Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 0 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Hub AI
Joseph Lombardo AI simulator
(@Joseph Lombardo_simulator)
Hub AI
Joseph Lombardo AI simulator
(@Joseph Lombardo_simulator)
Joseph Lombardo
Joseph Patrick Lombardo (born Giuseppe Lombardi; January 1, 1929 – October 19, 2019), also known as "Joey the Clown", was an American mobster and a high-ranking member of the Chicago Outfit crime organization. He was the Consigliere of the Outfit.
Lombardo was born on January 1, 1929, in Chicago, one of 11 children to Italian immigrants from Bari, Mike Lombardi, a butcher, and Carmela Lombardi. Lombardo, a high school dropout, at some point changed the final letter of his last name. He joined the Outfit in the 1950s.
Lombardo began his Outfit career as a jewel thief and as a juice-loan collector. In 1963, Lombardo was arrested and charged with kidnapping and loan sharking, but was acquitted after a factory worker who had owed $2,000 and who was behind on his payments could not positively identify Lombardo. The acquittal was Lombardo's 11th in 11 arrests. Lombardo, who by the late 1960s was referred to as an "up-and-comer" in the Chicago Outfit along with Angelo J. LaPietra (known as "The Hook"), would take over the Outfit's operations in Las Vegas in 1971.
For a short period Lombardo functioned as an errand boy for the bail bondsman Irwin Weiner. Later Weiner would post bail for Lombardo's underlings.
On December 15, 1982, Lombardo was convicted, along with Teamsters Union President Roy Williams and insurance executive Allen Dorfman, with bribery of Nevada Democratic State Senator Howard Cannon in order to get a trucking deregulation bill blocked. Lombardo was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in the bribe conspiracy. In 1986, Lombardo was convicted of skimming over $2 million in proceeds in several Strip casinos (including the Stardust Resort & Casino), and was sentenced to another 10 years in prison. Lombardo was released on November 13, 1992, after serving only 10 years in prison.
Following his release, Lombardo took the unusual step of taking out a small classified ad in the Chicago Tribune that read: "I never took a secret oath, with guns and daggers, pricked my finger, drew blood or burned paper to join a criminal organization. If anyone hears my name used in connection with any criminal activity, please notify the FBI, local police, and my parole officer, Ron Kumke."
In 2003, Chicago newspapers began reporting that federal investigators were looking into solving old mob murders. In 2003, the FBI swabbed Lombardo for DNA. Federal authorities also notified Lombardo during the probe that his life might be in danger. On April 25, 2005, Lombardo was indicted along with 13 other defendants as part of the federal government's Operation Family Secrets investigation, which lifted the veil on 18 killings since the 1970s that federal investigators had attributed to the Outfit. Lombardo was indicted for his role in at least one murder, as well as for running a racket based on illegal gambling, loan sharking, and murder. As federal agents rounded up the 14 defendants on April 25, 2005, they realized that Lombardo had disappeared, having become a fugitive after they issued a federal arrest warrant.
While Lombardo's whereabouts were unknown, he wrote letters to his lawyer, Rick Halprin—but directed toward the judge in the trial—in which he claimed to be innocent, requested a $50,000 recognizance bond, offered to take a lie detector test, and asked to be tried separately from the other defendants in the Family Secrets case—all requests that U.S. District Judge James Zagel denied. The first letter from Lombardo surfaced on May 4, 2005, was four pages long and riddled with spelling and grammatical errors. "I am no part of an enterprise or racketering [sic]... Have no part in the poker machines, extorcinate [sic] loans, gambling and what ever else the indictment says," the letter read. "About the 18 murders in the indictment, I want you to know that I was not privy before the murders, during the murders, and after the murders, and to this present writing to you." Lombardo also told Zagel in the letter, "I want you to know that I am not a violent man in anyway shape or form. I do not own or have any weapons of any kind. If the F.B.I. should find me I will come peacefully and no resistence [sic] at all." Lombardo also asked Zagel "If you have any ideas or suggestion of what I should do, notify my lawyer he could reach me by the media." In August and September 2005, Lombardo sent more letters to his attorney, indicating that he had been following local news coverage of a state hearing involving allegations that the mayor of Rosemont, Illinois, Donald Stephens, had met with several members of the Chicago Outfit. In response, Halprin quipped of his still-at-large client's newspaper-reading habit: "I doubt that he has a home subscription."
Joseph Lombardo
Joseph Patrick Lombardo (born Giuseppe Lombardi; January 1, 1929 – October 19, 2019), also known as "Joey the Clown", was an American mobster and a high-ranking member of the Chicago Outfit crime organization. He was the Consigliere of the Outfit.
Lombardo was born on January 1, 1929, in Chicago, one of 11 children to Italian immigrants from Bari, Mike Lombardi, a butcher, and Carmela Lombardi. Lombardo, a high school dropout, at some point changed the final letter of his last name. He joined the Outfit in the 1950s.
Lombardo began his Outfit career as a jewel thief and as a juice-loan collector. In 1963, Lombardo was arrested and charged with kidnapping and loan sharking, but was acquitted after a factory worker who had owed $2,000 and who was behind on his payments could not positively identify Lombardo. The acquittal was Lombardo's 11th in 11 arrests. Lombardo, who by the late 1960s was referred to as an "up-and-comer" in the Chicago Outfit along with Angelo J. LaPietra (known as "The Hook"), would take over the Outfit's operations in Las Vegas in 1971.
For a short period Lombardo functioned as an errand boy for the bail bondsman Irwin Weiner. Later Weiner would post bail for Lombardo's underlings.
On December 15, 1982, Lombardo was convicted, along with Teamsters Union President Roy Williams and insurance executive Allen Dorfman, with bribery of Nevada Democratic State Senator Howard Cannon in order to get a trucking deregulation bill blocked. Lombardo was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in the bribe conspiracy. In 1986, Lombardo was convicted of skimming over $2 million in proceeds in several Strip casinos (including the Stardust Resort & Casino), and was sentenced to another 10 years in prison. Lombardo was released on November 13, 1992, after serving only 10 years in prison.
Following his release, Lombardo took the unusual step of taking out a small classified ad in the Chicago Tribune that read: "I never took a secret oath, with guns and daggers, pricked my finger, drew blood or burned paper to join a criminal organization. If anyone hears my name used in connection with any criminal activity, please notify the FBI, local police, and my parole officer, Ron Kumke."
In 2003, Chicago newspapers began reporting that federal investigators were looking into solving old mob murders. In 2003, the FBI swabbed Lombardo for DNA. Federal authorities also notified Lombardo during the probe that his life might be in danger. On April 25, 2005, Lombardo was indicted along with 13 other defendants as part of the federal government's Operation Family Secrets investigation, which lifted the veil on 18 killings since the 1970s that federal investigators had attributed to the Outfit. Lombardo was indicted for his role in at least one murder, as well as for running a racket based on illegal gambling, loan sharking, and murder. As federal agents rounded up the 14 defendants on April 25, 2005, they realized that Lombardo had disappeared, having become a fugitive after they issued a federal arrest warrant.
While Lombardo's whereabouts were unknown, he wrote letters to his lawyer, Rick Halprin—but directed toward the judge in the trial—in which he claimed to be innocent, requested a $50,000 recognizance bond, offered to take a lie detector test, and asked to be tried separately from the other defendants in the Family Secrets case—all requests that U.S. District Judge James Zagel denied. The first letter from Lombardo surfaced on May 4, 2005, was four pages long and riddled with spelling and grammatical errors. "I am no part of an enterprise or racketering [sic]... Have no part in the poker machines, extorcinate [sic] loans, gambling and what ever else the indictment says," the letter read. "About the 18 murders in the indictment, I want you to know that I was not privy before the murders, during the murders, and after the murders, and to this present writing to you." Lombardo also told Zagel in the letter, "I want you to know that I am not a violent man in anyway shape or form. I do not own or have any weapons of any kind. If the F.B.I. should find me I will come peacefully and no resistence [sic] at all." Lombardo also asked Zagel "If you have any ideas or suggestion of what I should do, notify my lawyer he could reach me by the media." In August and September 2005, Lombardo sent more letters to his attorney, indicating that he had been following local news coverage of a state hearing involving allegations that the mayor of Rosemont, Illinois, Donald Stephens, had met with several members of the Chicago Outfit. In response, Halprin quipped of his still-at-large client's newspaper-reading habit: "I doubt that he has a home subscription."