William Spears, narcotics and the Rockford LCN

[cavita]

The Pizza Joint Restaurant at 2815 11th Street in Rockford, Illinois was owned in the early 1990s by William Spears, who was a Rockford LCN associate and narcotics mover. It is my personal belief that Spears moved cocaine for the Rockford LCN that was imported into the Rockford area by the organization and was distributed out through the northern Illinois area. The Pizza Joint Restaurant and Jackson Auto Sales which Spears also owned was under surveillance by the FBI in the early 1990s in relation to Rockford LCN capo Sebastian “Knobby” Gulotta and his activities. The FBI stated that the Pizza Joint was a “known hangout for Rockford LCN members.” Additionally, Spears was related to Gilbert Spears who had a gambling connection to the Rockford LCN going back to the 1950s and 1960s. Gilbert was associated with Donald Burton and Joe Greco, the would-be gamblers who ran afoul of the Rockford LCN in 1959 and wound up being found beaten and strangled to death in the trunk of Greco’s car on a lonely Winnebago County road in May 1959. In 1968 Gilbert Spears found himself involved in another gambling murder which saw the death of Edward Crooks at the hands of Edward “Big Eddie the Mailman” Aarhus.

Returning to William Spears, it appears that when the Rockford LCN became involved in the narcotics business in 1980, Spears was one of those who became big pushers for the cocaine that was coming in to the area. Spears and his wife were arrested in May 1985 on charges of possession and intent to deliver marijuana and cocaine. Police confiscated over $7,000 in cash, four to five pounds of marijuana and 30 grams of cocaine from their home at 2413 Alton Street. On April 1, 1992, Spears was arrested once again when he was found with one pound of cocaine strapped to his ankle. According to the Rockford Register Star he was considered a major drug dealer in the area and his arrest at the time was the largest one-person drug bust in Winnebago County history according to Winnebago County State’s Attorney Paul Logli. Narcotics officers also seized a safe from Spears which contained seven kilos of cocaine. That and the cocaine strapped to his ankle made the total retail value about $2 million according to the newspaper.

A very interesting tie-in with Spears and Jackson Auto Sales also occurred about this time. On March 12, 1991 twenty-seven people were indicted by a U.S. District court grand jury on charges to distribute cocaine in the Rockford area and southern Wisconsin. This conspiracy, according to federal prosecutors, started on January 1, 1986 and was called the “Mauerman Organization” as it included many members of the Mauerman family. Edward P. Mauerman, Jr. was called the drug ring’s kingpin and this organization brought more than 176 pounds of cocaine into the Rockford area over the next five years. Mauerman was friends in Florida with two brothers named Ramon and Juan Castellanos who used to live in Belvidere, Illinois. The Castellanos brothers and Mauerman arranged to have the cocaine shipped north to Rockford through various couriers and once in Rockford, the cocaine would be repackaged at different locations and then distributed throughout Rockford and southern Wisconsin. One of these locations that the cocaine was repackaged at was Jackson Auto Sales on 11th Street.

An undercover narcotics investigation once again resulted in the arrest of William Spears on April 3, 2008. Rockford Police and Winnebago County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested Spears along with Bobby Earl Gaines. Spears was charged with one count of delivery of cocaine, possession of cocaine and possession of marijuana and a parole violation. Yet again, on April 21, 2016 Spears found himself in trouble again when a search warrant at 1708 26th Street was executed and he was arrested for manufacturing and delivering cocaine and cannabis, possession of cannabis, aggravated unlawful use of a loaded weapon in his vehicle, and being an armed habitual criminal. Spears pled guilty to these charges on March 3, 2020 and on June 4, 2020 he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

[Patrickgold]

Great write up Cavita. Never heard of him. I tried looking him up on Illinois prisoner search and he is still not in the system. Do you know when he will be out? It looks like it is a non federal case so he won’t do anything close to 15 years. Also, when do you think he stopped giving the Outfit a percentage? Sounds like was definitely in his early years of dealing

[Patrickgold]

Cavita, also been meaning to ask you if you ever heard of a Rockford guy that moved out to California named Felippo Damiano?

[cavita]

Great write up Cavita. Never heard of him. I tried looking him up on Illinois prisoner search and he is still not in the system. Do you know when he will be out? It looks like it is a non federal case so he won’t do anything close to 15 years. Also, when do you think he stopped giving the Outfit a percentage? Sounds like was definitely in his early years of dealing

I believe he is still housed in the Winnebago County jail until he gets moved to a state facility. I think his involvement waned in the late 90s but that's just guessing on my part.

[cavita]

Cavita, also been meaning to ask you if you ever heard of a Rockford guy that moved out to California named Felippo Damiano?

Yes, Filippo Damiano was an early Rockford member with ties to Milwaukee. As best I can tell he transferred out to San Diego around 1950 or so. While still a Rockford member he was living in the Beloit, Wisconsin/South Beloit, Illinois area and most likely represented their interests there.

[cavita]

Well it looks like William Spears was arrested yet again for manufacturing and delivering cocaine when narcotics officers found him in possession of about a half pound of cocaine and a 9mm handgun. Spears was released from prison about a year ago and went right back to his old ways. These new charges will likely send him away for the rest of his life.