Monday's Mob Trial

By Sean Stillmaker in News on Nov 7, 2010 7:30PM

Headlines of bootlegging and shootouts amongst the outfit have long faded, but the Chicago mob is still around and one of their lead enforcers begins trial on Monday. Michael Sarno is the head of the Cicero mob crew, according to federal prosecutors, and is the main defendant on racketeering charges.

At 6-foot-3 and weighing 300 pounds he quickly ascended the ranks from a 17-year-old gofer known as “The Fat Kid” to the 52 year old father known as “The Large Guy.” He was previously convicted in 1993 in a mob-related racketeering and gambling case and served a six and half year sentence.

Sarno isn’t known for his intelligence, but rather his tenacity toward violence, the Sun Times reports. Part of the racketeering case is Sarno oversaw the bombing of an Outlaw Biker video poker business in Berwyn that was competing with a mob-sanctioned company in 2003.