James Marcello

Full title: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. JAMES MARCELLO, Defendant

Court: United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division

Date published: Apr 6, 2009

Facts

The Government has moved for entry of a preliminary order of forfeiture against Defendant James Marcello, to which Marcello objects. The order seeks forfeiture against Marcello for the amount of illegal income generated by the conspiracy during his membership in it, namely $20,258,556.00, which represents the total amount of proceeds acquired and maintained by the Chicago Outfit since the 1960’s in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1963(a)(1)-(3). The Government seeks to hold Marcello jointly and severally responsible for this amount.

Marcello raises several objections to the Government’s motion. First, Marcello objects to the amount of forfeiture sought because “[a]t no time did the government obtain a superceding indictment providing notice that the government would seek forfeiture of funds in excess of $10,000,000.” The Third Superseding Indictment returned against Marcello includes a section titled “FORFEITURE ALLEGATION”, in which Marcello was notified that as a result of the allegations contained in Count One concerning a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d).

Issue

Decision

Marcello argues that any forfeiture judgment should be offset by any prior forfeiture payments made by Outfit members between 1970 and the present. Specifically, Marcello argues that any forfeiture he is required to pay should be offset by the amount of forfeiture paid by the defendants in United States v. Carlisi, No. 92 CR 1064. This argument has no merit. As I have previously ruled, the conviction here is for an offense distinct from the offense charged in Carlisi — any payment of forfeiture in that case cannot be deducted from the amount Marcello owes in forfeiture as a result of his conviction here.

For the reasons stated, the Government’s motion for entry of preliminary order of forfeiture against Defendant James Marcello is granted.

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