Free Day Offered by @TheMobMuseum on November 15th

The Mob Museum has an offer you can’t refuse.

Friday, Nov. 15, the museum, officially known as The National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, will offer free admission for Nevada residents and buy one, get one free admission for tourists to mark the 62nd anniversary of the Kefauver Committee hearings in Las Vegas.

The U.S. Senate Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce began a series of hearings in 1950 to focus a spotlight on organized crime in America. The hearings were held in 14 cities across the United States.

On Nov. 15, 1950, U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver (Democrat-Tennessee) led the hearing in Las Vegas, which took place at the federal courthouse and U.S. Post Office (now The Mob Museum).

The hearings were instrumental in focusing the nation’s attention on the prevalence of organized crime in America.

“While these hearings shed light on the prevalence of organized crime throughout the United States, their outcome arguably shaped the evolution of Las Vegas as much as any other single event,” said Jonathan Ullman, executive director, The Mob Museum. “The crackdown on illegal gambling that followed the hearings drove operators to Las Vegas and Nevada — known as the ‘open city’ — and the only city/state in the country where gambling was then legal.”

Additionally, the hearings were televised. Estimates are that 20 to 30 million people watched the hearings — double the audience of the 1950 World Series. The hearings weren’t censored and the American public heard frank and, at times, risqué comments. The hearings were considered history in the making and school systems even dismissed students early so they could watch them with their parents.

Exhibits at The Mob Museum detail not only the history of organized crime in the United States but also of law enforcement and the views of popular culture like comic books and movies.

“November 15 is an especially important date to us at The Mob Museum because our building houses the restored Federal courtroom where, on that date in 1950, the Las Vegas Kefauver Committee hearing took place,” Ullman said.

The Mob Museum, located in Downtown Las Vegas, will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15.

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Paul Bergin, Attorney-Turned-Racketeer, in Stunning Betrayal of the Law

Earlier this year, a man was put on trial in a federal courtroom in Newark, New Jersey. From the list of charges—nearly two dozen in all—he sounded like a gang leader, drug lord, or organized crime boss. He was accused of running a criminal enterprise, conspiring to murder a federal witness, committing wire fraud, distributing cocaine, and facilitating prostitution, bribery, and other crimes. But the individual who was ultimately convicted on 23 criminal counts and sentenced to life in prison was actually a high-powered Newark lawyer, a former New Jersey state and federal prosecutor-turned defense attorney.

His name is Paul Bergrin, and in the end, he sacrificed the oath he had once taken to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States for the chance to line his own pockets. As New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said following the jury conviction, “Bergrin’s conduct was a stunning violation of his role as an officer of the court and a betrayal of his roots as a member of law enforcement.”

For years, Bergrin and his law firm were highly successful. His busy client roster ran the gamut—from famous celebrities to gang leaders and drug traffickers. He was a man-about-town who wore expensive suits, drove luxury cars, and rarely lost a case. But after the 2004 murder of a federal informant who had damaging information about one of Bergrin’s criminal clients, the FBI began an investigation. They uncovered evidence that revealed Bergrin was using his law offices as a cover to conduct illegal activities to protect his criminal clients from prosecution and carry on their unlawful pursuits. He used his position as a criminal defense attorney to manipulate and disrupt court proceedings on behalf of his clients. And of course, he was paid handsomely for all of it.

Among Bergrin’s criminal actions:

• Counseling, intimidating, and sometimes bribing witnesses to offer perjured testimony in favor of his clients or to flee so they wouldn’t be available to testify;
• Coaching an eight-year-old murder witness to lie on the stand, resulting in the acquittal of one of his clients;
• Conspiring with clients to identify, locate, and murder witnesses who would testify against them;
• Using his law firm to launder money for clients, associates, and himself and to set up phony corporations or other legal entities to facilitate even more crimes;
• Running a drug trafficking operation and a prostitution business for two of his clients while they were in jail.
• Bergrin had so many crimes on his plate that he recruited others—including his girlfriend (who worked at the law firm), his law partner, and one of his criminal clients—to take part in his racketeering enterprise. All told, eight of the nine individuals charged in the 2009 indictment pled guilty.

The probe into Bergrin and his co-conspirators was complex and involved investigators from the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. After a 2011 trial which ended with a hung jury, his 2013 trial (Bergrin represented himself at both trials) ended a bit differently—the jury quickly found him guilty on all counts.

The case was proof once again that those entrusted with the guardianship of our legal system are not above the law.

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"The Jews of Chicago From Shtetl to Suburb" The fascinating, fully illustrated story of Chicago's vibrant Jewish community

Vividly told and richly illustrated with more than 160 photographs, The Jews of Chicago is the fascinating story of the cultural, religious, fraternal, economic, and everyday life of Chicago's Jews. This edition of Irving Cutler's definitive historical volume also includes a new foreword written by the author.

The first comprehensive history of Chicago's Jewish population in eighty years, The Jews of Chicago brings to life the people, events, neighborhoods, and institutions that helped shape today's Jewish community. Cutler intertwines neighborhood histories with representative biographical vignettes of some of Chicago's best known figures, such as Edna Ferber, Saul Bellow, Benny Goodman, Mel Tormé, Studs Terkel, Paul Muni, Mandy Patinkin, Emil G. Hirsch, Julius Rosenwald, Dankmar Adler, Arthur Goldberg, Philip Klutznick, and many others. From their roots in the Old Country to their present-day communities, Cutler captures in extraordinary detail the remarkable saga of the Jews of Chicago.

"Deeply absorbing even for non-Jews, because of the astonishing history of this ethnic group, an unmatched rags-to-riches story. . . . with crisp prose."--Chicago Sun-Times 

"Deserves a space not only on every Chicagoan's shelf, but on anyone's who is interested in the rich ethnic heritage of the Windy City."--West Coast Jewish News 

"A splendid study. . . . Presents the story with marvelous visual evidence, photo documentation, and superb ethnographic mapping of Jewish institutions in Chicago."--American Jewish History 

"Concise and thoughtfully written, The Jews of Chicago extends Chicago Jewish history . . . beyond any comparable history. It is a testament not merely to the impressive work that Cutler himself has done, but also to the community he chronicles."--Chicago Jewish History 

"A thought provoking history of the Jewish community's development in Chicago and its contribution to our city."--Chicago Tribune 

“Cutler does a masterful job of tracing the history of Chicago’s Jews from the German Jews who came in the 1830s and 1840s to the East European Jews who arrived in large numbers from 1880 to 1925.”--Jerusalem Post

Irving Cutler is professor emeritus of geography at Chicago State University and a founding member of the Chicago Jewish Historical Society. He has written extensively on Chicago and is well known for his tours by boat and bus and for his illustrated lectures on Chicago.

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Ralph Mariano, Former Senior Systems Engineer with U.S. Navy's Naval Sea Systems Command #NAVSEA, Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison as Mastermind of Multi-Million-Dollar Naval Fraud Scheme

Ralph M. Mariano, 55, of Warwick, Rhode Island, and South Arlington, Virginia, a former senior systems engineer with the United States Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in Newport, Rhode Island, and Washington, D.C., was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Providence, Rhode Island, today to 120 months in prison for masterminding a kickback scheme that defrauded the U.S. Navy of nearly $18 million dollars. Mariano pleaded guilty in May 2013 to conspiracy and theft of government funds.

Peter F. Neronha, United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island; Craig Rupert, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Northeast Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Vincent B. Lisi of the FBI’s Boston Field Office; Cheryl DiPrizio, Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Northeast Field Office; and John Collins, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Office of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Mary M. Lisi.

At the time of his guilty plea, Mariano admitted to the court that from 1999 to 2011 he used his position at NAVSEA to direct Russell Spencer, a computer software specialist in Rhode Island, to submit millions of dollars in fraudulent invoices to Navy contractor Advanced Solutions for Tomorrow (ASFT), a now-defunct Roswell, Georgia and Middletown, Rhode Island company and to ASFT subcontractors. Mariano admitted that he directed ASFT and ASFT subcontractors to pay Spencer the full amount of the invoices with government funding ASFT received from the U.S. Navy. The invoices, processed by Patrick Nagle, chief financial officer of ASFT, totaled approximately $17,957,000.

Mariano admitted that he directed Spencer to distribute the funds to Mariano and to individuals close to him and that he received approximately $3 million dollars in checks beginning in 2003 and bi-weekly $3,500 cash payments from 2004 to 2011.

U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha commented, “Nothing does more to erode trust in government than when a public official acts not in the public’s interest but in his own. Mr. Mariano, whose sole obligation was to the United States Navy and, more broadly, to the taxpayers, instead served only himself and his associates, committing fraud on a massive scale. He spent millions of dollars of taxpayer money in every conceivable way, money that otherwise would have been used to protect the people of this nation. His actions are indefensible, and he deserves every minute of the lengthy sentence he received today.”

At the time of his guilty plea, Mariano admitted to the court that in addition to the money he received, at his direction $2,567,028 was paid to his father, Ralph Mariano, Jr.; $1,692,650 was paid to his brother, Joseph Mariano, and to his companies; $207,900 was paid to a veterinary laboratory company controlled by his sister, Michelle Mariano; $2,446,445 was paid to private entities controlled by Anjan Dutta-Gupta, CEO of ASFT; and $478,880 was paid to a company owned by Attorney Mary O’Rourke, of Warwick, Rhode Island.

“Mr. Mariano’s acts, while especially heinous individually, corrupted others, cost hard working Americans their jobs, and resulted in a tremendous loss to U.S. taxpayers, both financially and in their trust,” said Craig W. Rupert, Special Agent in Charge, Office of the Inspector General, Department of Defense, Defense Criminal Investigative Service Northeast Field Office. “Mr. Mariano’s actions directly affected the readiness of our naval forces, and his sentence demonstrates the continuing dedication of DCIS and our law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute corrupt government officials. Consistent with our mission to 'Protect America’s Warfighters,' DCIS remains vigilant to ensure the integrity of the DoD acquisition process and the safety and security of the U.S. military and the nation.”

“The FBI has a simple message of deterrence: it would be wise for any public official who is considering illegal acts to realize that we have successfully investigated nearly every conceivable corruption scheme that’s been concocted. Should they decide to betray the public’s trust, I promise we will bring them to justice,” said Vincent Lisi, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division. “We pursue these investigations because the cost of corruption is high and the American public relies on us to do so.”

Cheryl DiPrizio, Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service’s Northeast Field Office, added, “At a time when the Navy is making difficult strategic choices due to funding constraints, it’s particularly appalling that Mr. Mariano, who was employed to serve the navy, has instead caused significant harm to the navy, to sailors defending our nation around the globe, and to the American taxpayers who deserve honest and competent government employees. NCIS will continue to dedicate significant resources and work with our law enforcement partners in identifying and investigating all those who seek to steal from or defraud the Department of the Navy."

John Collins, Acting Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigation, stated, “Today’s sentencing of Ralph Mariano brings to justice a key player in a public corruption scheme of massive proportions. Mariano and his co-conspirators developed a sophisticated scheme to defraud the government and they lined their pockets at the taxpayers’ expense. In addition to pleading guilty to conspiracy and theft charges, Mariano pleaded guilty to tax charges based on his failure to report these ill-gotten gains as income. Fraudsters should beware that such ill-gotten gains are taxable income. This investigation highlights the positive impact on justice, which is obtained through the collaborative efforts of multiple federal law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

In addition to pleading guilty to conspiracy and theft of government funds, Ralph Mariano also pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion. Mariano admitted that from 2006-2009, he failed to report $1,864,910 in income he received from Russell Spencer and that he failed to pay $726,650 in taxes to the IRS.

At sentencing, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Mary M. Lisi ordered Mariano to make restitution to the U.S. Navy in the amount of $17,957,000; to pay a $10,000 fine; and to serve three years of supervised release upon completion of his imprisonment. Mariano was ordered to self-surrender to the Bureau of Prisons by November 26, 2013.

Anjan Dutta-Gupta, 60, of Roswell, Georgia, who pleaded guilty on April 28, 2011, to one count of bribery, is scheduled to be sentenced on December 4, 2013; Russell Spencer, 59, of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, who pleaded guilty on July 25, 2012, to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and on April 19, 2012, to one count of lying to the FBI, is scheduled to be sentenced December 5, 2013; Patrick Nagle, 52, of Marietta, Georgia, who pleaded guilty on September 13, 2011, to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, is scheduled to be sentenced on November 15, 2013; Mary O’Rourke, 50, of Warwick, Rhode Island, who pleaded guilty on May 30, 2013, to one count of theft of government property, will be sentenced on December 5, 2013.

Ralph Mariano, Jr., 82, of North Providence, Rhode Island, who pleaded guilty on May 15, 2013, to four counts of tax evasion, was sentenced on August 16, 2013, to four years of probation.

The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lee H. Vilker, Terrence P. Donnelly and Dulce Donovan.

The matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Defense-Defense Criminal Investigative Service; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Naval Criminal Investigative Service; and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation.

This law enforcement action is part of President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The President established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources.

The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch and, with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

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#OrganizedCrime Expert Panel Hosted by WIU School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration @WIUNews

Faculty from the Western Illinois University School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration will serve as experts for the "Organized Crime: Domestic and International Challenges and Responses" panel event from 3-5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6. in Stipes Hall 121. The event is open free to the public.

Faculty presenters and their topics include:

• Dean Alexander, associate professor of LEJA, director of the Homeland Security Research Program and member of the Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council Executive Board for the Central District of Illinois: "Organized Crime and Terrorism Nexus"
• Gregg Nozum, assistant professor of LEJA: "Terrorism and Drug Trafficking"
• Todd Lough, associate professor of LEJA. Lough is a former Chicago Police Department officer, and during his tenure with the CPD, he worked in a number of different capacities, including patrol officer, gang and tactical officer, neighborhood relations officer and gang violence analyst." Lough's topic for the panel is: "Organized Crime and Violence in Chicago"

"Organized Crime: Domestic and International Challenges and Responses" is organized by the Homeland Security Research Program and the School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration.

WIU's School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration in one of the University's signature programs, and as of the Fall 2013 semester, the number of students enrolled in the School of LEJA's homeland security minor is more than 230, making it the fifth largest minor at Western.

For more information, contact Alexander at DC-Alexander@wiu.edu. Learn more about WIU's School of LEJA at www.wiu.edu/leja.

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