Criminal Boss “Fat Mike” Denied Compassionate Release from Prison

Michael “Fat Mike” Sarno, known for his Cicero Street Crew, a Chicago-based criminal enterprise, has sought early release from prison, where he is serving a 25-year sentence. The reason? His worsened health and the fact that he no longer seeks to act on his criminal impulses, and wants to be set free and return to his community.

Once a Criminal Mastermind, Always a Criminal Mastermind

This plea has fallen flat on US District Judge Sara Ellis’ ears, who has found Fat Mike to, in fact, constitute a threat to the community. His position as a now-former leader of a criminal enterprise that operated across multiple states in the United States made him less likely to gain such release in the first place, too.

The judge argued that other people in Sarno’s position have been known to commit more offenses after their release, seeing it not as a penance, but as a carte blanche to act on their worst impulses.

Even then, Judge Ellis argued that the court was not compelled to release any criminal whose health had worsened inside prison. Sarno, who is now 67, received his sentence in 2010, after he was convicted on various charges, such as racketeering and extortion.

He also pipe-bombed the headquarters of a rival who was running video poker machine venues, a bread-and-butter of Sarno’s own enterprise. The Cicero Crew focused on gambling, loan sharking, political corruption, and racketeering, and has been among the most notorious criminal establishments locally in Chicago, Illinois.

Years of Declining Health Do Not Compel the Court

Fat Mike has tried to sway the court, explaining that his health has deteriorated abruptly following his incarceration and over the years, recounting his experience during COVID-19, which proved to be a death sentence for many inmates.

Unfortunately, prison authorities have failed in their response to helping inmates and aiding them through the pandemic, which has led to higher-than-average death rates among the prison population in the United States.

Fat Mike has himself been wheelchair bound as his health has declined even further of late. Despite all of this, the judge has deemed Sarmo’s request to not offer sufficient grounds for early release. Sarmo still has ten more years to serve.