Scavo convicted; where's it gonna lead?
Vito Scavo, the former Melrose Park chief of police, was convicted of 22 of 22 counts of corruption today. Also convicted were Gary Montino, Scavo's deputy chief, and Michael Wynn. Scavo faces up to 20 years in prison. See Proviso Herald (Jolie Lee), Chicago Tribune (Mike Robinson, AP), ABC7 (Chuck Goudie) or CBS2 (STNG).
What can I add?
Some people involved in Proviso politics like Jesse Martinez and Mike Manzo (both of whom have run against Ron Serpico for village president of Melrose Park) see Ron Serpico as being the central figure in bad (if not corrupt) government in in Proviso Township.
In the indictment against Scavo some of the malfeasance goes back to 1996. August Taddeo was village president until at least 1998.
So, it seems possible that Scavo was "the big fish" and Serpico was Scavo's guy. The Melrose Park police force provided the base of power in the Village of Melrose Park. Scavo picked Serpico to be his candidate for village president because he knew Serpico wouldn't interfere with the criminal schemes Scavo was running in the police department.
Serpico didn't have an intention of reforming things, but the corruption was there before he arrived.
What are the pieces of the puzzle?
Scavo was convicted and will now be looking to cut a deal. With whom did Scavo have interactions with?
Serpico
District 209 (Scavo's security company was paid to guard the PMSA building)
Who else?
Anthony Bruno has been charged with tax evasion. With whom did Bruno have interactions?
Ric Cervone, a former board member at District 89 (Maywood and Melrose Park elementary schools), was charged in the same indictment that convicted Scavo. With whom did Cervone interact?
Who else is in the mix?
What can I add?
Some people involved in Proviso politics like Jesse Martinez and Mike Manzo (both of whom have run against Ron Serpico for village president of Melrose Park) see Ron Serpico as being the central figure in bad (if not corrupt) government in in Proviso Township.
In the indictment against Scavo some of the malfeasance goes back to 1996. August Taddeo was village president until at least 1998.
So, it seems possible that Scavo was "the big fish" and Serpico was Scavo's guy. The Melrose Park police force provided the base of power in the Village of Melrose Park. Scavo picked Serpico to be his candidate for village president because he knew Serpico wouldn't interfere with the criminal schemes Scavo was running in the police department.
Serpico didn't have an intention of reforming things, but the corruption was there before he arrived.
What are the pieces of the puzzle?
Scavo was convicted and will now be looking to cut a deal. With whom did Scavo have interactions with?
Serpico
District 209 (Scavo's security company was paid to guard the PMSA building)
Who else?
Anthony Bruno has been charged with tax evasion. With whom did Bruno have interactions?
Ric Cervone, a former board member at District 89 (Maywood and Melrose Park elementary schools), was charged in the same indictment that convicted Scavo. With whom did Cervone interact?
Who else is in the mix?
Labels: ABC7, CBS2, Chicago Tribune, Proviso Herald, Ron Serpico, Vito Scavo
posted by Carl Nyberg at
7:19 PM
11 Comments:
You don't know what you are talking about. The fact of the matter is crime is down. This is despite the best efforts by the US Government to bring in and protect as many illegal alliens as it can.
Were the business that Scavo's firm providing security service in the town limits. The answere is yes. During the time Scavo provided securiy services were their any shootings, rapes or any other violent crime. The answer is no there was none.
In other words Scavo and his firm prevented major crimes and inocent people from being hurt.
The legal team for Scavo should be disbarred for such a weak defence.
By
Tuco, at 7:05 AM, June 02, 2009
Tuco, are you claiming that Vito Scavo is innocent of the charges in the indictment? Or that the good he did was so great he had no obligation to follow the law?
Aliens didn't invade while Scavo was chief of police. You forgot to give him credit for that too.
By
Carl Nyberg, at 3:57 PM, June 02, 2009
Tuco, you're what's wrong with Melrose Park and most of Proviso Township.
You're an apologist for a greasy thug-life thief. Go work on your GED.
BTW, there were no terrorist attacks at Kiddieland or the Movieplex. Be sure to give Vito our thanks for that if you see him around.
By
Mr. D, at 5:25 PM, June 02, 2009
My snarky comment on this is a message for Vito. "Happy snitching, buddy. You earned it."
By
Carl Nyberg, at 6:26 PM, June 02, 2009
Hey Mr. D, what fucking GED are you talking about asshole.
Do you even have one.
By
Tuco, at 11:01 AM, June 03, 2009
You mentioned Anthony Bruno. It seems he may have been in the thick of it all. This is from an atricle in the early Pioneer Press coverage of the trial. It talks about the testimony of Marc Wolfe, Director of Facilities for Cinemark:
Theater paid double for security required by chief -- testimony
By JOLIE LEE Proviso Herald April 20, 2009
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/maywood/news/scavo/1535957,maywood-scavocinemark-042009-s1.article
---snip
In a December 1998 meeting in Scavo's office at the police station, Wolfe said he and another Cinemark manager met with Scavo. Then-village consultant Anthony Bruno also joined the meeting and stayed, Wolfe said.
Wolfe described Scavo's reaction as "very angry" when he heard about the theater's plan to hire one or two guards.
"(Scavo) started using profanity," Wolfe testified. "He was very loud, almost yelling. I felt like it went on forever, but it probably lasted just a few minutes -- I was kind of in shock."
Scavo claimed there was a "prior arrangement" to hire more guards as part of the original real estate deal, quoting a number Wolfe did not recall but remembered was higher than the one or two guards the theater planned on hiring.
Bruno then "went off into a tirade," Wolfe said. Bruno told them, "If we didn't adhere to the original deal, we wouldn't get our certificate of occupancy to operate the theater," according to the testimony
In other words, the theater's opening would be delayed or the theater would not open at all.
"How did you take what (Bruno) said?" asked Asst. U.S. Atty. Scott Drury.
"It was a threat," Wolfe said.
Bruno is president of an economic development firm the village hired for eight years to consult on various development projects. Unrelated to Scavo's trial, Bruno pleaded guilty to tax fraud in February 2009.
Skeptical that the agreement Scavo referred to really existed, Wolfe talked to his supervisor but was unable to confirm that Cinemark and Melrose Park had entered into a security agreement.
In January 1999, Wolfe again met with Scavo and Bruno, this time with Cinemark director of security Daniel Myers. Wolfe said he was determined to reach an agreement so the theater's opening would not be jeopardized.
Wolfe described the second meeting as a repeat of the first. Again, Scavo's tone was "very angry, upset," Wolfe said. The number of guards Scavo originally stated in the first meeting then doubled in this second meeting.
Myers had brought to the meeting statistics of security levels at other Cinemark locations.
"(Scavo and Bruno) wanted to make us stick to the levels that had allegedly been agreed upon," Myers testified.
"Mr. Bruno made it clear to me ... if we didn't go along with the alleged plan that we may face a delay in the opening of the theater," Myers said. "That would cost us a lot of money."
After the second meeting, Cinemark agreed to hire County Line Security.
The defense tried to distance Scavo from Bruno's comments.
Scavo's attorney Tom Breen asked Myers, "This Bruno guy said it, not Chief Scavo, isn't that right?"
"Correct," Myers said.
---snip
If Anthony Bruno was a "Village Consultant" and his comments were supported by the then Police Chief, he can safely be considered a representative of the Village.
And from the blog entry, Serpico may have been mayor by, or shortly after, the December 1998 meeting.
Bruno and Scavo would have to have the cooperation of the mayor and Village Board to keep Cinemark from getting their license.
I haven't heard about Bruno facing charges in this matter, but I can't imagine the feds would let this go. Could Scavo's conviction be a stepping stone to bigger fish? It sounds like Scavo (or at least his lawyer) is willing to throw some guilt to Bruno.
By
Bruno watcher, at 4:02 PM, June 07, 2009
http://www.kansas.com/opinion/story/840082.html
Obama is more Machiavellian than Machiavelli himself. He's invented a whole new political system, it's a cross between Socialism and Fascism, Obamamism or we could just call it more sustained poverty and class warfare, but that has a name already, communism. I'm so glad my taxes paid for your education and livlihood until you quite on your country.
By
Progressivism is dead, at 12:20 PM, June 16, 2009
Did something happen to Your Good Buddy, Charles Flowers, You've been awfully quiet about it......
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..........
By
I'm Just Saying....., at 2:14 PM, June 29, 2009
Hey carl, I hope you dont' miss this....
http://www.southtownstar.com/news/1647000,070109raid.article
By
I'm Just Saying....., at 10:07 AM, July 01, 2009
State funding cuts Teen Programming in the Proviso Township
Proviso Leyden Council for Community Action, Inc located at 411 Madison St, Maywood IL has lost funding for the Illinois Department of Human Services Teen REACH Program. The program was into its second week of summer session operations when the Program Coordinators Nathaniel G. Booker and Ashley S.C. Walls received letters informing them that as of June 30th there would no longer be a PLCCA Teen REACH program. Program Coordinator Nathaniel G. Booker was shocked saying, “we had no idea the program would fully be cut and for it to happen right in the middle of the summer is the worst time it could happen. I don’t think our elected officials thought this decision through, what do the kids do now”. This Teen REACH program along with 93 other Illinois Teen REACH programs have been cut due to state funding. The cut of this program affects 27,000 active teens throughout the State of Illinois. The Illinois Department of Human Services implemented the Teen REACH program (Responsibility, Education, Achievement, Caring and Hope) in 1998 in an effort to provide positive youth activities during non-school hours. During the regular school year the PLCCA Teen REACH program operates as an afterschool tutoring and youth development program at Proviso East High School (Maywood, IL), Proviso West High School (Hillside, IL) and Proviso Math & Science Academy (Forest Park, IL). The Teen REACH program was scheduled to launch at Roosevelt Middle School (Bellwood, IL) in fall 2009 as a tutoring and high school preparation transition after school program, but due to the funding cut that linkage agreement will not be coming to light. Students received letters to take home to their families Friday June, 26th after returning from a field trip, informing them of the program being cut. Many students were outraged and very emotional. Teen REACH member Amanda Bradley who attends Proviso East High School with a 4.0 G.P.A. on the National Honors Society stated, “You never realize how much something is worth until it’s gone; I volunteered at the office as an administrative assistant to Ms. Walls and Mr. Booker. The program was helping me prepare for the workforce and college preparation, what do I do now”. This program was the only thing many of the at risk students in the Maywood, Bellwood, Broadview, and Melrose Park communities had to look forward to. With the Proviso Township already being the township receiving the lowest academic test scores in the state of Illinois it will be interesting to see how the next academic school year test scores will respond with such a successful program which employed certified teachers no longer in operation. With this program no longer in operation and other programs struggling, the question is what do the students have to look forward to in their communities?
By
Bellwood Insider, at 3:52 PM, July 03, 2009
New essay "The Gates Affair:Why We Care" yours to publish
Dear readers and webmasters,
Author Daniel Bruno Sanz has written an essay about Gatesgate. We encourage its publication and distribution.
Regards,
Navas S.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
- 4th Amendment to the The Constitution of the United States of America
By
Unknown, at 1:32 AM, August 21, 2009
Post a Comment
<< Home