Reputed Chicago mob enforcer Joey "The Clown" Lombardo appeared clean-shaven in federal court Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to conspiracy.
Lombardo, 77, had been on the run for nine months after he was indicted in April with 13 others in an alleged conspiracy that included 18 unsolved gangland killings. He was arrested by FBI agents who spotted him in a silver Lincoln sedan Friday night.
Shorn of a long white beard he had grown, a dapper Lombardo joked with U.S. District Judge James Zagel in a packed courtroom at the Dirksen Federal Building. Zagel ordered him held without bond.
Lombardo told the judge he would tell, "Nuttin' but the truth," WFLD-TV, Chicago, reported. He said he hadn't seen a doctor in nine months because, "I was, what do they call it, 'unavailable.'"
Lombardo has a history of heart ailments but his lawyer said he was in good health. Two of the 14 defendants indicted in the case have already died.
© Copyright 2006 by United Press International
