Sam Carlisi waited until an hour after the New Year, and then his heart gave up.
Mr. Carlisi, who prosecutors claim headed the Chicago mafia in the late 1980s, died of a heart attack in a Dade County hospital, only months after beginning a 12 1/2-year sentence in Miami’s federal prison on racketeering, gambling and tax evasion charges.
He was 75.
His case was being appealed, and was scheduled to be argued in an Illinois federal court on Jan. 17.
Mr. Carlisi, who some investigators said was a throwback to the “old-time” mobsters, had served as a gunner’s mate for the Coast Guard in World War II.
When he returned home, he worked his way up the underworld ranks, eventually taking over leadership of the Chicago mafia in 1986, after previous boss Joseph Aiuppa went to prison on charges of skimming profits from a gambling operation.
A former FBI investigator said Mr. Carlisi was from Buffalo, N.Y., where his brother had ties to unions and organized crime.
By 1990, however, Mr. Carlisi had “semi-retired” and moved to Weston. He bought a $264,000 house that was listed in the name of his wife, Suzanne.
“He lived very well,” said Paul Miller, Miami FBI spokesman.
That was where FBI agents arrested him in January 1992 on a federal 15-count indictment that alleged that Mr. Carlisi approved a failed attempt by the Chicago mob to take over management of a legal gambling hall of the Rincon Indians near San Diego.
“The case was significant because it was the first to document that there was strong evidence that the Chicago mob was trying to move into San Diego,” said Carol Lam, who prosecuted the case.
Though eight others were convicted in that case, Mr. Carlisi’s trial ended with a hung jury.
He returned home, but not for long.
In December 1992, Chicago FBI agents arrested him at O’Hare Airport as he was getting on a flight to Fort Lauderdale after a short trip. They charged him with conducting illegal gambling businesses in Chicago’s western suburbs, racketeering and violating tax laws.
At trial, prosecutor Mark Vogel blamed Mr. Carlisi for beatings, extortion rackets and attempted murder.
Jack O’Rourke, a former FBI agent who worked on the case, said Mr. Carlisi had authorized the attempted bombing of a movie theatre in Oak Park, Ill. But the bombing went awry when the grenades thrown at the building did not go off.
“It was kind of like Keystone Kops,” O’Rourke said.
Mr. Carlisi was a powerful and respected man.
O’Rourke said that days after the second arrest, he and other agents went to a Fort Lauderdale restaurant that Mr. Carlisi frequented.
The joking began around the table, speculating on what would happen if Mr. Carlisi was released on bail and walked into the place. O’Rourke then watched as all the waiters and the owner of the place rushed to hug and kiss a man who had just walked in. It was Mr. Carlisi.
“They treated him like a prince,” O’Rourke said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Mr. Carlisi’s trial was punctuated with testimony from turncoat mafia figures who had agreed to cooperate with the government. Among them, Lenny Patrick, the head of another Chicago mafia faction.
Mr. Carlisi was convicted on all charges in December 1993. But it took until March 1996 for him to be sentenced to 121/2 years in prison. The main reason, according to Vogel: Mr. Carlisi’s health.
Between the conviction and the sentencing, Mr. Carlisi endured three major surgeries, including one for an aneurysm in his aorta. He also had kidney problems.
Vogel said Mr. Carlisi was sent to Miami to serve his time.
