The Clown and the German Face Obstruction of Justice Charges

Friends of ours: Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, Frank "The German" Schweihs

Federal prosecutors say reputed mob boss Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo and another alleged organized crime figure have been charged with going on the lam to avoid arrest. The obstruction of justice charges were approved by a federal grand jury Thursday and tacked onto a sweeping indictment of 14 defendants.

The 78-year-old Lombardo and 77-year-old Frank "The German" Schweihs allegedly went on the lam after prosecutors unveiled the racketeering indictment in April 2005.

Schweihs was captured in Kentucky hill country in December 2005 and Lombardo was cornered in an Elmwood Park alley in January 2006.

Lombardo attorney Rick Halprin said the government could not charge Lombardo with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution because it could not prove he had crossed state lines.

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Mafia Killer, The Ice Man, to Hit Hollywood

Friends of ours: Richard "The Ice Man" Kuklinski

Albert and Allen Hughes, the directing twin brothers who’s last movie was the adaptation of Alan Moore’s From Hell are set to tackle the story of Mafia hitman Richard “Ice Man” Kuklinski.

Kuklinski was said to be 6″4 and weighed over 300 pounds when he became a prolific contract killer for the Mafia but amazingly kept his job a secret from his wife and three children!

He once boasted he killed over 200 people, before he was eventually caught and was sentenced to two life sentences. Indeed he was a bit of a nasty guy…. it’s said he use to feed his victims to rats and used a variety of murdering methods such as a close range arrow shot into a man’s skull.

Whilst dying in prison, he told his story to Phillip Carlo, who from the interviews wrote the book The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer of which this film will be based. He passed away 12 months ago at the age of 70.

Sounds very interesting and could make a “killer” film, a bit like the Hitman video game just with tons more emotional depth as it’s not only a real life story but the added weight of trying to keep it secret from the family is involved.

Thanks to Obsessed with Film

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Mobster Gardners

Friends of mine: John "Dressed Up Johnny" Gardner, William "Peck" Gardner, Bill Gardner, William J. "Sonny" Sheetz

A reader has contacted me looking for some additional information on notorious men with the surname of Gardner. If you can supply me with any further information, please send me your scoops.

John Gardner, a notorious character and gangster of the worst kind, known as "Dressed - Up Johnny". I am trying to find information about him. He was involved in syndicated bank robbery and had robbed a post office before, but was known to have committed several other crimes. I think he had been in Judge George W. English's courtroom, which was Eastern District of Illinois.

William "Peck" Gardner (1869 - 1954), a possible East Chicago mob boss, came from Baltimore, claimed to have boxed at Madison Square Garden, claimed to have been a Merchant Marine, his family history says that he had killed a man in a gunfight after being wounded three times. Gardner moved to Texas where he worked as a railroad engineer, then he would haul illegal liquor from East Texas to East Chicago during the Prohibition. He and William J. "Sonny" Sheetz headed the notorious gambling joint known as the "Big House" which had raked in as much as $9 million. Gardner and Sheetz were the operators of the East Chicago syndicate until it closed in 1950. Gardner eluded Pinkerton detectives and he later died in Texas.

Also, one of Eliot Ness' famous "Untouchables" was Bill Gardner, who was a half Indian, described as an enormous, handsome man with an olive complexion. He was the oldest of the agents, being in his late forties. He had been a famed pro football star, had served in WWI, and had been an attorney before becoming a FBI agent.

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Ex-FBI Agent Getting Taxpayer Help with Defense Bills in Mob Case

Friends of ours: Colombo Crime Family, Gregory Scarpa

Taxpayers are footing part of the mounting legal bills for an ex-FBI agent accused of helping a Brooklyn Mafia boss commit four murders, the Daily News has learned.

The Justice Department is helping fund retired agent Lindley DeVecchio's defense, which has cost more than $450,000 since his indictment last year by the Brooklyn district attorney's office. "It's an expensive litigation," said DeVecchio's lawyer Douglas Grover, who declined to comment further.

A highly informed source confirmed the Justice Department contributions, saying, "It's on an hourly rate. Not a top New York City rate, more like a federal public defenders' rate."

It could not immediately be determined how much the department is paying.

"There is a process in place by which employees or former [FBI] employees who are the subject of civil litigation or criminal charges can apply for coverage of their legal costs. The recommendation is forwarded to the Department of Justice, where a final determination is made," FBI spokesman John Miller said.

In a case that rocked New York law enforcement, DeVecchio, 66, was indicted last year for providing information on informants and mob rivals to Colombo family boss Gregory Scarpa before the murders. DeVecchio, who spent 33 years as an agent, is also charged with receiving payoffs from Scarpa totaling more than $66,000.

Now dead, Scarpa was DeVecchio's top secret informant for more than a decade, beginning in 1982. The murders occurred during the brutal Colombo family wars of the late 1980s and early '90s.

Grover, DeVecchio and numerous agents who worked with him maintain he is innocent of the charges and that the Brooklyn DA's prosecution is baseless and misguided.

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Old Days: Mobsters Whacked for Revenge; Now: They Evict

If you can't settle a vendetta with blood, try real estate.

Burton Kaplan, a Mafia informant in the "mob cops" case, was getting back at his one-time ally, Luchese underboss Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, when he sued to evict the capo's son from his Brooklyn home last year, court papers reveal.

"When asked why, after all these years, he was trying to take the premises . . . Kaplan stated that he's getting even for Anthony Casso Sr. ordering a contract on his [Kaplan's] life," lawyers for Anthony Casso Jr. claim in a countersuit to the eviction filed last week.

According to the countersuit, Kaplan sat down with Casso Jr., at a Brooklyn restaurant in late 2006 and admitted that he'd taken the deed to the house as part of a money-laundering scheme with the father.

It seems the Luchese underboss had "sold" the Mill Basin home to Kaplan in 1985, with the expectation that it would be transferred back to the Cassos at an appropriate time.

Kaplan allegedly told Casso Sr.'s late wife that he'd give the house back for $125,000. That demand was upped to $650,000 in 2006, the papers allege.

Thanks to Alex Ginsberg

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