Chicago Sun-Times: FBI agent: Mob boss discussed Rosemont casino on tape

The alleged day-to-day boss of the Chicago mob was heard on videotape more than two years ago discussing organized crime's possible involvement with the proposed Emerald Casino in Rosemont, an FBI special agent testified Tuesday.

The agent's testimony was immediately assailed by attorneys for Emerald, Rosemont and even former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak, who surfaced as "the V guy" in an FBI transcript of the conversation between reputed Outfit chief James Marcello and his brother.

In a telephone interview late Tuesday afternoon, Vrdolyak denied ever being linked to the Rosemont casino deal. He surmised that the transcript, which became public just a few hours earlier during a session of Emerald's gaming license revocation hearing, reads "like two dopes talking to each other about things they don't know anything about."

Chicago FBI organized crime chief John Mallul did not testify about the accuracy of the statements made by James Marcello and his brother, Michael Marcello. But Mallul did say that the following passage of the chat at a federal prison on March 24, 2003, was a reference to Emerald's plans for Rosemont:

"How are you guys doin' with that, OK? Everything OK?" James Marcello asks his brother while in the visiting room of the federal penitentiary in Milan, Mich.

"So far, yeah. Things workin' out good," Michael Marcello replies.

"Good," James Marcello says.

Emerald fights revocation

At another point in the conversation, James Marcello asks, "Are we gonna be in there at all?"

His brother doesn't sound sure.

"I don't . . . MGM or one of them companies will wind up with it. I mean he ain't gonna get it like he wanted it before ..." Michael Marcello replies.

The "he" in that conversation, Mallul testified, is Rosemont Mayor Donald E. Stephens, who has been at the center of the controversy over Emerald's dormant gaming license.

Emerald tried to build a casino in Rosemont, but the Illinois Gaming Board in 2001 rejected its plans in part because two allegedly mob-linked investors were involved in Emerald's ownership. Since then, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has accused Stephens, 77, of being associated with allegedly mob-linked people and attempting to exert control over Emerald. Stephens has denied those claims.

Based on the accusations, the state is seeking to revoke Emerald's gaming license, which hasn't been active since 1997. Emerald is fighting the allegations, hoping to retain its license and sell it in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Supreme Court case

Retired Judge Abner Mikva is presiding over the revocation hearing, which will wrap up early next week. Emerald's fate also could be affected by an Illinois Supreme Court ruling due out Thursday in which justices will decide if a 1999 law that allowed Emerald to move its license off the Mississippi River and into Cook County is unconstitutional.

The videotape and transcript discussed during the hearing Tuesday are part of "Operation Family Secrets," a massive government investigation that charged the Outfit as a criminal enterprise and put 18 unsolved murders at its doorstep. James Marcello is accused in two murders and one attempted murder. Michael Marcello is accused of helping his brother run mob operations while James Marcello was in prison.

The Marcello casino chat comprises less than three minutes of the nearly five-hour tape. In it, Michael Marcello suggests that Vrdolyak, whom Mallul testified is the person referred to as "the V guy," arranged for former Chicago Crime Commission investigator Wayne Johnson to get a job as Cicero's police chief, possibly in exchange for Johnson dropping mob allegations he once leveled against Stephens.

Stephens called that statement "ridiculous," echoing Vrdolyak's claim that such a thing "never, never, never, ever, ever happened." Johnson, who is no longer Cicero's police chief, also denied it, but referred questions to his attorney, who could not be reached.

Contributing: Steve Warmbir