Mob Wives Chicago: “Big John” Fecarotta

"Big John" Fecarotta

Renee Fecarotta Russo is starring in Mob Wives Chicago. According to her VH1 bio, she was raised by her uncle, “Big John” Fercarotta, who was allegedly a “juice loan” collector and hit man for “The Outfit.” A juice loan is money given by loan sharks at illegally high rates of interest, as much as 10% a week. When people can’t pay, the loan is collected by threats or by force.

The case of John Fercarotta is documented in court papers. A man named Richie Urso owed The Outift a lot of money. Before he could repay the loan, Urso died of a heart attack on the floor of his girlfriend’s home, in 2003, at the age of 61. But, in 1986, Urso was paid a visit by alleged members of The Outfit, Frank Calabrese Sr. and John Fecarotta. They went to get repayment on a loan from the 60’s. Richie Urso hadn’t borrowed the money, but a father of his partner did. Since Urso was rich by the 1980’s, The Outfit decided to collect the debt from him instead. John Fecarotta is allegedly said to have told Urso to make his house payments, while Frank Calabrese Sr. allegedly held a knife to Urso’s crotch demanding cash.

Prior to this incident, Fecarotta was allegedly part of a hit team sent to Las Vegas to take care of the two Spilotro brothers. After the murders, he allegedly botched the burial of two brothers, Anthony and Michael, who were beaten and strangled and buried in a very shallow grave, which resulted in their bodies being discovered a couple of days later. So when Fecarotta tried to get money from Urso for his own benefit, Frank Calabrese Sr. was angry. He went to The Outfit seeking a remedy and Fecarotta became a marked man.

Frank Calabrese’s brother, Nick, was allegedly told to whack Fecarotta. They planned a ruse, telling Fecarotta that he and Nick were going to bomb a dentist’s office. But when Nick reached into the bag, pretending to light the fuse of the bomb, he pulled out a gun instead. A struggle took place in the car and when Nick shot Fecarotta, he ended up shooting himself at the same time. Fecarotta took off from the car running and Nick knew that if he didn’t finish the job he would be killed. He chase him to the back door of a bingo hall and shot him in the back of the head.

After the commission of the murder, Nick thought he had put both his gloves into his pocket, but he lost a bloody glove at the crime scene. Years later, due to developments in DNA, the glove was tested and implicated Nick Calabrese for Fecarotta’s murder. When Nick learned the FBI had enough evidence to get a conviction, he cut a deal and became a government witness, testifying against his own brother, Frank, and other mobsters. Nick was allegedly the first mobster to ever testify against the Chicago Outfit, and his cooperation lead to the arrest of 12 mobsters.