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Chicago Outfit soldier Charles “Chuckie” Russell has been found guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm this past Wednesday, but it is the circumstances surrounding his legal troubles that left people gasping.
In 2016, just days before Christmas, Russell was captured on undercover recordings talking gleefully about guns, murder and an upcoming home invasion in which he planned to hold a blowtorch to a victim’s feet to force him to open a safe.
“If he doesn’t open it, we’re gonna make him open it,” Russell was quoted in a court filing as telling an associate. “They always open for me, believe me. I bring my butane torch, put it on the bottom of their feet, they open it.”
Russell, 68, responded to the judge's question as to what he did for a living.
“I was a carpenter,' he said in a low raspy voice.
Russell is now suffering from Stage IV prostate cancer.
He was arrested attempting to purchase several firearms just days after gleefully discussing the planned home invasion.
Prosecutors said they intend to argue at Russell’s sentencing on Aug. 17 that he’s an armed career criminal — a designation that would bring a mandatory minimum 15-year sentence and up to life in prison.
In his current state, however, Russell will be lucky if he even lives long enough to attend the August hearing.
Russell is the brother in law of Albert Vena who heads the Chicago crime crew, which once dominated organized criminal activity in the city.
Operation GAMBAT (GAMBling ATtorney) proved to be a crippling blow to the Chicago Outfit's tight grip on the Chicago political machine.
From Wikipedia:
Pat Marcy, a made man in the Outfit, ran the city's First Ward, which represented most of downtown Chicago. Marcy and company controlled the circuit courts from the 1950s until the late 1980s with the help of Alderman Fred Roti and Democratic Committeeman John D'Arco, Sr. Together, the First Ward fixed cases involving everything from minor traffic violations to murder.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
