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Saturday, March 14, 2009

Mafia's "Daddy" Arrested

Police have arrested 10 members of the infamous Pruszkow mafia gang, including one of the leaders, Piotr S., also known as ‘Daddy’.

Agents from the Central Bureau of Investigation and National Police Headquarters had to set up a roadblock to detain the men – members of the Warsaw suburb-based organized crime gang - who attempted to make a getaway.

The first arrest occurred Sunday when agents detained four men. Tuesday morning, police forced their way into six apartments in Warsaw and detained the another six people.

The men are charged with drug trafficking and participating in an organized criminal group.

On Monday, Warsaw City Courts decided to detain the first four men captured for three months in jail as they await trial. The other six men will be in court today.

The investigation into the Pruszkow organization is being carried out under the supervision of Poland’s Attorney General.

Mafia Wars Gets New VP

More evidence of how lucrative the social gaming space has become: EA digital media exec Brandon Barber has jumped ship to Zynga. Barber will take on the role of VP of marketing at the gaming company, which develops games like Texas Hold 'Em Poker and Mafia Wars for social networks and the iPhone. The S.F.-based startup raised a monster $29 million round in July, and its Scramble game is currently one of the top 25 on Facebook, per Gamezebo.

Barber spent six years with EA, most recently as senior director of global online marketing; he helped broker a number of entertainment and music marketing deals for the publisher, as well as distribution partnerships for TV, VOD and mobile. Barber also spearheaded the design of the EA's digital content delivery business. Prior to EA, he ran the product team at Napster. He will report to Andrew Trader, Zynga's EVP of sales and business development.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Family Secrets Ex-Chicago Cop Gets 12 Years in Federal Prison

A former Chicago police officer accused of joining forces with the mob and collecting loan shark debts and extortion payments was sentenced today to 12 years in federal prison.

Anthony Doyle, 64, was among five alleged mob bosses and associates convicted of racketeering at the landmark Operation Family Secrets trial.

U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel, who presided over Chicago's biggest mob trial in decades, said during Doyle's sentencing that he had a decent career as a Chicago police officer, but "picked the wrong people to try to help."

Prosecutors describe Doyle as a "sleeper agent" for the mob who, defying police rules, visited convicted loan shark and hit man Frank Calabrese Sr. in prison and fed him inside police information about a major murder investigation.

It was part of an effort by Calabrese to thwart the investigation, they say.

Even before that, Doyle doubled as a collector of "street tax" payments Calabrese charged to businesses and extortion "juice loan" debts, according to federal investigators.

Unlike three of his four co-defendants including Calabrese, however, Doyle has not been held responsible for any of the 18 mob murders outlined in the indictment. But prosecutors do have secretly made tapes of the husky, broad-shouldered Doyle sitting in a prison visiting room discussing mob business with Calabrese.

Defense attorneys had said the already jailed Doyle has suffered enough and should be sentenced to no more than time served -- in other words, released immediately. Prosecutors dismissed that request as "without merit."

Doyle is the last of the trial defendants to be sentenced. Still to be sentenced, though, is Nicholas Calabrese, Frank's brother, an admitted mob hit man who became the government's star witness in hopes of avoiding a death penalty.

Thanks to Jeff Coen

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