Elderly jewel thief pleads guilty to racketeering in Chicago

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Joseph Jerry “The Monk” Scalise leaves court. He pleaded guilty this week to planning to rob an armored car. | John H. White~Sun-Times

Updated: February 21, 2012 8:21AM

“The Monk,” once again, is being separated from society.

Just not voluntarily.

And he’s not heading to a monastery.

Mobbed-up, high-line thief Joseph Jerry “The Monk” Scalise, who is in his mid- 70s, faces about nine years behind bars after he pleaded guilty Wednesday on the eve of trial to racketeering and other crimes. He and two geriatric colleagues planned to rob an armored car in front of a west suburban bank as well as the fortress-like home of a brutal dead Chicago mob boss, authorities say.

Both crimes had twists out of the kind of Hollywood movies that Scalise used to consult on — as an expert on the criminal life.

The armored car the men targeted but never robbed was owned by a company whose president is J.R. Davis, who by coincidence is chairman of the Chicago Crime Commission. The commission has a thick file on Scalise, who has long been a suspect in Outfit murders, but never charged.

And the Bridgeport house Scalise and his pals were planning on robbing?

There were no riches hidden inside, despite the hopes of the three men.

One Scalise colleague, Robert “Bobby” Pullia, 70, pleaded guilty too on Thursday, and faces about 9 years as well.

The other, Arthur “The Genius” Rachel, 73, is heading to trial before U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber Thursday morning.

The FBI secreted a listening device in Scalise’s van and captured hours of conversations between the men as they plotted robbing the armored car outside a LaGrange bank and breaking into the house of the late Outfit boss, Angelo “The Hook” LaPietra, authorities said.

Scalise gained notoriety in 1980 when he and Rachel were arrested for stealing the 45-carat Marlborough Diamond and other jewelry from a London store, which was never recovered,

Scalise attracted a crowd of reporters after his guilty plea, including legendary octogenarian CBS crime reporter John “Bulldog” Drummond.

When asked if he thought the Marlborough Diamond would ever be found, Scalise quipped, “If Lloyd’s (of London) wanted to pay enough money, maybe they could.”

Scalise said the decision to plead guilty was difficult.

“Nobody likes to go to jail. Let’s be realistic.”

“It would have been an interesting trial,” he said.