Outfit guy busted

[Wiseguy]

Feds say Outfit soldier caught on tape planning robbery
Jason Meisner
Chicago Tribune
December 22, 2016

ct-cth-charles-russell-jpg-20161222.jpg

A reputed Chicago Outfit soldier was arrested on gun charges this week after he was caught on undercover recordings bragging about plans to break into the home of an elderly suburban lawyer and force him to open a safe filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars, federal prosecutors say.

"Nothing gets my juices flowing like putting a gun to someone's head, taking their stuff, and making it mine," Charles "Chuckie" Russell was quoted in a court filing telling a government informant. "It will be a great Christmas, I'm telling you."

Russell, 67, was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly went to a South Loop deli to purchase eight guns from a person who turned out to be an undercover federal agent, according to a 26-page criminal complaint unsealed Thursday. He was charged with two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ordered held until a bond hearing in early January.

An alleged member of the Chicago mob's Grand Avenue crew, Russell was sentenced in 1992 to 35 years in prison for an aggravated criminal sexual assault conviction. He was acquitted of attempted murder in that case, records show. He was released on parole in March 2011.

Last month, a confidential informant told agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that Russell had been bragging about being "a top ranking member of the mob," according to the complaint.

At a meeting at a coffeehouse on Taylor Street, Russell allegedly told the informant he was the head of a prolific gang of burglars called the "Bishop" boys that was responsible for hundreds of burglaries and home invasions over the past several years.

On Dec. 16, Russell met the informant along with an undercover agent at the Boundary Tavern and Grille in Wicker Park, according to the complaint. During the conversation, which was secretly recorded, Russell talked about plans for an upcoming robbery of a man in his 70s who was believed to have as much as $750,000 in cash in a safe in his home, the complaint said. Russell said he'd been casing the home for years and had an "ex-girl" who was on the inside and knew the location of the safe and other valuables.

"If he doesn't open it, we're gonna make him open it," Russell said, according to the complaint. "They always open for me, believe me. I bring my butane torch, put it on the bottom of their feet, they open it."

According to the complaint, Russell wanted help on the robbery. He told the informant and the undercover agent that his crew would be equipped with all the proper tools to avoid detection, including police scanners, masks and a change of clothes. He also said their biggest worry would be if the victim had a heart attack, because if "he (expletive) drops dead, we got a (expletive) murder," according to the complaint.

"The fun for me is the score," Russell allegedly said on the recording. "That's how I get my adrenaline. ... You know how long it takes to come to down for me? I counted money one night for so long my hands were filthy."

Later in the conversation, Russell talked about buying firearms from the undercover agent. On Monday, the three men met again at the Gale Street Inn in Jefferson Park, where Russell gave the agent a list of guns he was looking for, including an Uzi submachine gun and an AK-47, according to the complaint.

During the meeting, Russell handed the undercover agent a driver's license depicting an African-American man and then showed him a cellphone photo of a car that was riddled with bullet holes. Russell said he was showing him "some decent work" of his, and that the man was "no longer with us."

"All (expletive) blood and brain all over the (expletive) seat," Russell was quoted in the charges as saying. "Went right through his head and out that side. Take (the car) and drop it off in the black community, another black bastard gets caught with it."

Chicago police confirmed that the man depicted in the driver's license photo was killed in November, according to the complaint.

Russell's arrest marked the latest blow for the once-feared Grand Avenue crew made famous by colorful and violent leaders such as Joey "The Clown" Lombardo and currently believed to be headed by Albert "Little Guy" Vena, who is Russell's brother-in-law

In 2014, alleged crew members Robert Panozzo, Paul Koroluk, and others were arrested on sweeping racketeering charges alleging an array of crimes going back to at least 2007, from home invasions and armed robberies to burglaries, arson, insurance fraud and prostitution.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... story.html

[UTC]

He's no Accardo...

[cavita]

Interesting article since it seems we are hard pressed to find a murder attributed to the Outfit. It looks as if the Grand Avenue crew has been very active and we are just now finding out some of their dealings.

[Pete]

One by one venas guys keep getting picked off. Seems like a matter of time until he gets pinched

[sdeitche]

Going into Chicago on MOnday. Might swing by some of the sites they list, though wish they would say what coffeeshop on Taylor.

[Five Felonies]

Take (the car) and drop it off in the black community, another black bastard gets caught with it."

i wonder how much violence related to this crew has been camouflaged in this manner over the last few years, totally lost in the shuffle of the sheer number of violent crimes committed in the city without any organized crime related scrutiny by law enforcement.

[funkster]

My bet is you could probably find quite a few similar skeletons in the Cicero crew's closet as well.

[Pete]

It's pretty funny so many people on these forums were saying the grand avenue crew was defunct or on its last legs for years and they seem to be the most active these days considering all the recent busts. Maybe they were fading until vena came into power. Who knows but they are the only crew with any big busts since sarno went down a few years back and are certainly very active

[Snakes]

Here is some background info on Russell:

http://gangsterreport.com/chitown-mobst ... r-sources/

[phatmatress777]

Idk much about Chicago but this Russell just looks like evilness


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[TommyNoto]

I agree that Grand Ave was certainly active and probably with Cicero have several active blue collar robbery and fencing crews although it seems Grand Ave robbery crews might be on their last legs ( something don't seem right with this last bust as these guys IMO aren't dumb and with multiple Feds all over them I can't see them that stupid to bragging about hits and big robberies to outsiders , that is very hard for me to believe and maybe Vena has a surprise in store)? ...

One thing I always wanted to know is why doesn't Chicago have big gambling operations like the east coast ? You just never see the Costa Rica wire room busts in Chicago and why wouldn't they be involved in such a lucrative business?, especially when it fits so nicely into their core operations as large scale loan sharks which I'm sure lucrative via funding gang drug and gun deals etc .

Seems the EP guys do the white collar construction and real estate deals ?? where as Cicero and GA are more blue collar with large loan sharking operations with several active violent crews focused in high end robbery , kidnapping and fencing activities.

I wonder if maybe that's why the outfit is small in terms as number of guys as they don't have to run a large gambling network that has hundreds or even thousand of customers . Just seems odd they wouldn't be active in such a money making operating that had little jail time and can lead to all kinds of other scams thru their customers . Who handles bookmaking in Chicago and what is the EP crew up to ?

[Pete]

I agree that Grand Ave was certainly active and probably with Cicero have several active blue collar robbery and fencing crews although it seems Grand Ave robbery crews might be on their last legs ( something don't seem right with this last bust as these guys IMO aren't dumb and with multiple Feds all over them I can't see them that stupid to bragging about hits and big robberies to outsiders , that is very hard for me to believe and maybe Vena has a surprise in store)? ...

One thing I always wanted to know is why doesn't Chicago have big gambling operations like the east coast ? You just never see the Costa Rica wire room busts in Chicago and why wouldn't they be involved in such a lucrative business?, especially when it fits so nicely into their core operations as large scale loan sharks which I'm sure lucrative via funding gang drug and gun deals etc .

Seems the EP guys do the white collar construction and real estate deals ?? where as Cicero and GA are more blue collar with large loan sharking operations with several active violent crews focused in high end robbery , kidnapping and fencing activities.

I wonder if maybe that's why the outfit is small in terms as number of guys as they don't have to run a large gambling network that has hundreds or even thousand of customers . Just seems odd they wouldn't be active in such a money making operating that had little jail time and can lead to all kinds of other scams thru their customers . Who handles bookmaking in Chicago and what is the EP crew up to ?

They certainly run book through off shore sites one somewhat recent bust http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012 ... bookmaking

[Wiseguy]

I agree that Grand Ave was certainly active and probably with Cicero have several active blue collar robbery and fencing crews although it seems Grand Ave robbery crews might be on their last legs ( something don't seem right with this last bust as these guys IMO aren't dumb and with multiple Feds all over them I can't see them that stupid to bragging about hits and big robberies to outsiders , that is very hard for me to believe and maybe Vena has a surprise in store)? ...

One thing I always wanted to know is why doesn't Chicago have big gambling operations like the east coast ? You just never see the Costa Rica wire room busts in Chicago and why wouldn't they be involved in such a lucrative business?, especially when it fits so nicely into their core operations as large scale loan sharks which I'm sure lucrative via funding gang drug and gun deals etc .

Seems the EP guys do the white collar construction and real estate deals ?? where as Cicero and GA are more blue collar with large loan sharking operations with several active violent crews focused in high end robbery , kidnapping and fencing activities.

I wonder if maybe that's why the outfit is small in terms as number of guys as they don't have to run a large gambling network that has hundreds or even thousand of customers . Just seems odd they wouldn't be active in such a money making operating that had little jail time and can lead to all kinds of other scams thru their customers . Who handles bookmaking in Chicago and what is the EP crew up to ?

If you look back over the past 15 years or so, there have been Outfit bookmaking cases here and there, though not as many or as big as some might expect. It seems there have been about as many video poker machine cases and that racket being just as important to the Chicago mob.

[TommyNoto]

I wasnt trying to say there is no involvement but very little and the above bust seems to reinforce that as it was years ago. It does partly explain why there aren't many wiseguys in the area

I'm more interested in why they don't get involved , and who does handle that action as I'm sure there's $100m of illegal action going on there and probably much more. My only guess is it's for security purposes but without gambling I'm not sure how long they can last . This was obviously a strategic decision and I wonder why , when and by who

[funkster]

You're basing that opinion on not having read about it in the papers? I know people that gamble through illegal books still fairly often, whether or not they're Outfit connected, who knows. I find it hard to believe that its not a big part of their income still though.