Big house for ‘Little Jimmy'; Mob boss Marcello gets life in prison for his role in murders of Spilotro brothers depicted in film ‘Casino’
By Steve Warmbir, The Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun Times
CHICAGO — James “Little Jimmy” Marcello wasn’t known for cracking jokes like mob capo Joey “the Clown” Lombardo.
He didn’t fly off the handle like Outfit killer Frank Calabrese Sr.
He just ran the Chicago mob -- with a relentless, brutal efficiency.
Marcello, 65, was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for his Outfit crimes, including his role in one of the most notorious hits in Chicago mob history, the murders of mobsters Anthony and Michael Spilotro, whose slayings were featured in the 1995 Martin Scorsese film “Casino.”
Marcello was also held responsible by U.S. District Judge James Zagel for the 1981 murder of Nicholas D’Andrea, who was beaten to death in the back of a car.
In both cases, Marcello was the driver.
In the Spilotro murders, he knowingly drove the Spilotro brothers to their deaths.
The brothers thought they were going to get Outfit promotions at a ceremony in the basement of a Bensenville area home.
Instead, it was an invitation to a slaughter. Anthony Spilotro was bringing too much heat as the mob’s man in Las Vegas.
When the brothers descended the basement steps, they saw a swarm of mobsters -- wearing gloves -- who jumped them and beat, strangled and kicked them to death.
In the D’Andrea murder, Marcello was among several mobsters, including the late Sam Carlisi, who grabbed D’Andrea, a mob associate, for grilling in the botched hit of a mob boss.
Instead of delivering him for questioning, the mobsters roughed D’Andrea up so much in the back seat of the car, they killed him.
D’Andrea’s son Bob went before the judge Thursday, looked Marcello straight in the eyes and told him he wished Marcello could imagine the pain his father went through.
Marcello stared right back at him.
“I want you to imagine the pain someone feels being beaten with the butt end of a shotgun,” D’Andrea told Marcello.
“Imagine that, for a moment.”
‘YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY’
D’Andrea told Marcello that he’ll eventually face a higher judge than the one sitting in the courtroom.
“When He asks Mr. Marcello why he brought so much pain and misery to so many, I hope he has some answers because that’s not life [in prison], that’s eternity,” D’Andrea said.
Three members of the Spilotro family spoke to the judge, as well, including Patrick Spilotro, a brother of the dead men.
Spilotro noted that Marcello’s own father died a mob death. Sam Marcello was murdered in 1973 while collecting a debt, his body stuffed into a barrel.
Marcello “should have known better after losing his own father in a horribly grisly and disturbing fashion,” Spilotro said.
Spilotro gave a long list of the mobsters responsible for his brothers’ deaths -- nearly all of those killers themselves now dead -- and challenged the FBI to put away the last remaining free man who was allegedly involved in the murders, according to court testimony: alleged mob boss John “No Nose” DiFronzo. DiFronzo was not charged in the Family Secrets case.
Throughout his sentencing, Marcello showed no emotion. He would barely nod his head at times. He had changed from an orange prison jumpsuit to a sport coat and slacks. He declined to speak to the judge at length and wanted nothing of the drama attending other sentencings in the historic Family Secrets mob case.
Federal prosecutor Markus Funk noted that Marcello was different from the other mobsters in the case. He was more cunning, more intelligent, more courteous.
The judge agreed.
“I regret you did not live a better life,” Zagel told Marcello. “But you will have to pay for your crimes.”
Copyright 2009 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.