Warm Spot For Bad Guys: Elmhurst Area Official

ELMHURST, IL – An Elmhurst area official who often decries criminals these days apparently has a warm spot for the bad guys of his youth, extolling what he sees as their virtues.

He even praised a mobster who went to prison for murder.

Paul Guerino is one of the three board members for Bensenville Fire District No. 1, a "paper" agency that serves unincorporated areas between Elmhurst and Bensenville.

Guerino is also a retired teacher from Elmhurst School District 205.

He often writes on Elmhurst Patch's comment boards and has gotten sentimental about mafia figures from when he was growing up in Chicago.

Last week, he named two such figures, John Cerone and Joseph Lombardo, both of whom got in trouble with the law frequently. In 2019, Lombardo died in prison while serving a life sentence for murder and racketeering, among other crimes, according to media reports.

In a post to Patch last week, Guerino said he would rather deal with men like Lombardo and Cerone than anonymous commenters.

"They looked you in the eye. They didn't hide their identity. They were men," Guerino said.

Asked if the mobsters were criminals, he said they were.

"They were 'bad guys' who you knew and could become involved with or not," Guerino wrote. "They were perfect neighbors. Their grass was cut. Their kids were behaved in school. When someone died, they sent flowers."

In yet another post, he again recalled those days fondly.

"We knew what they were and we knew what we were," Guerino said. "It was a level playing field. There was the neighborhood and the rules. Everyone knew their place and how to play the game. You weren't forced to go to a bookie or play pool for money. You weren't forced to borrow money at 100%. You could be as straight or as crooked as you wanted to be. There were no excuses. If you broke the law and got caught you paid the price. There was no WOKE Social Justice nonsense."