“Organized crime” was the taboo term that resulted in a mistrial last week for Addison businessman Gene Cassano and an associate accused in a juice loan extortion scheme. But when it comes to the u…
The first objection in the recent extortion trial of Addison businessman Gene “Gino” Cassano came about five seconds into opening statements, when a prosecutor mentioned the term “juice loan.”
While the charges against Cassano and his associate, Gioacchino “Jack” Galione, make no mention of the mob, records reviewed by the Tribune since the trial ended March 8 show the underlying investigation specifically targeted the dwindling upper-echelon members of the Chicago Outfit. The hundreds of pages of Title III affidavits submitted by the FBI in 2016 also tied the current targets to the Outfit’s long and sordid history in Chicago, including some of the top mob bosses at the center of the landmark “Family Secrets” case.
But no sweeping “Family Secrets 2” racketeering indictment tying those individual cases to organized crime was ever brought, and it’s unclear if that aspect of the probe is still ongoing. It’s a sentiment clearly shared by Cassano. Before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman took the bench to declare the mistrial earlier this month, he stopped a Tribune reporter in the hallway outside the courtroom and said, “Three blind mice could figure this case out. Can you?”Evidence at trial showed that Cassano, 55, was involved in sports gambling. But he also has operated a variety of legitimate businesses over the years, including restaurants, coffee shops and a logistics firm.
Jack Galione, foreground, leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on March 5, 2024. Attorney Thomas Breen is behind him at left. The unusual case saw turmoil throughout the leadup to trial, including an effort by prosecutors to revoke or tighten bond conditions for both Cassano and Galione following several alleged incidents of witness tampering last year.
That April, prosecutors alleged, Galione also tried to contact Perelli, going to his social club and asking about his whereabouts on several occasions. Perelli, who was out of town, heard of Galione’s attempts and reached out to the FBI “to express concerns for his safety,” according to prosecutors. In asking for tighter bond restrictions for Cassano, prosecutors cited another incident that occurred at Gino and Marty’s restaurant in the West Loop, where Cassano allegedly got into a verbal altercation with John Rainone, a convicted felon and son of feared Outfit enforcer Mario Rainone.
Pacilio claimed that Galione told him Cassano had paid him to speak to Mucerino about the juice loan debt, but never ordered a beating, according to prosecutors. Pacilio, who also collected on juice loans for Cassano in the past, was expected to testify he told Cassano that “he was stupid for hiring Galione to collect his debts” because of his violent reputation.
The dispute over Pacilio’s testimony forced Coleman to scuttle the original trial date. The judge ultimately granted part of the defense’s request for sanctions, ruling that prosecutors could not use Pacilio’s grand jury statements at trial. But the issue never came up further because the mistrial was declared before he took the stand.
Under cross examination by defense attorney Todd Pugh, Mucerino acknowledged he deliberately misled the FBI when they first started asking questions about the attack, telling them he owed a gambling debt to Galione and making no mention of Cassano at all.“Did you call up the prosecutor and say, ‘You know what? I think I’m gonna burn up a few joints on my way down to the interview. Good idea or bad idea?’ Did you do that?” Pugh asked.
Perelli described Galione as “a tough guy from the neighborhood, someone not to be messed with.” He said Galione bragged to him and another friend about the Mucerino beating, even giving them a little walk-through of the incident in his garage. Before the questioning could continue, Guzman blurted out that the government had “security concerns” over Perelli disclosing where he lived, prompting the defense to object furiously and later lodge the third of its half-dozen motions for a mistrial.
The 71-year-old father, an immigrant from Naples who ran a popular Addison restaurant for years, grew so agitated under defense questioning about his son he had to be banished to the hallway to calm down.
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