Photo courtesy nbcchicago.com
Nine years ago, former death row inmate Steven Manning stood in the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse and praised a federal jury’s finding that two FBI agents had framed him for a murder, saying it was “a long, long way from death row to complete vindication.”
On Friday, a jury in the same courthouse sent Manning – now known as Steven Mandell – a far different message, deliberating about 4 1/2 hours before convicting him on lurid charges he plotted to kidnap, torture, kill and dismember a well-to-do suburban businessman. He now faces up to life in prison.
Mandell was acquitted of a separate alleged plot to kill an associate of a strip club to take over the lucrative business.
The sensational trial came to a close after two weeks of evidence that included an undercover informant, cloak-and-dagger footage from an FBI spy plane, connections to the Chicago Outfit and dozens of secret recordings in which Mandell discussed torture and murder with apparent glee.
As the six guilty counts were read in U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve’s courtroom, Mandell, 63, a former Chicago cop, showed little emotion, pursing his lips and shaking his head slightly.
It was the latest – and likely last – fall from grace for Mandell, a reputed underworld figure long considered by law enforcement to be a dangerous killer and elusive target. He faces sentencing on June 19 for convictions on conspiracy to kidnap, extortion conspiracy, obstruction of justice and weapons charges.
The macabre trial featured a strange twist even during the typically mundane process of polling the jury. As the judge was asking each juror to verify the verdict, one juror said in a thick accent she agreed “but not the last one.” St. Eve abruptly had the jurors removed from the courtroom. As the lawyers huddled and discussed what should be done– including whether a mistrial should be declared — the juror sent a note to the judge saying that, due to a language barrier, she hadn’t understood the judge’s question and agreed “with all the things I signed.”
After the verdict was confirmed, the jury left the courthouse without comment. In the lobby, Robert Holley, who heads the FBI’s Chicago office, said Mandell’s conviction had “made a community safer.”