The Chicago Sun-Times by Steve Warmbir - April 4, 2012
A former Berwyn police officer, sucked into mob life by his gangster father, was sentenced to nearly four years in prison Tuesday for transporting dirty money for his father, breaking into homes with a mob-tied crew and tipping off the Outfit with inside law enforcement information. James Formato, 45, got 47 months in prison, a significant break, because he wound up working secretly for the feds by wearing a wire on members of the crew of Cicero mob boss Michael “Fat Ass” Sarno. Formato would later testify at the racketeering trial of Sarno, who got 25 years behind bars. One man whom Formato had grown up with, ranking Outlaw motorcycle gang member Mark Polchan, figured out Formato was wearing a wire on him, and the betrayal hurt. “You broke my f------ heart,” Polchan told Formato. Formato, who pleaded guilty to racketeering and conspiracy to obstruct justice, took part in several home burglaries with a mob-tied crew and gave out information to the mob about a law enforcement investigation into the 2003 bombing of a Berwyn business that was competing against organized crime in the video poker business. Formato also admitted to transporting $150,000 in cash, proceeds from a burglary, to his biological father, the late James Tortoriello Sr., a mobster living in Florida. Tortoriello had abandoned Formato and his mother early on, and Formato blamed his bad decisions on wanting to be accepted by his biological father, as well as an alcohol problem fueled by a failing marriage. Formato was one of two corrupt cops charged in the investigation. Former Cicero cop Dino Vitalo, who ran car license plates and helped spot surveillance cameras for the mob, was sentenced to two years in prison. swarmbir@suntimes.com
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