Jimmy Chagra

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary Starts a six-part series documenting the life and crimes of the marijuana smuggler kingpin Jimmy Chagra. In this first episode, Gary starts a story that will eventually end with the 1979 murder of Texas Western District Court of Texas Judge John Wood, aka Maximum John. This investigation became the FBI’s most expensive operation since the JFK assassination. The Bureau collected 500,000 pieces of information, conducted 30,000 interviews, and had hundreds of hours of recorded conversations. In the end, the government convicted Woody Harrelson’s father, Charles Harrelson, of being the trigger puller, Harrelson’s wife for obtaining the murder weapon, a lawyer named Joe Chagra for conspiracy, and Elizabeth Chagra, the wife of marijuana smuggler Jimmy Chagra for delivering the payment to the wife of the hitman, Harrelson. The government charged the mastermind behind this plot, a marijuana smuggler named Jimmy Chagra. Jimmy Chagra hired famous Las Vegas mob lawyer Oscar Goodman, and in Goodman’s biggest win ever, the jury found him not guilty. Folks, get ready for a ride because I am taking you down many twists and turns through the seamy underbelly of the southwest Texas underworld. To give you an idea of where we are going, let’s start back to the 1960s. The 1960s counterculture demanded Marijuana, and the descendant of a Lebanese Immigrant started smuggling marijuana and made millions. His brothers, Joe and Lee Chagra went to law school and practiced criminal law in El Paso. Lee Chagra became the go-to lawyer for drug smugglers along the border. Richard Nixon started the war on drugs. An attorney named James Kerr went from private practice into the U.S. attorney’s office, and he is assigned to a court overseen by a hanging judge named John Wood, aka Maximum John, because of the draconian sentence he hands down. Jimmy Chagra is bubbling to the top of the DEA hit list because of his larger-than-life persona and gambling habits in Las Vegas. A tip to all you big-time criminals, keep a low profile. This story contains the attempted murder of AUSA James Kerr outside his home, the murder of Lee Chagra shortly after, the arrest of Jimmy Chagra, and the murder of Judge John Wood. The investigation of these events was the most extensive and expensive FBI investigation since the JFK case in 1963. They will conduct over 30,000 interviews, gather 5000,000 pieces of information, and record hundreds of hours on hidden microphones and wiretaps. I will start with El Paso because that city is just as much a character in this story as the individuals. El Paso has long had the reputation as a wild west kind of town. El Paso earned this reputation over its long checkered history. It is an old town, and the Spanish built a mission here in 1659. El Paso del Rio Grande del Norte, or the Pass of the Great River of the North, became an important trading center on the south bank and will be renamed Ciudad Juarez. After Sam Houston and other settlers fought off Mexican troops, they formed the nation of Texas. Missouri merchants split off from the Sana Fe trail to carry trade goods to Juarez and south to Chihuahua City. Smugglers, bounty hunters for Comanche and Apache scalps, gamblers, and adventurers found a home in El Paso. Of all the old west cities, only El Paso maintains the reputation of being a wild city in modern times. At one time, the Director of U.S. Customs said that if he stopped all smuggling through El Paso, the economy of both sides of the border would collapse. DEA made El Paso the center of all their nationwide intelligence gathering about the international narcotics smuggling trade. The 1970s Drug scene During the 1970s, under President Richard Nixon, the United States started the never-ending war on drugs and promoted draconian laws to deal with drug organizations called Kingpin laws. He created a new agency called Drug Abuse Law Enforcement or DALE. Later administrations renamed it the DEA. These were some of the first federal organizations to form task forces with local police. In the Kansas City Police Department, several undercover cops were assigned to DALE, and the stories that filtered back were crazy. These guys were getting into shootouts, fraternizing with informants, spending government money like there was no tomorrow, and operating with little adult supervision. But they were effective. I remember making a call at a well-known heroin dealer, user, booster, and professional criminal’s house. The dispatcher called and asked me to meet the DALE agents, and upon arrival, I saw a couple of guys in an early 70s Chevrolet Nova. They had the dealer, Frank Clayton, handcuffed in the back seat. One yelled out to watch the house because they would seize it as they drove off. I remember Frank Clayton had a petrified look on his face. They never came back, and after a while, I just left and went back to making calls. The last I remember, the Claytons still lived in that house. The man at the center of this story was Jimmy Chagra. Jamiel or Jimmy Chagra was born and raised in this wild west city of El Paso. His grandparents and many others from Lebanon and Syria immigrated to Mexico around 1900. Chagra’s grandfather, Joseph, joined Pancho Villa in the border area around Juarez and El Paso. Mexican Federales arrested him and his wife, Marian, bribed the prison guards, escaped, and fled north of the border. A little-known fact is the original name was “Busha’ada.” Jimmy’s grandfather worked odd jobs and was even a Sheriff’s deputy in El Paso. He started a successful produce stand across the street from the courthouse. December 7, 1944, Josephine and Abdou Chagra had three sons, and Lee Chagra was the eldest, then Jamil Jimmy Chagra, and finally, Joe Chagra was the little brother. Abdou Chagra was a Lebanese rug merchant family. Jimmy became a drug smuggler, and his brothers became attorneys for drug smugglers. As a young man Jimmy went into the family carpet business. Jimmy Chagra was not a nice guy, or no es muy simpatico, as we might say in Spanish. His parents invested a lot of money in a carpet store for him to run, and his inattention drove it into bankruptcy. The Chagra store’s motto was, “A floor without a rug is like a kiss without a hug.” He married then dumped his wife and kids without explanation. He was verbally abusive, a sick gambler, a complainer, and often pouted when he did not get his way in family situations. But he could be charming, and they always forgave him. Jimmy started running a floating blackjack game and was making trips to Vegas. The family began hearing rumors of drug smuggling, and Jimmy Chagra started spending enormous amounts of money on gold jewelry, Lincoln Continental cars, and private jet trips to Vegas. All without any actual job. These events put drug smuggler Jimmy Chagra and Federal Judge Maximum John Wood on a collision course. Let’s take a look at how Jimmy Chagra got started. In the 1960s, Jimmy got a phone call that would change everything. It was from his buddy Pete Krutschewski. Pete had served two tours in Vietnam and flown Cobra helicopters. These guys were the Maverick-type pilots of the Vietnam War. The army awarded Pete the most awards for the bravery of any Cobra pilot. He couldn’t find a job when he returned to an ungrateful nation. Pete Krutschewski recruited Jimmy to go into the marijuana smuggling business. He theorized they could do well with Jimmy’s border connections and Pete’s flying skills. The Chagra brothers were successful criminal defense lawyers so they could help with connections. In 1969 marijuana smuggling from south of the border is a new business filling the demand for good pot. The Haight-Ashbury and Woodstock Generation was taking drugs, and Marijuana was the most popular drug. Folks that wanted Marijuana, pot, doobie, weed, or whatever they called it, discovered the higher quality grown in Mexico. Most people had been smoking ditch weed, which had little THC content, so most of the early marijuana highs were from the alcohol they consumed along with the pot. People used to come to the Midwest and harvest ditch weed because we had a lot of it growing along railroad roadways, fencerows, and many other places. Hemp was a cash crop in the Midwest during the 19th century. Locally they sold it, and any high was false. Outsiders wanted it to dilute the more expensive Mexican or Jamaican weed. Jimmy and Pete made a Mexican connection and rented a plane. They flew down and bought 700 pounds of grade-A weed. They delivered it to a group of trust-fund hippies in Aspen. They cleared $85,000 on the transaction. Jimmy Chagra would never look back. Over the next ten years, Jimmy and Pete and a band of renegades became probably the largest marijuana smugglers in the world. Their empire grew to a fleet of six planes and four freighter ships. They had the prime minister of the Bahamas, Lynden Pindling, on the payroll to allow their ships safe passage through the Bahamas. They also paid DEA officials and border cops to look the other way. Jimmy even cut a deal with Mafia crime boss Raymond Patriarca to allow his ships to unload their cargo along the Massachusetts coastline. For those that remember, Mexican Weed was out in the late 1970s and early 1980s and became a new ditch weed because Colombian weed started coming in, which had a much higher THC content. Jimmy Chagra stayed on top of his market like any good businessman and watched for trends. As the demand moved to Colombian weed, he traveled to Colombia. Jimmy Chagra made a good connection. Colombian Cocaine was starting to filter into the US during this time. As the American demand grew, the smuggling business became quite lucrative. Jimmy Chagra had a huge appetite for action, and when he wasn’t dealing with Colombian traffickers, he loved Las Vegas. In his book Dirty Dealing, Gary Cartwright writes that Jimmy had a gambler’s instinct and was fatalistic about winning or losing. Playing craps, He would put ten grand on the pass line, and if he got a number, he put 10 K more behind the line and 10 k on the come. Then if his dice got another number, he put 10k more on that number and 10k on the come. If he kept the dice, he repeated the same series of bets each time he got a number. He might run through a million dollars in five minutes one way or the other. He was well known for bringing in footlockers filled with cash and handing it to casino cashiers for counting and depositing in his gambling account. This was before the CTR law. In 1975, Jimmy Chagra teamed up with two other El Paso smugglers, Jack Stricklin and Mike Halliday. They put together the biggest pot smuggling adventure known at the time. And they never got caught on this one. My next episode will be an interview with Kermit Schweidel, who participated in that operation. He wrote a book titled Folly Cove that details this smuggler’s dream of an operation. The proceeds from Folly Cove and the myth around it made Jimmy Chagra a legend among drug smugglers. And we all know what the government thinks about criminals who become legends. They take them down. So come back and listen to the inside story of the largest pot smuggling adventure known to the public. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Remember to click on www.BetterHelp.com/gangland for 10% off Subscribe to the Podcast for a new gangster story every week. Support the Podcast. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”   To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here.  To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos. To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast. Donate to the podcast. Click here!  The post The Life and Crimes of Jimmy Chagra Part 1 appeared first on Gangland Wire.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary Starts a six-part series documenting the life and crimes of the marijuana smuggler kingpin Jimmy Chagra. In this first episode, Gary starts a story that will eventually end with the 1979 murder of Texas Western District Court of Texas Judge John Wood, aka Maximum John. This investigation became the FBI’s most expensive operation since the JFK assassination. The Bureau collected 500,000 pieces of information, conducted 30,000 interviews, and had hundreds of hours of recorded conversations. In the end, the government convicted Woody Harrelson’s father, Charles Harrelson, of being the trigger puller, Harrelson’s wife for obtaining the murder weapon, a lawyer named Joe Chagra for conspiracy, and Elizabeth Chagra, the wife of marijuana smuggler Jimmy Chagra for delivering the payment to the wife of the hitman, Harrelson. The government charged the mastermind behind this plot, a marijuana smuggler named Jimmy Chagra. Jimmy Chagra hired famous Las Vegas mob lawyer Oscar Goodman, and in Goodman’s biggest win ever, the jury found him not guilty. Folks, get ready for a ride because I am taking you down many twists and turns through the seamy underbelly of the southwest Texas underworld. To give you an idea of where we are going, let’s start back to the 1960s. The 1960s counterculture demanded Marijuana, and the descendant of a Lebanese Immigrant started smuggling marijuana and made millions. His brothers, Joe and Lee Chagra went to law school and practiced criminal law in El Paso. Lee Chagra became the go-to lawyer for drug smugglers along the border. Richard Nixon started the war on drugs. An attorney named James Kerr went from private practice into the U.S. attorney’s office, and he is assigned to a court overseen by a hanging judge named John Wood, aka Maximum John, because of the draconian sentence he hands down. Jimmy Chagra is bubbling to the top of the DEA hit list because of his larger-than-life persona and gambling habits in Las Vegas. A tip to all you big-time criminals, keep a low profile. This story contains the attempted murder of AUSA James Kerr outside his home, the murder of Lee Chagra shortly after, the arrest of Jimmy Chagra, and the murder of Judge John Wood. The investigation of these events was the most extensive and expensive FBI investigation since the JFK case in 1963. They will conduct over 30,000 interviews, gather 5000,000 pieces of information, and record hundreds of hours on hidden microphones and wiretaps. I will start with El Paso because that city is just as much a character in this story as the individuals. El Paso has long had the reputation as a wild west kind of town. El Paso earned this reputation over its long checkered history. It is an old town, and the Spanish built a mission here in 1659. El Paso del Rio Grande del Norte, or the Pass of the Great River of the North, became an important trading center on the south bank and will be renamed Ciudad Juarez. After Sam Houston and other settlers fought off Mexican troops, they formed the nation of Texas. Missouri merchants split off from the Sana Fe trail to carry trade goods to Juarez and south to Chihuahua City. Smugglers, bounty hunters for Comanche and Apache scalps, gamblers, and adventurers found a home in El Paso. Of all the old west cities, only El Paso maintains the reputation of being a wild city in modern times. At one time, the Director of U.S. Customs said that if he stopped all smuggling through El Paso, the economy of both sides of the border would collapse. DEA made El Paso the center of all their nationwide intelligence gathering about the international narcotics smuggling trade. <h2>The 1970s Drug scene</h2> During the 1970s, under President Richard Nixon, the United States started the never-ending war on drugs and promoted draconian laws to deal with drug organizations called Kingpin laws. He created a new agency called Drug Abuse Law Enforcement or DALE. Later administrations renamed it the DEA. These were some of the first federal organizations to form task forces with local police. In the Kansas City Police Department, several undercover cops were assigned to DALE, and the stories that filtered back were crazy. These guys were getting into shootouts, fraternizing with informants, spending government money like there was no tomorrow, and operating with little adult supervision. But they were effective. I remember making a call at a well-known heroin dealer, user, booster, and professional criminal’s house. The dispatcher called and asked me to meet the DALE agents, and upon arrival, I saw a couple of guys in an early 70s Chevrolet Nova. They had the dealer, Frank Clayton, handcuffed in the back seat. One yelled out to watch the house because they would seize it as they drove off. I remember Frank Clayton had a petrified look on his face. They never came back, and after a while, I just left and went back to making calls. The last I remember, the Claytons still lived in that house. The man at the center of this story was Jimmy Chagra. Jamiel or Jimmy Chagra was born and raised in this wild west city of El Paso. His grandparents and many others from Lebanon and Syria immigrated to Mexico around 1900. Chagra’s grandfather, Joseph, joined Pancho Villa in the border area around Juarez and El Paso. Mexican Federales arrested him and his wife, Marian, bribed the prison guards, escaped, and fled north of the border. A little-known fact is the original name was “Busha’ada.” Jimmy’s grandfather worked odd jobs and was even a Sheriff’s deputy in El Paso. He started a successful produce stand across the street from the courthouse. December 7, 1944, Josephine and Abdou Chagra had three sons, and Lee Chagra was the eldest, then Jamil Jimmy Chagra, and finally, Joe Chagra was the little brother. Abdou Chagra was a Lebanese rug merchant family. Jimmy became a drug smuggler, and his brothers became attorneys for drug smugglers. As a young man Jimmy went into the family carpet business. Jimmy Chagra was not a nice guy, or no es muy simpatico, as we might say in Spanish. His parents invested a lot of money in a carpet store for him to run, and his inattention drove it into bankruptcy. The Chagra store’s motto was, “A floor without a rug is like a kiss without a hug.” He married then dumped his wife and kids without explanation. He was verbally abusive, a sick gambler, a complainer, and often pouted when he did not get his way in family situations. But he could be charming, and they always forgave him. Jimmy started running a floating blackjack game and was making trips to Vegas. The family began hearing rumors of drug smuggling, and Jimmy Chagra started spending enormous amounts of money on gold jewelry, Lincoln Continental cars, and private jet trips to Vegas. All without any actual job. These events put drug smuggler Jimmy Chagra and Federal Judge Maximum John Wood on a collision course. <h2>Let’s take a look at how Jimmy Chagra got started.</h2> In the 1960s, Jimmy got a phone call that would change everything. It was from his buddy Pete Krutschewski. Pete had served two tours in Vietnam and flown Cobra helicopters. These guys were the Maverick-type pilots of the Vietnam War. The army awarded Pete the most awards for the bravery of any Cobra pilot. He couldn’t find a job when he returned to an ungrateful nation. Pete Krutschewski recruited Jimmy to go into the marijuana smuggling business. He theorized they could do well with Jimmy’s border connections and Pete’s flying skills. The Chagra brothers were successful criminal defense lawyers so they could help with connections. In 1969 marijuana smuggling from south of the border is a new business filling the demand for good pot. The Haight-Ashbury and Woodstock Generation was taking drugs, and Marijuana was the most popular drug. Folks that wanted Marijuana, pot, doobie, weed, or whatever they called it, discovered the higher quality grown in Mexico. Most people had been smoking ditch weed, which had little THC content, so most of the early marijuana highs were from the alcohol they consumed along with the pot. People used to come to the Midwest and harvest ditch weed because we had a lot of it growing along railroad roadways, fencerows, and many other places. Hemp was a cash crop in the Midwest during the 19th century. Locally they sold it, and any high was false. Outsiders wanted it to dilute the more expensive Mexican or Jamaican weed. Jimmy and Pete made a Mexican connection and rented a plane. They flew down and bought 700 pounds of grade-A weed. They delivered it to a group of trust-fund hippies in Aspen. They cleared $85,000 on the transaction. Jimmy Chagra would never look back. Over the next ten years, Jimmy and Pete and a band of renegades became probably the largest marijuana smugglers in the world. Their empire grew to a fleet of six planes and four freighter ships. They had the prime minister of the Bahamas, Lynden Pindling, on the payroll to allow their ships safe passage through the Bahamas. They also paid DEA officials and border cops to look the other way. Jimmy even cut a deal with Mafia crime boss Raymond Patriarca to allow his ships to unload their cargo along the Massachusetts coastline. For those that remember, Mexican Weed was out in the late 1970s and early 1980s and became a new ditch weed because Colombian weed started coming in, which had a much higher THC content. Jimmy Chagra stayed on top of his market like any good businessman and watched for trends. As the demand moved to Colombian weed, he traveled to Colombia. Jimmy Chagra made a good connection. Colombian Cocaine was starting to filter into the US during this time. As the American demand grew, the smuggling business became quite lucrative. Jimmy Chagra had a huge appetite for action, and when he wasn’t dealing with Colombian traffickers, he loved Las Vegas. In his book Dirty Dealing, Gary Cartwright writes that Jimmy had a gambler’s instinct and was fatalistic about winning or losing. Playing craps, He would put ten grand on the pass line, and if he got a number, he put 10 K more behind the line and 10 k on the come. Then if his dice got another number, he put 10k more on that number and 10k on the come. If he kept the dice, he repeated the same series of bets each time he got a number. He might run through a million dollars in five minutes one way or the other. He was well known for bringing in footlockers filled with cash and handing it to casino cashiers for counting and depositing in his gambling account. This was before the CTR law. In 1975, Jimmy Chagra teamed up with two other El Paso smugglers, Jack Stricklin and Mike Halliday. They put together the biggest pot smuggling adventure known at the time. And they never got caught on this one. My next episode will be an interview with Kermit Schweidel, who participated in that operation. He wrote a book titled Folly Cove that details this smuggler’s dream of an operation. The proceeds from Folly Cove and the myth around it made Jimmy Chagra a legend among drug smugglers. And we all know what the government thinks about criminals who become legends. They take them down. So come back and listen to the inside story of the largest pot smuggling adventure known to the public. This episode is brought to you by <a href="https://www.betterhelp.com/get-started/?go=true&amp;slug=gangland&amp;utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=1093&amp;utm_term=gangland&amp;promo_code=gangland&amp;landing_page_img=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FSivR6U1.png&amp;aff_channel=podcast&amp;discount_rate=10&amp;discount_period=P1M&amp;date_interval=P1M&amp;percentage_off=10&amp;amount=1&amp;amount_spelled_out=one&amp;unit=month&amp;gor=start" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BetterHelp. </a>Remember to click on <a href="https://www.betterhelp.com/get-started/?go=true&amp;slug=gangland&amp;utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=1093&amp;utm_term=gangland&amp;promo_code=gangland&amp;landing_page_img=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FSivR6U1.png&amp;aff_channel=podcast&amp;discount_rate=10&amp;discount_period=P1M&amp;date_interval=P1M&amp;percentage_off=10&amp;amount=1&amp;amount_spelled_out=one&amp;unit=month&amp;gor=start" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.BetterHelp.com/gangland</a> for 10% off Subscribe to the Podcast for a new gangster story every week. Support the Podcast. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ganglandwire" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”</a> To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a> To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Brothers-against-Civella-Spero-War/dp/B081ZKBVRC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=20I5V6JFYZ1PQ&amp;keywords=brothers+against+brothers+the+civella-spero+war&amp;qid=1578331170&amp;sprefix=brothers+agais%2Caps%2C163&amp;sr=8-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here. </a> To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gangland-Wire-David-Jackson/dp/B088G28QJC/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=gangland+wire+gary+jenkins&amp;qid=1629734408&amp;sr=8-1-fkmr0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> click here</a> To buy my Kindle book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Vegas-Wiretaps-Domination-Casinos/dp/1540779254" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos</a>. To subscribe on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gangland-wire/id984020877?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a>. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast. Donate to the podcast. <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Click here! </a> The post <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/the-life-and-crimes-of-jimmy-chagra-part-1/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Life and Crimes of Jimmy Chagra Part 1</a> appeared first on <a href="https://ganglandwire.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gangland Wire</a>.

The Life and Crimes of Jimmy Chagra Part 1

Tony Accardo

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. During the 1940s, an Outfit turncoat named Willie Bioff implicated all the Outfit’s higher echelon in an extortion scheme. They had infiltrated labor unions connected to the film business and started extorting money from Major Motion Picture Studios. After they went to prison, Anthony Accardo was left. Paul Ricca had a plan to run the Outfit through Accardo. Listen to hear that plan. This episode was brought to you by BetterHelp Subscribe to the Podcast for a new gangster story every week. Support the Podcast. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”   To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here.  To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos. To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast. Donate to the podcast. Click here!  The post Tony Accardo Impersonates a Lawyer appeared first on Gangland Wire.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. During the 1940s, an Outfit turncoat named Willie Bioff implicated all the Outfit’s higher echelon in an extortion scheme. They had infiltrated labor unions connected to the film business and started extorting money from Major Motion Picture Studios. After they went to prison, Anthony Accardo was left. Paul Ricca had a plan to run the Outfit through Accardo. Listen to hear that plan. This episode was brought to you by <a href="https://www.betterhelp.com/get-started/?go=true&amp;slug=gangland&amp;utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=1093&amp;utm_term=gangland&amp;promo_code=gangland&amp;landing_page_img=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FSivR6U1.png&amp;aff_channel=podcast&amp;discount_rate=10&amp;discount_period=P1M&amp;date_interval=P1M&amp;percentage_off=10&amp;amount=1&amp;amount_spelled_out=one&amp;unit=month&amp;gor=start" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BetterHelp</a> Subscribe to the Podcast for a new gangster story every week. Support the Podcast. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ganglandwire" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”</a> To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a> To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Brothers-against-Civella-Spero-War/dp/B081ZKBVRC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=20I5V6JFYZ1PQ&amp;keywords=brothers+against+brothers+the+civella-spero+war&amp;qid=1578331170&amp;sprefix=brothers+agais%2Caps%2C163&amp;sr=8-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here. </a> To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gangland-Wire-David-Jackson/dp/B088G28QJC/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=gangland+wire+gary+jenkins&amp;qid=1629734408&amp;sr=8-1-fkmr0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> click here</a> To buy my Kindle book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Vegas-Wiretaps-Domination-Casinos/dp/1540779254" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos</a>. To subscribe on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gangland-wire/id984020877?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a>. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast. Donate to the podcast. <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Click here! </a> The post <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/tony-accardo-impersonates-a-lawyer/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tony Accardo Impersonates a Lawyer</a> appeared first on <a href="https://ganglandwire.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gangland Wire</a>.

Tony Accardo Impersonates a Lawyer

Diary of a Chicago Mob Wife

David Berman

Bugsy Seigel

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. David Berman was a Jewish-American organized crime figure active in Sioux City, Iowa, the Twin Cities, and the Las Vegas Strip. He was a casino gambling pioneer in Las Vegas, a partner with mobster Bugsy Siegel at the Flamingo Hotel. Berman died in 1957 during surgery. Berman began his criminal career at 13 by running a crew of teenage thugs committing petty extortions and eventually a string of illegal distilleries. He then went on to supplement his earnings by also running his own armed robbing crew. Later after a time in the Twin Cities and serving in WW II, Berman moved his crew to the Las Vegas strip and operated there in concert with Genovese Family associates Bugsy Siegel, Dutch Goldberg, and Moe Sedway. According to journalists Ed Reid and Ovid Demaris, Berman was involved in the mob’s investigation into Siegel and the missing profits of the Flamingo Hotel and Casino. Both journalists further allege that Berman “had talked to Benny many times about it, warning him that if the matter was not settled soon, he was going to find himself minus a head.” Twenty minutes after the 1947 assassination of Bugsy Siegel in Beverly Hills, California, Gus Greenbaum, Moe Sedway, and David Berman walked into the lobby of the Flamingo and announced that they were in charge. This episode was brought to you by BetterHelp Subscribe to the Podcast for a new gangster story every week. Support the Podcast. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”   To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here.  To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos. To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast. Donate to the podcast. Click here!  The post David Berman – From Capone to Bugsy Seigel appeared first on Gangland Wire.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. David Berman was a Jewish-American organized crime figure active in Sioux City, Iowa, the Twin Cities, and the Las Vegas Strip. He was a casino gambling pioneer in Las Vegas, a partner with mobster Bugsy Siegel at the Flamingo Hotel. Berman died in 1957 during surgery. Berman began his criminal career at 13 by running a crew of teenage thugs committing petty extortions and eventually a string of illegal distilleries. He then went on to supplement his earnings by also running his own armed robbing crew. Later after a time in the Twin Cities and serving in WW II, Berman moved his crew to the Las Vegas strip and operated there in concert with Genovese Family associates Bugsy Siegel, Dutch Goldberg, and Moe Sedway. According to journalists Ed Reid and Ovid Demaris, Berman was involved in the mob’s investigation into Siegel and the missing profits of the Flamingo Hotel and Casino. Both journalists further allege that Berman “had talked to Benny many times about it, warning him that if the matter was not settled soon, he was going to find himself minus a head.” Twenty minutes after the 1947 assassination of Bugsy Siegel in Beverly Hills, California, Gus Greenbaum, Moe Sedway, and David Berman walked into the lobby of the Flamingo and announced that they were in charge. This episode was brought to you by <a href="https://www.betterhelp.com/get-started/?go=true&amp;slug=gangland&amp;utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=1093&amp;utm_term=gangland&amp;promo_code=gangland&amp;landing_page_img=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FSivR6U1.png&amp;aff_channel=podcast&amp;discount_rate=10&amp;discount_period=P1M&amp;date_interval=P1M&amp;percentage_off=10&amp;amount=1&amp;amount_spelled_out=one&amp;unit=month&amp;gor=start" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BetterHelp</a> Subscribe to the Podcast for a new gangster story every week. Support the Podcast. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ganglandwire" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”</a> To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a> To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Brothers-against-Civella-Spero-War/dp/B081ZKBVRC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=20I5V6JFYZ1PQ&amp;keywords=brothers+against+brothers+the+civella-spero+war&amp;qid=1578331170&amp;sprefix=brothers+agais%2Caps%2C163&amp;sr=8-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here. </a> To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gangland-Wire-David-Jackson/dp/B088G28QJC/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=gangland+wire+gary+jenkins&amp;qid=1629734408&amp;sr=8-1-fkmr0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> click here</a> To buy my Kindle book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Vegas-Wiretaps-Domination-Casinos/dp/1540779254" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos</a>. To subscribe on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gangland-wire/id984020877?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a>. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast. Donate to the podcast. <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Click here! </a> The post <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/david-berman-from-capone-to-bugsy-seigel/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">David Berman – From Capone to Bugsy Seigel</a> appeared first on <a href="https://ganglandwire.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gangland Wire</a>.

David Berman – From Capone to Bugsy Seigel

Ron Chepesiuk

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you a little different show today. He interviews well-known true-crime author Ron Chepesiuk about his latest book. In Bad Henry, Ron strays from his usual topic of organized crime, drug cartels, and cocaine smuggling to the work of serial killers. Click here to find a copy of Bad Henry. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Remember to click on www.BetterHelp.com/gangland for 10% off Subscribe to the Podcast for a new gangster story every week. Support the Podcast. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”   To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here.  To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos. To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast. Donate to the podcast. Click here!  The post Bad Henry with Ron Chepesiuk – Bonus Episode appeared first on Gangland Wire.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you a little different show today. He interviews well-known true-crime author <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Ron-Chepesiuk/author/B001HD3Z1U?ref=ap_rdr&amp;store_ref=ap_rdr&amp;isDramIntegrated=true&amp;shoppingPortalEnabled=true" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ron Chepesiuk</a> about his latest book. In Bad Henry, Ron strays from his usual topic of organized crime, drug cartels, and cocaine smuggling to the work of serial killers. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/BAD-HENRY-Murderous-Rampage-Strangler/dp/1957288701" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click here to find a copy of Bad Henry.</a> This episode is brought to you by <a href="https://www.betterhelp.com/get-started/?go=true&amp;slug=gangland&amp;utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=1093&amp;utm_term=gangland&amp;promo_code=gangland&amp;landing_page_img=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FSivR6U1.png&amp;aff_channel=podcast&amp;discount_rate=10&amp;discount_period=P1M&amp;date_interval=P1M&amp;percentage_off=10&amp;amount=1&amp;amount_spelled_out=one&amp;unit=month&amp;gor=start" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BetterHelp. </a>Remember to click on <a href="https://www.betterhelp.com/get-started/?go=true&amp;slug=gangland&amp;utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=1093&amp;utm_term=gangland&amp;promo_code=gangland&amp;landing_page_img=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FSivR6U1.png&amp;aff_channel=podcast&amp;discount_rate=10&amp;discount_period=P1M&amp;date_interval=P1M&amp;percentage_off=10&amp;amount=1&amp;amount_spelled_out=one&amp;unit=month&amp;gor=start" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.BetterHelp.com/gangland</a> for 10% off Subscribe to the Podcast for a new gangster story every week. Support the Podcast. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ganglandwire" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”</a> To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a> To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Brothers-against-Civella-Spero-War/dp/B081ZKBVRC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=20I5V6JFYZ1PQ&amp;keywords=brothers+against+brothers+the+civella-spero+war&amp;qid=1578331170&amp;sprefix=brothers+agais%2Caps%2C163&amp;sr=8-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here. </a> To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gangland-Wire-David-Jackson/dp/B088G28QJC/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=gangland+wire+gary+jenkins&amp;qid=1629734408&amp;sr=8-1-fkmr0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> click here</a> To buy my Kindle book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Vegas-Wiretaps-Domination-Casinos/dp/1540779254" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos</a>. To subscribe on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gangland-wire/id984020877?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a>. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast. Donate to the podcast. <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Click here! </a> The post <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/bad-henry-with-ron-chepesiuk-bonus-epsiode/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bad Henry with Ron Chepesiuk – Bonus Episode</a> appeared first on <a href="https://ganglandwire.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gangland Wire</a>.

Bad Henry with Ron Chepesiuk – Bonus Episode

Frank Costello

Frank Costello – The Underworld’s Prime Minister

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary interviewed author and retired NYPD Detective Vic Ferrari. Gary and Vic exchange several stories from the streets. Vic starts with a brush with an NYPD Internal Affairs investigation that connects directly to the new podcast, The Set: The Story of the Dirty 30. Vic describes how his father worked as a butcher in a Mob-owned meat locker. Vic tells about other confrontations with the New York Mafia before becoming a cop. Click here to find Vic’s books. Click here to find Vic’s new podcast. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Remember to click on www.BetterHelp.com/gangland for 10% off Subscribe to the Podcast for a new gangster story every week. Support the Podcast. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”   To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here.  To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos. To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast. Donate to the podcast. Click here!  The post NYPD: Stories from Vic Ferrari appeared first on Gangland Wire.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary interviewed author and retired NYPD Detective Vic Ferrari. Gary and Vic exchange several stories from the streets. Vic starts with a brush with an NYPD Internal Affairs investigation that connects directly to the new podcast, The Set: The Story of the Dirty 30. Vic describes how his father worked as a butcher in a Mob-owned meat locker. Vic tells about other confrontations with the New York Mafia before becoming a cop. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Vic-Ferrari/author/B01IIQXLBC?ref=ap_rdr&amp;store_ref=ap_rdr&amp;isDramIntegrated=true&amp;shoppingPortalEnabled=true" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click here to find Vic’s book</a>s. <a href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2206127" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click here to find Vic’s new podcast.</a> This episode is brought to you by <a href="https://www.betterhelp.com/get-started/?go=true&amp;slug=gangland&amp;utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=1093&amp;utm_term=gangland&amp;promo_code=gangland&amp;landing_page_img=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FSivR6U1.png&amp;aff_channel=podcast&amp;discount_rate=10&amp;discount_period=P1M&amp;date_interval=P1M&amp;percentage_off=10&amp;amount=1&amp;amount_spelled_out=one&amp;unit=month&amp;gor=start" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BetterHelp. </a>Remember to click on <a href="https://www.betterhelp.com/get-started/?go=true&amp;slug=gangland&amp;utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=1093&amp;utm_term=gangland&amp;promo_code=gangland&amp;landing_page_img=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FSivR6U1.png&amp;aff_channel=podcast&amp;discount_rate=10&amp;discount_period=P1M&amp;date_interval=P1M&amp;percentage_off=10&amp;amount=1&amp;amount_spelled_out=one&amp;unit=month&amp;gor=start" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.BetterHelp.com/gangland</a> for 10% off Subscribe to the Podcast for a new gangster story every week. Support the Podcast. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ganglandwire" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”</a> To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a> To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Brothers-against-Civella-Spero-War/dp/B081ZKBVRC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=20I5V6JFYZ1PQ&amp;keywords=brothers+against+brothers+the+civella-spero+war&amp;qid=1578331170&amp;sprefix=brothers+agais%2Caps%2C163&amp;sr=8-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here. </a> To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gangland-Wire-David-Jackson/dp/B088G28QJC/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=gangland+wire+gary+jenkins&amp;qid=1629734408&amp;sr=8-1-fkmr0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> click here</a> To buy my Kindle book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Vegas-Wiretaps-Domination-Casinos/dp/1540779254" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos</a>. To subscribe on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gangland-wire/id984020877?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a>. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast. Donate to the podcast. <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Click here! </a> The post <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/nypd-stories-from-vic-ferrari/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">NYPD: Stories from Vic Ferrari</a> appeared first on <a href="https://ganglandwire.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gangland Wire</a>.

NYPD: Stories from Vic Ferrari

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary interviews fellow podcaster Adrien Martinez from Invest in Yourself and A Lifetime of Mafia Stories. Go to @investinyourself6878 to see his show. We show and discuss clips from his new Mafia history documentary. You will learn about mob figures like Lucky Luciano, Joe Bonanno, Vic Amuso and Greg Scarpa. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Remember to click on www.BetterHelp.com/gangland for 10% off Subscribe to the Podcast for a new gangster story every week. Support the Podcast. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”   To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here.  To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos. To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast. Donate to the podcast. Click here!  The post From Luciano to Scarpa appeared first on Gangland Wire.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary interviews fellow podcaster Adrien Martinez from Invest in Yourself and A Lifetime of Mafia Stories. Go to @investinyourself6878 to see his show. We show and discuss clips from his new Mafia history documentary. You will learn about mob figures like Lucky Luciano, Joe Bonanno, Vic Amuso and Greg Scarpa. This episode is brought to you by <a href="https://www.betterhelp.com/get-started/?go=true&amp;slug=gangland&amp;utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=1093&amp;utm_term=gangland&amp;promo_code=gangland&amp;landing_page_img=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FSivR6U1.png&amp;aff_channel=podcast&amp;discount_rate=10&amp;discount_period=P1M&amp;date_interval=P1M&amp;percentage_off=10&amp;amount=1&amp;amount_spelled_out=one&amp;unit=month&amp;gor=start" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BetterHelp. </a>Remember to click on <a href="https://www.betterhelp.com/get-started/?go=true&amp;slug=gangland&amp;utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=1093&amp;utm_term=gangland&amp;promo_code=gangland&amp;landing_page_img=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FSivR6U1.png&amp;aff_channel=podcast&amp;discount_rate=10&amp;discount_period=P1M&amp;date_interval=P1M&amp;percentage_off=10&amp;amount=1&amp;amount_spelled_out=one&amp;unit=month&amp;gor=start" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.BetterHelp.com/gangland</a> for 10% off Subscribe to the Podcast for a new gangster story every week. Support the Podcast. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ganglandwire" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”</a> To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a> To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Brothers-against-Civella-Spero-War/dp/B081ZKBVRC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=20I5V6JFYZ1PQ&amp;keywords=brothers+against+brothers+the+civella-spero+war&amp;qid=1578331170&amp;sprefix=brothers+agais%2Caps%2C163&amp;sr=8-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here. </a> To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gangland-Wire-David-Jackson/dp/B088G28QJC/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=gangland+wire+gary+jenkins&amp;qid=1629734408&amp;sr=8-1-fkmr0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> click here</a> To buy my Kindle book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Vegas-Wiretaps-Domination-Casinos/dp/1540779254" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos</a>. To subscribe on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gangland-wire/id984020877?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a>. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast. Donate to the podcast. <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Click here! </a> The post <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/mafia-documentary/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">From Luciano to Scarpa</a> appeared first on <a href="https://ganglandwire.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gangland Wire</a>.

From Luciano to Scarpa

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, Gary tells a few stories from his days as a soldier in Ronnie Reagen’s War on Crack Cocaine. He also plays a trailer from a new podcast titled The Set. The parent company of this new podcast helped Gangland Wire out by broadcasting free promos. In exchange, Gangland Wire is doing free promos for this new exciting documentary-style podcast titled The Set. This is the story of the NYPD officers assigned to the 30th Precinct in Harlem. I hope you will give it a try. Click here to go directly to this new show, The Set. Subscribe to the Podcast for a new gangster story every week. Support the Podcast. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”   To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here.  To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos. To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast. Donate to the podcast. Click here!  The post The Crack Cocaine Wars – Bonus appeared first on Gangland Wire.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, Gary tells a few stories from his days as a soldier in Ronnie Reagen’s War on Crack Cocaine. He also plays a trailer from a new podcast titled The Set. The parent company of this new podcast helped Gangland Wire out by broadcasting free promos. In exchange, Gangland Wire is doing free promos for this new exciting documentary-style podcast titled The Set. This is the story of the NYPD officers assigned to the 30th Precinct in Harlem. I hope you will give it a try. Click here to go directly to this new show, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-set/id1691539676?i=1000616025103" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Set.</a> Subscribe to the Podcast for a new gangster story every week. Support the Podcast. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ganglandwire" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”</a> To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a> To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Brothers-against-Civella-Spero-War/dp/B081ZKBVRC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=20I5V6JFYZ1PQ&amp;keywords=brothers+against+brothers+the+civella-spero+war&amp;qid=1578331170&amp;sprefix=brothers+agais%2Caps%2C163&amp;sr=8-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here. </a> To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gangland-Wire-David-Jackson/dp/B088G28QJC/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=gangland+wire+gary+jenkins&amp;qid=1629734408&amp;sr=8-1-fkmr0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> click here</a> To buy my Kindle book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Vegas-Wiretaps-Domination-Casinos/dp/1540779254" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos</a>. To subscribe on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gangland-wire/id984020877?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a>. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast. Donate to the podcast. <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Click here! </a> The post <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/the-crack-cocaine-wars/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Crack Cocaine Wars – Bonus</a> appeared first on <a href="https://ganglandwire.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gangland Wire</a>.

The Crack Cocaine Wars – Bonus

The Black Mafia

Good stuff,  New York delicatessen and cemetery business 71

Good stuff

Host is funny and engaging. Interesting multi episode storylines.

Great Show

Gangland Wire

John Gotti

This case starts with the FBI taping members of Gambino Capo John Gottis’s Bergen Hunt and Fish Club crew.  This included his brother Gene Gotti and his good friend Angelo Ruggerio along with John Carneglia. Ruggerio was the main target and the Bureau uncovered their multi-million dollar a year heroin distribution ring. Additionally, Ruggerio was a big mouth who talked incessantly about everything. He even bad-mouthed his friend and boss, John Gotti. Even though when Ruggerio was with John Gotti, he was constantly stroking his ego and complimenting him. These tapes would be used as a big part of a probable cause affidavit to get a listening device placed inside big Paul Castellano’s home. Ruggerio and Carneglia were John Gotti’s closest allies in his crew and both participated in the murder of John Favera who was the man who accidentally hit and killed Gotti’s kid in an accident. In 1985, both men would help John Gotti murder his boss, Paul Castellano. Both had their own reasons for wanting Castellano dead because by the time of this murder in the FBI was moving on them for the heroin case and Paul Castellano had ordered the murder of the last member of the Gambino family caught dealing drugs. Plus, Castellano knew about the tapes made by the FBI because they were part of the evidence against him and he demanded that Ruggerio give them up to his lawyer. Ruggerio refused and appealed to his uncle, long-time Gambino underboss Aniello Dellacroce. He kept Castellano fended off until he died in 1985. Shortly after Dellacroce died, Gotti and his crew moved on Paul Castellano and with that murder, Gotti would ascend to become the boss of the Gambino crime family. During these years, Angelo Ruggerio would be caught trying to bribe a telephone man to find out about FBI wiretaps and he would have two mistrials because of jury tampering. He hired a couple of different private investigators to watch the courthouse and catch jurors entering cars to get their car registration names. He then sent someone out to attempt to bribe them. In the end, both Gene Gotti and John Carneglia were convicted and given 50-year sentences. Gene was released in 2015 after serving 29 years in prison. During all the is time there is a New York City police officer working in the Public Morals squad which is the Vice squad. They worked prostitution, illegal casinos, bars that violated liquor laws and all in all a fertile ground for bribes. On December 3, 1984, he is taking his wife and mother in law to a celebration at St. Barbara’s Greek Orthodox church in Manhattan. He was driving across the Manhattan Bridge when his car stalled and stopped. It was raining and low visibility. As traffic backed up and horns were blasting, a speeding car hit the officer pinning him against his car. At the hospital, doctors had to amputate his left foot at his ankle that day and over the next few months, they would take off more of his leg up to his thing. Intelligence Unit.” Once he was back to duty in 1986, The NYPD turned down the officer’s application for an on-duty disability. He did get a 1.4 million settlement from the driver’s insurance. The NYPD assigned this man as an Intelligence Unit analyst where he had access to sensitive information on organized-crime cases. Remember this was during the time that Gotti’s was taking over the Gambino family.  He was able to obtain confidential information like the locations of electronic listening devices (wiretaps and bugs), the identity of confidential sources of information and cooperating witnesses, and the timing of prospective indictments. It was during this time that the feds figured out john Gotti had paid an old lady to vacate her apartment and he could access her apartment from inside the Ravenite Social Club. It was a tape from that microphone planted inside a VCR and wired directly to a telephone line that was a leased line monitored from the Manhattan FBI office. A Gotti Capo named Joe Butch Corrao and a guy Gotti liked to call the Grim Reaper who was George Helbig came to this apartment and told Gotti and Sammy the Bull Gravano that they had a guy who told them that the state, not the feds, had planted mikes inside Gravano’s Brooklyn club and his construction company office. The next day the US Attorney Bruce Mouw was reading the 100-page transcript when he saw this conversation. He called in FBI Agent Andy Kurins and together they found had 4 clues. The guy was either a golfer, a lawyer, a cop or somebody’s cousin. They did not know which clue or clues were pertinent.  Gotti instructed the Grim Reaper, Geroge Heibig to give the guy enough money to buy some new golf clubs. The agent knew that John Gotti played at the Westchester County Club and Sammy Gravano’s construction company had a contract to do work there so he pulled the membership list but this did not reveal any suspects. Gotti said something about “every cop he knows there. But that’s good, You know why? He’s a legitimate lawyer so its beautiful.” So they thought he was a lawyer and which meant he was a prosecutor. Gotti did not like Hiebig and after he left, he exclaimed, “They all got a cop that’s a first cousin or an uncle or a fucking nephew. Gravano replied, “I know this guy he’s talking about, Pete! Gotti replied, “Yeah, That’s his first cousin?” They still could not figure out if Gotti meant that this was Hieibg’s first cousin or this Pete’s first cousin. He put pin registers on all of Hiebig’s telephones and cloned his beeper to no avail. Hiebig’s beeper did show a lot of calls from a payphone in Brooklyn. Agent Kurins went to the payphone and took photos of Heibig and Pete Mavis around and quickly found a doorman who knew Pete Mavis. He asked the agent if he was checking on the parties they had at this building. He learned this was a party pad rented to one of Heibig’s companies. This apartment had a phone and he pulled the phone records and found a lot of calls to a phone owned by a Constance Piest, but that meant nothing and he thought it might be a party girl. He visited Pete Mavis’s in-laws because they held the mortgage on a house used as a business by Heibig. As he talked, he figured they knew nothing but he happened to ask if they knew a Constance Peist. The wife replied, “Yes that’s Pete’s cousin, maybe you know her husband Billy who is a detective. The one who works in Intelligence and lost his leg in an accident.” Andy Kurins could not get out of there fast enough and made a beeline back to the US Attorney’s office with this information. Together they pieced together that Det. William Priest was a very active analyst and he was constantly checking with the prosecutor’s office, the FBI and other investigators gathering information on the New York mob. He got Priest’s phone records and work logs and they found that on the day that Corrao and Heibig told Gravano and Gotti about the bugs in Gravano’s office, Peter Mavis had called Priest’s phone that same day. Please listen to next week’s episode to hear an interview with a man who spent time inside the joint with former Detective Willaim Priest. To go to the store or make a donation click here To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To subscribe on iTunes click here, please give me a review and help others find the podcast.  The post John Gotti and the Informant Part 1 appeared first on Gangland Wire.

This case starts with the FBI taping members of Gambino Capo John Gottis’s Bergen Hunt and Fish Club crew.  This included his brother Gene Gotti and his good friend Angelo Ruggerio along with John Carneglia. Ruggerio was the main target and the Bureau uncovered their multi-million dollar a year heroin distribution ring. Additionally, Ruggerio was a big mouth who talked incessantly about everything. He even bad-mouthed his friend and boss, John Gotti. Even though when Ruggerio was with John Gotti, he was constantly stroking his ego and complimenting him. These tapes would be used as a big part of a probable cause affidavit to get a listening device placed inside big Paul Castellano’s home. Ruggerio and Carneglia were John Gotti’s closest allies in his crew and both participated in the murder of John Favera who was the man who accidentally hit and killed Gotti’s kid in an accident. In 1985, both men would help John Gotti murder his boss, Paul Castellano. Both had their own reasons for wanting Castellano dead because by the time of this murder in the FBI was moving on them for the heroin case and Paul Castellano had ordered the murder of the last member of the Gambino family caught dealing drugs. Plus, Castellano knew about the tapes made by the FBI because they were part of the evidence against him and he demanded that Ruggerio give them up to his lawyer. Ruggerio refused and appealed to his uncle, long-time Gambino underboss Aniello Dellacroce. He kept Castellano fended off until he died in 1985. Shortly after Dellacroce died, Gotti and his crew moved on Paul Castellano and with that murder, Gotti would ascend to become the boss of the Gambino crime family. During these years, Angelo Ruggerio would be caught trying to bribe a telephone man to find out about FBI wiretaps and he would have two mistrials because of jury tampering. He hired a couple of different private investigators to watch the courthouse and catch jurors entering cars to get their car registration names. He then sent someone out to attempt to bribe them. In the end, both Gene Gotti and John Carneglia were convicted and given 50-year sentences. Gene was released in 2015 after serving 29 years in prison. During all the is time there is a New York City police officer working in the Public Morals squad which is the Vice squad. They worked prostitution, illegal casinos, bars that violated liquor laws and all in all a fertile ground for bribes. On December 3, 1984, he is taking his wife and mother in law to a celebration at St. Barbara’s Greek Orthodox church in Manhattan. He was driving across the Manhattan Bridge when his car stalled and stopped. It was raining and low visibility. As traffic backed up and horns were blasting, a speeding car hit the officer pinning him against his car. At the hospital, doctors had to amputate his left foot at his ankle that day and over the next few months, they would take off more of his leg up to his thing. Intelligence Unit.” Once he was back to duty in 1986, The NYPD turned down the officer’s application for an on-duty disability. He did get a 1.4 million settlement from the driver’s insurance. The NYPD assigned this man as an Intelligence Unit analyst where he had access to sensitive information on organized-crime cases. Remember this was during the time that Gotti’s was taking over the Gambino family.  He was able to obtain confidential information like the locations of electronic listening devices (wiretaps and bugs), the identity of confidential sources of information and cooperating witnesses, and the timing of prospective indictments. It was during this time that the feds figured out john Gotti had paid an old lady to vacate her apartment and he could access her apartment from inside the Ravenite Social Club. It was a tape from that microphone planted inside a VCR and wired directly to a telephone line that was a leased line monitored from the Manhattan FBI office. A Gotti Capo named Joe Butch Corrao and a guy Gotti liked to call the Grim Reaper who was George Helbig came to this apartment and told Gotti and Sammy the Bull Gravano that they had a guy who told them that the state, not the feds, had planted mikes inside Gravano’s Brooklyn club and his construction company office. The next day the US Attorney Bruce Mouw was reading the 100-page transcript when he saw this conversation. He called in FBI Agent Andy Kurins and together they found had 4 clues. The guy was either a golfer, a lawyer, a cop or somebody’s cousin. They did not know which clue or clues were pertinent.  Gotti instructed the Grim Reaper, Geroge Heibig to give the guy enough money to buy some new golf clubs. The agent knew that John Gotti played at the Westchester County Club and Sammy Gravano’s construction company had a contract to do work there so he pulled the membership list but this did not reveal any suspects. Gotti said something about “every cop he knows there. But that’s good, You know why? He’s a legitimate lawyer so its beautiful.” So they thought he was a lawyer and which meant he was a prosecutor. Gotti did not like Hiebig and after he left, he exclaimed, “They all got a cop that’s a first cousin or an uncle or a fucking nephew. Gravano replied, “I know this guy he’s talking about, Pete! Gotti replied, “Yeah, That’s his first cousin?” They still could not figure out if Gotti meant that this was Hieibg’s first cousin or this Pete’s first cousin. He put pin registers on all of Hiebig’s telephones and cloned his beeper to no avail. Hiebig’s beeper did show a lot of calls from a payphone in Brooklyn. Agent Kurins went to the payphone and took photos of Heibig and Pete Mavis around and quickly found a doorman who knew Pete Mavis. He asked the agent if he was checking on the parties they had at this building. He learned this was a party pad rented to one of Heibig’s companies. This apartment had a phone and he pulled the phone records and found a lot of calls to a phone owned by a Constance Piest, but that meant nothing and he thought it might be a party girl. He visited Pete Mavis’s in-laws because they held the mortgage on a house used as a business by Heibig. As he talked, he figured they knew nothing but he happened to ask if they knew a Constance Peist. The wife replied, “Yes that’s Pete’s cousin, maybe you know her husband Billy who is a detective. The one who works in Intelligence and lost his leg in an accident.” Andy Kurins could not get out of there fast enough and made a beeline back to the US Attorney’s office with this information. Together they pieced together that Det. William Priest was a very active analyst and he was constantly checking with the prosecutor’s office, the FBI and other investigators gathering information on the New York mob. He got Priest’s phone records and work logs and they found that on the day that Corrao and Heibig told Gravano and Gotti about the bugs in Gravano’s office, Peter Mavis had called Priest’s phone that same day. Please listen to next week’s episode to hear an interview with a man who spent time inside the joint with former Detective Willaim Priest. To go to the store or make a donation <a href="http://9f4.025.myftpupload.com/store/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a> To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gangland-Wire-David-Jackson/dp/B00I2C67ZU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> click h</a>ere To subscribe on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gangland-wire/id984020877?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here,</a> please give me a review and help others find the podcast. <a href="https://www.blubrry.com/kc_crime/survey/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"></a> The post <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/john-gotti-and-the-informant/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John Gotti and the Informant Part 1</a> appeared first on <a href="https://ganglandwire.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gangland Wire</a>.

John Gotti and the Informant Part 1

The making of the Hole in the Wall Series I am adding a new method of supporting the podcast. If you have the venmo app, how about donating an average of fifty cents an episode or just hit me up for a buck every time you think of it. Now on with the show. This is the first of a 3 part series telling the story of the Chicago Outfit member Tony Spilotro Hole in the Wall Gang. In this first episode, your hosts tell about the early beginnings and the Las Vegas background that allowed such a gang to start. We use a few dramatic depictions of interviews with the participants who are not available. Plus we use interviews of a few of the actual people involved like Frank Cullotta and FBI agent Emmet Michaels, former Las Vegas Metro Commander Kent Clifford, and Mob historian Michael Green. If we can’t get an original participant in these events because they are dead of impossible to find, we are using actors, lets give credit to our actors, Ben Ellickson of Chicago, the comedian Cojac of Kansas City and the man of a thousand voices, Alex Virgo of Kansas City. Every good thief wants that one big score. How many movies have there been made about the big score or the last score before a master thief retires? My first one I remember was probably the Thomas Crown Affair, but there have been plenty like Heat, Heist, Oceans 11, 12, and Oceans 8 with an all-female cast. What is your favorite caper film?  Personally, mine is Heat with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino. The background on the Hole in the Wall Gang In this first episode, we look at the Hole in the Wall gang that starts stealing fro Sears stores and from drug dealers and ends with the last big score, the 1981 burglary at Bertha’s Gifts and Home Furnishings at 896 East Sahara Street in Las Vegas. The Bertha’s store was started by Bertha Ragland who came to Vegas right after WW II and opened a fine china and home furnishings store. She would eventually add a high-end jewelry store inside the home furnishing store.  Bertha Ragland was a colorful and well-known successful Las Vegas businesswoman. Remember this was over 30 years ago and while credit cards were being used, in Las Vegas most still dealt in a lot of cash. The cash transaction report, or CTR, was in use but widely ignored by many financial institutions until the later 1980s when the DEA got very tough on money laundering. It was a well-known fact to her employees that she did not trust banks and kept large amounts of cash and jewelry inside a safe in the store. To take you back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, remember Jane Byrne, she was mayor of Chicago and in 1981 she moved her family into the Cabrini Green high-rise housing project for 3 weeks. In 1981 The ground-breaking cop show, Hill Street Blues based on the Chicago PD was released. I was watching the Kansas City mob boys as they tried to regain some organization after the skimming search warrants were served in 1979 and Joe Agosto turned government witness. The FBI attacks the Outfit In 1981, Anthony Accardo was the real power behind the throne of the Chicago outfit while Joey Doves Aiuppa was the boss to all outside observers. The FBI was conducting a multi-prong attack on the Outfit and their connections to the Teamster’s union and Las Vegas casinos in Operation Strawman 1 and 2. In Operation Penfdorf the FBI taped Teamster’s official Allen Dorfman plotting to skim Teamster money with Outfit Capo Joey the Clown Lombardo and others. Operation Greylord and Operation Gambet were uncovering and identifying the Outift’s penetration of the Cook County Circuit court and other Chicago government entities. 1981 will be the last good year for the Chicago Outfit. A burglary in the Las Vegas store named Bertha’s Gifts and Furnishings will provide one of the most important witnesses to come forward in the Outfit’s history. Frank Cullotta meets Tony Spilotro First, we will examine another event that starts a relationship that ends at a big score at Bertha’s. We look back to the early 1960s in Chicago, a young thief named Frank Cullotta had become friends with Tony Spilotro. Their relationship was cemented when 23-year-old Frank Cullotta used his friendship with a fall partner, a young thief named Billy McCarthy. As a favor for the Outfit, Frank lured McCarthy into a spot where he was kidnapped and handed over for Spilotro to torture and murder. Also, during the 1960s, Tony and Frank partnered on several successful burglary scores. For example, a 1957 bank job where they broke through the wall of a basement into the basement of a bank. In their first big score, Tony and Frank used sledgehammers, acetylene torches, and other heavy equipment tools and started on a weekend so they had plenty of time to complete the job and get away before the bank reopened for business. Frank netted $50,000.00 for his end of that score. A lot of money in 1957. Frank Cullotta and Tony Spilotro would use these same techniques until their last burglary together in 1981. The Midwest Mobs moved into Las Vegas So how did these 2 Chicago thieves and Outfit members end up burglarizing a Gift shop in 1981 Las Vegas? First, we have to understand why Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, and Cleveland mobsters were in Las Vegas. During the 1970s, the Outfit moved into the Las Vegas casino business after an agreement with the East Coast Families to take over all rackets in Atlantic City. Chicago, being the leader of this Midwest cabal of crime families led the way into Vegas. In preparation, in 1971, an Outfit associate and well-known gambler named Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal moved from Florida to Vegas and got a job at the Stardust. Later in 1971, 33-year-old Chicago Outfit member Anthony “Tony” Spilotro moved to Las Vegas. Aiuppa wanted an Outfit member to watch Rosenthal’s back and to take care of any problems that might threaten the skim. In 1962, a 22-year-old Tony Spilotro earned his place in the Outfit from the torture and murder of two men who had angered the bosses, Billy McCarthy and Jimmy Miraglia. The opening scene of Casino was a depiction of the Spilotro’s torture and murder of Billy McCarthy using a vice. Tony Spilotro and his wife, Nancy, move to Las Vegas and Frank and Geri Rosenthal are observed meeting them and help them get settled. The Outfit through the Teamsters has set up a deal at the Circus Circus casino and Tony opens a gift shop as a front business. An interesting sidebar on the Circus Circus us that it has an actual circus inside. This became the first casino developed to attract families. In 1974, the Chicago Outfit, the Kansas City Crime Family, the Milwaukee family, and the Cleveland mob organizations pooled their Teamster’s Union contacts and paved the way for a 32-year-old mild-mannered, bald, former Vietnam helicopter pilot turned real estate developer named Allen Glick to obtain a 62-million-dollar loan. Glick created the Argent Corporation and purchased the Stardust, Fremont, Hacienda, and Marina casino/hotels. In return, he was advised to promote a current Stardust employee named Frank Lefty Rosenthal to a high-level job in his organization. Lefty Rosenthal or Ace Rothstein We all remember the Robert DeNiro character Ace Rothstein in the Scorsese film Casino. Well, that was the screenwriter Nicholas Pillegi’s depiction of Frank Lefty Rosenthal. The fictional Ace Rothstein was a very accurate depiction of the real Lefty who described as an arrogant, egotistical, ostentatious, flamboyant, and conspicuous gambler. That was in 1974 and for the next few years, things were going unimpeded for this cabal of Midwest mob families. Lefty was able to hire several corrupt employees and start a regular flow of money skimmed from the four casinos owned by Argent. This money was divided between Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Kansas City. Tony Spilotro’s duties in Las Vegas The Outfit boss at the time was Joey Aiuppa and he wanted a guy who was loyal to Chicago to watch Lefty and back him up with any problems. Chicago Outfit mob associate would later say that Lefty did not make this easy. The Chicago Outfit does not pay Spilotro a salary for watching Lefty’s back or for helping Lefty with any strong-arm tactics he needed to run the casinos. In return for his work, the Outfit granted Spilotro a license to steal in Las Vegas. Working with the Outfit is not like a normal job, it is more like the Outfit grants a member like Spilotro a franchise to display a sign that they are a well-connected guy, and in return, Spilotro or the franchisee agrees to pay a street tax of a percentage of each score they earn from any illicit activity they conduct. By 1979 Spilotro friend and professional burglar Frank Cullotta was fed up with Chicago. He would later relate that crooked Chicago law enforcement wanted to take a chunk of his money and the good cops wanted to put him in jail. He accepted Spilotro’s invitation to join a crew in Las Vegas. When Frank arrived Spilotro told him he wanted Frank to put a crew of Chicago guys together and start doing jobs and to be his inside man at the Casinos because the Nevada Gaming Control Board had learned enough about Spilotro that he was placed in the Black Book. During the early 1970s, Las Vegas law enforcement including Gaming Control enforcement was not the most professional in the world. All gaming background investigations were conducted by the Clark County Sheriff’s office. The sheriff was Ralph lamb. He was an old school western style lawman who ran a large family ranch as well as serving as the sheriff. He was known to meet the lower level mobsters at the airport, rough them up a bit and tell them to go back home. He claimed he once grabbed Chicago Outfit mobster Johnny Roselli and “slapped the cologne” off of him. Lamb’s department once stopped a large group of Hell’s Angels and destroyed several motorcycles and gave the bikers haircuts before turning them loose. On the other hand, Ralph Lamb wrote a character reference letter attesting to the good character of Lefty Rosenthal in support of Lefty getting a license to be involved in the Florida racetrack industry. Being responsible for background investigations for gaming licenses was huge responsibility and opened the sheriff’s office to potential corruption. The FBI started looking into Outfit corruption in the gaming industry but they got little cooperation from local law enforcement. All local and state Nevada officials resented any intrusion on their jurisdiction. It was not that this was institutional corruption but more like a libertarian attitude against anything to do with the central government. In the middle 1970s, Nevada was changing and they were realizing that Chicago and other eastern organized crime families were infiltrating their casino business. Informants were telling about the loss of thousands of dollars in tax revenue because of skimming. If the money is skimmed before the official count, the state cannot tax the entire amount of casino revenue. Ralph Lamb was charged with personal income tax evasion but would eventually be found not guilty. The bad publicity cost him the election in 1979. The Las Vegas city Police Department and the Clark County Sheriff’s office had merged by this time and were known as the Las Vegas Metro PD. A former Las Vegas PD sergeant named John McCarthy beat Ralph Lamb and became sheriff. Kent Clifford cleans up Las Vegas Metro intelligence During this time just before John McCarthy was elected, the Metro Vice and Narcotics Unit had been neglected and was infested with corruption. McCarthy will promote former vice officer who was known to be incorruptible in a sea of corruption. When Kent Clifford was promoted to command the Metro Intelligence Unit, this Eliot Ness will find that most of his officers were either a little bit corrupt taking many favors from strip casinos to actually informing Tony Spilotro about any law enforcement activities that were investigating Spilotro or his friends. Clifford made an impression when on one of his first days in the Unit’s office he found  30-40 cases of booze. He asked what was this and he was told that the Strip casinos donate that to give to the officers as Christmas presents every year. he ordered his men to remove the cases of alcohol and told them he would not allow anyone to take any favor from any casino again. Commander Clifford will soon transfer all the existing officers out and replace them with men he could trust. By this time, the National Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit organization refused to share any information with the Vegas police department. The FBI refused to work with them in any manner.  At about this same time the local FBI office had indicted a unit member named Joe Blasko. He will be fired and eventually work directly for Spilotro and become a member of the Hole in the Wall Gang. FBI agents overheard Joe Blasko and another vice and narcotics officer giving Tony Spilotro information on FBI investigations. The FBI started transferring in agents who had experience working organized crime cases back east. Agent Emment Michaels was a blunt, straightforward hard charging FBI agent. He was assigned to head up the surveillance squad and they focused their efforts on Spiloto. He soon noticed the changes in the LV Metro Intelligence and forged a friendship with Commander Kent Clifford. The Hole in the Wall gang is created By 1979, Frank Cullotta is putting together several of his old Outfit comrades into a burglary gang. The press will name The Hole in the Wall gang because they often knock a hole in a wall of a business to avoid alarms on doors and windows. They will hit houses and businesses all over the southwest. They set up their own scores and hit scores set up by Tony Spilotro. Frank Cullotta runs the day to day operations of this gang and makes sure a piece of every score is given to Spilotro in the usual Outfit protocol. During this time Tony Spilotro orders Frank Culotta to murder a Las Vegas resident named Jerry Lisner because he thinks Lisner is an informant. Cullotta will take another member of the Hole in the Wall Gang, Wayne Matecki as a back up on this hit. Frank and Mateki went to Lisner’s house and Frank shot him, but Lisner ran away and refused to go down. Frank chased him down shooting until he ran out of bullets and Mateki brought more in so Frank could reload.  He finally got Jerry Lisner killed. This scene was depicted in the Scorsese film, Casino. During the filming of this scene, Scorsese will complain that it did not feel right. Frank Cullotta was on the set as a technical consultant. he overheard Scorsese complaining and he told him that they were not doing it right. Scorsese replied, “Who are you” and Frank replied, “I am the guy who done it.” The FBI joins Las Vegas Metro Intelligence During this time, the Hole in the Wall gang is hanging out at the Upper Crust Pizza restaurant and bar owned by Culotta. Las Vegas Metro Intelligence Unit led by an incorruptible new Commander who transfers in young aggressive police officers and creates a partnership with the Emment Michaels and the Las Vegas FBI and joins and forms a task force. The Spilotro task force will soon focus their attention on the Upper Crust.  This focus on the Upper Crust will lead to disastrous consequences for one Chicago Outfit hanger-on and shortly after a confrontation between Kent Clifford and the entire hierarchy of the Chicago Outfit National newspapers take notice of the presence of Tony Spiloto. The Wall Street journal even name Aiuppa and Spilotro as the men behind a strong move West by the Chicago Outfit.  Tony Spilotro has given up his gift shop in Circus Circus after the Gaming Control Board discovered Spilotro’s ties to the Chicago Outfit. Spilotro opens a jewelry store called the Gold Rush a block off the strip. He will use this front to fence stolen goods obtained by the Hole in the Wall Gang.  As police intelligence units in Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland and Kansas City serve search warrants on mob leaders to uncover evidence of Vegas skimming activities, The FBI and Las Vegas metro police start to tighten the noose on Tony Spilotro and his Hole in the Wall Gang with heavy surveillance of the Gold Rush and Cullotta’s Upper Crust restaurant. The gang is making money and attracting law enforcement heat. The next year will not be without incident. We will hear about successes, failures and WTF situations.  All the time Spilotro and his Hole in the Wall gang are doing burglaries and loansharking, the upper echelon in Chicago, Kansas City are quietly taking millions out of the casinos. Don’t forget to listen to Aaron on the Big Dumb Fun Show. To go to the our store click here To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To subscribe on iTunes click here, give me a review and I will send you a link to see the film for free.  The post Hole in the Wall Gang Part 1 appeared first on Gangland Wire.

<h2>The making of the Hole in the Wall Series</h2> I am adding a new method of supporting the podcast. If you have the <a href="https://venmo.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">venmo app</a>, how about donating an average of fifty cents an episode or just hit me up for a buck every time you think of it. Now on with the show. This is the first of a 3 part series telling the story of the Chicago Outfit member Tony Spilotro Hole in the Wall Gang. In this first episode, your hosts tell about the early beginnings and the Las Vegas background that allowed such a gang to start. We use a few dramatic depictions of interviews with the participants who are not available. Plus we use interviews of a few of the actual people involved like Frank Cullotta and FBI agent Emmet Michaels, former Las Vegas Metro Commander Kent Clifford, and Mob historian Michael Green. If we can’t get an original participant in these events because they are dead of impossible to find, we are using actors, lets give credit to our actors, Ben Ellickson of Chicago, the comedian Cojac of Kansas City and the man of a thousand voices, Alex Virgo of Kansas City. Every good thief wants that one big score. How many movies have there been made about the big score or the last score before a master thief retires? My first one I remember was probably the Thomas Crown Affair, but there have been plenty like Heat, Heist, Oceans 11, 12, and Oceans 8 with an all-female cast. What is your favorite caper film?  Personally, mine is Heat with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino. <h3>The background on the Hole in the Wall Gang</h3> In this first episode, we look at the Hole in the Wall gang that starts stealing fro Sears stores and from drug dealers and ends with the last big score, the 1981 burglary at Bertha’s Gifts and Home Furnishings at 896 East Sahara Street in Las Vegas. The Bertha’s store was started by Bertha Ragland who came to Vegas right after WW II and opened a fine china and home furnishings store. She would eventually add a high-end jewelry store inside the home furnishing store.  Bertha Ragland was a colorful and well-known successful Las Vegas businesswoman. Remember this was over 30 years ago and while credit cards were being used, in Las Vegas most still dealt in a lot of cash. The cash transaction report, or CTR, was in use but widely ignored by many financial institutions until the later 1980s when the DEA got very tough on money laundering. It was a well-known fact to her employees that she did not trust banks and kept large amounts of cash and jewelry inside a safe in the store. To take you back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, remember Jane Byrne, she was mayor of Chicago and in 1981 she moved her family into the Cabrini Green high-rise housing project for 3 weeks. In 1981 The ground-breaking cop show, Hill Street Blues based on the Chicago PD was released. I was watching the Kansas City mob boys as they tried to regain some organization after the skimming search warrants were served in 1979 and Joe Agosto turned government witness. <h2>The FBI attacks the Outfit</h2> In 1981, Anthony Accardo was the real power behind the throne of the Chicago outfit while Joey Doves Aiuppa was the boss to all outside observers. The FBI was conducting a multi-prong attack on the Outfit and their connections to the Teamster’s union and Las Vegas casinos in Operation Strawman 1 and 2. In Operation Penfdorf the FBI taped Teamster’s official Allen Dorfman plotting to skim Teamster money with Outfit Capo Joey the Clown Lombardo and others. Operation Greylord and Operation Gambet were uncovering and identifying the Outift’s penetration of the Cook County Circuit court and other Chicago government entities. 1981 will be the last good year for the Chicago Outfit. A burglary in the Las Vegas store named Bertha’s Gifts and Furnishings will provide one of the most important witnesses to come forward in the Outfit’s history. <h2>Frank Cullotta meets Tony Spilotro</h2> First, we will examine another event that starts a relationship that ends at a big score at Bertha’s. We look back to the early 1960s in Chicago, a young thief named Frank Cullotta had become friends with Tony Spilotro. Their relationship was cemented when 23-year-old Frank Cullotta used his friendship with a fall partner, a young thief named Billy McCarthy. As a favor for the Outfit, Frank lured McCarthy into a spot where he was kidnapped and handed over for Spilotro to torture and murder. Also, during the 1960s, Tony and Frank partnered on several successful burglary scores. For example, a 1957 bank job where they broke through the wall of a basement into the basement of a bank. In their first big score, Tony and Frank used sledgehammers, acetylene torches, and other heavy equipment tools and started on a weekend so they had plenty of time to complete the job and get away before the bank reopened for business. Frank netted $50,000.00 for his end of that score. A lot of money in 1957. Frank Cullotta and Tony Spilotro would use these same techniques until their last burglary together in 1981. <h2>The Midwest Mobs moved into Las Vegas</h2> So how did these 2 Chicago thieves and Outfit members end up burglarizing a Gift shop in 1981 Las Vegas? First, we have to understand why Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, and Cleveland mobsters were in Las Vegas. During the 1970s, the Outfit moved into the Las Vegas casino business after an agreement with the East Coast Families to take over all rackets in Atlantic City. Chicago, being the leader of this Midwest cabal of crime families led the way into Vegas. In preparation, in 1971, an Outfit associate and well-known gambler named Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal moved from Florida to Vegas and got a job at the Stardust. Later in 1971, 33-year-old Chicago Outfit member Anthony “Tony” Spilotro moved to Las Vegas. Aiuppa wanted an Outfit member to watch Rosenthal’s back and to take care of any problems that might threaten the skim. In 1962, a 22-year-old Tony Spilotro earned his place in the Outfit from the torture and murder of two men who had angered the bosses, Billy McCarthy and Jimmy Miraglia. The opening scene of Casino was a depiction of the Spilotro’s torture and murder of Billy McCarthy using a vice. Tony Spilotro and his wife, Nancy, move to Las Vegas and Frank and Geri Rosenthal are observed meeting them and help them get settled. The Outfit through the Teamsters has set up a deal at the Circus Circus casino and Tony opens a gift shop as a front business. An interesting sidebar on the Circus Circus us that it has an actual circus inside. This became the first casino developed to attract families. In 1974, the Chicago Outfit, the Kansas City Crime Family, the Milwaukee family, and the Cleveland mob organizations pooled their Teamster’s Union contacts and paved the way for a 32-year-old mild-mannered, bald, former Vietnam helicopter pilot turned real estate developer named Allen Glick to obtain a 62-million-dollar loan. Glick created the Argent Corporation and purchased the Stardust, Fremont, Hacienda, and Marina casino/hotels. In return, he was advised to promote a current Stardust employee named Frank Lefty Rosenthal to a high-level job in his organization. <h2>Lefty Rosenthal or Ace Rothstein</h2> We all remember the Robert DeNiro character Ace Rothstein in the Scorsese film Casino. Well, that was the screenwriter Nicholas Pillegi’s depiction of Frank Lefty Rosenthal. The fictional Ace Rothstein was a very accurate depiction of the real Lefty who described as an arrogant, egotistical, ostentatious, flamboyant, and conspicuous gambler. That was in 1974 and for the next few years, things were going unimpeded for this cabal of Midwest mob families. Lefty was able to hire several corrupt employees and start a regular flow of money skimmed from the four casinos owned by Argent. This money was divided between Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Kansas City. <h2>Tony Spilotro’s duties in Las Vegas</h2> The Outfit boss at the time was Joey Aiuppa and he wanted a guy who was loyal to Chicago to watch Lefty and back him up with any problems. Chicago Outfit mob associate would later say that Lefty did not make this easy. The Chicago Outfit does not pay Spilotro a salary for watching Lefty’s back or for helping Lefty with any strong-arm tactics he needed to run the casinos. In return for his work, the Outfit granted Spilotro a license to steal in Las Vegas. Working with the Outfit is not like a normal job, it is more like the Outfit grants a member like Spilotro a franchise to display a sign that they are a well-connected guy, and in return, Spilotro or the franchisee agrees to pay a street tax of a percentage of each score they earn from any illicit activity they conduct. By 1979 Spilotro friend and professional burglar Frank Cullotta was fed up with Chicago. He would later relate that crooked Chicago law enforcement wanted to take a chunk of his money and the good cops wanted to put him in jail. He accepted Spilotro’s invitation to join a crew in Las Vegas. When Frank arrived Spilotro told him he wanted Frank to put a crew of Chicago guys together and start doing jobs and to be his inside man at the Casinos because the Nevada Gaming Control Board had learned enough about Spilotro that he was placed in the Black Book. During the early 1970s, Las Vegas law enforcement including Gaming Control enforcement was not the most professional in the world. All gaming background investigations were conducted by the Clark County Sheriff’s office. The sheriff was Ralph lamb. He was an old school western style lawman who ran a large family ranch as well as serving as the sheriff. He was known to meet the lower level mobsters at the airport, rough them up a bit and tell them to go back home. He claimed he once grabbed Chicago Outfit mobster Johnny Roselli and “slapped the cologne” off of him. Lamb’s department once stopped a large group of Hell’s Angels and destroyed several motorcycles and gave the bikers haircuts before turning them loose. On the other hand, Ralph Lamb wrote a character reference letter attesting to the good character of Lefty Rosenthal in support of Lefty getting a license to be involved in the Florida racetrack industry. Being responsible for background investigations for gaming licenses was huge responsibility and opened the sheriff’s office to potential corruption. The FBI started looking into Outfit corruption in the gaming industry but they got little cooperation from local law enforcement. All local and state Nevada officials resented any intrusion on their jurisdiction. It was not that this was institutional corruption but more like a libertarian attitude against anything to do with the central government. In the middle 1970s, Nevada was changing and they were realizing that Chicago and other eastern organized crime families were infiltrating their casino business. Informants were telling about the loss of thousands of dollars in tax revenue because of skimming. If the money is skimmed before the official count, the state cannot tax the entire amount of casino revenue. Ralph Lamb was charged with personal income tax evasion but would eventually be found not guilty. The bad publicity cost him the election in 1979. The Las Vegas city Police Department and the Clark County Sheriff’s office had merged by this time and were known as the Las Vegas Metro PD. A former Las Vegas PD sergeant named John McCarthy beat Ralph Lamb and became sheriff. <h2>Kent Clifford cleans up Las Vegas Metro intelligence</h2> During this time just before John McCarthy was elected, the Metro Vice and Narcotics Unit had been neglected and was infested with corruption. McCarthy will promote former vice officer who was known to be incorruptible in a sea of corruption. When Kent Clifford was promoted to command the Metro Intelligence Unit, this Eliot Ness will find that most of his officers were either a little bit corrupt taking many favors from strip casinos to actually informing Tony Spilotro about any law enforcement activities that were investigating Spilotro or his friends. Clifford made an impression when on one of his first days in the Unit’s office he found  30-40 cases of booze. He asked what was this and he was told that the Strip casinos donate that to give to the officers as Christmas presents every year. he ordered his men to remove the cases of alcohol and told them he would not allow anyone to take any favor from any casino again. Commander Clifford will soon transfer all the existing officers out and replace them with men he could trust. By this time, the National Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit organization refused to share any information with the Vegas police department. The FBI refused to work with them in any manner.  At about this same time the local FBI office had indicted a unit member named Joe Blasko. He will be fired and eventually work directly for Spilotro and become a member of the Hole in the Wall Gang. FBI agents overheard Joe Blasko and another vice and narcotics officer giving Tony Spilotro information on FBI investigations. The FBI started transferring in agents who had experience working organized crime cases back east. Agent Emment Michaels was a blunt, straightforward hard charging FBI agent. He was assigned to head up the surveillance squad and they focused their efforts on Spiloto. He soon noticed the changes in the LV Metro Intelligence and forged a friendship with Commander Kent Clifford. <h2>The Hole in the Wall gang is created</h2> By 1979, Frank Cullotta is putting together several of his old Outfit comrades into a burglary gang. The press will name The Hole in the Wall gang because they often knock a hole in a wall of a business to avoid alarms on doors and windows. They will hit houses and businesses all over the southwest. They set up their own scores and hit scores set up by Tony Spilotro. Frank Cullotta runs the day to day operations of this gang and makes sure a piece of every score is given to Spilotro in the usual Outfit protocol. During this time Tony Spilotro orders Frank Culotta to murder a Las Vegas resident named Jerry Lisner because he thinks Lisner is an informant. Cullotta will take another member of the Hole in the Wall Gang, Wayne Matecki as a back up on this hit. Frank and Mateki went to Lisner’s house and Frank shot him, but Lisner ran away and refused to go down. Frank chased him down shooting until he ran out of bullets and Mateki brought more in so Frank could reload.  He finally got Jerry Lisner killed. This scene was depicted in the Scorsese film, Casino. During the filming of this scene, Scorsese will complain that it did not feel right. Frank Cullotta was on the set as a technical consultant. he overheard Scorsese complaining and he told him that they were not doing it right. Scorsese replied, “Who are you” and Frank replied, “I am the guy who done it.” <h2>The FBI joins Las Vegas Metro Intelligence</h2> During this time, the Hole in the Wall gang is hanging out at the Upper Crust Pizza restaurant and bar owned by Culotta. Las Vegas Metro Intelligence Unit led by an incorruptible new Commander who transfers in young aggressive police officers and creates a partnership with the Emment Michaels and the Las Vegas FBI and joins and forms a task force. The Spilotro task force will soon focus their attention on the Upper Crust.  This focus on the Upper Crust will lead to disastrous consequences for one Chicago Outfit hanger-on and shortly after a confrontation between Kent Clifford and the entire hierarchy of the Chicago Outfit National newspapers take notice of the presence of Tony Spiloto. The Wall Street journal even name Aiuppa and Spilotro as the men behind a strong move West by the Chicago Outfit.  Tony Spilotro has given up his gift shop in Circus Circus after the Gaming Control Board discovered Spilotro’s ties to the Chicago Outfit. Spilotro opens a jewelry store called the Gold Rush a block off the strip. He will use this front to fence stolen goods obtained by the Hole in the Wall Gang.  As police intelligence units in Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland and Kansas City serve search warrants on mob leaders to uncover evidence of Vegas skimming activities, The FBI and Las Vegas metro police start to tighten the noose on Tony Spilotro and his Hole in the Wall Gang with heavy surveillance of the Gold Rush and Cullotta’s Upper Crust restaurant. The gang is making money and attracting law enforcement heat. The next year will not be without incident. We will hear about successes, failures and WTF situations.  All the time Spilotro and his Hole in the Wall gang are doing burglaries and loansharking, the upper echelon in Chicago, Kansas City are quietly taking millions out of the casinos. Don’t forget to listen to Aaron on the <a href="http://bigdumbfunshow.co/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Big Dumb Fun Show</a>. To go to the our store <a href="http://9f4.025.myftpupload.com/store/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a> To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gangland-Wire-David-Jackson/dp/B00I2C67ZU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> click h</a>ere To subscribe on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gangland-wire/id984020877?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here,</a> give me a review and I will send you a link to see the film for free. <a href="https://www.blubrry.com/kc_crime/survey/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"></a> The post <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/spilotro-hole-in-the-wall-gang-part-1/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hole in the Wall Gang Part 1</a> appeared first on <a href="https://ganglandwire.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gangland Wire</a>.

Hole in the Wall Gang Part 1

Whitey Bulger

In this podcast, Aaron and I interview our friend who is a former prison guard at the maximum security federal prison at Marion, Illinois. He will talk about the procedures in handling high profile prisoners and special circumstances like dealing with former informants inside the system. Breaking news, a known Springfield, Massachusetts area mob member and others entered the cell of Boston gangster and former FBI Top Echelon informant James “Whitey” Bulger and beat him to death with padlocks deposited in socks or “Slocks.”  This murder happened within hours of his arrival at this federal prison in West Virginia. Additionally, authorities report, the assailants gouged out Bulger’s eyes and tried to cut out his tongue. For certain, these killers sent a message to other mobsters who might think about cooperating with the government. So far prison authorities believe that Fotios “Freddy” Geas, a West Springfield Massachusetts Mafia hit man serving a life sentence for the 2003 slaying of the leader of the Genovese crime family, is the prime suspect. They have video surveillance of several men entering Bulger’s cell around 6 a.m., according to authorities. Freddy Geas, his younger brother, Ty Geas and onetime Genovese crime family boss named Arthur Nigro were convicted in 2011 by a federal jury after being charged with several violent crimes dating back to 2003. One of those crimes was the murder of Springfield mob boss Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno. At that time, the Geas brothers were feared enforcers for Anthony Arillotta, the boss of a mafia family in Springfield. Freddy Geas had a particularly good reason to hate informants or government witnesses because in the Bruno murder, his old boss Anthony Arillotta turned on him and became an FBI informant after all three were charged with Bruno’s murder. Arillotta testified that Geas and a man named Gary D. Westerman committed several murders and that he and Geas killed Westerman. Geas is doing life for these crimes.   To learn more about life behind the walls of a federal prison, go to our guests’s You Tube page As the Key Turns by clicking here. Don’t forget to listen to Aaron on the Big Dumb Fun Show. To go to the our store click here To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To subscribe on iTunes click here, give me a review and I will send you a link to see the film for free.  The post Freddy Geas killed Whitey Bulger appeared first on Gangland Wire.

In this podcast, Aaron and I interview our friend who is a former prison guard at the maximum security federal prison at Marion, Illinois. He will talk about the procedures in handling high profile prisoners and special circumstances like dealing with former informants inside the system. Breaking news, a known Springfield, Massachusetts area mob member and others entered the cell of Boston gangster and former FBI Top Echelon informant James “Whitey” Bulger and beat him to death with padlocks deposited in socks or “Slocks.”  This murder happened within hours of his arrival at this federal prison in West Virginia. Additionally, authorities report, the assailants gouged out Bulger’s eyes and tried to cut out his tongue. For certain, these killers sent a message to other mobsters who might think about cooperating with the government. So far prison authorities believe that Fotios “Freddy” Geas, a West Springfield Massachusetts Mafia hit man serving a life sentence for the 2003 slaying of the leader of the Genovese crime family, is the prime suspect. They have video surveillance of several men entering Bulger’s cell around 6 a.m., according to authorities. Freddy Geas, his younger brother, Ty Geas and onetime Genovese crime family boss named Arthur Nigro were convicted in 2011 by a federal jury after being charged with several violent crimes dating back to 2003. One of those crimes was the murder of Springfield mob boss Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno. At that time, the Geas brothers were feared enforcers for Anthony Arillotta, the boss of a mafia family in Springfield. Freddy Geas had a particularly good reason to hate informants or government witnesses because in the Bruno murder, his old boss Anthony Arillotta turned on him and became an FBI informant after all three were charged with Bruno’s murder. Arillotta testified that Geas and a man named Gary D. Westerman committed several murders and that he and Geas killed Westerman. Geas is doing life for these crimes. To learn more about life behind the walls of a federal prison, go to our guests’s You Tube page<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeWV_yG3a3vuTbzWaWzEntw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> As the Key Turns </a>by clicking here. Don’t forget to listen to Aaron on the <a href="http://bigdumbfunshow.co/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Big Dumb Fun Show</a>. To go to the our store <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a> To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gangland-Wire-David-Jackson/dp/B00I2C67ZU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> click h</a>ere To subscribe on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gangland-wire/id984020877?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here,</a> give me a review and I will send you a link to see the film for free. <a href="https://www.blubrry.com/kc_crime/survey/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"></a> The post <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/freddy-geas-killed-whitey-bulger/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Freddy Geas killed Whitey Bulger</a> appeared first on <a href="https://ganglandwire.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gangland Wire</a>.

Freddy Geas killed Whitey Bulger

Roy DeMeo

First of all Wiretappers, don’t forget to buy me a cup of coffee on Venmo at ganglandwire. Today we must thank our frequent guest host and mafia researcher screenwriter Camulius “Cam” Robinson. In this episode Cam goes deep into the Chicago Outfit’s influence over the Northwest Indiana organized crime rackets. In the Indian state line city of  Chicago Heights, IL over 50% of the population was Italian while Indiana did not have the large Italian population. Despite its rural image Indiana organized crime was a real thing. Lake County, IN  Fell under Chicago Heights crew of Chicago Outfit  Anthony Pinelli: early boss of NWI under Capone after Chicago consolidation, later retired to California and LA Family Frank LaPorte boss of Chicago Heights (famous photo with Capone sitting on lawn), boss of whole crew (IL/IN) until 1972 Al Pilotto 1972-1982 indictment Al Tocco/Dominick Palermo 1982-1990   Indiana capos: Gaetano “Tommy” Morgano: deported to Sicily 1963 after a gambling conviction rather than go to prison Frank Zizzo (ran operations 1963-1988): owner of Pepper Pot Pizza in Gary and Highland—NOT Santini’s Pepper Pot in Portage or Valparaiso (no lawsuits) Bernard “Snooky” Morgano (b. 1936): son of Tommy, indicted in 1990, released in 1996   Snooky Morgano’s organization: Anthony Leone (b. 1939) : nephew of Morgano and lieutenant,;ran street tax and gambling rackets in the area; lived in a “huge house” in Valparaiso; went into Witness Protection after testifying in syndicate trail in NWI in 1989; but left voluntarily in 1991 to return to the area and spend the holidays with his sons; he was active in the Special Olympics; and died March 13, 2019 Peter “Cadillac Pete” Petros (b 1935): street tax collector for Leone Sam “Frog” Glorioso (b 1942): street tax collector and soldier, he was a steel worker   Sam Nuzzo (Merrillville): 80% of illegal gambling in Lake County Efrain “Puerto Rican Frankie” Santos: ran bolita in East Chicago, partner in operation with Ken Eto, controlled Latino crime in the area, Chicago came to appreciate Santos more than Morgano James A. “Sonny” Peterson (East Chicago): controls policy rackets in predominantly black neighborhoods, involved in scam with County Commissioner to sell nursing home to County at elevated price    Funny Indiana Organized Crime: Al Roy Watkins: lottery operator turned federal witness, reported to Anthony Leone  1983—Anthony Leone and Al Roy Watkins both laid off as foremen at Gary Works of US Steel, so they started a lottery with &amp;10,000 loan from Bernard “Snooky” Morgano  $600-$700 per day in the beginning, $3000 later per day, every day, except Christmas—that’s a holy day Same numbers as Illinois Lottery Pick-Four, and they drove to Illinois and use that state lottery to “lay-off” number combinations that would break the bank 55% of every dollar to costs (15% to mob, 10% to cops, 30% to lottery winnings), 45% to Leone and Watkins Leone was said to carry a gun and lived in a “very huge house” in Valparaiso, IN Leone sold the lottery for $10,000 to a new lottery group, and gave Watkins nothing, but assured he could go with the sale and continue running it…basically throwing Watkins in. Watkins later said, “He sold me like a slave.    Poor Vincent “Pee Wee” Lozado: gambling operator in Merrillville, IN, caught talking to under-cover Gary police officer  Paid 10% street tax to Morgano through Leone—also had to pay 15% to Santos, because“all Latins involved in illegal activity paid street tax to Puerto Rican Frankie” Leone owed Lozado $10,000, so Lozado left and worked only for Santos Christmas 1985, Leone took Lozado’s business back and demanded 10% plus $1,000 a month street tax, plus the 15% he was forced to pay Santos. Lozado couldn’t complain to anyone, because they were all connected to the Outfit, so he told undercover officers he was only making book to continue paying the street tax he owed. In 1990, he was indicted and went to prison for 3 years.    Frank Zizzo pay shake-up—Indiana organized crime leader Anthony Leone starts to lose faith Frank Zizzo the previous boss of NWI died in 1986. He paid his people well. When he died, his counter-parts in Illinois did not.  Anthony Leone stated that he was paid $1000 per month for collecting street tax from Snooky Morgano until Zizzo died Leone questioned his uncle Morgano about pay going forward, “He said he didn’t know if either one of us was going to have a job.” His pay eventually fell to $300 a month from “people across the state line”   The Chicago/NWI dynamic is somewhat similar to the New York/North Jersey dynamic   NWI Construction Racket 1989 Al Tocco is imprisoned based on testimony his wife gives. Dominick “Tootsie” Palermo takes over Chicago Heights.  Tootsie Palermo is capo/boss, Nick “Jumbo” Guzzino is capo of Illinois rackets, Snooky Morgano runs Indiana Historically, the crew has dealt in gambling and unions, but they bagan to dabble in construction Palermo and Guzzino were heads of the Laborers International Union of North America Guzzino collected $2.3 million from contractors in the 1980s for Welfare and Pension Fund, but the office wasn’t set up for cash, so they took him at his word. Tootsie Palermo collected cash membership dues, for which he was paid $1000 weekly    Snooky Morgano controlled gambling and construction rackets in NWI through his nephew Anthony Leone  Major arrests in 1990 of all major gambling and union figures in NWI based on multiple witnesses Anthony Leone agreed to testify against his uncle Snooky Morgano and Dominick Tootsie Palermo and Nick Guzzino Leone had handled business after Morgano had a heart attack in 1986 FBI contacted previous owners of pizzeria where Palermo and Guzzino met, owners wife called and notified mobsters “Jan called yesterday…the G was checking who owned the joint 1992: Dominick Palermo (74) sentenced to 32 years, 3 months for extorting protection money from bookmakers in NWI, and fined $250,000   Nick Guzzino (50) sentenced to 39 years, 6 months and fined $185,000 Bernard Morgano (55) sentenced to 16 years, 3 months, $177,000 fine Morgano said of his nephew “He is a snake, he lied on that stand. I do not ask for mercy, I ask for justice.”   Guilty of using threats of bodily harm and arson to collect thousands in street tax—11 victims testified    There were several tapes discussing extortion “we are going to have to check it out with Chicago first”     To go to the store or make a donation click here To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click To subscribe on iTunes click here, please give me a review and help others find the podcast.   The post Indiana Organized Crime appeared first on Gangland Wire.

First of all Wiretappers, don’t forget to buy me a cup of coffee on Venmo at ganglandwire. Today we must thank our frequent guest host and mafia researcher screenwriter Camulius “Cam” Robinson. In this episode Cam goes deep into the Chicago Outfit’s influence over the Northwest Indiana organized crime rackets. In the Indian state line city of  Chicago Heights, IL over 50% of the population was Italian while Indiana did not have the large Italian population. Despite its rural image Indiana organized crime was a real thing. Lake County, IN <ul> <li>Fell under<a href="http://www.ipsn.org/mob_arrests-2005/are_the_mobsters_gone_from.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Chicago Heights crew of Chicago Outfit</a> <ul> <li>Anthony Pinelli: early boss of NWI under Capone after Chicago consolidation, later retired to California and LA Family</li> <li>Frank LaPorte boss of Chicago Heights (famous photo with Capone sitting on lawn), boss of whole crew (IL/IN) until 1972</li> <li>Al Pilotto 1972-1982 indictment</li> <li>Al Tocco/Dominick Palermo 1982-1990</li> </ul> </li> <li>Indiana capos: <ul> <li>Gaetano “Tommy” Morgano: deported to Sicily 1963 after a gambling conviction rather than go to prison</li> <li>Frank Zizzo (ran operations 1963-1988): owner of Pepper Pot Pizza in Gary and Highland—NOT Santini’s Pepper Pot in Portage or Valparaiso (no lawsuits)</li> <li>Bernard “Snooky” Morgano (b. 1936): son of Tommy, indicted in 1990, released in 1996</li> </ul> </li> <li>Snooky Morgano’s organization: <ul> <li>Anthony Leone (b. 1939) : nephew of Morgano and lieutenant,;ran street tax and gambling rackets in the area; lived in a “huge house” in Valparaiso; went into Witness Protection after testifying in syndicate trail in NWI in 1989; but left voluntarily in 1991 to return to the area and spend the holidays with his sons; he was active in the Special Olympics; and died March 13, 2019 <ul> <li>Peter “Cadillac Pete” Petros (b 1935): street tax collector for Leone</li> <li>Sam “Frog” Glorioso (b 1942): street tax collector and soldier, he was a steel worker</li> </ul> </li> <li>Sam Nuzzo (Merrillville): 80% of illegal gambling in Lake County</li> <li>Efrain “Puerto Rican Frankie” Santos: ran bolita in East Chicago, partner in operation with Ken Eto, controlled Latino crime in the area, Chicago came to appreciate Santos more than Morgano</li> <li>James A. “Sonny” Peterson (East Chicago): controls policy rackets in predominantly black neighborhoods, involved in scam with County Commissioner to sell nursing home to County at elevated price</li> </ul> </li> </ul> Funny Indiana Organized Crime: Al Roy Watkins: lottery operator turned federal witness, reported to Anthony Leone <ul> <li>1983—Anthony Leone and Al Roy Watkins both laid off as foremen at Gary Works of US Steel, so they started a lottery with &amp;10,000 loan from Bernard “Snooky” Morgano <ul> <li>$600-$700 per day in the beginning, $3000 later per day, every day, except Christmas—that’s a holy day</li> <li>Same numbers as Illinois Lottery Pick-Four, and they drove to Illinois and use that state lottery to “lay-off” number combinations that would break the bank</li> <li>55% of every dollar to costs (15% to mob, 10% to cops, 30% to lottery winnings), 45% to Leone and Watkins</li> <li>Leone was said to carry a gun and lived in a “very huge house” in Valparaiso, IN</li> <li>Leone sold the lottery for $10,000 to a new lottery group, and gave Watkins nothing, but assured he could go with the sale and continue running it…basically throwing Watkins in. Watkins later said, “He sold me like a slave.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> Poor Vincent “Pee Wee” Lozado: gambling operator in Merrillville, IN, caught talking to under-cover Gary police officer <ul> <li>Paid 10% street tax to Morgano through Leone—also had to pay 15% to Santos, because“all Latins involved in illegal activity paid street tax to Puerto Rican Frankie”</li> <li>Leone owed Lozado $10,000, so Lozado left and worked only for Santos</li> <li>Christmas 1985, Leone took Lozado’s business back and demanded 10% plus $1,000 a month street tax, plus the 15% he was forced to pay Santos. Lozado couldn’t complain to anyone, because they were all connected to the Outfit, so he told undercover officers he was only making book to continue paying the street tax he owed. In 1990, he was indicted and went to prison for 3 years.</li> </ul> Frank Zizzo pay shake-up—Indiana organized crime leader Anthony Leone starts to lose faith Frank Zizzo the previous boss of NWI died in 1986. He paid his people well. When he died, his counter-parts in Illinois did not. <ul> <li>Anthony Leone stated that he was paid $1000 per month for collecting street tax from Snooky Morgano until Zizzo died <ul> <li>Leone questioned his uncle Morgano about pay going forward, “He said he didn’t know if either one of us was going to have a job.” His pay eventually fell to $300 a month from “people across the state line”</li> </ul> </li> <li>The Chicago/NWI dynamic is somewhat similar to the New York/North Jersey dynamic</li> </ul> NWI Construction Racket 1989 <a href="https://mafia.wikia.org/wiki/Al_Tocco" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Al Tocco is imprisoned based on testimony his wife gives</a>. Dominick “Tootsie” Palermo takes over Chicago Heights. <ul> <li>Tootsie Palermo is capo/boss, Nick “Jumbo” Guzzino is capo of Illinois rackets, Snooky Morgano runs Indiana</li> <li>Historically, the crew has dealt in gambling and unions, but they bagan to dabble in construction</li> <li>Palermo and Guzzino were heads of the Laborers International Union of North America <ul> <li>Guzzino collected $2.3 million from contractors in the 1980s for Welfare and Pension Fund, but the office wasn’t set up for cash, so they took him at his word.</li> <li>Tootsie Palermo collected cash membership dues, for which he was paid $1000 weekly</li> </ul> </li> </ul> Snooky Morgano controlled gambling and construction rackets in NWI through his nephew Anthony Leone <ul> <li>Major arrests in 1990 of all major gambling and union figures in NWI based on multiple witnesses <ul> <li>Anthony Leone agreed to testify against his uncle Snooky Morgano and Dominick Tootsie Palermo and Nick Guzzino</li> <li>Leone had handled business after Morgano had a heart attack in 1986</li> <li>FBI contacted previous owners of pizzeria where Palermo and Guzzino met, owners wife called and notified mobsters <ul> <li>“Jan called yesterday…the G was checking who owned the joint 1992: Dominick Palermo (74) sentenced to 32 years, 3 months for extorting protection money from bookmakers in NWI, and fined $250,000</li> </ul> </li> <li>Nick Guzzino (50) sentenced to 39 years, 6 months and fined $185,000</li> <li>Bernard Morgano (55) sentenced to 16 years, 3 months, $177,000 fine <ul> <li>Morgano said of his nephew “He is a snake, he lied on that stand. I do not ask for mercy, I ask for justice.”</li> </ul> </li> <li>Guilty of using threats of bodily harm and arson to collect thousands in street tax—11 victims testified</li> </ul> </li> </ul> There were several tapes discussing extortion “we are going to have to check it out with Chicago first” To go to the store or make a donation <a href="http://9f4.025.myftpupload.com/store/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a> To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gangland-Wire-David-Jackson/dp/B00I2C67ZU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> click</a> To subscribe on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gangland-wire/id984020877?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here,</a> please give me a review and help others find the podcast. The post <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/indiana-organized-crime/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Indiana Organized Crime</a> appeared first on <a href="https://ganglandwire.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gangland Wire</a>.

Indiana Organized Crime

Don’t forget to hit me up on Venmo. Recently, I was a guest on the podcast Unfound. The host of this show researches stories about people who went missing and have never been found. He contacted me to ask about mob guys who went missing and were never found. In this episode which is actually the Unfound show produced on my stream, I tell about a couple of Kansas City mobsters who went missing and were never found. Jimmy Towles was a career criminal who worked in a gang of jewel thieves who were controlled by the Civella crime family. when he left with one of his gang members one day, he never returned. Sal Manzo was a very closely connected associate of Carl Civella. He helped with the sportsbook, he managed a bingo operation that the KC family skimmed thousands from every week. He was involved in finding and fencing stolen property. He disappeared one day and a few weeks later an unidentified person called a well known KC police detective and instructed him to take a look for Manzo inside a trash can in the Italian section of Kansas City. The detective drove to the area the caller described and found the clothes that Manzo was wearing his last day. To go to the store or make a donation click here To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To subscribe on iTunes click here, please give me a review and help others find the podcast.  The post Unfound Missing Mobsters appeared first on Gangland Wire.

Don’t forget to hit me up on Venmo. Recently, I was a guest on the podcast Unfound. The host of this show researches stories about people who went missing and have never been found. He contacted me to ask about mob guys who went missing and were never found. In this episode which is actually the Unfound show produced on my stream, I tell about a couple of Kansas City mobsters who went missing and were never found. Jimmy Towles was a career criminal who worked in a gang of jewel thieves who were controlled by the Civella crime family. when he left with one of his gang members one day, he never returned. Sal Manzo was a very closely connected associate of Carl Civella. He helped with the sportsbook, he managed a bingo operation that the KC family skimmed thousands from every week. He was involved in finding and fencing stolen property. He disappeared one day and a few weeks later an unidentified person called a well known KC police detective and instructed him to take a look for Manzo inside a trash can in the Italian section of Kansas City. The detective drove to the area the caller described and found the clothes that Manzo was wearing his last day. To go to the store or make a donation <a href="http://9f4.025.myftpupload.com/store/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a> To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gangland-Wire-David-Jackson/dp/B00I2C67ZU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> click h</a>ere To subscribe on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gangland-wire/id984020877?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here,</a> please give me a review and help others find the podcast. <a href="https://www.blubrry.com/kc_crime/survey/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"></a> The post <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/bonus-episode-unfound-missing-mobsters/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Unfound Missing Mobsters</a> appeared first on <a href="https://ganglandwire.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gangland Wire</a>.

Unfound Missing Mobsters

Raymond Patriarca

Welcome Wiretappers, don’t forget to hit me up on Venmo and buy us a shot and a beer. In this episode host Gary Jenkins and his main contributor Camulius Robinson take a look at Raymond L.S. Patriarca and New England Crime Family or the “Office” and their relationships with New York’s Genevose and Gambino families in connection with the pornography business.  The office is concentrated in Providence, RI, and Boston, MA. The Patriarca family had interests in the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, as well as all of the standard mafia income-generating methods. Raymond L.S. Patriarca was well-connected politically, and headed the family for 30 years, from 1954 until his death in 1984. We find the Patriarca family “Office” is especially interesting, because like New York and Chicago, they stood alone. Angelo Bruno in Philadelphia basically answered to Carlo Gambino, and Cleveland belonged to the Genovese family and deferred to them, likewise with Kansas City and Milwaukee leaned on Chicago. The Patriarca family though is unique. They weren’t isolated like the Marcellos or the Trafficantes, where they didn’t need to answer to anyone. Raymond Patrarca ran two cities, Boston and Providence, and later with Grasso’s help, they took Connecticut from New York in the 1970s, about the same time Philadelphia was losing Atlantic City to New York. Law enforcement really shut them down by the early 90s. When Raymond died in 1984 and tried to make his son the next boss, historically, that always leads to a problems (e.g. Bonannos, Columbos, Gambinos), then the FBI recorded an Office making ceremony in 1989 in Medford, MA, followed by all of the RICO cases in 1991, they were basically done. There have been a few recent arrests, but like other Cosa Nostra families, they are all brainless thugs nowadays. The Genoveses were a Manhattan-based crime family and have historically created wide-ranging partnerships with other crime families across the country, most notable Chicago, Cleveland, and New England. These relationships can be traced to Lucky Luciano’s philosophy of partnership. Vito Genovese had very close ties to Boston-based faction of Patriarca family The Gambinos were a very powerful New York family, and they had vast interests in pornography, and closer ties to the Patriarcas in Providence, RI. Jerry Angiulo was Patriarca’s Boston area crime boss and he shared interests in certain money-making ventures with the Genovese Family under Sam Cufari as previously agreed to by Raymond Patriarca earlier Genovese leadership. In 1980, Carlo Mastrototaro and Jerry Angiulo were co-owners of a United Books porn shop in. Joe Palladino, the manager of the store, owed Angiulo $200,000, and the weekly vig was $2000. The weekly gross of a porn shop in 1981 was between $2500-$3500. United Books was the only porn shop in Worcester…until November of 1980. In November 1980, Carlo Mastrototaro, looking to expand, seeks permission from New York to open a second porn shop—Green, Street News &amp; Smoke Shop. He is put in touch with Kenneth Guarino of the Gambino family.  Genovese soldier, Carlo Mastrototaro supplied this store with pornography from Guarino, the Gambino soldier. The Boston suburb of Worcester, MA now has two porn shops. Joe Palladino who owned the original porn shop was worried about the competition, and his loss of revenue which cuts down his ability to pay his cut to Jerry Angiulo. He goes to see Mastrototaro who tells him he has permission from New York. Palladino returns to Angiulo and Jerry Angiulo is furious. He does not want to share any porn business and feels like both the Genevose and Gambino families are showing his disrespect. FBI wiretaps record much of his rants on this subject and they are already building a case on the new England pron business. . While we don’t know exactly what happened as a result of Angiulo’s escalation, we know what happened to everyone involved. In April 1981, Ken Guarino was sentenced to 2 years in prison for his part in a $3 million a year porn ring in Rhode Island. In November 1981: Carlo Mastrotaro is prosecuted as part of “Operation Big League,” targeting organized crime in Worcester, MA, and he is imprisoned for 18 months. In December 1981 the Green Street News &amp; Smoke Shop is closed but Mastrotaro remained the capo of Worcester for Genovese. The second porn shop was closed as a concession made between families. On September 19, 1983,  Jerry Angiulo was arrested and held without bail during his trial for murder, extortion, and loan-sharking after evidence given by Whitey Bulger was used to plant a bug at his headquarters and in February 1986, Jerry Angiulo was sentenced to 45 years. In June 1986: Robert DiBernardo is killed by Sammy Gravano on orders of John Gotti. His death benefited numerous people, and as DiBernardo had no crew of his own, and was not a violent man, he was an easy target for machinations. To go to the store or make a donation click here To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To subscribe on iTunes click here, please give me a review and help others find the podcast.   The post Raymond Patriarca and the Genovese and Gambino Families appeared first on Gangland Wire.

Welcome Wiretappers, don’t forget to hit me up on Venmo and buy us a shot and a beer. In this episode host Gary Jenkins and his main contributor Camulius Robinson take a look at Raymond L.S. Patriarca and New England Crime Family or the “Office” and their relationships with New York’s Genevose and Gambino families in connection with the pornography business.  The office is concentrated in Providence, RI, and Boston, MA. The Patriarca family had interests in the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, as well as all of the standard mafia income-generating methods. Raymond L.S. Patriarca was well-connected politically, and headed the family for 30 years, from 1954 until his death in 1984. We find the Patriarca family “Office” is especially interesting, because like New York and Chicago, they stood alone. Angelo Bruno in Philadelphia basically answered to Carlo Gambino, and Cleveland belonged to the Genovese family and deferred to them, likewise with Kansas City and Milwaukee leaned on Chicago. The Patriarca family though is unique. They weren’t isolated like the Marcellos or the Trafficantes, where they didn’t need to answer to anyone. Raymond Patrarca ran two cities, Boston and Providence, and later with Grasso’s help, they took Connecticut from New York in the 1970s, about the same time Philadelphia was losing Atlantic City to New York. Law enforcement really shut them down by the early 90s. When Raymond died in 1984 and tried to make his son the next boss, historically, that always leads to a problems (e.g. Bonannos, Columbos, Gambinos), then the FBI recorded an Office making ceremony in 1989 in Medford, MA, followed by all of the RICO cases in 1991, they were basically done. There have been a few recent arrests, but like other Cosa Nostra families, they are all brainless thugs nowadays. The Genoveses were a Manhattan-based crime family and have historically created wide-ranging partnerships with other crime families across the country, most notable Chicago, Cleveland, and New England. These relationships can be traced to Lucky Luciano’s philosophy of partnership. Vito Genovese had very close ties to Boston-based faction of Patriarca family The Gambinos were a very powerful New York family, and they had vast interests in pornography, and closer ties to the Patriarcas in Providence, RI. Jerry Angiulo was Patriarca’s Boston area crime boss and he shared interests in certain money-making ventures with the Genovese Family under Sam Cufari as previously agreed to by Raymond Patriarca earlier Genovese leadership. In 1980, Carlo Mastrototaro and Jerry Angiulo were co-owners of a United Books porn shop in. Joe Palladino, the manager of the store, owed Angiulo $200,000, and the weekly vig was $2000. The weekly gross of a porn shop in 1981 was between $2500-$3500. United Books was the only porn shop in Worcester…until November of 1980. In November 1980, Carlo Mastrototaro, looking to expand, seeks permission from New York to open a second porn shop—Green, Street News &amp; Smoke Shop. He is put in touch with Kenneth Guarino of the Gambino family.  Genovese soldier, Carlo Mastrototaro supplied this store with pornography from Guarino, the Gambino soldier. The Boston suburb of Worcester, MA now has two porn shops. Joe Palladino who owned the original porn shop was worried about the competition, and his loss of revenue which cuts down his ability to pay his cut to Jerry Angiulo. He goes to see Mastrototaro who tells him he has permission from New York. Palladino returns to Angiulo and Jerry Angiulo is furious. He does not want to share any porn business and feels like both the Genevose and Gambino families are showing his disrespect. FBI wiretaps record much of his rants on this subject and they are already building a case on the new England pron business. . While we don’t know exactly what happened as a result of Angiulo’s escalation, we know what happened to everyone involved. In April 1981, Ken Guarino was sentenced to 2 years in prison for his part in a $3 million a year porn ring in Rhode Island. In November 1981: Carlo Mastrotaro is prosecuted as part of “Operation Big League,” targeting organized crime in Worcester, MA, and he is imprisoned for 18 months. In December 1981 the Green Street News &amp; Smoke Shop is closed but Mastrotaro remained the capo of Worcester for Genovese. The second porn shop was closed as a concession made between families. On September 19, 1983,  Jerry Angiulo was arrested and held without bail during his trial for murder, extortion, and loan-sharking after evidence given by Whitey Bulger was used to plant a bug at his headquarters and in February 1986, Jerry Angiulo was sentenced to 45 years. In June 1986: Robert DiBernardo is killed by Sammy Gravano on orders of John Gotti. His death benefited numerous people, and as DiBernardo had no crew of his own, and was not a violent man, he was an easy target for machinations. To go to the store or make a donation <a href="http://9f4.025.myftpupload.com/store/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a> To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gangland-Wire-David-Jackson/dp/B00I2C67ZU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> click h</a>ere To subscribe on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gangland-wire/id984020877?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here,</a> please give me a review and help others find the podcast. The post <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/raymond-patriarca-and-the-genovese-and-gambino-families/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Raymond Patriarca and the Genovese and Gambino Families</a> appeared first on <a href="https://ganglandwire.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gangland Wire</a>.

Raymond Patriarca and the Genovese and Gambino Families

Pizza Connection: the biggest case against the mafia Welcome Wiretappers, Cam and I welcome you to the first of a 4-part series on the famous Pizza Connection investigation. Because this case was so intertwined with the Sicilian Mafia and the American Mafia, we start with a little history of the Mafia in Sicily. We know this is by no means comprehensive but it is an overview of that legacy. The Pizza Connection case will be a major blow against the Mafia in Sicily. The Sicilian Mafia before WW II The Sicilian mafia goes back to the 1800s and was formed to protect Sicilians from the central government in Rome and other foreign intruders. The formation of the modern Mafia did not begin until after a period of repression starting in the 1920s under the dictator Mussolini. A story about how and why he started his anti-mafia campaign was in 1924. The story goes that Mussolini visited Sicily in 1924 and passed through the town of Piana dei Greci where he was received by mayor/Mafia boss Francesco Cuccia. In those days, often the top politician would also be a mafia member or even a boss. At some point, Mayor Cuccia, noticing the big military escort, whispered into Mussolini’s ear: “You are with me, you are under my protection. What do you need all these cops for?” Mussolini rejected this offer of protection. Mayor Cuccia felt slighted and humiliated and instructed his constituents to stay home when El Duce made a speech. In turn, Mussolini felt humiliated and swore revenge. Over the next year, Mussolini sent his police and soldiers to repress the citizens and jailed over a thousand members of the Mafia. Many fled to New York City during this time bringing the legacy of the Sicilian mafia with them. The Sicilian Mafia after WW II During WWII all of Europe and the Mediterranean region dissolved into armed conflict and all the smuggling routes stopped. After the war disruption ended, a newly revitalized Sicilian mafia quickly redeveloped old contacts and went right back to their smuggling business after the War. Most, if not all, the jailed and exiled mafioso were released from jail or returned to Sicily and easily worked their way into the good graces of the occupying American troops. All the previous fascist government leaders were on the run or jailed by the Americans. The Mafia was poised to move into government positions with the help of the American army. Over the next decade, the Mafioso will develop and adapt to the new way of life and modern money-making rackets. The post-war government rationed cigarettes and the American Army had an endless supply of cigarettes. The mafioso developed black market contacts with corrupt army quartermasters and started a thriving cigarette smuggling business. These cigarette smuggling groups and routes will soon end and heroin will take the place of American smokes. From the French Connection to the Pizza Connection In this podcast, the listener learns about the birth of the Sicilian heroin business that starts with the French Connection and ends with the Pizza Connection. To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here.  To go to the store or make a donation click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here.  To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To subscribe on iTunes click here, please give me a review and help others find the podcast. The post Pizza Connection Episode 1 – The Beginning appeared first on Gangland Wire.

<h1>Pizza Connection: the biggest case against the mafia</h1> Welcome Wiretappers, Cam and I welcome you to the first of a 4-part series on the famous Pizza Connection investigation. Because this case was so intertwined with the Sicilian Mafia and the American Mafia, we start with a little history of the Mafia in Sicily. We know this is by no means comprehensive but it is an overview of that legacy. The Pizza Connection case will be a major blow against the Mafia in Sicily. <h3>The Sicilian Mafia before WW II</h3> The Sicilian mafia goes back to the 1800s and was formed to protect Sicilians from the central government in Rome and other foreign intruders. The formation of the modern Mafia did not begin until after a period of repression starting in the 1920s under the dictator Mussolini. A story about how and why he started his anti-mafia campaign was in 1924. The story goes that Mussolini visited Sicily in 1924 and passed through the town of Piana dei Greci where he was received by mayor/Mafia boss Francesco Cuccia. In those days, often the top politician would also be a mafia member or even a boss. At some point, Mayor Cuccia, noticing the big military escort, whispered into Mussolini’s ear: “You are with me, you are under my protection. What do you need all these cops for?” Mussolini rejected this offer of protection. Mayor Cuccia felt slighted and humiliated and instructed his constituents to stay home when El Duce made a speech. In turn, Mussolini felt humiliated and swore revenge. Over the next year, Mussolini sent his police and soldiers to repress the citizens and jailed over a thousand members of the Mafia. Many fled to New York City during this time bringing the legacy of the Sicilian mafia with them. <h3>The Sicilian Mafia after WW II</h3> During WWII all of Europe and the Mediterranean region dissolved into armed conflict and all the smuggling routes stopped. After the war disruption ended, a newly revitalized Sicilian mafia quickly redeveloped old contacts and went right back to their smuggling business after the War. Most, if not all, the jailed and exiled mafioso were released from jail or returned to Sicily and easily worked their way into the good graces of the occupying American troops. All the previous fascist government leaders were on the run or jailed by the Americans. The Mafia was poised to move into government positions with the help of the American army. Over the next decade, the Mafioso will develop and adapt to the new way of life and modern money-making rackets. The post-war government rationed cigarettes and the American Army had an endless supply of cigarettes. The mafioso developed black market contacts with corrupt army quartermasters and started a thriving cigarette smuggling business. These cigarette smuggling groups and routes will soon end and heroin will take the place of American smokes. <h3>From the French Connection to the Pizza Connection</h3> In this podcast, the listener learns about the birth of the Sicilian heroin business that starts with the French Connection and ends with the Pizza Connection. To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Brothers-against-Civella-Spero-War/dp/B081ZKBVRC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=20I5V6JFYZ1PQ&amp;keywords=brothers+against+brothers+the+civella-spero+war&amp;qid=1578331170&amp;sprefix=brothers+agais%2Caps%2C163&amp;sr=8-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here. </a> To go to the store or make a donation <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a> To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Brothers-against-Civella-Spero-War/dp/B081ZKBVRC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=20I5V6JFYZ1PQ&amp;keywords=brothers+against+brothers+the+civella-spero+war&amp;qid=1578331170&amp;sprefix=brothers+agais%2Caps%2C163&amp;sr=8-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here. </a> To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gangland-Wire-David-Jackson/dp/B00I2C67ZU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> click h</a>ere To subscribe on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gangland-wire/id984020877?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here,</a> please give me a review and help others find the podcast. The post <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/pizza-connection-episode-1-the-beginning/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pizza Connection Episode 1 – The Beginning</a> appeared first on <a href="https://ganglandwire.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gangland Wire</a>.

Pizza Connection Episode 1 – The Beginning

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