The son of reputed Chicago mobster Frank Calabrese Sr. is expected to take the witness stand again Tuesday. Frank Calabrese Junior Monday laid out some of the basics of organized crime for jurors. Chicago Public Radio’s Mike Rhee reports.
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Calabrese Junior said his father once told him an important rule of the Chicago Outfit: that it came before your blood family, even God. Calabrese Junior spoke calmly through hours of testimony Monday as he explained the Outfit’s hierarchy, its penchant for using nicknames and the secret places around Chicago it would store caches of weapons. He went on to say he once heard his father and his uncle, Nicholas Calabrese, talk about the murders of several people. Nicholas Calabrese pleaded guilty in May to murder and other crimes.
Jurors also heard several recorded conversations between Calabrese Junior and his father. Calabrese Junior said he wore a wire for the FBI because, quote “I felt this needed to be stopped.” Calabrese Senior and four others are accused of racketeering conspiracy and the collective murders of 18 people, among other charges.