Free Republic

CHICAGO - With a long beard and hair reaching his shoulders, reputed mob boss Joey "The Clown" Lombardo sat stunned as FBI agents ordered him out of his car. Lombardo had been a fugitive for nine months, but it was Friday the 13th and his luck had run out, FBI officials said Saturday as they described Lombardo's arrest on racketeering and conspiracy charges. The 77-year-old man had been missing since April when he and 13 others were indicted in connection with at least 18 unsolved mob murders, including one that was graphically portrayed in the 1995 Martin Scorsese movie "Casino."...

CHICAGO (AP) — Fugitive reputed mob boss Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo will surrender if he gets a separate trial on charges that he and other organized crime figures plotted at least 18 unsolved murders, according to a letter made public by his attorney. The letter was sent to attorney Rick Halprin and addressed to U.S. District Judge James Zagel. Halprin said the handwritten, four-page note appears to have been signed by his client. He called federal authorities Tuesday morning after an aide in his office opened the letter, which was postmarked in Chicago on Monday. "I recognize the signature,"...