Cosa Nostra News

Do members of the Chicago Outfit pay associates to help them collect money? Apparently, in the following case involving a long-time Outfit soldier, he did.... Robert Panozza Sr., alleged Outfit soldier. Reputed Outfit soldier Robert Panozzo Sr. pleaded guilty last Wednesday in the federal courthouse in Rockford to threatening and beating a businessman over an alleged $100,000 debt, and then hiring someone to torch the businessman's car and house when he wouldn’t pay. A reputed longtime soldier under Albert (Little Guy) Vena, the reputed Grand Avenue boss, as well as a member of the Grand Avenue Crew, Panozzo allegedly carried out a four-year campaign of violence and threats to collect the debt after telling the man in 2005, “This is serious. I want my money.” He entered a guilty plea to one count of extortion conspiracy. The plea agreement, which was 17-pages long, calls for up to 14 years in prison, and whatever his ultimate sentence, it will be ...

Robert Panozzo, 54, Paul Koroluk, 55, Panozzo's son, Robert Panozzo, Jr., 22, Maher Abuhabsah, 33, and Koroluk's wife, Maria Koroluk, 53. Members of a drug-dealing street crew tied to Chicago’s Outfit got their product by posing as police officers to gain access to Mexican Cartel stash houses, which the mobsters then pilfered for drugs. According to the Chicago Tribune , the Mafia crew consisted of four men who are part of the Panozzo-Koroluk Street Crew. The men were known to utilize violent methods, once slicing off the ear of a reported cartel member who lied to them during one robbery. The Outfit-tied crew members were arrested Thursday after investigators set up a sting operation in Chicago’s Hegewisch neighborhood. Robert Panozzo, 54, Paul Koroluk, 55, and Maher Abuhabsah, 33, and Panozzo’s 22-year-old son, Robert Panozzo, Jr., were held without bail in Cook County bond court Saturday.