Defense attorneys for two of the three Chicago hoodlums who were arrested last April for allegedly plotting bank heists, are asking to withdraw because their clients are broke.
Marc Martin and Terrence Gillespie will appeal to U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber on September 7th saying they do not want to work for free, or pro bono, on behalf of Robert "Bobby" Pullia, 69 or Arthur "The Genius" Rachel, 71. According to motions filed this week, Martin and Gillespie will tell the judge that the Outfit-related case has "over 50 hours of recordings and many hours of surveillance video," according to motions filed Tuesday.
This comes two weeks after a hearing at which Judge Leinenweber asked Pullia, Rachel and a third defendant Joseph "Jerry" Scalise, 73 if they had issues with being represented by attorneys from a related law firm. The judge noted that such an arrangement could result in conflict of interests during legal proceedings. The men agreed to have the attorneys continue their representation and waived any future conflict claims.
Pullia and Rachel are out on bond. Scalise was granted bond but prosecutors are appealing and he remains in custody pending the a district court ruling. Scalise was part of a gangland hit squad and involved in numerous mob murders, according to government filings in the case.
Federal authorities say they arrested the three aging mob figures as they were preparing to rob the Bridgeport mansion of deceased Chinatown Outfit boss Angelo "The Hook" LaPietra. The men were arrested outside the LaPietra home with burglary tools, guns, ammo and communications equipment, according to federal agents.
At the time, mobologists speculated that Scalise and crew were going into LaPietra's former castle-like residence to retrieve the famous Marlborough diamond-missing since a daring daylight burglary in 1980. The 45-carat diamond was stolen from Graff Jewelers in London, UK. Scalise and Rachel were arrested as they arrived at O'Hare Airport that evening, sans diamond.
Although both men were convicted in the theft of the diamond-among $4 million in stolen gems-and served time in a British penitentiary, the royal Marlborough diamond was never recovered.
Some investigators have long held that the huge diamond was mailed to mob bosses in Chicago.
Thanks to Ann Pistone and Chuck Goudie
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Capo Tony D Palumbo Pleads Out in Mob Hit Case
An acting capo for the Genovese crime family pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to whack a Russian organized crime hit man in 1992.
Anthony (Tony D) Palumbo took the plea in Manhattan Federal Court and faces 10 years in prison when sentenced Dec. 3.
Prosecutor Avi Weitzman said Palumbo and other Genovese gangsters engaged in a plot to kill a hit man for the Russian mob, but higherups in the mob family refused to authorize the hit. As a result, it was never carried out, said Weitzman.
The rubout plot was tied to an elaborate bootleg-gasoline-tax scheme involving the Genovese and Russian gangsters.
In June, Palumbo, 61, of Bronxville, was charged with getting a fellow mobster who was stealing from him, Angelo Sangiuolo, whacked in a Bronx parking lot.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors will not pursue Palumbo for that slaying.
Thanks to Robert Gearty
Anthony (Tony D) Palumbo took the plea in Manhattan Federal Court and faces 10 years in prison when sentenced Dec. 3.
Prosecutor Avi Weitzman said Palumbo and other Genovese gangsters engaged in a plot to kill a hit man for the Russian mob, but higherups in the mob family refused to authorize the hit. As a result, it was never carried out, said Weitzman.
The rubout plot was tied to an elaborate bootleg-gasoline-tax scheme involving the Genovese and Russian gangsters.
In June, Palumbo, 61, of Bronxville, was charged with getting a fellow mobster who was stealing from him, Angelo Sangiuolo, whacked in a Bronx parking lot.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors will not pursue Palumbo for that slaying.
Thanks to Robert Gearty
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Organized Crime and Facebook
A vast amount of modern organized crime in the U.S. and Canada revolves around high-tech scams, identity theft, and other cyber crimes.
Gone are the days, to a large degree, of the mob and its penchant for more "traditional" avenues of revenue like gambling rings, loan sharking, and basic theft.
Now, as the CBC reports, new data is revealing the face of organized crime in the 21st century, and its a face that hides behind some unlikely fronts.
Specifically, social networking sites and free classifieds forums are being used for a wide array of schemes, whether it is human trafficking via Craigslist, identity scams on Facebook, or Ponzi schemes advertised as legitimate business ventures on business forums.
The CBC cites Edmonton Police Service Chief Mike Boyd as noting the grim realities of these crimes, non-violent though they tend to be..
In Boyd's words:
A new annual report on organized crime compiled and published by Criminal Intelligence Service Canada was the source of much of this new data, collected in hopes of aiding in the fight against modern organized crime and its many branches.
Thanks to Chris Stewart
Gone are the days, to a large degree, of the mob and its penchant for more "traditional" avenues of revenue like gambling rings, loan sharking, and basic theft.
Now, as the CBC reports, new data is revealing the face of organized crime in the 21st century, and its a face that hides behind some unlikely fronts.
Specifically, social networking sites and free classifieds forums are being used for a wide array of schemes, whether it is human trafficking via Craigslist, identity scams on Facebook, or Ponzi schemes advertised as legitimate business ventures on business forums.
The CBC cites Edmonton Police Service Chief Mike Boyd as noting the grim realities of these crimes, non-violent though they tend to be..
In Boyd's words:
Thousands of people in Canada are victims of [financial fraud] … and will recover little if any of their money...
A new annual report on organized crime compiled and published by Criminal Intelligence Service Canada was the source of much of this new data, collected in hopes of aiding in the fight against modern organized crime and its many branches.
Thanks to Chris Stewart
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Under the Williamsburg Bridge: The Story of An American Family by Frank Bari
Frank Bari comes from a family of Mafia members, but opted to forsake the family business for a career in criminal law. While this sounds like the plot to a fictional crime novel, it is indeed the true story of a man whose grandfather was one of the founding members of the American Mafia. In the new biography Under the Williamsburg Bridge (published by Trafford), with help from writer Mark C. Gribben, Bari shares insight into a unique American family while revealing his own first-hand accounts of Coast Guard service in Vietnam.
Over a decade ago, Mark C. Gribben, a newspaper reporter who covered criminal trials and the police beat, published an article about the Purple Gang, a ruthless crew of killers and bootleggers who controlled Detroit during Prohibition. While this was his only foray into the writing of organized crime, Gribben was contacted by fast-talking New York lawyer, Frank Bari, who asked if Gribben had any information about Bari's great-uncle, a Big Apple transplant from Detroit named Jake Trager. While Gribben's research had never turned up anything about Trager, a friendship was struck up between Gribben and Bari. Bari eventually opened up to his friend about his family background and personal connections with organized crime.
"My grandfather was a founding member of the Syndicate, which set the pattern for organized crime in America," explains Bari, who has specialized in criminal defense law for over 20 years and is one of the foremost experts on Asian organized crime in America. "My father was a member of an organized crime family and worked with the likes of Lucky Luciano, Dutch Schultz and Bugsy Siegel. But more importantly, my father was a decorated war hero in World War II, serving with the famed unit Merrill's Marauders. In a strange way, it was in the Marine Corps that my father found his real niche in life, and his experience in the military would heavily influence my life. I am a Vietnam veteran, but chose a different path regarding organized crime.”
A cross between Platoon and The Godfather, Under the Williamsburg Bridge refutes, through eyewitness accounts, commonly held beliefs of organized crime. Bari recounts stories of life in the shadow of the Williamsburg Bridge where "boys grew up fast and they grew up mean". Stories such as how the hit on Dutch "the Dutchman" Schultz really went down as recounted by hit-man Charlie "The Bug" Workman. Bari also tells of his first-hand experiences in Vietnam that left him with a disability (determined by the VA) as a result of exposure to Agent Orange.
"Although Under the Williamsburg Bridge is the saga of a unique American family that was witness to a strange chapter in American history," explains Gribben in the introduction, "it really is the story of what made Frank Bari the man he is today."
Over a decade ago, Mark C. Gribben, a newspaper reporter who covered criminal trials and the police beat, published an article about the Purple Gang, a ruthless crew of killers and bootleggers who controlled Detroit during Prohibition. While this was his only foray into the writing of organized crime, Gribben was contacted by fast-talking New York lawyer, Frank Bari, who asked if Gribben had any information about Bari's great-uncle, a Big Apple transplant from Detroit named Jake Trager. While Gribben's research had never turned up anything about Trager, a friendship was struck up between Gribben and Bari. Bari eventually opened up to his friend about his family background and personal connections with organized crime.
"My grandfather was a founding member of the Syndicate, which set the pattern for organized crime in America," explains Bari, who has specialized in criminal defense law for over 20 years and is one of the foremost experts on Asian organized crime in America. "My father was a member of an organized crime family and worked with the likes of Lucky Luciano, Dutch Schultz and Bugsy Siegel. But more importantly, my father was a decorated war hero in World War II, serving with the famed unit Merrill's Marauders. In a strange way, it was in the Marine Corps that my father found his real niche in life, and his experience in the military would heavily influence my life. I am a Vietnam veteran, but chose a different path regarding organized crime.”
A cross between Platoon and The Godfather, Under the Williamsburg Bridge refutes, through eyewitness accounts, commonly held beliefs of organized crime. Bari recounts stories of life in the shadow of the Williamsburg Bridge where "boys grew up fast and they grew up mean". Stories such as how the hit on Dutch "the Dutchman" Schultz really went down as recounted by hit-man Charlie "The Bug" Workman. Bari also tells of his first-hand experiences in Vietnam that left him with a disability (determined by the VA) as a result of exposure to Agent Orange.
"Although Under the Williamsburg Bridge is the saga of a unique American family that was witness to a strange chapter in American history," explains Gribben in the introduction, "it really is the story of what made Frank Bari the man he is today."
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Lost Vegas by Paul McGuire
Lost Vegas: 
The Redneck Riviera, Existentialist Conversations with Strippers, and the World Series of Poker... Las Vegas lures you to shed moral responsibility and piss away your money on indulgences like decadent food, entertainment, gambling, and sex. If you don't enjoy these pastimes, then what's the point of visiting the land of compromised values? Where else can you get a cheap steak, crash a Mexican wedding, get cold-decked in blackjack by a dealer named Dong, play video poker for thirteen straight hours, drink piña coladas out of a plastic coconut, bum a cigarette from an 85-year-old woman with an oxygen tank, speed away to the Spearmint Rhino in a free limo, get rubbed by a former Miss Teen USA, puke in the back of a cab driven by a retired Navy SEAL, snort cheap cocaine in the bathroom at O'Sheas, and then catch a lucky card on the river to crack pocket aces and win a poker tournament? Only in Las Vegas.
The Redneck Riviera, Existentialist Conversations with Strippers, and the World Series of Poker... Las Vegas lures you to shed moral responsibility and piss away your money on indulgences like decadent food, entertainment, gambling, and sex. If you don't enjoy these pastimes, then what's the point of visiting the land of compromised values? Where else can you get a cheap steak, crash a Mexican wedding, get cold-decked in blackjack by a dealer named Dong, play video poker for thirteen straight hours, drink piña coladas out of a plastic coconut, bum a cigarette from an 85-year-old woman with an oxygen tank, speed away to the Spearmint Rhino in a free limo, get rubbed by a former Miss Teen USA, puke in the back of a cab driven by a retired Navy SEAL, snort cheap cocaine in the bathroom at O'Sheas, and then catch a lucky card on the river to crack pocket aces and win a poker tournament? Only in Las Vegas.
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