Pubdate: Fri, 09 Feb 2001
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2001 The Sun-Times Co.
Contact:  401 N. Wabash, Chicago IL 60611
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Website: http://www.suntimes.com/
Author: Michael Sneed, Sun-Times Columnist

SCOOPSVILLE?

Sneed hears rumbles that a suburban mayor and retired Chicago police
sergeant may be targets of a major federal probe involving drug stash
houses!

A federal sting operation last week netted two Chicago cops and three others
with ties to the department. They were accused of stealing cash and cocaine
from South Side apartments, which were fake dope houses set up by the FBI. A
hidden camera allegedly recorded one team wearing ski masks stealing $20,000
in cash and five fake bricks of cocaine.

The common denominator in the thefts was a cocaine dealer named Arthur Veal,
who owns a transportation company and for years allegedly used a truck to
transport cocaine to Chicago from Mexico. Sneed hears that Veal has been
cooperating and may lead the feds to bigger fish.

Gotti gab . . .

Sneed is told that mobster John Gotti, who has become a "shadow of a man"
since being treated for cancer at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal
Prisoners in Springfield, Mo., was queried by the feds about a "mob
commission" that reportedly met in Florida recently.

* The kicker: The "commission" reportedly attracted cartels from Cuba and
Colombia, and mobsters from Italy.

* The upshot: "Gotti just smiles," said a source.

* The buckshot: "Gotti is a pale shadow of a man," the source added. "He
used to do hundreds of push-ups a day at the Marion penitentiary. But the
cancer treatments on his jaw have eroded the right side of his face and
there is no spunk left in him. He wants to go back to [the] Marion
[penitentiary], but he's too weak, and the feds fear someone might kill him
just so they can brag they killed John Gotti."

* The big shot: Word is Gotti's family visits him frequently, especially his
daughter, Victoria, who is working on her third novel, The Fifth Avenue
Club. Is she also the brains?
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