Secret recordings cite ties between Berrios relative, Chicago mobster: ‘Jimmy and Frank were good friends’

The brother of convicted businessman James T. Weiss was secretly recorded insisting Weiss had been “partners” with the late mobster Frank “The German” Schweihs and that Weiss once turned to Schweihs for help with “some Russians” who had “busted up” his store.

“Jimmy and Frank were good friends,” Joseph Weiss said in that recorded conversation, according to federal prosecutors. “And some Russians were muscling Jimmy, but Frank was on the run. Frank was in hiding, and Jimmy called Frank and said, ‘Hey,’ ’cause they were partners. And Jimmy says, ‘Hey, man, these guys just busted up my f—ing store. Scared the f— out of the girls, this and that, you know, I need your help, where the f— are you?’ ”

Prosecutors revealed the details of that conversation in a 24-page court filing late Wednesday night as they asked for a prison sentence of more than five years for James Weiss, who was convicted earlier this year of bribing two Illinois lawmakers. 

They also wrote that James Weiss’ argument last week — that the state of Illinois would have benefited from the legislation at the center of his bribery scheme — should “offend” the judge and the public. 

“Indeed, this sort of flimsy effort to justify criminal conduct is grounds to impose a more serious sentence, for it demonstrates [James Weiss] does not understand the gravity of his crime,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine O’Neill wrote.

James Weiss, son-in-law of former Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios, is due to be sentenced Oct. 11 by U.S. District Judge Steven Seeger, who handed a nearly five-year prison sentence last year to former state Rep. Luis Arroyo for Arroyo’s role in the bribery scheme. 

Weiss paid thousands of dollars in bribes to Arroyo and then-state Sen. Terry Link in a bid to pass legislation affecting unregulated gambling devices known as sweepstakes machines. Link, who was secretly cooperating with investigators, faces sentencing on March 6 for his own tax crimes.

In their filing Wednesday, prosecutors wrote that James Weiss has been known to risk $20,000 gambling several times a week.

Joseph Weiss also faces criminal charges in an indictment made public earlier Wednesday. It accused Joseph Weiss of lying to the FBI about his brother’s ties to Schweihs, who died in 2008. Joseph Weiss also is charged with attempted obstruction of justice. 

His indictment references a grand jury number tied to the indictment of Iman Bambooyani, an associate of James Weiss’ who is charged with a prostitution conspiracy.

The memo filed late Wednesday revealed that Joseph Weiss had been secretly recorded by law enforcement discussing his brother’s ties to Schweihs and another unnamed associate. It said that, during that secretly recorded conversation, someone said that “Jimmy was telling me that’s how he met” the unnamed associate, “back with the, um, massage parlors.” 

According to prosecutors, Joseph Weiss replied, “Yeah,” and said the unnamed associate “stepped in and saved his life.”

He went on, prosecutors said, to tell the story of “Russians” who “were muscling Jimmy” and how Schweihs had been in hiding.

“He’s, like, ‘Jim, I’m underground right now,’ he goes, ‘but I’ll have someone call you right back.’ And somebody called Jimmy and told him to go see” the unnamed associate, who then straightened everything out, Joseph Weiss said, according to prosecutors. “Ever since then, they’re partners on everything.”

They also wrote that he said the unnamed associate is “like a gangster, but he’s an honest guy. If you’re his friend, you’re his friend.”