The Chicago Syndicate: 08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006
The Mission Impossible Backpack

Thursday, August 31, 2006

A Mafia Offer to Sean Connery?

Sir Sean Connery will only star in the new 'Indiana Jones' movie if he is offered so much money he couldn't refuse.

The legendary actor, who recently turned 76, has been in talks with director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas about reprising his role as Indiana's father, Professor Henry Jones, in the fourth movie.

Despite being interested in the role, Connery insists he will only accept the part if the money is right. He said: "It would have to be an offer I couldn't refuse, but maybe I'm too expensive."

Connery previously claimed he unofficially retired from acting because of the "idiots" running Hollywood. He said at the time: "I'm fed up with the idiots, the ever-widening gap between people who know how to make movies, and those who green light them. "They are not all idiots - I'm just saying there are a lot of them.

"It would almost need a Mafia-like offer to convince me to make another movie."

Thanks to Bang Media

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Mob Recipes

Friends of ours: Frank Calabrese Sr., James "Little Jimmy" Marcello, Joey "The Clown" Lombardo, Frank "The German" Schweihs

Reputed mob killer Frank Calabrese Sr. would chat about "recipes" over the phone with his wife while he was in prison in Milan, Mich.

In one recorded conversation between Calabrese Sr. and his second wife, Diane Calabrese, she asks the aging gangster, "You talking about the German chocolate one?"

"Yes," Calabrese Sr. replies. But it's not food they're talking about, the feds say.

They're talking about illegal money collections from mob activities.

The fresh details came to light Friday night as federal prosecutors responded to a slew of pre-trial motions filed by the defendants in what some observers call the most important prosecution ever against the Chicago mob.

Such mob heavyweights as James "Little Jimmy" Marcello, Joey "The Clown" Lombardo, Frank "The German" Schweihs and Calabrese Sr. are on trial in a case that puts 18 hits at the Outfit's doorstep.

Calabrese Sr. and Marcello want any tape-recorded conversations between them and their wives while the men were in prison disallowed at trial because of marital privilege. The feds argue otherwise, saying both husbands and wives knew they were being tape-recorded during their prison phone chats and had no expectation of privacy.

In the case of Diane Calabrese, they suggest she helped further the illegal activity her loan-sharking husband allegedly was involved in. Diane Calabrese has not been charged with any crime.

Calabrese Sr.'s attorney, Joseph Lopez, dismissed the government's filing as "just more nonsense."

The feds contend that Calabrese Sr., known for talking in code, would refer to various collections as "recipes."

In one Nov. 11, 1999, phone conversation, Calabrese Sr. asks his wife: "Miss Engel was supposed to give you a recipe that you were supposed to send me, with all the different size of the, of the ounces of, of a flour and stuff."

"Yeah," Diane Calabrese replies.

"What happened?" Calabrese Sr. asks.

"She's working on it. She's, you know, a little slow," his wife replies.

In short, the feds contend, Calabrese Sr. is asking where the money from a specific collection is.

In another motion, prosecutors argue against a defense request to have separate trials for the defendants in the case, arguing in part that some witnesses are in danger and that making them testify more than once at multiple trials only increases the risk against them.

Without providing specific numbers, prosecutors point out that "a number of witnesses" have been placed in witness protection, while the FBI has moved others who feared retaliation from the mob.

Some grand jury witnesses went to jail rather than testify in the investigation, while others changed their grand jury testimony after they were threatened, the feds contend.

Thanks to Steve Warmbir

Monday, August 28, 2006

Lawyers Ask to Bar Wife Tapes in Mob Trial

Friends of ours: Frank "Frankie Breeze" Calabrese Sr., James "Little Jimmy" Marcello, Joey "The Clown" Lombardo, Frank "The German" Schweihs

Lawyers for Frank Calabrese Sr. have asked a Chicago judge not to let prosecutors play tapes of the alleged mob boss talking to his wife.

The tapes, made while Calabrese was in prison in Milan, Mich., include conversations about "German chocolate cake" and other "recipes," which federal prosecutors say are code words for illegal money collections from organized-crime activities, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Lawyers for Calabrese, known as "Frankie Breeze," and other reputed mob heavyweights -- including James "Little Jimmy" Marcello, Joey "The Clown" Lombardo, Frank "The German" Schweihs -- want the tape recordings disallowed because of marital privilege. Marital privilege protects the contents of private communications between husband and wife.

Federal prosecutors argue both husbands and wives knew they were being tape-recorded during their prison phone chats and had no expectation of privacy, the Sun-Times said.

The case attempts to tie the men to 18 hits in what some observers call the most important prosecution ever against the Chicago mob.

Thanks to UPI

Friday, August 25, 2006

Gotti Said To Break Mafia Vow During Meeting With Prosecutors

Friends of ours: John "Junior" Gotti, John "Dapper Don" Gotti, Daniel Marino, John "Johnny G" Gammarano, Gambino Crime Family, Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo, Genovese Crime Family, Luchese Crime Family, Paul Castellano, Peter Gotti, Frank DeCicco, Bartholemew "Bobby" Borriello, Edward Lino
Friends of mine: Joseph Watts


Mob prince John "Junior" Gotti broke his Mafia vow of omerta last year and used a pre-trial sitdown with federal prosecutors as an opportunity to settle some old scores with two of his father's former top lieutenants, Gang Land has learned.

Gotti has acknowledged the January 2005 secret session with the feds, but has maintained it was merely an effort to convince the feds of his innocence concerning the charges in the racketeering indictment.

He said he indignantly stomped out once he realized that prosecutors were seeking his cooperation. In a June 27 interview with the Daily News, he insisted he would never tell on his former crime cohorts, underscoring his own attitude about informing by quoting his late father's extreme views on the subject. "I could have robbed a church but I wouldn't admit to it if I had a steeple sticking out of my" rear end, Gotti said the Dapper Don had told him.

However, several sources confirmed to Gang Land that, in a failed bid to persuade prosecutors to drop their case against him, Gotti spilled old secrets about two "made men" and a Gambino crime family associate — all underlings of the elder John Gotti.

Junior fingered capo Daniel Marino, soldier John "Johnny G" Gammarano, and longtime associate Joseph Watts for numerous crimes that took place before 1999, when Junior Gotti has insisted he walked away from the Mafia life, sources said.

Gotti also allegedly gave the feds information about a crooked Queens cop who enabled him to beat one case during the 1980s, and a corrupt politician who was part of a land-grab scheme during the same time frame, sources said. Both men are deceased.

Despite Gotti's claims of retirement and his ultimate decision not to cooperate, any informant activity by the mob scion would be viewed as an abomination within his former realm, and equate him with the defectors who have testified against him and his late father. "If it's true, he's a rat, just like Sammy and Scars," an underworld source said, referring to the two major Gambino family defectors, former underboss Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano and onetime capo Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo.

The disclosure about Gotti's discussions comes as his third trial stemming from the kidnap-shooting of Curtis Sliwa is under way in Manhattan Federal Court.The trial judge, Shira Scheindlin, has issued a gag order in the case and prosecutors and defense lawyers are prohibited from discussing it.

Gang Land's sources declined to discuss specifics that Junior gave the feds, but said he focused primarily on Marino, 65, a powerful family capo and longtime thorn in the side of the Dapper Don, and Watts, 64, once viewed as a possible FBI informer by the Junior Don and his cohorts. While informing about Marino, Gotti, almost as an afterthought, also related alleged criminal activity by Gammarano, 65, a soldier in Marino's crew, sources said.

Marino, who served six years behind bars for a murder conspiracy ordered by the elder Gotti, was released in 2000. Watts, who spent 10 years in prison for his involvement in the same plot and a separate tax case, was released from prison in May. Johnny G, who served three years for a labor racketeering scam in Brooklyn and a Joker Poker gambling machine scheme in New Orleans, has been back in action since 2002.

Gotti has had it out for Marino and Watts for years, a source said. "He's talked about killing them both," the source said. The Gotti faction has long believed that Marino was poised to take over the crime family in the early 1990s as part of a retaliation plot by the Genovese and Luchese families for the unsanctioned 1985 killing of Gambino boss Paul Castellano.

Even after Marino was incarcerated during the late 1990s, Junior, Mikey Scars, Peter Gotti, and other supporters of the then-jailed Dapper Don debated whether to kill Marino, according to FBI documents. The discussions revolved around suspicions that Marino may have had a role in the murders of Frank DeCicco, Bartholemew "Bobby" Borriello, and Edward Lino — all key allies of the elder Gotti — between 1986 and 1991.

In the early 1990s, according to testimony at Junior's second trial, Gotti had two gunmen waiting in the closet of a Brooklyn apartment ready to kill Marino and Johnny G and dispose of their remains in body bags after Junior suspected they had kept $400,000 in annual construction industry extortion payments that should have been forwarded to him. The plot was thwarted, probably intentionally, by Watts.

Watts, who would become the focus of rubout talk a few years later, had been instructed to bring Marino and Johnny G to a meeting that would end with their execution. But when Watts and the targeted mobsters arrived in a stretch limo along with another mobster and a driver, Junior aborted the plan, according to the testimony.

In 1994 and 1995, according to court documents, Junior discussed killing Watts when "rumors began to spread within the Gambino family that Watts might be cooperating" and Gotti feared that Watts and then-superstar witness Sammy Bull would be a "deadly combination" that would threaten the "survival of the Gottis and the Gambino family."

The nasty talk about Watts fizzled out after he pleaded guilty and went to prison. But Junior has long suspected that Watts, who referred to Junior as "Boss" whenever they met, had worn a wire against him, according to FBI documents. And, during his session with the feds, "Junior was quick to point a finger at him," a source said. Sources said Gotti did implicate himself, and a few longtime friends, in several crimes, but they took place too long ago to be used in an indictment.

Gotti denied any role in a 23-year-old murder, a crime for which there is no statute of limitations, sources said. He insisted that he did not kill Danny Silva, a 24-year-old Queens man who died from a knife wound during a wild melee in an Ozone Park bar when Junior was a rowdy and arrogant 19-year-old wannabe wiseguy. "He said he was there, but he said he had nothing to do with the stabbing," a source said.

As Gang Land reported in our first New York Sun column four years ago, a formerly reluctant witness has told authorities that he "personally saw Junior stab Danny Silva" and the police and FBI reopened the case with an eye toward charging Gotti with Silva's murder.

Thanks to Jerry Capeci of Gangland News

Monday, August 21, 2006

Tapes Seal Fate of Genovese Associate

Friends of ours: Joseph "Little Joe" Scarbrough, Genovese Crime Family, Harry Aleman, Lawrence "Little Larry" Dentico
Friends of mine: Peter "Petey" Caporino


Joseph Scarbrough came to his sentencing on federal racketeering charges yesterday with his wife, his daughter and a stack of letters from his friends and West Orange neighbors who insisted the genteel girls softball coach couldn't be the mobster the government said he was.

Prosecutors brought their own stack of papers -- transcripts of Scarbrough regaling an FBI informant with his war stories from decades inside the Genovese crime family. On the tapes, Scarbrough boasts of reaping hundreds of thousands of dollars in burglaries and cargo thefts, of his ties to corrupt cops and of running with violent mob crews.

"Harry (Aleman) was one of the most cold, calculating, (expletive) smartest killers that (expletive) hit Chicago, he really was ..." Scarbrough said, recalling a mob enforcer during a conversation three years ago. "Good man. Good (expletive) man. I loved the guy and vice versa."

The tapes won.

Turning aside arguments that the mob allegations were exaggerated, U.S. District Judge William Martini sentenced Scarbrough to five years in prison. After presiding over all the prosecutions in the long-running FBI investigation, the judge said he believed evidence that Scarbrough was an influential Genovese associate who supervised millions of dollars in gambling and loan-sharking from a Hoboken social club. "Somehow it was clear to everybody that Joe Scarbrough was the guy running the niche operation here in New Jersey," the judge said.

Scarbrough, 67, was the last of 15 reputed mobsters or associates to be sentenced in Newark after pleading guilty to charges ranging from racketeering to illegal gambling. Most received prison terms of less than three years.

One, Lawrence "Little Larry" Dentico, 82, a reputed ranking captain, was ordered yesterday to serve 51 months in prison. But Scarbrough, known as "Big Joe," was the government's key target. His last arrest was in 1977, a stretch of freedom that Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Faye Schwartz called lucky, given his history of crime. "We believe now is the day of reckoning, your honor," she said.

In a final exclamation point, the prosecutors again used Scarbrough's longtime friend and associate, Peter "Petey" Caporino, to seal his fate. Schwartz and Assistant U.S Attorney Jill Andersen gave the judge transcripts from three conversations that Caporino, a Genovese associate from Hasbrouck Heights, secretly recorded during more than a decade of work as an FBI informant.

In them, Scarbrough reveled in some of his crimes, like the time he said he made $170,000 hijacking a tractor-trailer full of hair dye in Jamesburg or the time he and a partner stole duffel bags filled with records from a company that made and sold safes. "We had (expletive) safes all over the United States ... where they were delivered, combinations, in banks," he said. "It supported us and kept us going for years."

He talked about a special safecracking tool he used -- "a thermo burning bar," he called it -- that he said he found 25 years after a cellmate first told him about a unusual heated drill Navy divers used to carve into sunken German battleships. But he was just as animated about the ones that got away. More than once on the tapes, Scarbrough blamed "bad breaks" or not enough time for ruining what might have been million-dollar heists.

"You never know, ya know? Even with scores," he told Caporino. "You never know when one is going to come along with a good one ... big payment. The biggest thing is you have to be here when it happens."

Scarbrough said he used to rely on a Hoboken police officer -- now dead -- to tip off the mobsters when officers were on the way. He also bragged about beating a woman in a traffic dispute and said he helped steal an unsuspecting man's car for a hitman to use as a getaway car.

Scarbrough said he staked out city parking lots to find a car that stayed untouched night after night. Using a Hoboken police officer's name, he said he called the state motor vehicles office, gave the license plate number and asked for details on the registered owner. Then, posing as the owner, Scarbrough said, he called a car dealer, said he was out of the area, had lost his key and needed the code for a locksmith to make a new one.

With a new key in hand, the hitman used the car to stake out and kill his target, Scarbrough said. "When I see these cases on (expletive) court and I know what we were capable of doing, I'm really skeptical," Scarbrough told Caporino.

Rarely did the conversations include names or dates. At the hearing, defense attorney Michael Koribanics asked the judge to disregard the tapes, arguing that the government never proved any of the crimes Scarbrough appears to take credit for. He noted the current case included no evidence of violence -- only some perceived threats -- and suggested the government exaggerated its mob claims. "Perhaps he's a blowhard, (but) this is not blowhard material, Mr. Koribanics," Martini responded, noting the detail on the tapes. "You can't make this stuff up."

Scarbrough also agreed to forfeit $256,000 in illegal proceeds. The judge ordered him to report to prison by Oct. 10.

Outside the courtroom, Scarbrough cordially shook the hands of the FBI case agent and prosecutors. He declined to discuss the case in detail, but was resigned by the outcome. "No use crying over spilled milk, ya know?" he said.

Thanks to John P. Martin

Sunday, August 20, 2006

'Mafia Cops' Had No Right To Allegedly Decide Father's Fate Says Daughter

Friends of ours: Edward Lino, John "Dapper Don" Gotti, Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso
Friends of mine: Louis Eppolito, Stephen Caracappa, Gene Gotti

The case of former NYPD detectives Louis Eppolito and Steven Caracappa has seen many twists and turns, and now the daughter of a reputed mobster said the two so-called "Mafia Cops" had no right to allegedly play God with her father's life.

Danielle Lino's father, reputed mobster Edward Lino, was allegedly killed by rogue detectives, NewsChannel 4 reported. "Those two men had no right to just judge my father and to change my life. It was not for them to decide if he lived or died," Danielle Lino said.

Her quest has sparked a lawsuit seeking $100 million from city taxpayers for the 1990 shooting of her father. This is the latest twist in the ongoing saga of Eppolito and Caracappa, who are suspected of arranging eight hits for the mob.

The lawsuit claimed that authorities knew that the two detectives were "serving the interests of organized crime." "There was substantial evidence that the city as a result of which knew or should have known these guys were dirty, and they did nothing about it," said attorney Scott Charnas.

Investigators said they believe Edward Lino was close to John Gotti, boss of the Gambino crime family. Gotti's brother, Gene, and Edward Lino were charged in the 1980s with drug trafficking. Edward Lino was acquitted and he had no other convictions.

Danielle Lino, 27, a marketing executive, said she knows nothing about her father's alleged crimes. "That's not the man I know," Danielle Lino said.

Danielle Lino was 12 years old when her father was gunned down in his black Mercedes on the Belt Parkway. The father and daughter had spent the day with family in Brooklyn. She rode home to Long Island separately from her father, a choice that haunts her. She said she wonders if a little girl in his car might have stopped his killers. "I would love to think that I could have saved him, but I'm afraid to think what if I did go with him?" Danielle Lino said.

Danielle Lino said the focus should be on Eppolitto and Caracappa, who were allegedly paid to kill her father on the orders of mobster Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, NewsChannel 4 reported. "I don't have a father today because two New York City police detectives thought $65,000 was enough money to change my life. Is that fair?" Danielle Lino said.

The city declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The criminal case against the detectives, who maintain their innocence, remains up in the air. A federal jury had convicted the pair of arranging eight murders, including Edward Lino's, but the judge threw out that verdict on a technicality. Prosecutors are appealing.

Thanks to WNBC

Chef Junior Gotti?

Friends of ours: John "Junior" Gotti, Gambino Crime Family

Prosecutors on Thursday accused mob figure John 'Junior' Gotti of having 'cooked up' his defense against racketeering and conspiracy allegations as they opened their case in his third trial on the charges. Jurors deadlocked in the two previous trials when they could not agree on the 42-year-old's defense that he withdrew from the mob while in prison on separate charges.

Gotti says he left the Mafia before he pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in 1999, meaning that a five-year statute of limitations would by now have expired. Prosecutors say Gotti took over as boss of the Gambino crime family after his notorious father, John J. Gotti, was sent to prison in 1992. He died there ten years later.

The younger Gotti is suspected of ordering the beating and kidnapping of Curtis Sliwa, founder of New York's Guardian Angels anti-crime patrols after Sliwa criticized his father on his radio show. Prosecutor Victor Hou said on Thursday that Gotti's defense was a 'ploy' thought up while he served prison time knowing he would be indicted again.

Hou said the government had fresh evidence that Gotti continued to be a part of the mob from prison, including receiving rent from properties bought with mob proceeds. 'The truth is Gotti never left the life because he never gave up his mob money,' Hou told the jury in Manhattan federal court. 'It is an elaborate lie he cooked up a year before he was ever charged in this case.'

He said he would introduce tape recordings of Gotti showing anger at being demoted in the Gambino family as evidence he was still part of the mob and that he deliberately talked about having left knowing he was being recorded by the government. But Gotti's lawyer Charles Carnesi told the jury that the government would present old evidence that only proved he was a mob figure before 1999. 'There is nothing new that has come to the attention of the government,' he said. 'They don't have evidence after 1999. They know he was out, so they want to recycle this.'

Tapes prosecutors would introduce only proved he had left, he said. 'In 1999 Mr Gotti wanted to get out of his life in the criminal world,' he said. 'That is the message in this trial, he's out of this life.'

Prosecutors added several new charges for his third trial including racketeering and witness tampering to counter his defense. Sliwa is expected to again testify he was shot and wounded in the back of a taxi in Manhattan but miraculously survived. The trial is expected to last several weeks.

Thanks to Christine Kearney

Wiretapped Calls Could Close Case On Genovese Suspects

Friends of ours: Genovese Crime Family

Prosecutors said evidence against seven men accused of running the Genovese crime family's South Florida operation includes thousands of hours of phone intercepts and more than 150 undercover videotapes.

According to a prosecutor, investigators recorded about 12,000 phone calls through court-ordered wiretaps over more than a decade. Prosecutors also have some 10,000 pages of seized documents. A judge said that because of the amount of evidence she will recommend a trial date not be set until early March.

All seven defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit extortion and robbery and other counts. The men were arrested June 30, 2006.

Friday, August 18, 2006

Alleged Mob Ties to Maurice Clarett

Friends of ours: Hai Waknine, The Jerusalem Group

Maurice Clarett running from a mob hitman?Maurice Clarett was bankrolled by an alleged member of an Israeli crime organization after leaving Ohio State, ESPN has learned, and Clarett's attorney said Thursday that his client may have been in possession of firearms last week to protect himself against mob activity.

Clarett's attorney, Nick Mango, said Thursday that Clarett has repeatedly received death threats over the past year but that a cryptic postcard sent from Los Angeles last week has him wondering about Clarett's ties to an alleged mob enforcer.

In the late summer of 2004, ESPN has learned, Clarett traveled to Los Angeles and was introduced by a rapper friend to Hai Waknine, 35, a convicted felon who federal prosecutors believe is a member of an Israeli crime organization called The Jerusalem Group. Waknine, who at the time was facing a federal indictment on extortion and money-laundering charges, became Clarett's sponsor and adviser, along with Waknine's attorney, David Kenner. Waknine provided Clarett with cash, a BMW, bodyguards, drivers and beachfront lodging in Malibu, Calif., with the understanding that he would be reimbursed and receive 60 percent of Clarett's rookie contract. But when Clarett was released by the Denver Broncos in August 2005, he was unable to pay Waknine back, and ESPN has learned that Waknine eventually cut off Clarett financially. Clarett moved back to his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, that fall.

After Clarett was arrested last week, allegedly wearing a bulletproof vest and possessing four guns and a hatchet, Clarett's attorneys say they received an anonymous phone call alerting them to Clarett's ties to Waknine. They grew more suspicious when they received the threatening postcard this week.

Mango said he is concerned that postcard, sent to his law office in Columbus, Ohio, may have come from Waknine. "That's our question, whether it's from him or people associated with that scene out there," Mango told ESPN. "Again, it came from Los Angeles, and we don't know what to make of that. … We're going to turn this over to someone in law enforcement and see what they think [of the postcard]. … We've always felt he had some reasons to fear for his safety, and we don't think any of his actions the night he was arrested -- despite the way it's been spun -- were that he was a threat to anyone else but more of him being in fear for his safety for quite some time."

Mango also said he believes Clarett's debt may have something to do with the threats. "I believe he owes [Waknine] money, and I think [Waknine] is probably not the only one [he owes]," Mango said. "Whether it's someone all the way on that coast or more on this side of the country; it's no one that I'd want to owe money to. … A call came to our office [about Waknine], kind of giving us a rumored story. It's been kind of tossed around by us, and quite frankly, Youngstown has quite a reputation -- if you don't know it already -- for the Italian side of that ball game. And everyone here thought, 'Well, you wonder with money changing hands … ' Having heard the things we've heard, this is a little more concerning."

Waknine's current relationship with Clarett is not clear, although two hours before Clarett's arrest, the running back called an ESPN reporter and mentioned, in passing, that he and Waknine were still friends. However, ESPN has learned that the FBI contacted Clarett about his relationship with Waknine before the 2005 draft, and it is unknown whether Clarett cooperated.
Waknine went on trial on June 5, and he pleaded guilty a week later to a single racketeering charge, admitting that he threatened violence to extort money from several individuals. Waknine, who was unavailable for comment Thursday, is expected to receive a nine-year prison term at his sentencing Sept. 11. His attorney, Kenner -- the former lawyer for Death Row Records and its founder, Marion "Suge" Knight -- did not return phone messages left at his office and cell phone.

It's no secret, however, that Waknine provided Clarett with a life of luxury from August 2004 to August 2005. "When I worked with Maurice, he had Hai and a very high-profile lawyer (Kenner)," strength coach Charles Poliquin said earlier this year, after having trained Clarett in November and December 2004 in Phoenix. "There are not a lot of guys that want to play pro football who have a team of lawyers and money men backing them up, and, for sure, they had his best interests at heart. But he was living too nice a life. Too nice. He was living in Malibu. Right on the beach. I've been to the house. [Waknine] owned like 10 cars and said, 'Pick whatever car you want.'" But money eventually became an issue, especially for all of Clarett's three personal trainers. None of them -- Poliquin, Chad Ikei and Todd Durkin -- said he was ever paid for his services, and when one contacted a member of Clarett's inner circle to be reimbursed, he was told, "You'll get paid when I get paid."

Mango said he has neither the time nor the resources to investigate Waknine, but he found the threatening postcard puzzling. "It came on a small index card like you use in school or whatever, and whatever language that was on it was actually cut and pasted in the old-fashioned sense, like typed and then cut out and pasted onto it," he said. "And then, obviously, the identity of the sender has been pretty well kept … they took steps to keep that …

"I think anything you get where the sender has taken very obvious and extreme and multiple steps to keep their identity sealed, that concerns me. Maurice has gotten other letters and, quite frankly, so have we. People write notes and might use the N-words, but it's in their handwriting some. Some sign it, even an address. In this case, none of that. There's no way to trace this one."
Thanks to ESPN

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Junior Sings in Court

Friends of ours: John "Junior" Gotti

Junior sang in court yesterday - but he didn't give up any secrets.

John A. (Junior) Gotti did croon "Happy Birthday" to the judge presiding over his racketeering trial. "I led the attack," the mob scion joked afterward. "Everyone said, 'We're going to sing, we're going to sing,' and then they chickened out."

The command performance came after Manhattan Federal Judge Shira Scheindlin's courtroom deputy opened the third day of jury selection by asking everyone to sing in honor of the judge's 60th birthday. Prosecutors and defense attorneys who seldom find themselves tongue-tied in a courtroom squirmed at the unusual request but managed to muddle their way through.

Both sides have so far amassed a pool of 40 jurors and will begin whittling the panel down to 18 today. Opening statements are expected to begin in the afternoon.

This is Gotti's third trial after jurors deadlocked at two previous trials. Gotti is accused in a wide-ranging racketeering conspiracy case of ordering a 1992 assault on radio host Curtis Sliwa.

Thanks to Thomas Zambito

Mrs. Gotti Praises 'Mafia Cops" Judge

Friends of ours: John "Junior" Gotti, John "Dapper Don" Gotti, Gambino Crime Family, Ralph "Fat the Gangster" Eppolito, Jimmy "The Clam" Eppolito
Friends of mine:
Louis Eppolito, Stephen Caracappa

Brooklyn Federal Judge Jack Weinstein has a new unexpected fan: Victoria Gotti.
The matriarch of the Gotti clan wrote a letter to Weinstein, praising him for showing a "tremendous amount of courage" in knocking out the convictions of the "Mafia cops."

"I am a person that was totally, totally disillusioned with the justice system," Victoria Gotti wrote in an undated letter to Weinstein. "You have restored my hope that my own son may have a chance, or should I say a second chance at life."

The letter was entered into a court file yesterday.

Gotti has been silent since attending each day of her son John A. (Junior) Gotti's trial this winter, when he scored his second mistrial. Then she attacked a government witness who testified against her son, and defended her late husband, John (Dapper Don) Gotti, amid allegations that he'd fathered a love child.

She's expected back in court later this week for opening statements in a racketeering conspiracy case that centers on claims that Gotti, 42, ordered the assault on radio host Curtis Sliwa in 1992. "With two hung juries and a third trial in August, I am beyond [despondent]," Gotti said. "I continue to hope for a better day for him."

Mafia CopsLast month, Weinstein tossed out the federal murder convictions of Mafia cops Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa. In April a jury found that the former NYPD detectives participated in eight gangland slayings while still on the job. Weinstein ruled that the statute of limitations on the racketeering conspiracy had expired.

She began the letter by saying: "I want to applaud you on your decision in regard to the Eppolito and Caracappa case, it takes a tremendous amount of courage to do what you did."

"Those two men, Eppolito and Caracappa need to thank their lucky stars for your wisdom and fairness," Gotti wrote.

There happens to be a Gambino family connection with Eppolito: Two of his relatives, Ralph (Fat the Gangster) Eppolito and Jimmy (The Clam) Eppolito were Gambino family members.

Thanks to Thomas Zambito

New Method for Mob to Recruit and Train Teenagers?

The Sims Online is a very popular video game, and it may be getting even more popular. Trouble is, it has been almost completely overrun by an occasionally subtle, occasionally out version of the Mob.

The Mafia may be using The Sims Online as a chat room and indoctrinating teenage kids into it. Sort of a Neo Mafia, similar to the Neo Nazis. Not sure. I do not know what you will think of this, but it is your business.

Several people on the game agreed rationally that the Mafia may be using TSO as a chat room to lure teenage kids into the very real Mafia. Some, in defense of the game, said no, it is a bunch of teenage kids having whoopies and do not get worried. Those people are often game addicts and love TSO a lot. They say they do not get into trouble. And some people said, Maxis, Mafia, who knows. Maybe Maxis is just making money from the woes of those who play TSO and then leave.

I have blown quite a few people away with this story (pun intended.) Also, this is not a fiction story, and finally, I am an ocasionally investigative journalist who has won a few awards. You have probably never heard of me.

If I told you this, would you believe me? Try doing so, because it is the truth. And also, in this strange and perverse world, young people are busy killing each other at an alarming rate. Do we really need something like a pseudo Mafia causing the same sorts of problems? Gangsterism, in other words, on the beloved video games of our children?

According to Wikipedia, the foremost Web online encyclopedia, ever since 9/11 the FBI has not had much in time or resources to handle organized crime, and there has been a sudden resurgence in its activities.

Right now, the online game The Sims Online - which is labeled a T for Teens game - has been overrun by several obviously Mafia named families. These people do not seem to have enough imagination to be Mexican Mafia, Chinese Mafia or Japanese Mafia (yet), which also exist in real life. They are both very aggressive and very obvious.

Whether or not they are the real Mafia is a question which I cannot answer. They may be a bunch of errant teenage boys and girls – but ones with some very eclectic adult tastes and also many violent and weird high tech tendencies. You should see the Playboy style icons they paste on top of their houses from certain views of the TSO video game.

I cannot tell who is to blame for that, adults or kids. And that sort of thing is not something you can ordinarily get as a regular player of that particular video game. Something is up with that, something way too mysterious. And one thing these kids, if they are kids, really do, even though it is to virtual and not real houses: they trash the paid-for beautiful properties of their fellow gameplayers. The kinds of properties that people would like to build, taking a lifetime to achieve. Gorgeous, sprawling mansions you cannot own in real life, the kind that are totally out of reach for the vast majority of people.

Some people have been playing The Sims Online for years. Maybe you think they are weird, maybe you think they are no one to feel sorry for. Maybe you are even rooting for the pseudo Mafia. But not me. I had real friends going on that game, and slowly but surely somebody began destroying our Sims houses, and all of our prized possessions on that game. To the point where no one could tell if it was part of the game, or something far worse.

I happen to have another friend (an entirely different situation) who was screwed over for $15,000 real life dollars when he tried to sell some photographs and they were more or less taken from him. Is that a good thing to do to someone? And is it a good thing to interrupt a high tech, presumably decent enough game involving minor adult activity and corrupt it still further? So far as I can tell, some money is going out that way on TSO too — in real life.

I am so tired, I do not know. Values are very hard to gauge in life, anyway.

To green up on The Sims Online at all, or to keep your simulated character alive and kicking, it forces you to do interactions that are rather similar to bestiality (wrestle with your dog, but you should see what it looks like if you really see it) and that is bad enough, but rather bearable. Sigmund Freud would have told us that such behavior is relatively normal, that having an orgy session involving heavy petting with your own puppy where it loves you and licks your face and you are all over each other is fun. Also, there is sexy dancing, heavy kissing and hugging, and so forth, which works for most people - including twelve year old kids.

This is all done with your fellow characters, real life people in the game whom you can become acquainted with, work with, and even marry. The marriages are not legal of course, and tend to dissolve fairly quickly. I also found out that you can pay, with real money, for virtual acts of prostitution on that game - a T for Teens game. Recently I have found out that what they call kiddy porn has definitely become involved in that game, too. There are children selling kissing and hugging sexual favors there, and they have access to nude skins on the naked characters. Somehow, this doesn't seem like proper "fun" for teenage kids to me.

And it is not fun, also, to come home one day to having your hard won, worked for skills, games, store or money house trashed by unknown people - while your town is crawling with De Corleoni Territori, the Italian Mafia Empire, The Vito Family Territory and so forth. I am not talking Anti-Italian Defamation. I had several Italian friends on the game, whom I now am stuck missing in my daily life. I am talking about a bunch of people either acting like the Mafia, or worse yet, actually being connected with them somehow and taking over a kiddy teen video game. Possibly, several teenage version video games. Or were they involved in the first place, and is Maxis a Mafia held game company? Look at the names. Maxis, Mafia.

When will Electronic Arts do something about the house trashing problem, for example, even though people have repeatedly complained about it? What is it exactly that they are trying to hide? Apparently not much; you can easily find the Mob everywhere on that game. And the Sims version of the cops does absolutely nothing but dress up in uniforms and occasionally threaten people. Their police threaten you if you do not cooperate with them, such as by kissing them or letting them become your roommates, but cannot do anything real to you. It has also been found that their police station involves nothing but lollygagging around and having fun. There is no attempt to stop the Mob at all. Maxis did crack down on one "house of prostitution" and kids selling sexual favors on the game once, but not very hard. I've heard there has been resurgences of such clearly illegal game activities.

It is also true that while the game is labeled T for Teens, it is connected with what appears at first to be some harmless fake gambling. The money being exchanged seems to be Simoleans at first. Fake money, which you get by working at odd jobs on the game, and you may also acquire skills so you can make more of the fake money. But there are payoffs, and you can also buy blocks of the money on EBay, roughly $15-25 for 1 million Simoleans. And you can buy rares, which people barter and pay for, such as Mystic Trees, tigers and cheetahs. The nature of the game makes it looks like you are not spending anything, like the gambling is harmless. Yet it swiftly begins to catch up with you that you are indeed spending your own very real money.

Is this what you want your teenager to be doing? For 6-10 hours a day, five-seven days a week? Eventually, obviously, after I spent about a month on the game, it was so that the money was swiftly turning real. It took about one month for me to blow about $200 in real life dollars on that game. I was getting seriously addicted.

Okay, video addiction is bad enough, but we are talking about Organized Crime here as well. Remember a little place called Columbine High School? What if there is some sort of eerie connection to that sort of business? I had to join this game to find out, kind of as a lark, but I did some real exploring too. The "Mafia" is in and roughly controlling every town that I have visited on The Sims Online, and I have reasonably checked them all over. Dans Grove, Jolly Pines, Blazing Falls, Alphaville. The Mafia is...everywhere.

I have talked to these Mafia gentlemen and ladies, and visited their houses. They do not have very much to do at them but the usual Sims stuff. I am afraid they have discovered game cheats, and being bored, they are using them to destroy other game player properties. And yes, I have evidence, not hard unfortunately, that they have watched people play the game from a distance. One of them knew about something he should not have known. And another friend of mine who regularly plays video games has noticed these tendencies toward having strange game powers that other players do not have in yet other video games. He says it is pretty common. Hackers, he calls it, but in the TSO case, it is hitting a little too close to home.

For example, a very realistic gay bashing was set up right in front of me. I rode it out, but I had to comfort the gay being bashed. Of course, it was his simulated character, not he/she who was hurt. TSO is real people playing games. I am not gay, but it was getting a little peculiar that such stuff is allowable on a T for Teens video game. I was more than a little confused, embarassed and hurt. There had been a threat to bash me as well, which was at least not carried out. I somehow escaped it.

A lady in fun did fire a game Civil War cannon at me, in private, and this Mafia guy named Riccardo knew that it had happened. I do not think she told him about it. How did he know? She did it for laughs, and it was a harmless game event (I peed my pants as the game character, and it seemed okay), but it is not very funny that he knew about it. I did not exactly care, and it was sort of humorous. He could not have known about it unless he had seen it happen, in all probability. And he was not anywhere on the property or onscreen at the time. He had an obvious private view of it going on. The lady was a friend of mine and I did not mind the harmless cannon. But I certainly minded that invisible people knew all about what was going on.

That meant Riccardo there could probably observe sex acts with kids characters on the game, either. But I seriously doubt that he had any interest at all in stopping them. As to policing them, I suppose there would be problems with that, too. The same Mafia dude, who kept denying he was Mafia - while dressed in an obvious game-style Mafia suit and with the name Riccardo - also told me you cannot trash houses unless you are a roommate or the home owner. This should indeed be the case; it involves building permissions. But one of the house trashing victims had no roommates whatsoever. And she was not motivated to trash her house, as no insurance money is involved.

The game definitely has its better aspects, though. Game players on this game can be quite friendly. I made a lot of good friends doing things like making pizzas, opening up my own skills house business, doing minor gambling (legal for adults and I am over 40) and in general - partying. You can play high tech, beautiful looking musical instruments and feel like you are there. It is a great game. You should see some of the wild and crazy characters on this game! Or should you?

Well, I can not play it myself anymore. I quit the game solely because of the extremely heavy Mafia presence that was starting to visit my house and breathe hotly down my neck. That, and the game was cutting into my work routine as a full-time writer quite a little bit, too.

First, Riccardo showed up. Out of nowhere, after I had used the usual Maxis device to screen all apparent Mafia members out of my house. He showed up at my house. The same day the house of my friend was trashed. It was the second such trashing since I had started playing there. Obvious Mafia guy, obviously scouting me. For membership, or for house bashing? He denied everything completely. This was after two such houses had been trashed.

Want to know anything about terrorism? Now I know what it is. A little too thoroughly for my tastes. The Mob was making it obvious that I could be next. Why is that exactly? And what sort of next would it be, real, or simulated game activity? These people looked capable of tracking down my actual home computer IP address, my ISP - and finally, my real life house. They seem to have the technology... ...yeah, they are just a bunch of teenagers who like to trash houses...they are not the real Mafia, they are just kids...I heard a lot of that from people both on and off the game, even my fellow writers. Harmless kids. With Playboy symbols on the roofs of their game houses, very obviously the kind adults use. Mere "kids."

Like the ones at Columbine? That bunch called themselves The Trenchcoat Mafia. What is it with teenage kids and the Mob nowadays? Bad influence from gangsta rap? Perhaps boredom with what the Sims had to offer, or a lack of desire to wait for the further events? We had chat rooms going, and Eminem (might be the real one from rap music, somebody on the game claimed it actually is the rapper dude, who knows) was there, helping to build a SimBall stadium. So people could play SimBall on the game. Some guy called Eminem, and he wanted to build us a ball stadium. What if the pseudo Mafia decides to trash that, too? Em there might have been trying to do something real and good for a change. Dunno. And I heard about the house of a man also being trashed in Jolly Pines, so it is obvious they do not do it only to women or just to my own coincidental female friends. But all I could finally do was flee. The game was cutting too deeply into my own personal life anyway, as sour grapes as that sounds. I quit playing the game for good. I do not feel much like a grownup after that. I feel rather like an inebriated cipher. I learned later that it is a major punishment in the Sims Mafia to get a member to erase their character or all of their characters and property - that is, if you are already a Mob member. I was only glad to get our of there before I was "erased" by someone else. And my daughter was equally glad to stop playing the game, as she found it was getting boring anyway trying to elude the Mob.

Parents, watch the video games your teenagers are playing. You might turn around and suddenly find you have a genuine Neo Mafiosi for a teenage daughter or son, in your Real Life. I know that now. You might think I am crazy, but I am not. A man told me recently he has been finding kids that stay all day on those games. I am not the only nutty parent here who is getting worried. I think something like Columbine could swallow our kids alive, alarmist as that may sound, through video games.

The Sims Online is conceivably the haven for a slinking beast with no better name than the Neo Mafia: My New Family. And for the last time, if you are Italian, I am not picking on you. I am worried about you instead. And do you need to be affiliated with these mysterious strangers, who maybe think all organized crime is still from Italy? Are you, like me, a parent? Ma fia? Neo ma fia? Oy gevaldt, as the Jews say, on such a New Family!

Yes, parents, that is what it means in Italian-American. My new family. Still feel comfortable with the concept?

Those guys were lying to me. If so, then they are Neo Mafia. What would that mean exactly, if they have the technology to get past the normal defenses in the game and tear the houses of other players down? I was told by several people, even Riccardo, that it is not easy to do that.

"Trust me. I am only Italian. I am not a Mafia member. You must be a bigot. It is because my skin is brown. Yadayadayaday," Riccardo said. You can be whatever skin color you want to be on TSO, and either sex for that matter. Everybody kept going, it is only kids, calm down, it is only kids. Yeah, some pretty old kids with Playboy banners and slogans who like to indulge in kiddy sex trades.

First town on The Sims map: Dans Grove. First thing you see when you enter there: Italian Mafia Empire. It was a little hidden, but not very. Sort of to the South. It is obviously their beachhead, the place they originally hit.

Then they simply moved out from there. And they can hide. When you go there, to Dans Grove, you do not find very many Mafia. They seemingly moved out from there. Trouble is, they can move right back there at lightning speed. That is not doable by any regular game player without having more than one paid account on the game. How many paid accounts do these guys have? Dans Grove seems to be the seat of the Hidden Mafia Empire, altogether. Sounds exciting in a way, I guess, but no fun.

That is where they trashed the two or three houses. Or...whatever. Yes dear, it is all twelve year old kids. And my name is Uncle Auntie Em. Maybe I was a fool for ever playing it. I assumed it was just a game, and someone was being silly.

I was wrong. That game smells to the skies of actual real life payoffs, and everyone I talked to genuinely seemed to know that, one way or another. And if they chase almost everyone who is not Mafia off of the game, who is left talking to each other while presumably playing a T for Teens video game - as a chat room?

I hope the FBI does something, but God help anybody, I do not know what. They would have to join the game to infiltrate it and actually, er, gather evidence. Gosh, that would be so going overboard for them. Maybe they could eat donuts, drink coffee, and pretend to look for terrorists instead, like the cops on the Sims do, more or less? Or maybe go bug half-crazed Black people and Native Americans from the sixties?

Sorry, I have got to admit I am finally feeling a little nuts here.
I know bloody well that if this story is ever run or promoted, people will join The Sims Online (TSO) after having read it. It is an extremely easy game to join, a free two week trial, $10 per month and bam, you are in it. This story itself works out to promoting them. Well, if you want to join the Mafia very easily, there you go.

The last I read, however, sales on the game have been slipping, and are not as high as Maxis would like them to be. Their overall projections were much higher than their actual results. But their other non-interactive Sims games, which are played mostly offline, are selling so well that Maxis can claim that The Sims 2 is the Number One selling video game worldwide. At least that is what they are claiming.

News items like riots over the War in Iraq or tales of actual real life child prostitution belittle all of this pretty much. Nonetheless, I believe that the Federal Bureau of Investigation should be looking into at least some of these teenage and kiddy video games. You can buy money on EBay to sell on that TSO game, very young kids are on that game, and they are being threatened into being recruited for the, I would assume, mostly "Sicilian" Mafia...right now...since they all keep mentioning the Italian one so much...

...the real one or the virtual one?

Who knows?

Thanks to Karen Peralta

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

China is Swept by 'Mafia'

A card game called "Mafia" that requires competitors to "kill" their fellow players is sweeping China.

Pubs, clubs and restaurants are full of people playing the game, and it has even jumped to the Internet, where games can last a whole day. The game has, however, caused controversy, with some professors complaining the game is too violent.

Searching the Internet, surfers can find out everything about the game, including information about game rules, online game services, "Mafia" clubs and debates on the advantages and disadvantages of the game.

There are various forms of the game, although the type using cards usually has 10 to 20 players who take on a number of different roles, including a judge, cops, killers, an angel and ordinary people. The aim of the game differs depending on which character you play, but killers do just that, while ordinary people have to find who the killers are.

Xclub, in the Haidian District of Beijing, was one of the first "Mafia" clubs in China. "The game can improve people's personalities, making them smarter and quicker," according to Yuan Yi, the club's vice-manager. "Introvert people become more active."

The Beijing-based club has registered more than 50,000 members all over the country since opening for business in March. Yuan said members are from a wide range of circles, including public relations workers, media people, IT engineers and students.

"The name sounds scary but actually it builds up your brain without any actual violence. It demands high concentration, which is a great challenge," said player Liu Mei, a 28-year old Beijing architect. "I think this game is much more meaningful than surfing online, doing karaoke, or playing poker or mahjong." But not everyone agrees.

A player will try hard to lie, deny he is a killer and by fair means or foul "kill" others," said Gao Feng, a professor from Beijing People's Police College. "People will imitate these ways of thinking when they commit a crime in real life and try to escape legal punishment."

"Players are easily addicted to the game and become numb when it comes to 'killing,'" added another professor, Zhang Zhensheng, from China Public Security University. "These cheating minds formed through the game will have a negative effects on lives and careers in the long run," he said.

Zhang even predicts that lie detectors could fail when faced with experienced "Mafia" game players as they will be used to cheating.

Thanks to Xie Chuanjiao

The Chicago Mob in Vegas during the 70's and 80's

Friends of ours: Tony “the Ant” Spilotro, Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, Al Capone
Friends of mine: Oscar Goodman, Michael Spilotro, Joe Blasko, Phil Leone


The Battle for Las Vegas

The Battle for Las Vegas: The Law vs. The Mob Looks at Vegas Crime in the 70's and 80's

Monday, August 14, 2006

Gotti's Groundhog Day Trial Begins with Jury Selection

Friends of ours: John "Junior" Gotti, John "Dapper Don" Gotti

In his 1882 treatise, “The Gay Science,” Friedrich Nietzsche describes the theory of eternal return like this:

“What,” he writes, “if some day a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say: ‘This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more? Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus?”

This, of course, is the philosophy of endless repetition that has entered the culture in masterworks like Albert Camus’s “The Myth of Sisyphus” and Harold Ramis’s “Groundhog Day.” It has touched both novelists and rock stars and is appearing — yet again — in the racketeering trial of John A. Gotti, the son of the late Gambino family don.

The trial, which opened today in Federal District Court in Manhattan, is, after all, Mr. Gotti’s third on nearly identical charges in the last two years. He stands accused, again, of having ordered the abduction of Curtis Sliwa, the radio talk-show host and founder of the Guardian Angels, in 1992 — an allegation that led to dead-locked juries at two prior federal trials.

Today jury selection started and it was fairly remarkable, given the ink already spilled on Mr. Gotti, that the panelists did not know more about the man. Several times, potential jurors confessed in court to little more than a passing knowledge of Mr. Gotti — beyond the fact that he is John J. Gotti’s son.

This was to the point. Like many sons of famous fathers, the younger Gotti has been walking in his father’s shade for many years. Indeed, the primary charge in the case is directly related to Oedpial anxiety: Prosecutors say that Mr. Gotti ordered Mr. Sliwa to be kidnapped from the street after the talk-show host called his father “public enemy No. 1” on air.

The kidnapping occurred in June 1992, as Mr. Sliwa (on his way to work at WABC) hailed a taxicab near his apartment on Avenue A and St. Marks Place, in the East Village. As prosecutors put it, the taxi was “intended to serve as a hearse,” for as he stepped inside, they say, a gang assassin bolted upright in the front seat and shot him several times at point-blank range.

For this trial the prosecution has added a few new racketeering counts that charge Mr. Gotti with having used illicit profits from loan-sharking and extortion to operate two holding companies. It tried to charge him with money laundering as well, but that charge was dismissed last week by Shira A. Scheindlin, the presiding judge.

The third time is said to be the charm, but even Judge Scheindlin admitted today that jury selection was fairly slow-going. There seemed no end to good reasons to dismiss jurors from the pool.

One woman told the judge that she might lose her job as a part-time telemarketer if she were forced to serve — and was excused. So was the slightly addled woman who complained that the jury questionnaire was somewhat “tricky.” (She had checked the box “no,” when asked if the Mafia existed, though told the judge in court that she had meant to check it “yes.”)

Then there was the young man who said that he believed in karma, which, of course, alone was not enough to send him packing.

That occurred when Judge Scheindlin said she found it troubling that he kept referring to Mr. Gotti as “Mr. Gandhi.”

Thanks to Alan Feuer

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Junior has Charges Reinstated Against Him

Friends of ours: John "Junior" Gotti, Gambino Crime Family, John "Dapper Don" Gotti

Four days after tossing out a handful of new charges against John A. Gotti, the Mafia scion, a federal judge reversed herself — and the fortunes of prosecutors — when she reinstated some of the charges against him in a ruling yesterday.

The judge, Shira A. Scheindlin of Federal District Court in Manhattan, had ruled on Monday that federal prosecutors could not pursue money laundering and some racketeering charges against Mr. Gotti at his trial, which is scheduled to begin with jury selection on Monday. But after a contentious hearing on Thursday, Judge Scheindlin changed her mind, saying that the government could charge Mr. Gotti, the son of the late Gambino family don, with the racketeering charges, under which he stands accused of using profits from loan-sharking and extortion to operate two holding companies.

The trial will be Mr. Gotti’s third in two years in federal court in Manhattan and concerns the government’s accusations that he ordered the abduction of Curtis Sliwa, the radio talk-show host and vigilante, in 1992 after Mr. Sliwa criticized the elder Mr. Gotti on the air. Juries have twice deadlocked in the case, unable to decide if Mr. Gotti was, or was not, involved in the abduction and a subsequent assault.

On Thursday, Victor Hou, a federal prosecutor, told Judge Scheindlin that he had doubts about the government’s ability to proceed to trial without the new charges. “We have serious concerns about our ability to go forward, given your ruling,” Mr. Hou told the judge, referring to her initial decision.

The government had sought the new charges, in part, to counteract Mr. Gotti’s claim that he had left the mob in the 1990’s. The reinstated charges concern crimes the government says took place after Mr. Gotti says he left the mob.

The government argues that Mr. Gotti led the Gambino family in the 1990’s after his father was convicted of racketeering and was given a life sentence. He died in prison in 2002. Charles Carnesi, the younger Mr. Gotti’s lawyer, said he had no comment on the case.

Judge Scheindlin’s latest decision still bars the government from charging Mr. Gotti with money laundering — specifically with receiving income from properties the government says he bought with money derived from crime.

The main charges in the case concern the abduction of Mr. Sliwa, who was the founder of the Guardian Angels. He was kidnapped in a taxicab in the East Village in 1992 and shot and wounded.

Thanks to Alan Feuer

Hitman: Blood Money - Reviewed

Friends of ours: Felix "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio, Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, Richard "The Ice Man" Kuklinski, Gambino Crime Family, Roy DeMeo

How often do you get the chance to sneak up on a balloon-clutching clown, grab him, kill him, take his outfit and put it on, then dump him in his own magic trick trunk and saunter off pretending to be him? Okay, maybe this says a little something about my own personal mental fiefdom, but when I found I had the opportunity to do just this - and so very much more - in Eidos amazing Hitman: Blood Money, by Jove I was as pleased as punch!

Now, where to start with this thoroughly engaging and dare I say awesome game�

I'm a fan of the genre to begin with. Having played through Rockstar's frightening stalk n' slash epic, Manhunt and the Thief and Splinter Cell series' I have developed a genuine passion for such stealth-orientated gameplay. There is something enormously satisfying about thinking and planning your every move, calculating and (hopefully) shrewdly putting into practice your own mapped out directives and above all doing your 'job' as a professional assassin.

This game is what it is. If you are familiar with the previous titles in the Hitman saga you will know that it comprises of a number of missions - all to 'hit' various designated bad guys. There is a storyline, but it's your murderous objectives that hallmark this classic. Blood Money is, of course, more of the same, but with a number of important improvements which I'm sure you'll be delighted to know includes new kill techniques.

So how does this game look and feel?

I class myself as a visual person and therefore if a game's graphics are below par this seriously dilutes the overall experience for me. It's very important that I be able to absorb every detail, down to minutiae. Fortunately Hitman: Blood Money's achievements in this area are nothing short of breathtaking and I struggled to contain my excitement from the very outset, quickly discovering that I could not tear myself away from a particular level until I had completed it so that the next would be revealed. Stunning, panoramic locations made this a journey I could not resist embarking on. Whether it's brightly little jungles or dingy warehouses, the eye for detail is sharp and quite incredible. I knew as soon as I got my first glimpse of the game that it was going to be a thing of beauty.

Right from the word go, the player - as silent protagonist Agent 47 - shows up at a deserted fairground, and is hauled directly along for the hugely atmospheric ride. Being a man who understands the nature of hardcore murder and having been fortunate enough to have books published in the true crime world, I'll take just a moment to discuss the psychopathologies inherent within the game's characters before getting back to the plot.

Though he has dispatched many victims in his time, cue-ball-headed, suited-and-booted Agent 47 is not a serial killer. He does not kill for pleasure, and he does not rape, torture or eat other human beings, which the charming sorts I normally deal with are more inclined to. 47 is an assassin, the best of his breed as a matter of fact, the type of 'guy' (he's not strictly human but I won't give away too much of the story) that undertakes his various assignments with a required cool detachment and abject professionalism. For our ice cold ice man, the soup of the day here is organised crime rather than the dark realm of serial predators. Still, vicious, evil and above all powerful figures wind up on his hit list. Surely the world will be a better place with them removed and there is only one master-assassin that fits the employment description, a hitman competent enough to take out this dangerous kind of trash. And in Blood Money, there is certainly a lot of it.

Fearsome organised criminals are marked for death at the hands of Agent 47 and whereas most of them display signs of 'enjoying' their murderous exploits, our 47 is motivated by another factor, namely - money. As a bonus he gets to dispense his own brand of justice on some very nasty individuals indeed.

Celebrated real-life counterparts; mob hitmen, such as the Chicago Outfit's Felix "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio and Murder Incorporated's Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, took a certain amount of pleasure in their contracts. Richard "The Ice Man" Kuklinski - recently deceased in prison - and his contemporary, the legendary Gambino Crime Family executioner, Roy DeMeo, who are thought to be responsible for some 400 murders between them, lack distinctly the cool dignity of Agent 47. More than a match in sheer ferocity and death toll as these and others of their ilk are, this is not the purpose of Hitman: Blood Money. You are not an organised crime-connected, bloodthirsty killer, who actually enjoys his assignments, but rather a reluctant created entity. One who does this because it is what he knows.

Back to the game, the environments as I say are totally mesmerizing. From garish techno nightclubs straight out of Hell - and Heaven - and winter playgrounds oozing with busty babes, steaming outdoor pools, and stone killers in Santa Claus hats, to a trip to the witness protection haven of suburban U S of A and a New Orleans Mardi Gras to remember, the slick presentation of each scenario will knock you sideways.

The varied ways of dispatching victims is a lot of fun too. Whether it's a simple garrotting, knifing or more creative method of execution, such as a patiently orchestrated poisoning or the careful engineering of a fatal 'accident', the result is always the same. Mission accomplished. Particularly rewarding is the discovery of makeshift weaponry throughout your quests, which can be used to take those who get in your way down - hard. Agent 47 will always find a way to complete his homicidal objectives.

Luring and annihilating his route throughout the game, each of 47's missions involve slaying a 'Mr Big' target. There are a number of ways this can be achieved, from a Gung Ho blood fest of bullets and mayhem to the more subtle, stealthy approach. As this is a game that rewards you for methodical and restrained manoeuvring, being sneaky and quietly efficient are the ingredients to conquering Hitman: Blood Money.

One of my favourite touches are the often amusing newspaper reports that conclude each level, describing the various massacres you have been responsible for in getting at your latest target. These can range from the ghost-like strike of a highly effective phantom killer to the carnage-soaked frenzy of a human butcher. Depending on how you played it, the ultimate goal is in your skill and cunning at executing not only your task but your designated 'whacks', to use the parlance of the top mobsters that Agent 47 is so often sent after.

And the handling is spot on. Fluid controlling and smooth operation is vital in a game such as this, and here again Hitman: Blood Money delivers. It's easy to pick up after a half hour curve and having gotten used to it, you will find yourself most comfortable with the action of shooting, stabbing and stealthy 'up close and personal' moves on your (again, hopefully if you're playing it the way it is intended) unwitting prey.

It's such an experience that when you eventually finish the game you are left wanting much more. A tight, story-driven plot with some truly great characters and awesome villains to take down, make this an instant must for those fans of the genre. Hitman gets in your blood, immerses you in the subterranean world of murder-for-hire and actually charges you up while playing. Who after all would not wish to kill as many evil people as their skills merit and read their own sensational headline at the end of each gore-splattered foray.

Eidos have done it again and I devoutly hope that there are more Hitman offerings in the pipeline. I will never grow tired of assuming the role of Agent 47, the cool, collected killing machine, sent to faraway destinations to carry out the most exhilarating contracts.

I absolutely loved this game. Could you tell?

Thanks to Steve Morris

Saturday, August 12, 2006

"Snakes on a Plane" Influenced by Mafia

Snakes on a PlaneRumors abound about "Snakes on a Plane."

Even though the movie doesn't open until late Thursday night, the blog-based buzz has turned it into a pop-culture phenomenon.

Here's some of the data echoing through the rumor mill:

-Blog pressure swayed filmmakers.
-Blogs sparked a Samuel L. Jackson catch-phrase.
-The director was a second choice.
-Scenes were added late to bump the PG-13 rating to an R.
-"Snakes" is a dog, so no early screenings.

The truth is: yes, yes, yes, yes, and no.

To guide you through the mythology, this "Snakes on a Plane" primer begins with the film's premise: Two FBI agents escort a former minor Mafia member from Hawaii to California.

To silence him permanently, a time-release crate filled with hundreds of deadly snakes opens during the flight.

Panic ensues.

Jackson stars as one of the agents. He signed on because he liked the title as well as the mix of action, horror and monsters on the loose. Hong Kong action whiz Ronny Yu joined as director, then quit over budget problems and the familiar "creative differences," whatever that means.

David R. Ellis, director of "Final Destination 2," took over.

Although nothing was broken, the studio decided to fix it.

New Line bigwigs changed the title to the milquetoast "Pacific Air 121."

Reportedly, execs felt the original lacked "class" and, thus, no one would take it seriously.

Of course, that's the point — two basic fears, flying and snakes, tapped into by one title.

Jackson got it. He struck. The actor kept telling the media he was at work on "Snakes on a Plane."

By this time, "Snakes" blogs were listed among the top Web sites in hits. Dazzled by the cheesy first title — "cheesy" meaning "a fun time" — they joined the fray.

The good guys won.

A second gaffe was also the studio's.

"When I signed on it was an R-rated film," director Ellis says in a phone interview. "During the course of developing the script, New Line decided they wanted a PG-13."

Jackson and Ellis recoiled.

"Sam (Jackson) and I did not like that. We loved the film, but we had to cut away from the snake attacks," Ellis says.

Common sense, pressure and tepid scenes showed the studio the error of its ways. New Line OK'd a change back to an R and green-lighted the filmmakers to do whatever they wanted to put "Snakes" back on track.

During five days of reshoots, they added "more violence, and gore and snake deaths," Ellis says. "We included nudity. We increased the (profane) language with Sam.

"We were aware of everything they wanted on the Internet so we were able to incorporate everything."

That included the blog-inspired Jackson catch-phrase: "I've had it with these motherf.... snakes on this motherf.... plane!"

The problem now for the media: no advance screenings.

That usually signals a bottom-barrel picture that studios want to protect from early bad reviews. Not in this case, Ellis says.

"It's not the same because we didn't even test the movie," he says. "When I showed it to New Line and all the executives, my kids and some of their friends, people were very open with me about what they like and don't like, I knew it would really, really work.

"I knew there was no way to improve the benefit from the buzz, only lose from it."

Fans should judge "Snakes on a Plane" before anyone else, Ellis says, "especially since it's not the kind of film most critics like. (I pointed out there are exceptions. It went nowhere.)

Ellis says he just wants people to "laugh, get scared, jump out of their seats, have fun and escape everything else going on in the world, and go back and see it again."

Thanks to Barry Caine

Friday, August 11, 2006

The Feds Say That Galante Diverted Millions from Trash Businesses

Friends of ours: Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello, Genovese Crime Family
Friends of mine: James Galante, David Magel

A Danbury trash magnate arrested in a Mafia case in June diverted millions of dollars from his businesses to his minor league hockey team, no show jobs, race cars and questionable stockholder repayments, federal authorities said Thursday.

James Galante, whose businesses handle about 80 percent of southwestern Connecticut's garbage, carved out exclusive routes for his companies and paid Genovese crime family boss Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello $120,000 a year for mob muscle to enforce his territories, authorities said. That meant higher prices for businesses and homeowners, authorities said.

Galante and Ianniello were among 29 people arrested in connection with the alleged scheme. In a related development Thursday, another trash hauler became the first defendant in the case to plead guilty.

Galante's defense attorneys challenged a court order putting federal marshals in charge of his businesses, saying they were ruining the businesses. But federal authorities said they had improved the cash flow by stopping diversions that amounted to more than $4 million last year. They also said the businesses are now facing competition.

"If any 'blame' is to be assigned for the changes wrought by these incidents, it lies squarely on the shoulders of the defendants, who decided many years ago to operate the 25 companies as an illegal bid-rigging and price-fixing cartel," prosecutors wrote.

A hearing is planned Tuesday on the challenge to the federal monitoring. "Our position is by their own admission they're running it into the ground," said Hugh Keefe, Galante's attorney. "You took a guy's business away from him and turned it over to a bunch of incompetents."

Keefe said the reported diversions will be dealt with during the trial. "Even if that was true, the business itself was thriving up until the day the feds decided they knew more about running a trash business than Jimmy Galante."

Authorities said they were monitoring the businesses, not taking them over, and denied they intended to sell the businesses. Galante owns the Danbury Trashers team of the United Hockey League. The team was disbanded after Galante's arrest in June.

Meanwhile, the trash hauler who admitted his involvement in the scheme Thursday, David Magel, 33, of Baldwin Place, N.Y., pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge in U.S. District Court in New Haven. Magel is general manager of CRP Carting in Elmsford, N.Y.

Prosecutors said the scheme was enforced by extortion and threats, and participants sought to operate it in eastern New York. Magel met with several other members of the enterprise, two of whom were associated with an unidentified Connecticut-based trash carting company, at a diner in Mt. Kisco, N.Y., in 2004, authorities said.

After the meeting, Magel engaged in a series of telephone calls with other members of the enterprise to implement the scheme, prosecutors said. On Dec. 21, 2004, investigators intercepted one conversation between Magel and two members affiliated with the Connecticut carting company during which Magel agreed to provide inflated quotes to customers of the other participants in the conspiracy, authorities said.

"I'm shootin' for the ... gusto here," Magel said in the conversation. Magel faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced Oct. 25.

Keefe said he was not sure if Magel's guilty plea would affect Galante. Authorities would not comment on whether Magel was cooperating against the other defendants.

Thanks to John Christofferson

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti

Frank NittiFrancesco Raffaele Nitto, better known as Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti (January 27, 1888 — March 19, 1943) was an Italian-American gangster, one of the top henchmen of Al Capone and later a mob boss in his own right.

Nitti was born in Sicily in the 1880s; his gravestone lists his birth year as 1888, but his US immigration documents say 1883. He emigrated to New York City after the end of the First World War, and later moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he set up business as a barber, with a profitable line as a jewel fence on the side. He built an extensive network of associates in the Chicago underworld, and came to the attention of Chicago Mafia boss Johnny Torrio. Later, for Torrio's successor Al Capone, Nitti ran Capone's Prohibition busting liquor smuggling and distribution operation, importing whiskey from Canada and selling it through a network of speakeasies around the city. Nitti was one of Capone's top lieutenants, trusted for his leadership skills and business acumen; despite his nickname "The Enforcer", Nitti used Mafia "soldiers" and other underlings rather than undertake much of the violence himself.

In 1930 Nitti, like Capone, was charged with income tax evasion. Capone was sentenced to eleven years, Nitti to 18 months. Upon his release, he was hailed by the media as the new boss of the Chicago Mafia; in practice he lacked the control over the capos that Capone had enjoyed, and the Capone empire began to fragment, with Nitti acting as a frontman. On December 19, 1932 two Chicago police officers shot Nitti in his office, nearly killing him. Some historians believe they were acting under orders from Mayor Anton Cermak (who, they believe, wanted to redistribute Nitti's empire to gangsters favorable to him). One of the police officers shot himself (non-fatally) to make the shooting look like self-defense.

Unfortunately for the Chicago police (and whoever was behind the shooting), Nitti survived and was acquitted of attempted murder in a February of 1933 trial. The two Chicago police officers responsible for the Nitti shooting were then summarily dismissed from the police force. Cermak decided to take an extended vacation and hang out with President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Florida. On the night of Feb. 15, 1933, a former Italian army marksman, Giuseppe Zangara, was waiting in a crowd at Bayfront Park in Miami. Zangara had three things going for him as an Outfit assassin. He had an inoperable disease, he had a family and he had a gun. From about 30 feet, he popped Cermak in the chest. Roosevelt was not injured because he wasn't the target. Zangara was later executed.

In 1943, many in Chicago organization were indicted for extorting a number of the largest Hollywood movie studios. Many of the higher-ups in the mob, most notably Nitti's second in command Paul Ricca, believed Nitti should take the fall for the rest of them. Fearing another long prison term and possibly suffering from terminal cancer, Nitti shot himself dead in Chicago's Illinois Central railyard on March 19, 1943.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Gotti Has Charges Thrown Out

Friends of ours: John "Junior" Gotti

A judge on Monday tossed out the latest racketeering and money laundering charges against John "Junior" Gotti, but the son of the late mob boss still faces trial on charges alleging he ordered the beating of Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin was a blow to the government just weeks before Gotti's third trial on racketeering charges. Juries deadlocked at two previous trials in the last year.

In May, the government brought new charges of racketeering, witness tampering and money laundering to counter Gotti's contention in 1999 that he left the mob in the late 1990s.

In throwing out the new racketeering and money laundering charges, the judge noted that Gotti pleaded guilty to racketeering in 1999 and that charges identical to some of the new ones were dismissed by the government after Gotti satisfied the terms of his plea agreement. "The plea agreement cannot be both a sword and shield," she wrote.

Lauren McDonough, a spokeswoman for prosecutors, said there was no comment. A call seeking comment from Gotti's lawyer, Charles Carnesi, was not returned.

The judge said the government had also argued that Gotti used money from his racketeering activities to operate two corporations he formed in the early 1990s. "The problem with this second theory is that it is based on nothing but surmise, speculation and conjecture," Scheindlin said.

The government alleges that Gotti ordered a baseball bat beating of Sliwa and a kidnapping several weeks later that ended with Sliwa being shot three times before he dived out of a moving taxi. Sliwa recovered.

If convicted at trial, scheduled to start August 21, Gotti could face up to 30 years in prison.

Hoffa Helps Open Caesars Palace

Caesars Palace Opened with Mob Financial BackingCaesars Palace creator Jay Sarno was giving UPI reporter Myram Borders a pre-opening tour in August 1966.

"I recall Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa being introduced to the opening night audience as a man who was instrumental in securing major financing for the hotel development," Borders said in an e-mail. Hoffa even went on stage, took the mic and said a few congratulatory words, she added. The mobbed-up Teamster pension fund money helped finance the hotel development.

Borders, who ran the UPI office here for decades, was in the massive press room on opening night when she spotted some names on a Rolodex. They were private numbers of "the boys," she said, referring to organized crime bosses. As she was leaving the room, a PR honcho from New York saw the list of names she had taken down and "we had a major tug of war over my precious piece of paper."

Thanks to Norm!

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Sinatra Family and Biographer to End Feud Over Mafia Claims?

Frank Sinatra's leading biographer, Anthony Summers, is hoping to end the feud between himself and the crooner's family by meeting with Ol' Blue Eyes' daughter Tina. The Sinatra estate has dismissed claims the singer battled alcoholism and worked as a 'money mule' for the Mafia, which are detailed in SINATRA: THE LIFE, the book written by Oxford University-educated Summers and his wife Robbyn Swan.

The Sinatras vilified the writers as "clowns" for attempting to write about the crooner's life. Sinatra's daughter Nancy went so far to call them "garbage pickers" on her website - before the book was first published in May 2005. The biographers, who are standing by their research - which took four years to gather - insist the family was very keen to keep Sinatra's popular image intact. Swan explains, "We approached Sinatra's children and Barbara Marx-Sinatra, his last wife, Mrs. Nancy Sinatra, his first wife, and Mia Farrow, his third wife, about possible interviews and they all declined; some more politely than others.

"Nancy Sinatra, Frank's daughter, had numerous letters from us and was tracked down on her tour by our researcher, but several weeks before the book came out, she went on her website and disparaged fans from reading our book and vilified us as clowns and garbage pickers and said that she knew our book was garbage because we'd never bothered to approach the family. "You're dealing with people who not only want to have their own personal memories of their father, but they also want to own the public memories of Sinatra; they want to own what is published about him and whitewash his life." But Summers, whose book Honeytrap was used as the basis for hit British film Scandal, is now planning to meet with Sinatra's daughter TINA later this year, in an effort to end the war of words between the family and the biographers.

He adds, "Several people, who were close to Sinatra, have told us we should be proud of the book, and we got it right. "I suspect that Tina Sinatra is more open minded. I'm going to be in Los Angeles again shortly and I think I may touch base with her and see what she has to say."

Friday, August 04, 2006

Gambino Captain Gets Jail

Friends of ours: Gambino Crime Family, Alphonse Sisca, Arnold Squitieri

A mafia captain who pleaded guilty to helping oversee a racket that engaged in illegal gambling, loansharking and extortion has been sentenced to more than more six years in prison.

Alphonse Sisca, 63, was sentenced Wednesday to six years and three months. The sentence is the latest blow for Sisca. After he was imprisoned last year, his son died of tongue cancer, Sisca's wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, his daughter-in-law got thyroid cancer and his mother-in-law passed away.

At his sentencing last week, one-time Gambino chieftain Arnold Squitieri begged US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein to have mercy on Sisca. Hellerstein said Wednesday that Sisca's sentence was tempered by the "unbroken grief'' his family has had to endure.

Thanks to 1010WINS

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Junior Gotti Offers to Testify

Friends of ours: "Junior" Gotti, John Gotti

John "Junior" Gotti, according to his attorneys, is willing to do the unthinkable: Take the witness stand and testify about his life in the Mafia.

In a letter filed in federal court on Tuesday, Gotti's lawyers said the reputed scion of the Gambino crime family is anxious to tell a jury about how he abandoned mob life after his last prison stint and has "no allegiance to it."

He has only one condition: He doesn't want prosecutors asking him "immaterial" questions about his affairs, the letter said.

Just what topics does Gotti want off limits?

For starters, according to the letter, he doesn't want to be asked whether he laundered money, ran a loan sharking business, tampered with witnesses, extorted people in the construction industry or conspired to kidnap Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa.

"Those questions would serve no purpose other than to confuse the issues and to harass, annoy and humiliate Mr. Gotti," his attorney Sarit Kedia wrote in the letter to U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin.

There also is another concern: While Gotti is prepared to testify about his own actions, Kedia wrote, he is unwilling to testify about "certain facts" that "might implicate other people in crimes."

"In other words, Mr. Gotti is indisposed to becoming a de facto cooperator," she wrote.

In other words, don't hold your breath for Gotti's testimony anytime soon.

Prosecutors didn't immediately respond to the motion, and it would be an extraordinary departure from accepted practice if they agreed to limit what they might ask Gotti on the stand.

Jurors have twice deadlocked on whether Gotti was part of a criminal racket that, among other things, conspired to kidnap Sliwa in retaliation for comments he made on a radio program about his father, John Gotti.

Sliwa was shot when he entered a rigged cab for a ride to work. He recovered from his wounds.

At "Junior" Gotti's first retrial, his lawyers acknowledged that their client was involved in the mob but said he gave up the life after pleading guilty to racketeering in 1999.

He chose not to testify. His third trial is scheduled for this month. He could face 30 years in prison if convicted.

Thanks to David B. Caruso

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Treating Pimps Like Al Capone



You know it's hard out here for a pimp
When he tryin' to get his money for the rent
Lyrics from the Oscar-winning song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp''

And it just might get even harder if the flesh peddlers in America don't file their W-2s or hold on to their receipts.

Congress is considering unleashing the same forces that toppled the likes of infamous 1930s Chicago gangster Al Capone on the brazen street hustlers, brothel and escort service operators and others making a pretty — and mostly untaxed — penny in the multi-billion-dollar prostitution and sex trafficking trade.

No, we're not talking cops or even the clergy here. We're talking about that most feared of government agents: the tax collector.

Proposed legislation approved by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee in late June could provide the feds a tried-and-true — but also nontraditional — way of prosecuting those cashing in on the exploitation of hundreds of thousands of young girls and women annually.

The bill, chiefly sponsored by U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, would set aside $2 million to create a unit within the Internal Revenue Service to deal exclusively with the operators of an underground sex economy that stretches from the seedy streets and motels of red-light districts to the online porn industry.

The proposal pumps more muscle into current federal tax laws. The proposed legislation significantly stiffens the penalties pimps face for failure to file income tax returns for themselves or even W-2 forms for their "employees.''

If criminal activity is substantiated, the proposal would tag pimps with a maximum 10-year federal prison sentence and $50,000 for each W-2 form that is not filed. Ouch.

"The thugs who run these trafficking rings are exploiting society's poorest girls and women for personal gain," Grassley told reporters recently. "The IRS goes after drug traffickers. It can go after sex traffickers."

Of course, this sounds at first glance like a pimp-in-the-sky idea. Even given recent years of great awareness about human trafficking, both domestic and international, law enforcement has traditionally and historically been lax in making busting pimps a top priority. But those in the local trenches of this problem think it's not a bad idea.

"From what I'm reading, it sounds like a good idea and a long time coming,'' said St. Paul police Sgt. John Bandemer, a vice cop and also project manager for a local Justice Department grant to rescue human trafficking victims and help prosecute their exploiters. The Twin Cities area has been designated by the federal agency as one of the 13 "hot spots'' in the nation for sex trafficking.

Bandemer says one of the more difficult aspects of prosecuting pimps of all types is often the unwillingness of exploited victims to testify. Fear of being harmed or bringing harm to their family members often is a key reason.

"The tax laws have been a great thing for us in the past when going after drug dealers,'' he added. "I think it's good to find nontraditional ways to stop these guys and prosecute them for their illegal activities.''

Capone, who posed as a used furniture dealer, reportedly made $105 million by 1929 through prostitution, illegal gambling and alcohol sales during the Prohibition era. He eluded the law through bribes and witness tampering or intimidation. But treasury and IRS agents teamed up in 1931 and dug up receipts from some of his illicit earnings. He pleaded guilty to tax evasion and watched his mob empire crumble during his 11 years in the slammer.

Vednita Carter, who runs Breaking Free, a St. Paul-based nonprofit that provides services to prostituted girls and women in the Twin Cities area, likes the idea but has some concerns.

"It's usually the women that get busted, and my concern is whether they will go after former victims who are forced to recruit others and even run part of the trade,'' she said. Carter, however, also believes the paper chase might serve as another useful route in dismantling prostitution rings.

In testimony before Congress last year, a street outreach specialist for a group based in Washington, D.C., similar to Breaking Free provided an interesting estimate of one local pimp's annual haul.

"A victim sex-trafficked from her early teens was generating an estimated $130,000 in profits for her trafficker each year,'' Tina Frundt told legislators. "We sat down and figured out that the pimp was making about $24,000 a month between her and other women and about $642,000 a year tax-free.''

Go get them, tax man.

Thanks to Ruben Rosario

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