(news) FBI Indicts 14 Alleged Mob Figures in Chicago, page 1

Fourteen reputed Chicago mob figures were charged Monday with murders and other crimes spanning four decades, in what authorities called the most sweeping organized-crime bust in Chicago's rich gangland history. Perhaps the most notorious slayings covered in Monday's indictment were of Brothers Anthony and Michael Spilotro, who were beaten and buried in an Indiana cornfield in 1986, apparently for skimming mob profits in Las Vegas. The double-murder was later depicted in the movie "Casino." Various other charges included beatings, extortion and illegal gambling dating back to the mid-1960s.

www.usatoday.com...

CHICAGO (AP) — FBI agents were always sure that 18 unsolved murders, some dating back more than three decades, were ordered by some of the top men in the Chicago mob. But they were never able to arrest anyone for the crimes — until now.

Before first light on Monday, government agents with arrest warrants in hand began knocking on the doors of major organized crime figures in the Chicago area, Florida and Arizona, following what federal officials described as the most far-reaching mob indictment in Chicago in decades.

Fourteen reputed mob figures, including two retired policemen, were indicted as a result of a racketeering case charging conspiracy to commit 18 murders dating as far back as 1970.

Those indicted included 63-year-old James Marcello, identified by FBI officials as the leader of organized crime in Chicago, and longtime mob leader Joey "The Clown" Lombardo, 75. Marcello was arrested, and a manhunt for Lombardo was under way in Chicago.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

All I can say is I am flabbergasted, and here I thought the Italian mobs were long gone, goes to show you how wrong a person can be. I thought gangs and mobs were now mostly Russian, Mexican, Puerto Rican gangs. Are Italian mobs common in the rest of the US?

There are only two exceptions that I can think of that would be New York and possibly Vegas, just wondering is all.

There is one good thing we now have 18 past murder cases solved.

[edit on 4/25/2005 by shots]