Reputed Mobster “The Large Guy” Gets 25 Years

Jury convicted Michael Sarno and four others in 2010 of racketeering and other charges

A federal judge in Chicago has sentenced a reputed mob boss to 25 years in prison.

Michael "The Large Guy" Sarno was also ordered to pay nearly $1.8 million in restitution by Judge Ronald Guzman at Wednesday's hearing.

A jury convicted the 52-year-old and four co-defendants in 2010 of racketeering and other charges.

Prosecutors alleged that Sarn ordered two of the four, Mark Polchan, a Cicero jewelry store owner and member of the Outlaws motorcycle gang, and Samuel Volpendesto, the former owner of a Cicero strip club, to bomb the Berwyn offices of C&S Coin Operated Amusements Inc. in February 2003.

The bombing, which destroyed the offices, was meant as a message to the company to stop horning in on a profitable mob business in Chicago's western suburbs, the government said.

Prosecutors also claimed the enterprise that Sarno allegedly was a part of was responsible for burglaries and thefts, including the armed robbery of a jewelry store in LaGrange Park that netted nearly $650,000 worth of jewelry and other valuables.

Experts said Sarno's background as an enforcer wouldn't normally have translated into a top mob job. But with aging kingpins behind bars or dying, a weakened Outfit offered positions to men like Sarno.

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