, DC. In major respects, our government has morphed from a guard of our natural liberties into a hierarchical system of cronies that dispenses limited freedoms only in exchange for following its tight-fisted rules.

Larry Arnn, president of Hillsdale College, has called where we’re headed feudalism. That’s a system of patronage in which the amount of leverage you have depends on your wealth and Rolodex. Another way to look at our country’s situation is by comparing how the Obama administration and its progressive allies operate to the global and American mafia.The similarities are striking. Let’s consider a few.

Racketeering And Extortion
At the heart of every mafia enterprise is a racketeering operation, in which businesses and private citizens are forced to pay the mafia to protect themselves from harm. Potential harm includes both what The Mob inflicts and that from outside sources, such as gangs or swindlers. Often, a protection racket arises in areas where the rule of law is weak, because in those areas the police and judiciary cannot or will not provide the protection from criminals everyone needs.

The analogies to government should be obvious, but one includes the pervasive feelings among business executives that, if they don’t donate to political campaigns or “nonprofit organizations” run by ex-government officials or other political cronies, their industry or even specific business is likely to wind up on the wrong side of some business-crushing regulation pretty quickly.

The Hobby Lobby case the Supreme Court is about to decide any day now is yet another example of the Obama administration’s demand that people follow its rules or pay crushing extortion fees (preferably both). Both the fines for not complying with Obamacare and the expense of doing so are simply protection money, paid to the administration directly with fines or indirectly through expensive healthcare purchased from Obama campaign donors. The administration doesn’t care about sick people or poor people, just like the mafia doesn’t care about actually protecting people. What both care most about is power.

Two burglars with reputed mob ties, Berrios employee snared in RICO case

BY FRANK MAIN AND  FRANCINE KNOWLES Staff Reporters July 19, 2014 10:08AM

Convicted burglar Paul Koroluk, 55, his wife, Cook County Assessor's office worker Maria Koroluk, 53, and reputed mobster Robert Panozzo, 54, have been charged in “Operation Crew Cut,” a major racketeering bust.

storyidforme: 69347404
tmspicid: 24580668
fileheaderid: 12278956

                                                                                                                                                      

                                    Related Stories

• Reputed mobster allegedly tossed woman down stairs 3 times: affidavit

Updated: August 21, 2014 6:59AM

    
Two convicted burglars with reputed mob ties and an employee of Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios have been snared in a racketeering investigation that found members of their crew engaged in murder and posed as cops to rip off drug dealers, prosecutors said Saturday.

Paul Koroluk, 55, his wife Maria Koroluk, 53, and Robert Panozzo, 54, are among five defendants charged in the case brought by Cook County prosecutors. Also charged were Maher Abuhabsah, 33, and Panozzo’s son, Robert Jr., 22.

 

Authorities said they launched “Operation Crew Cut” in October after Robert Panozzo Sr. and others tried to have a state witness killed. The witness was preparing to testify against members of the crew in a kidnapping and home invasion case, prosecutors said.

 

The investigation revealed evidence that the crew engaged in murder, home invasion, drug trafficking, burglary and weapons offenses, prosecutors said.

 

According to prosecutors, the crew routinely received information from gang members about the location and contents of drug cartel stash houses. They allegedly used GPS trackers and other equipment on drug dealers’ cars, then would enter the houses posing as police officers and steal the drugs inside.

 

During one home invasion and kidnapping in 2013, Panozzo allegedly sliced off the ear of a victim after he heard him speaking English. Panozzo was angry because the man said he only spoke Spanish, prosecutors said.

 

Panozzo stole more than 25 kilograms of cocaine and two cars in that home invasion, prosecutors said. Paul Koroluk, Robert Panozzo, Panozzo’s son and Abuhabsah were ordered held without bail Saturday. Paul Koroluk, Panozzo Sr. and Abuhabsah are charged with racketeering and drug conspiracy. Panozzo Jr. is charged with drug conspiracy. Maria Koroluk, who was charged with possession with intent to deliver a Super Class X amount of cocaine, was ordered held in lieu of $100,000 bail. Maria Koroluk works for Berrios as director of technical review with a salary of $97,304 a year, according to a Berrios spokesman, who was unaware of her arrest.

 

A task force composed of the Chicago Police, the Cook County Sheriff’s office, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI arrested Paul Koroluk, the Panozzos and Abuhabsah on Wednesday at a home in the Hegewisch neighborhood on the Southeast Side, officials said.

Authorities received court approval to rig the house with surveillance equipment and the men attempted to steal 44 kilograms of cocaine in the sting operation, prosecutors said.

 

Police also raided the Koroluks’ home in the 2100 block of West Race where they arrested Maria Koroluk, sources said. Sources said police recovered weapons and large quantities of drugs in the raids.

 

On Saturday, Paul Koroluk’s attorney Joseph Lopez said, “There’s no questions it’s an FBI set-up. The FBI had the house wired up. The FBI had all kinds of electronic surveillance in this case. The FBI had wire taps.”

 

That may help his case, Lopez said, contending “Obviously a lot of people when they think about the [commitment] of crimes, they think about not the FBI setting it up. They think about people actually committing crimes ... The videotape shows that they engaged in this conduct at the behest of the FBI informant. . . .It shows the FBI set it up.”

 

Operation Crew Cut is the second racketeering case Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez has brought under a new state statute. Last year, she charged leaders of a West Side street gang with violating the statute. It’s modeled after the 1970 federal racketeering statute that was used to target the Mafia.

 

“This case involves extremely serious allegations of dangerous criminal conduct,” Alvarez said at a press conference Saturday. “It is yet another example of the vital importance that our Illinois RICO law plays in our ability to combat violent organized crime here in the state of Illinois and demonstrates why it is an indispensable tool for law enforcement here ... This is a perfect example of the type of case that we were looking to be able to handle under this new law. It is so important that we as prosecutors have these tools.”

 

Paul Koroluk and Panozzo — convicted burglars — have been in the headlines for years for their reputed ties to the Chicago Outfit. Eight years ago, they were convicted for their involvement in a crew suspected of stealing everything from jewelry to Lladros porcelain figurines from wealthy victims they allegedly targeted through limo drivers’ tips and yacht club listings, officials say.

Panozzo’s name surfaced recently in the trial of former Chicago Police Officer Steve Mandell, who was convicted in February of plotting to kidnap, kill and dismember a suburban businessman.

The star witness, former North Shore banker George Michael, said Panozzo introduced him to Mandell over lunch at La Scarola restaurant on West Grand Avenue. The FBI recorded the meeting.

Sources said Paul Koroluk and Panozzo are tied to the Chicago Outfit and the C-Notes street gang located in “The Patch” along Grand Avenue just west of the Loop. The neighborhood has been home to some of the city’s most infamous mobsters.

 

Despite his criminal record, Koroluk once served as a local school council member in the neighborhood. In 2006, Koroluk and Panozzo were both sentenced to seven years in prison in for burglary and possession of burglary tools. The crew was accused of breaking into north suburban homes and stealing jewelry.

 

Officers cracked the case when they tracked footprints in the snow from a burglarized Niles home to Koroluk’s car, in which they found two pillowcases filled with jewelry and cash, police said.

And in 1986, he was caught with thousands of videos that were allegedly stolen from stores on the West and Northwest Sides. At the time, he was running a video store near Chicago and Damen. Koroluk was convicted of burglary and sentenced to probation.

 

In the past, Koroluk and his associates were suspected of paying a Secretary of State’s employee $50 bribes to get personal information on victims. No one was charged in connection with that allegation. Sources said police are investigating whether the current case against the Koroluks and Panozzo also involves public corruption

Reputed mob boss Joseph Andriacchi lists River Forest mansion for $2.15 million

By Bob Goldsborough, Special to the Tribune

Reputed mob boss Joseph Andriacchi, who for more than two decades has been reported by law enforcement organizations and the Chicago Crime Commission to be a high-ranking member of the Chicago Outfit, has listed his four-bedroom, 6,350-square-foot mansion in River Forest for $2.15 million.

In 1990, the commission identified Andriacchi, now 81, as a member of the Outfit’s Elmwood Park street crew, and then in 1997, the group concluded that Andriacchi, was the chief of the Outfit’s North Side street crew.  In 2007, the Tribune reported that commission leaders’ intelligence from law enforcement sources had indicated that Andriacchi was controlling the mob’s north region and heading its Elmwood Park crew. That was consistent with information that officials had gleaned in 2001 when they secretly taped now-deceased mob enforcer Frank Calabrese Sr. identifying Andriacchi as the boss of the Elmwood Park crew.
Now, Andriacchi has placed his longtime mansion on the market.
       

Through a bank trust, Andriacchi paid $765,000 in 1992 for the land that the property sits on. Almost immediately, he turned around and sold a three-bedroom vintage house on the property for $590,000 to a local physician, who now has that home on the market for $1.399 million.  Andriacchi then set about building his French Country-style mansion on the vacant portion of the land that he purchased in 1992.

According to court records, Andriacchi’s mansion was the subject of a foreclosure action in 2012 after his lender initiated foreclosure proceedings against more than 20 commercial and residential properties Andriacchi owned after the reputed Outfit boss stopped making payments on a more than $4 million loan that used those properties as collateral.In late 2013, Andriacchi reached a settlement agreement with his lender and the foreclosure case was dropped.

Sherree Krisco of Gagliardo Realty Associates has the listing. In a brief interview, she said she was unaware that Andriacchi owns the mansion, stating that to her knowledge, it is owned by a trust.
Built in 1993, the mansion has a gated iron fence entry, 4-1/2 baths, a two-story marble foyer, an open floor plan with spacious rooms, a kitchen with built-in appliances and a breakfast bar, a three-car attached garage and a master suite with a dressing area, two walk-in closets and a separate marble bathroom.

“It’s a very unique home that was custom built and has had just one owner,” Krisco said. “There are fabulous marble accents throughout the house, spacious bright rooms and enough room in the dining room to put in a banquet-style table. The interior also has contemporary influences, including big open spaces and a two-story foyer. It’s a lovely, lovely home.”

Copyright © 2014, Chicago Tribune

OC Presentation

On October 13th I had the privilege of appearing at the Palatine Public Library. The Library staff and audience were a wonderful group and enjoyed the evening as did I. My next appearance will be at the Book Stall at Chestnut Court in downtown Winnetka on November 20th at 7pm. See the below link for details:

http://www.thebookstall.com/

Additional appearances will be in Schaumburg, Elmhurst and McHenry County.

I look forward to seeing all of you soon, Dr. Wayne A. Johnson

End of Watch-Chicago

A beautiful Tribute to Chicago's Finest!