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CBS 2's Derrick Blakley and tthe STNG Wire contributed to this report.
CHICAGO (CBS) ― The "Family Secrets" mob trial is underway. Federal prosecutors are keeping the identities of the jury secret to avoid the potential for tampering and intimidation.

And in another twist to the much-anticipated trial, Tuesday afternoon an ordeal involving bomb squads and a suspicious package in Kenilworth ended after 5 hours. There was an unconfirmed report that the package was meant for a cooperating witness in the Family Secrets trial.

CBS 2 has learned police and the FBI were called to a house in the 600 block of Exmoor Road early Tuesday afternoon to check out a package found in the back yard. The device was determined to be inert. No injuries were reported, and no arrests and no criminal charges filed, according to the FBI.

Five defendants are going on trial before U.S. District Court Judge James B. Zagel, as a result of charges in the FBI investigation dubbed "Operation Family Secrets."

CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports on the aging defendants, accused in 18 executions.

Charged with a racketeering conspiracy that included at least 18 murders are reputed mob boss Joey "The Clown" Lombardo, 78; James Marcello, 65; Frank Calabrese Sr., 70; Paul Schiro, 69; and Anthony Doyle, 62.

There was a time when reputed mob boss Joey "The Clown" Lombardo was pretty light on his feet, but Tuesday, a 78-year-old Lombardo was wheeled into a federal courtroom as jury selection began in the Family Secrets mob trial.

His attorney says Lombardo's recovering from back surgery.

"For the time being, he's not ambulatory enough to walk any great distance," attorney Rick Halperin said. "He seems comfortable enough when he's sitting in a chair."

It's a metaphor for how time, and the federal authorities, are catching up to the mob's old guard.

Along with Lombardo, alleged mob chief James Marcello, reputed loan shark Frank Calabrese Sr., former Chicago cop Anthony Doyle and Paul "The Indian" Schiro are charged in a racketeering conspiracy that included 18 murders.

The most sensational of those was the 1986 beating deaths of Anthony and Mickey Spilotro, buried in an Indiana cornfield.

The key witness are mob turncoat Nick Calabrese, son of Frank Calabrese, Sr., who's expected to name names after taking a guilty plea.

One of the biggest secrets in the Family Secrets trial will be the identities of the jurors, withheld by court order over defense objections. Zagel has ordered an anonymous jury with lawyers having only limited information about its members.

Defense attorneys had objected, arguing it could make jurors think the defendants must be dangerous.

"It certainly will not be adverse to the government as far as any assumptions people draw and can only have an adverse impact on the defendants," Halperin said.

"In the interests of the public, we believe the public has a right to know who the jurors were," said Frank Calabrese Sr.'s attorney, Joe Lopez.

But Zabel disagreed and ordered Chicago's first anonymous federal jury in 15 years.

By day's end half the needed jurors had been picked, meaning Chicago's biggest mob trial ever could start as early as Thursday.

Two other men charged in the case pleaded guilty on Monday.

Nicholas Ferriola, 32, pleaded guilty to racketeering, bookmaking and squeezing extortion payments or "street tax" from a Chicago restaurant. He admitted he was part of the mob's South Side or Chinatown crew and that he worked with Frank Calabrese Sr., one of the trial's big names.

Joseph Venezia, 64, pleaded guilty to running a gambling business and hiding the proceeds from the Internal Revenue Service.

No sentencing date was set. The men are to return to court Aug. 10.

The trial is a homecoming of sorts for Lombardo.

He was convicted in the skyscraper Dirksen Federal Courthouse in 1982 of conspiring with then International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Roy Lee Williams to bribe then Sen. Howard Cannon, D-Nev.

After emerging from a decade in prison, Lombardo took out a newspaper ad declaring he was not a "made guy" and vowing to steer clear of the mob.

But he returned to the building Tuesday as a defendant at a trial experts say will take a bite out of the city's entrenched organized crime family -- The Chicago Outfit.

"This will hurt the mob," says Gus Russo, author of "The Outfit," and other books about organized crime. "But it won't end it."

"They always find a way to redefine themselves and bounce back," says Russo. "It probably won't be as strong in the short run."

The indictment names the Chicago Outfit, the city's organized crime family, as a racketeering conspiracy that led to 18 murders.

CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller said the trial will likely expose the mob in a fashion that has not been seen before.

"This is going to be a very, very interesting trial because you're going to be getting a peek inside the Chicago mob going back decades," CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller said.

Miller added that the federal government is trying to send a message by prosecuting the alleged mobsters, even though many of them are now seniors.

"They're trying to send a message out to everybody that organized crime will not be tolerated in the city after all these years of mob influence. Some people say Chicago is known for the mob," going back to the time of Al Capone, Miller said.

It also presents a panoramic picture of the Outfit, which it says consists of six "street crews," each with a franchise over organized crime in its sector of the city and suburbs.

Murder, gambling, pornography, extortion and loan sharking are among the activities detailed in the indictment.

Lombardo, Marcello and Calabrese are alleged to be members of the Outfit's hierarchy and are being held in federal custody. Schiro was convicted five years ago of taking part in a jewel theft ring run by the Chicago police department's former chief of detectives, William Hanhardt. Doyle is a former Chicago police officer.

All five men have pleaded not guilty.

The star witness is expected to be Calabrese's brother, Nicholas Calabrese, who has pleaded guilty to the charges and is being closely guarded by federal lawmen to prevent mobsters from getting anywhere near him.

Nicholas Calabrese says he has been a "made guy" in the Outfit for decades and knows who is responsible for many of the mob murders.

Among those killed was Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, once the Chicago mob's man in Las Vegas and the inspiration for Joe Pesci's character in the movie "Casino."

Spilotro and his brother Michael were victims of an internecine feud inside the mob.

Plainly someone is worried about what Nicholas Calabrese might say.

A federal marshal, John T. Ambrose, is currently charged with leaking information about Nicholas Calabrese's whereabouts while in Chicago to testify before a federal grand jury. Ambrose has pleaded not guilty.

The number of defendants has dwindled steadily as the time for jury selection has gotten closer.

Last week, Michael Marcello -- brother of James Marcello, described by federal prosecutors as one of the top leaders of the Outfit -- and two other men pleaded guilty to racketeering and other charges.

Also last week, Zagel tentatively dropped reputed mob extortionist Frank "The German" Schweihs from the trial for health reasons.

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