By Jason MeisnerChicago Tribunecontact the reporter
Reputed mob associate loses tough-guy demeanor as he pleads guilty in court to extortion.
Reputed Outfit associate Paul Carparelli was caught on undercover recordings ordering a beefy union bodyguard to "crack" a guy who owed a debt, federal authorities say.
He also was captured referring to people who cooperate with law enforcement as "rats" and laughing with glee when he heard his goons had broken the arm of a construction rival in a pipe beating, according to court records.
But on Friday, Carparelli had lost the tough-guy demeanor as he quietly pleaded guilty to three counts of extortion for using threats and violence to collect debts on behalf of two businessmen.
Judge revokes bond for alleged threat on life of witness"Yes, ma'am," Carparelli, 46, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, told U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman when she asked if he understood the charges.
Carparelli, who allegedly has long-standing ties to the Outfit's Cicero crew, faces up to about 12 1/2 years in prison at his sentencing on Sept. 29 under federal guidelines, according to prosecutors. But Carparelli's lawyers said the figure should be much lower — perhaps as little as about five years behind bars.
After Carparelli's arrest in July 2013, agents recovered two guns, $170,500 in cash and nearly $200,000 in jewelry — including a gold bracelet with the name "Paulie" spelled in diamonds — in a safe hidden in the crawl space of his Itasca home, court records show.
In pleading guilty, Carparelli admitted that Mark Dziuban, who owned a suburban printing company, asked him and co-defendant George Brown to travel to New Jersey to look for a Nevada businessman who had failed to pay back several hundred thousand dollars. Carparelli also sent Brown and a co-defendant to Wisconsin to threaten another businessman who owed Dziuban money.
Brown, a union bodyguard described by prosecutors in one filing as a "three-hundred pound muscleman," later began cooperating with authorities and recorded numerous conversations with Carparelli, court records show.
In a February 2013 phone call, Carparelli was recorded telling Brown to go to the home of another victim to collect a $66,000 juice loan debt, according to Carparelli's plea agreement.
"(Expletive) ring the bell and crack that guy," Carparelli was quoted as telling Brown. "Don't even say nothing to him. ... Go over there, give him a (expletive) crack, and we'll get in contact with him."
In another plot, Elio Desantis, owner of a suburban electrical company, enlisted Carparelli and Brown to help collect a $90,000 debt from a construction company operator, identified in court records only as Individual B. Desantis had met Carparelli while performing electrical work at Carparelli's pizza restaurant in Bloomingdale and knew of his "tough guy reputation," court records show.
Desantis was recorded telling Brown he "thought of going the lawyer route" but decided it would be more efficient to have them take care of it.
"All really Paulie has to do," Desantis said of Carparelli, "is pick up a phone and say, 'Hey, (Individual B), I want to meet you,' and he'll probably (expletive) his pants and meet him. You know what I mean?"
After Carparelli and Brown paid Individual B a visit, he began writing checks to Desantis to cover the debt, records show.
Desantis pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the plot and was sentenced in February to a year in prison. Dziuban was found guilty at trial and is awaiting sentencing.
In a ruse devised by the FBI, an undercover agent posing as a New Jersey State Police investigator called a Carparelli associate and asked questions about his travels to the state two years earlier, court records show. The real purpose of the call worked, touching off a flurry of phone calls and meetings between Carparelli and others worried about who may have ratted them out, court filings show.
Prosecutors have alleged in court filings Carparelli took pleasure in arranging beatings on behalf of the Outfit. During the investigation, an undercover informant also recorded Carparelli explaining how he felt about people who cooperate with law enforcement.
"As long as you don't steal from me, (expletive) my wife or rat on me, you're my friend 1,000 percent," Carparelli said to the informant in 2013, according to prosecutors. "You hear that? You hear that? Those three (expletive) things …That's the type of person I am."
While free on bond last month, Carparelli allegedly threatened the life of a witness against him outside a Chicago-area Wal-Mart, pulling up alongside an employee of the witness and saying, "Tell him he is a (expletive) rat. Tell him he knows what happens to rats," according to prosecutors.
jmeisner@tribpub.com
Twitter @jmetr22b