Loan Sharks are Alive and Well

Loan sharking. It’s a term that might conjure up historical images of shadowy organized crime figures handing out questionable loans at exorbitant interest rates to desperate customers, usually followed by threats of violence if the loans aren’t paid off.

Unfortunately, loan sharks are alive and well in 2015 and continue to benefit from the financial misfortunes of others. Last month, the two top leaders of an Albanian criminal organization operating in the Philadelphia area were sentenced to lengthy federal prison terms for running a violent loan sharking and illegal gambling ring. Ylli Gjeli, the boss, and Fatimir Mustafaraj, the muscle, were convicted late last year after a six-week trial. Two other defendants were convicted at the same trial.

From 2002 to 2013, Gjeli and Mustafaraj led the multi-million-dollar criminal enterprise with two primary sources of income: loan sharking and illegal gambling. The illegal gambling arm of the operation included an online sports betting website that contributed more than $2.9 million in gross profits to the group’s criminal coffers. There was often crossover between the two arms of the organization—when customers couldn’t cover their gambling losses, bookies would refer them to the loan sharking side of the house.

The illegal activity took place in various Philadelphia bars and coffee houses owned or controlled by the organization. In addition to the gambling operation, Gjeli, Mustafaraj, and company generated money by making loans to customers at interest rates that ranged from 104 percent to 395 percent and demanding weekly repayments.

These repayment demands were almost always accompanied by acts of intimidation. Customers were menaced with firearms, hatchets, and threats of physical harm to themselves or family members. In a number of instances, perhaps to create the false impression that the Albanians were part of a larger and more powerful organization, customers were told that “people from New York” were willing to cause bodily harm to anyone who didn’t pay up.

Gjeli and Mustafaraj not only directed the criminal activities of their underlings—who included debt collectors and bookies—they also got their own hands dirty by directly financing loans, intimidating and threatening violence against customers to collect loan payments, and physically assaulting subordinates and associates who stole from the organization or who didn’t collect their debts on time.

According to Philadelphia FBI Special Agent in Charge Edward Hanko, Gjeli and Mustafaraj took advantage of their victims twice. “They provided loans at outrageous interest rates to those unable to obtain loans from traditional sources,” he explained, “and then used threats and violence to collect on those illegal loans.”

The investigation revealed that the Lion Bar, an establishment owned by Gjeli, served as the main hub of the organization’s criminal activities—it was where Gheli, Mustafaraj, and their associates met with current and prospective borrowers. What they didn’t realize was that one of their borrowers was actually an FBI undercover agent, and during one particular meeting, details of a $50,000 loan were worked out with him. Gjeli informed our undercover agent that his limbs would be broken if he didn’t pay back what he owed in a timely manner.

Also during the investigation, law enforcement was able to make more than 400 audio recordings and numerous surveillance videos of the criminal activity. By August 2013, arrests were made, including those of Gjeli and Mustafaraj. And the FBI executed a series of search warrants at related businesses, homes, vehicles, and a storage locker. Law enforcement recovered guns, cash, computers, phones, video surveillance, loan applications, loan ledgers, and gambling records. Fortunately, the group kept good records of its criminal activities, and much of the evidence seized in August was presented at trial.

That evidence, plus trial testimony from many of Gjeli’s and Mustafaraj’s customers—and even members of their own criminal organization—was enough to convince a jury of the defendants’ guilt.

And as with many successful investigations, the FBI didn’t do it alone: Their Philadelphia Field Office worked closely with the Pennsylvania State Police, New Jersey State Police, Montgomery County Detective Bureau, and the Internal Revenue Service to dismantle a very dangerous and prolific criminal enterprise.

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The Little Black Book of Mafia Wisdom - Secrets, Lies, Tricks, and Tactics of the Organization That Was Once Bigger Than U.S. Steel

“Don’t let your tongue be your worst enemy.” —John “Sonny” Franzese

“You can go a long way with a smile. You can go a lot farther with a smile and a gun.” —Al Capone

“I never lie to any man because I don't fear anyone. The only time you lie is when you are afraid.” —John Gotti

Despite the fact that secrecy is vital to the Mob, mobsters have revealed themselves to be notorious gossips, prone to bragging, and even outrageous loudmouths. Delve into the inner workings of the Mob and the mindset of those who run it through these mesmerizing quotes from some of the smoothest and most dangerous criminals, real and fictional, who ever made headlines. Whether they’re spilling to their lawyers or making blood-chilling threats, mobsters reveal startling insights on leadership, guilt, and loyalty. While at times shocking, crude, and even unintentionally funny, these quotes also help us to see the humanity behind these dark bosses of the underworld . . . and give us a little insight into the dark side of our own natures, as well. The Little Black Book of Mafia Wisdom: Secrets, Lies, Tricks, and Tactics of the Organization That Was Once Bigger Than U.S. Steel

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Once Upon a Secret - My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath

In the summer of 1962, nineteen-year-old Mimi Beardsley arrived in Washington, D.C., to begin an internship in the White House press office. After just three days on the job, the privileged but sheltered young woman was presented to the President himself. Almost immediately, the two began an affair that would continue for the next eighteen months. Emotionally unprepared to counter the President’s charisma and power, Mimi was also ill-equipped to handle the feelings of isolation that would follow as she fell into the double life of a college student who was also the secret lover of the most powerful man in the world. After the President’s assassination in Dallas, she grieved alone, locked her secret away, and tried to start a new life, only to be blindsided by her past.

Now, no longer defined by silence or shame, Mimi Alford finally unburdens herself with this unflinchingly honest account of her life and her extremely private moments with a very public man. This paperback edition includes a special Q&A, in which the author reflects on the intense media attention surrounding the book’s initial release. Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath is a moving story of a woman emerging from the shadows to reclaim the truth.

“With the benefit of hindsight and good old-fashioned maturity, [Mimi Alford] writes not just about the secret, but the corrosive effect of keeping that secret. . . . You can’t help liking her, or her elegant and thoroughly good-natured book.”—The Spectator

“What [Alford] sacrificed in lucre she has more than recovered in credibility and dignity.”—The Washington Times

“Compelling . . . a polished voice telling a credible story you can take to the bank.”—Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“Explosive . . . searingly candid.”—New York Post

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Gangster Redemption: Showing Teens That A Life of Crime Is No Life At All

Gangster Redemption (LL Research & Consulting) is the life story of Larry Lawton, one of America’s most notorious jewel robbers. Growing up in the Bronx and Brooklyn, New York, Larry was an altar boy until the day he was sexually molested by a priest. As a teen needing to prove his manhood, he began a criminal career that included ‘enforcer’ for the Gambino crime family and six years up and down the East Coast pulling off jewelry heists worth over 15 million dollars – to the frustration of both the police and the FBI!

Co-written by 8-time New York Times bestselling author Peter Golenbock, Gangster Redemption truly is the life story of a ‘Goodfella’ turned ‘good guy’ who gets his life back on track to help and inspire others. His riveting story has it all; the millions he made from robberies, prison torture, the New York mafia, and much more. A blockbuster movie waiting to happen, Gangster Redemption takes readers on a white-knuckle, roller-coaster ride to hell and back!

Lawton understands first-hand the fine line between making good and bad choices; he spent six years in the Coast Guard before making bad choices that led to associations with organized crime. In prison he saw inmates stabbed and friends die. He saw young men raped and pimped out as prostitutes for other inmates. He studied to become a paralegal while in prison and acted as a gang mediator. Larry fought prison abuses and for doing so, spent three years in the “hole” being tortured by guards - and somehow kept his sanity by helping other inmates.

After his release in 2007, Larry developed the Reality Check Program as a way to instill hope and inspire kids to stay out of prison – a program so successful it’s being used by the courts, law enforcement, the federal government, and parents all over the country. A leader in the field, Larry’s program reinforces that when people make good choices their life can change. An independent quantitative analysis was done showing the Reality Check Program to have one of the highest success rates in the nation. 90% of the teens did not get re-arrested, 70% had better attitudes, 43% had better school grades and 31% had better school attendance.

Currently working on a new TV show called Lawton’s Law to advance this program, Larry is realizing major triumphs in turning kids’ lives around. They recognize that Larry ‘walks the talk’ and when he shares how prison cost him lost time, family, friends and his freedom - they listen and they learn that a life of crime is no life at all.

Larry Lawton has appeared on TV and radio, and been featured in numerous newspaper articles. His recent TV appearances include The Trisha Show on NBC, The Daily Buzz, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Huckabee on FOX, and many others. Larry’s inimitable style connects easily with people and he unquestionably brings the most entertaining, motivating and inspirational stories to audiences around the country.

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Abdella Ahmad Tounisi of Aurora Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Join Jihadist Militant Group in Syria

An Aurora man pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to charges he attempted to travel overseas to join a jihadist militant group in Syria.

ABDELLA AHMAD TOUNISI, 21, was arrested at O’Hare International Airport in April 2013 as he attempted to board a flight bound for Istanbul, Turkey. Tounisi had spent four months conducting online research related to overseas travel and violent jihad, focusing specifically on Syria and the Jabhat al-Nusrah terrorist group.

Tounisi had made online contact with an individual he believed to be a recruiter for Jabhat al-Nusrah. Tounisi and the purported recruiter exchanged a series of e-mails in which Tounisi shared his plan to get to Syria by way of Turkey, as well as his willingness to fight for the jihadist cause, according to a written plea agreement.

Tounisi pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He faces a maximum of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan scheduled a sentencing hearing for Dec. 9, 2015, at 10:30 a.m.

The guilty plea was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Robert J. Holley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The investigation was conducted by the Chicago FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of Special Agents of the FBI, officers of the Chicago Police Department, and representatives from an additional 20 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The Justice Department’s National Security Division assisted in the investigation.

“Foreign terrorist groups threaten the safety of the United States,” Mr. Fardon said. “The Joint Terrorism Task Force should be commended for uncovering this plan and preventing a terrorist organization from enlisting a new member.”

Jabhat al-Nusrah is listed by the U.S. Department of State as an alias for al-Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI), a designated foreign terrorist organization. During online exchanges with the purported recruiter, Tounisi said he planned to travel from Istanbul to the Turkish city of Gaziantep, which lies near the border of Turkey and Syria, and then in to Syria, according to the plea agreement.

Tounisi, who is a U.S. citizen, requested an expedited passport and purchased an airline ticket for the flight from Chicago to Istanbul. He arrived at O’Hare on the evening of April 19, 2013, and was arrested after passing through security in the international terminal.

The government is represented by Assistant United States Attorneys William Ridgway and Barry Jonas.

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