Decades after Chicago Outfit mobster Frank Calabrese Sr committed some of the most gruesome mob slayings in history relatives of those victims will receive $1.7 Million dollars in restitution. Calabrese Sr was convicted in the “Family Secrets Trial” in 2007 of racketeering which involved thirteen murders that spanned decades. The $1.7 Million dollars comes from assets of the late Calabrese who died last December while serving his life sentence. The majority of the money was found by federal agents back in 2010 in Calabrese’s home in a secret compartment in the basement hidden behind a family portrait. There were envelopes stuffed with $644,000 dollars in cash and hundreds of pieces of expensive jewelry much of which was still in display boxes with store tags.
“Frank Calabrese Sr”
The 2007 operation Family Secrets trial offered up some lurid testimony from mob turncoats such as Nick Calabrese the brother of Frank Calabrese Sr about some of the most gruesome and notorious mob slayings over several decades. Nick Calabrese alone gave testimony about 14 murders that read more like a Hollywood script. Along with Calabrese Sr other top Chicago Mafia leaders including James Marcello and Joseph “Joey the Clown” Lombardo were also convicted of multiple gangland slayings. This is the largest amount of money to be paid for restitution in an organized crime case according to veteran law enforcement officials. U.S. Attorney Gary Shapiro said “They never find the money and if you do find were never able to get our hands on it” and this restitution is yet another remarkable part of the Family Secrets investigation.
The Family Secrets trial is one of the largest take downs of the Chicago Mafia in history and solved 18 murders many of which were considered cold cases. Many believe that the Chicago Outfit still has not rebounded from its effects and may never.
