July 19, 2005
BY MAURA KELLY LANNAN
Rosemont Mayor Donald E. Stephens met with five members and two associates of organized crime in May 1999 regarding the mob's control of construction and operations contracts at a proposed casino in the northwest suburb, an FBI agent testified Monday.
Special agent John Mallul's testimony
came during a
hearing in which the
state is aiming to
revoke the dormant
gaming license held
by Emerald Casino
Inc. The Illinois
Gaming Board cited
wrongdoing by
Emerald, including
alleged mob links,
in rejecting the
company's Rosemont
casino plan in 2001.
Stephens vehemently denied Mallul's
testimony, saying he
was at a vacation
home in Delavan,
Wis., on the day the
meeting allegedly
occurred. He also
said he's never been
to Armand's, the
Elmwood Park
restaurant where the
gathering was to
have happened.
"This is lunacy," Stephens said,
adding he hopes to
set the record
straight when he
testifies, possibly
later this month.
'The Clown'
allegedly sat in
Mallul, an FBI supervisory special
agent of an
organized crime
squad in Chicago,
testified that the
May 29, 1999,
meeting he said
Stephens attended
included the
following people
whom Mallul
identified as
members of organized
crime: Peter
DiFronzo, John "No
Nose" DiFronzo, Joey
"The Clown"
Lombardo, Rudy
Fratto and Joe "The
Builder" Andriacchi.
''One topic of discussion concerned a
casino in Rosemont,
Illinois, and LCN
[La Cosa Nostra]
control of various
contracts regarding
its construction and
operation,'' Mallul
said, reading from
an FBI memo that the
Gaming Board said it
requested two or
three weeks ago.
Lombardo, long believed to be a
leader of organized
crime in the Chicago
area, is among those
charged in an April
indictment in
connection with at
least 18 unsolved
murders. He has so
far eluded capture.
Mallul said the meeting also included
William Messino and
Rick Rissoulo, whom
Mallul identified as
associates of
organized crime.
The information about the meeting
came from a
confidential source
who was at the
meeting, Mallul
said. The source was
a person whom the
FBI has used for 30
years and who has
helped with arrests
and indictments,
Mallul said.
AP, with staff reporter Chris
Fusco contributing
Stephens willing to
end casino push, for
$50 mil.
BY
CHRIS FUSCO
Staff Reporter
Rosemont Mayor Donald E. Stephens
said Monday he's
willing to pull the
plug on his long
casino quest -- if
certain conditions
are met.
"If we were made whole it would not
bother me if the
casino was not in
Rosemont," Stephens
told the Chicago
Sun-Times.
To be "made whole," Rosemont would
need to be paid
about $50 million
from a proposed sale
of Emerald Casino's
dormant gaming
license to cover the
cost of a parking
garage the village
built for Emerald.
The rusting steel
shell of what was to
become Emerald's
gambling barge
remains visible
outside that garage
-- a reminder of how
mob allegations
derailed Emerald's
plans for Rosemont.
Rosemont has since moved forward with
a flurry of court
cases to steer
Emerald's gaming
license to another
company that could
finish the barge.
But those efforts
haven't worked so
far, and Illinois
Attorney General
Lisa Madigan has
been among those to
question whether
Stephens is linked
to the mob.
'I've got the armor
of God'
Stephens guffawed when told of FBI
special agent John
Mallul's testimony
Monday that Stephens
met with five
mobsters --
including two linked
to a waste-hauling
firm that did
business at the
Emerald site -- and
two mob associates.
Stephens said he was
at his vacation home
in Delavan, Wis., on
May 29, 1999, when
the meeting at an
Elmwood Park
restaurant,
Armand's, allegedly
occurred.
"I've never been in Armand's
restaurant,"
Stephens said. "I've
never had lunch with
any of these people.
I've never had
breakfast with any
of these people. . .
. I've never went to
the movies with any
of these people.
Nothing.
"This was Memorial Day weekend. I was
at my home in
Delavan."
Stephens stressed his willingness to
walk away from the
casino deal would be
contingent on the
approval of his
fellow village
trustees and the
village's lawyers.
When asked if doing
so might appear to
be an admission that
Rosemont has links
to organized crime
and taint his nearly
50-year run as the
village's only
mayor, he replied,
"I know that I
haven't got those
associations. . . .
I've got the armor
of God, and I'm not
worried."