Published on: August 31, 2025, 06:01h.

Updated on: August 31, 2025, 06:01h.

• Judge rejects Fat Mike’s request for compassionate release from prison.
• Cicero Crew leader deemed high risk despite claims of deteriorating health.
• Sarno’s violent history overshadows frailty arguments in court.
  

  ---

Michael “Fat Mike” Sarno is making a heartfelt appeal. The once notorious head of the Chicago Outfit’s Cicero Street Crew insists he poses no threat to society and seeks compassionate release from the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo., where he’s been incarcerated for the last five years. His plea was denied last Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, according to court documents.

In 2010, Sarno, who is currently 67, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for racketeering and extortion after a five-week trial in Chicago’s U.S. District Court. He was found guilty of orchestrating the 2003 pipe bombing of a competitor’s headquarters in a battle for dominance in the video-poker machine business.

He faced allegations of orchestrating over a dozen armed heists across four states, with the stolen goods being sold at a Cicero pawnshop affiliated with the Outlaws motorcycle gang, as per court records.

‘A Humbled Version of Myself’

The Cicero Crew, a powerful division of the Chicago Outfit established in the 1920s by Al Capone, has historically been involved in illegal gambling, loan sharking, racketeering, and political corruption.

In a letter to the judge, Sarno depicted his current condition as “a sad reflection of my former self.”

Once entering prison at 6 foot 3 inches and weighing 400 pounds, Fat Mike stated he was in good health and engaged in working out.

“However, during my time in prison, I encountered one health issue after another,” he wrote, revealing that he has been wheelchair-bound for six years and requires assistance for basic activities.

“When I’m not in the wheelchair, I often find myself confined to bed for weeks and months,” Sarno expressed. “This situation is profoundly humiliating, and it has brought me a considerable amount of humility.”

Ongoing Threat

Sarno has made numerous appeals for compassionate release on medical grounds over the years, including during the COVID-19 pandemic when his legal team argued that his continued imprisonment amid the viral spread was tantamount to a “death sentence.”

She noted that Sarno remains “a potential threat to the community as he still possesses the ability to continue his criminal activities, despite his declined physical health.”

“Sarno led a criminal organization that participated in multiple ventures, including a bomb attack on a competitor,” she wrote. “He has a documented history of such offenses, with [trial judge] Guzman observing that, ‘[h]e displays a relentless determination to engage in organized criminal behavior involving racketeering and gambling, often accompanied by violence.’”