Friday, February 05, 2010

Jan Schakowsky Rented Office Space From Chicago Mob Figure Michael "Jaws" Giorango

John Kass of the Chicago Tribune reports:
But does anyone remember Rose Laws?

Only a few years ago, Laws was one of Chicago's most famous madams. For decades she ran a mob-protected, high-end prostitution service catering to powerful men with big money, Republicans and Democrats.

Her clients included judges, lawyers, politicians, business leaders, sports owners, famed scientists and so on. A night could cost tens of thousands of dollars, and the legendary blonde Amazon known as "Inga" cost even more.

What shocked the Viagra out of political guys was that black book she kept, including client names and appetites.

The black book was seized by Chicago police in a raid. But this being Chicago, land of open government, the black book was dumped in a police warehouse and mysteriously lost.

Sadly, historians will never know which top politicians liked to dress up in furry squirrel suits and which ones insisted on the Bo Peep look.

In 2002, Laws was sentenced to 22 months in federal prison. The circuit's Outfit protector, Michael "Jaws" Giorango, was convicted of promoting a nationwide prostitution ring and sentenced to six months federal time.

Even before his last prison stay, Giorango had reinvented himself as a real estate investor.

He'd already been purchasing office buildings and renting space to politicians. His tenants included U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.; now-retired state Sen. Carol Ronen, D-Chicago, and state Rep. Harry Osterman, D-Chicago. He also received $11 million in loans from the Giannoulias family's Broadway Bank. The loans to Jaws were approved by Alexi Giannoulias.

When did Jan Schakowsky realize she was associating with a Chicago Mob figure?