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 Caravetta's friends  Emil Schullo (Tribune photo by John Lee)  Michael A. Spano, Sr. (Tribune photo by John Lee) Stories Jury deliberations begin in Cicero kickback case March 28, 2002 Cicero kickback questioned March 27, 2002 Ex-Berwyn cop tells of kickbacks March 22, 2002 Court told of ties to Cicero mob March 19, 2002 Last of 63 tapes played at Cicero police chief's trial March 15, 2002 U.S. plays tape to build case against Cicero cop March 14, 2002 Cicero kickback scheme told March 13, 2002 |
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Associated Press Writer
Published March 28, 2002, 1:59 PM CST
Former Cicero Police Chief Emil Schullo and two reputed mob figures were convicted today of a conspiracy to steal more than $75,000 from the corruption-plagued western suburb.
A federal court jury deliberated for a day and a half before returning its verdict following a 10-day trial before U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo on theft, money-laundering and conspiracy charges.
Schullo, 55, of Cicero, and Michael A. Spano Sr., 61, and James Inendino, 59, both of suburban Darien, were impassive as the verdict was read.
Castillo allowed all three defendants to remain free on bond despite the urging of Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitchell A. Mars that Spano and Inendino be locked up immediately.
Mars said that Spano had connections to organized crime through imprisoned west suburban mob boss Ernest "Rocco" Infelice.
"Infelice passed the mantle to Spano" when Infelice was sent to federal prison in a gambling conspiracy a decade ago, Mars said. He said that Inendino has been convicted of five felonies and is suspected of engaging in loan-sharking out of the currency exchange where he works.
Castillo said Inendino had to stop working at the currency exchange but let him remain free on bond pending sentencing.
As they left the courtroom Inendino told reporters he was not surprised at the verdict and Spano said he was unsure if there would be an appeal.
"That’s up to the lawyers," Spano said. "Whatever they decide to do is OK with us."
Schullo was accused by witnesses and in secretly made tape recordings of providing a contract to a private investigations firm in return for kickbacks of 10 percent of the money paid under the deal.
The firm was nominally operated by Sam Rovetuso, a convicted felon who had lost his private detective’s license, but was really operated by Spano and Inendino, according to the government.
Unknown to the three, Rovetuso was working undercover as part of the government’s decades-long investigation of the corruption-riddled suburb. Jurors heard 69 tapes made secretly by Rovetuso of conversations with the defendants before his death from leukemia in 1999.
Two other defendants, Gregory Ross, a onetime Internal Revenue Service supervisor, and Peter Volpe, a former Berwyn police detective, pleaded guilty earlier and are awaiting sentencing.
Schullo and Spano are among 10 people, including Cicero town President Betty Loren-Maltese, charged with siphoning thousands of dollars out of Cicero’s treasury through an inflated insurance contract.
Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune