‘Since then they’re partners on everything’; feds say brother of Berrios relative described how friendship with Outfit hit man led to mob alliance

The now-convicted son-in-law of former Cook County Democratic boss Joseph Berrios was allegedly “good friends” with notorious mob hit man Frank “The German” Schweihs and once went to him for protection for his massage parlors being threatened by other gangsters.

That’s the story about James Weiss that was caught on a federal wiretap and revealed in a court filing late Wednesday, where prosecutors asked for a sentence of more than five years in prison for Weiss for his conviction earlier this year on bribery charges.

Meanwhile, the Tribune has learned that a federal grand jury investigating Weiss’ alleged mob ties is interested in other longtime associates of the Outfit’s Grand Avenue crew.

Weiss’ attorneys have sought leniency, portraying him as a legitimate businessman who simply chose the wrong way to go about getting legislation passed that would help his sweepstakes gaming machine business.

But in their filing, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine O’Neill and Sean Franzblau revealed that Weiss’ brother was recorded telling someone Weiss had partnered up with “a known long-time mob associate,” identified as Individual B, after Weiss had reportedly gone to Schweihs for help.

“Yeah, well, Jimmy and Frank were good friends, and some Russians were muscling Jimmy, but Frank was on the run,” the brother, Joseph Weiss, told an unidentified person in a wiretapped call quoted in the filing. “Frank was in hiding and Jimmy called Frank and … says, hey man, these guys just busted up my (expletive store). Scared the (expletive) out of the girls, this and that, you know, I need your help, where the (expletive) are you?”

At the time, Schweihs had been charged in the landmark Family Secrets mob case and was on the run. According to the brother’s story, The German told Weiss, “‘Jim, I’m underground right now … but I’ll have someone call you right back.’”

“Somebody called Jimmy” and told him to go see Individual B, who “straightened it all out,” Joseph Weiss said, according to the transcript of the call.

“Ever since then, they’re partners on everything,” Joseph Weiss said. “The problem is (Individual B)’s like a gangster but he’s an honest guy. If you’re his friend, you’re his friend.”

Prosecutors called the description of Individual B as a gangster “an apt one.” In a separate undercover recording, “Individual B admitted that James Weiss ‘is with me,’ referencing their joint involvement with gaming machines,” the filing stated.

“Insofar as (James) Weiss seeks to portray himself as a community-minded and otherwise law-abiding individual, his long-time partnership with Individual B and his own brother’s recording discussing his prior association with his ‘good friend,’ mob killer Frank Schweihs, demonstrates otherwise,” prosecutors wrote.

The filing also alleged that Individual B’s now-deceased girlfriend was a partner in one of James Weiss’ gambling businesses and received hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from him.

Schweihs, who according to authorities spent decades as a reputed enforcer for the mob’s Grand Avenue street crew, died of cancer in 2008 while awaiting trial.

The filing came on the heels of a new indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court against Joseph Weiss, who was charged with lying to federal investigators about his brother’s reputed mob ties, including his previous contacts with Schweihs and Individual B.

Joseph Weiss is scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 13, two days after his brother’s sentencing.

Reached by phone Wednesday, James Weiss’ attorney, Ilia Usharovich, said his client had no ties at all to Schweihs.

“Jim denies ever speaking to Mr. Schweihs, ever meeting with Mr. Schweihs and ever doing business with Mr. Schweihs,” Usharovich said.

The Tribune has previously reported that James Weiss’ sweepstakes company, V.S.S., was connected to a former Chicago police officer, John Adreani, through a complex web of corporations, many of which list the same address in a south suburban strip mall as their headquarters.

Adreani was fired from the Chicago Police Department in 2015 for associating with a major drug trafficker after he was captured on a wiretap discussing gambling and drinking excursions and real estate ventures with him, according to Chicago Police Board records.

Adreani was not charged; however, his name came up several times during James Weiss’ trial.

Another one of Weiss’ business entities, Mac-T Retail LLC, which was formed in 2015, shares the same address in the 800 block of Sibley Boulevard in Dolton with V.S.S., state records show.

At least three companies that include “Mac-T” in their titles appear to be linked, according to state records. The first of them, Mac-T LLC, was organized by Anthony DeMarco of River Grove in 2014 and was also registered to the Sibley Boulevard address.

DeMarco originally incorporated Mac-T using an address of 723 W. Grand Ave. in Chicago, which is a single-room occupancy hotel in the same building that houses the Italian restaurant La Scarola and Richard’s Bar.

La Scarola was the scene of a 2012 lunch meeting with top Grand Avenue crew members that led to the FBI sting of hit man Steve Mandell, who was plotting, among other things, to kidnap, rob and murder a mobbed-up strip club owner.

Richard’s is owned, on paper at least, by the sister of Robert “Bobby” Dominic, a reputed Outfit associate who, according to FBI and Chicago records, ran pornography and gambling interests for the Grand Avenue crew, which was headed by legendary mobster Joseph “The Clown” Lombardo.

Meanwhile, records obtained by the Tribune show the same federal grand jury looking into Weiss’ mob connections is also interested in Dominic.

The grand jury sent a subpoena to the Illinois Department of Insurance on July 28 seeking applications, communications and other records involving a state Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan in Dominic’s name, according to a copy of the subpoena received through an open records request.

Dominic has not been charged. He could not be reached for comment Thursday. A lawyer who represented him in a recent lawsuit filed by tenants of the Acacia single-room occupancy hotel declined to comment, saying he was barred by confidentiality agreements from discussing any of his clients.

James Weiss was convicted by a jury in June of seven counts of bribery, wire fraud, mail fraud and making false statements.

The charges alleged Weiss then agreed to pay monthly $2,500 bribes to get language helping his sweepstakes business added to state gambling legislation, first to state Rep. Luis Arroyo and later to state Sen. Terry Link, who was a chief sponsor of the gambling bill in the Senate.

Arroyo and Weiss didn’t know that Link, a Vernon Hills Democrat, was cooperating with the FBI. Link, who is hoping for a break in his own federal tax conviction in exchange for his cooperation, testified over two days about his undercover role.

Arroyo, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to bribery for his role in the scheme but did not agree to cooperate with prosecutors. U.S. District Judge Steven Seeger sentenced Arroyo to nearly five years in prison last year, calling him a “corruption superspreader.”

James Weiss’ attorneys have asked Seeger for a sentence of under 27 months, arguing in a filing last week that the legislation Weiss wanted to pass was well-meaning and would have generated much-needed tax revenue on what are currently unregulated sweepstakes machines.

In asking for a 63-month prison term, prosecutors argued Weiss has been unrepentant about the damage his crimes have done to the public trust. They also wrote that while Weiss claimed he was trying to make ends meet for his family, in reality he was making substantial earnings and gambling $20,000 a week.

“For someone like (Weiss), with financial stakes in a variety of different businesses, there always will be a way to make more money,” prosecutors wrote. “There always will be public officials who are willing to take a bribe to make (his) life easier.”

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com