#WhiteDevil: The True Story of the First White Asian Crime Boss

White Devil: The True Story of the First White Asian Crime Boss. In August 2013, “Bac Guai” John Willis, also known as the “White Devil” because of his notorious ferocity, was sentenced to 20 years for drug trafficking and money laundering. Willis, according to prosecutors, was “the kingpin, organizer and leader of a vast conspiracy,” all within the legendarily insular and vicious Chinese mafia.

It started when John Willis was 16 years old . . . his life seemed hopeless. His father had abandoned his family years earlier, his older brother had just died of a heart attack, and his mother was dying. John was alone, sleeping on the floor of his deceased brother’s home. Desperate, John reached out to Woping, a young Chinese man Willis had rescued from a bar fight weeks before. Woping literally picks him up off the street, taking him home to live among his own brothers and sisters. Soon, Willis is accompanying Woping to meet his Chinese mobster friends, and starts working for them.

Journalist Bob Halloran tells the tale of John Willis, aka White Devil, the only white man to ever rise through the ranks in the Chinese mafia. Willis began as an enforcer, riding around with other gang members to “encourage” people to pay their debts. He soon graduated to even more dangerous work as a full-fledged gang member, barely escaping with his life on several occasions.

As a white man navigating an otherwise exclusively Asian world, Willis was at first an interesting anomaly, but his ruthless devotion to his adopted culture eventually led to him emerging as a leader. He organized his own gang of co-conspirators and began an extremely lucrative criminal venture selling tens of thousands of oxycodone pills. A year-long FBI investigation brought him down, and John pleaded guilty to save the love of his life from prosecution. He has no regrets.

White Devil explores the workings of the Chinese mafia, and he speaks frankly about his relationships with other gang members, the crimes he committed, and why he’ll never rat out any of his brothers to the cops.

Told to Halloran from Willis’s prison cell, White Devil is a shocking portrait of a man who was allowed access into a secret world, and who is paying the price for his hardened life.

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Three Sinaloa Cartel Distributors Sentenced to Lengthy Federal Prison Terms

Three men who were sent by the Sinaloa Cartel to Lubbock, Texas, to distribute methamphetamine for the cartel were sentenced to lengthy federal prison sentences, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings sentenced Juan Carlos Pinales, 23, to 151 months in federal prison, Ramon Osvaldo Escobar-Robles, 25, to 78 months in federal prison, and Jesus Mario Moreno-Perez, 24, to 120 months in federal prison. Each pleaded guilty last year to one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and aiding and abetting.  Escobar-Robles and Moreno-Perez are in the U.S. illegally.

According to documents filed in the case, a joint investigation by the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office and the Lubbock Police Department revealed that the Sinaloa cartel had sent three individuals to Lubbock to distribute methamphetamine for the cartel. In June 2015, a search warrant was executed at their residence on Birch Avenue in Lubbock.

At the time the warrant was executed, the three defendants were home. The search by law enforcement yielded several containers or bags of suspected methamphetamine in the attic, to include:  two red Tupperware containers that contained a total of approximately 5.06 pounds of suspected methamphetamine, 19 clear plastic bags that contained a total of approximately 1.42 pounds of suspected methamphetamine, two clear plastic bags that contained a total of approximately 17.2 grams of suspected methamphetamine, and one clear plastic bag that contained approximately 31.2 grams of suspected methamphetamine; as well as a black pouch that contained approximately $3,783 in cash; numerous cell phones; money transfer receipts; and a spiral notebook that contained writings consistent with a drug ledger, showing amounts distributed to and owed by various persons.                                                

A DPS crime laboratory analysis confirmed that the substance in the two red Tupperware containers was, in fact, methamphetamine with a net weight of 1,797.92 grams and a purity level of at least 91.7%. All three defendants admitted they jointly possessed the methamphetamine found in the attic.

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The Mafia: A Cultural History

What is it about Tony Soprano that makes him so amiable? For that matter, how is it that many of us secretly want Scarface to succeed or see Michael Corleone as, ultimately, a hero? What draws us into the otherwise horrifically violent world of the mafia? In The Mafia: A Cultural History, Roberto Dainotto explores the irresistible appeal of this particular brand of organized crime, its history, and the mythology we have developed around it.
         
Dainotto traces the development of the mafia from its rural beginnings in Western Sicily to its growth into a global crime organization alongside a parallel examination of its evolution in music, print, and on the big screen. He probes the tension between the real mafia—its violent, often brutal reality—and how we imagine it to be: a mythical potpourri of codes of honor, family values, and chivalry. But rather than dismiss our collective imagining of the mafia as a complete fiction, Dainetto instead sets out to understand what needs and desires or material and psychic longing our fantasies about the mafia—the best kind of the bad life—are meant to satisfy.

Exploring the rich array of films, books, television programs, music, and even video games portraying and inspired by the mafia, this book offers not only a social, economic, and political history of one of the most iconic underground cultures, but a new way of understanding our enduring fascination with the complex society that lurks behind the sinister Omertà of the family business.

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Very Rare Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Line Poster

A spectacular and very rare display poster, advertising the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific line and its connections with the newly completed transcontinental railroad.



Antique Railroad Poster - Circa 1880

The Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Railroad was formed in 1866 and by 1870 was a key part of the first trans-continental rail route, connecting with the Union Pacific Railroad at Omaha and Kansas City. The focal point is a vibrant three-color panel at top bearing the title and a map of the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific network. Below this many lines of colored type list destinations served by the railway and its connections, and there is a delightful cutaway view of a Palace Dining Car. The varied and energetic design communicates the excitement of a time when comfortable, high-speed transcontinental travel was still a novelty. This original antique poster, usually found only in museums, comes archivally matted and measures 21" x 13" at the printed border. This poster, a distinguished piece of history, is for a connoisseur of fine antique items. There may be some other minor repairs, staining or discoloration, which are commonly found on prints from the 19th century. The poster is nonetheless in extraordinary condition for such a rarity, with vibrant color and a dramatic appearance. Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity from The Caren Archive.

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MS-13 "Player" Admits Plan to Kill Rival Gang Members and Witnesses

A Plainfield, New Jersey, man pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to engage in a racketeering enterprise known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman of the District of New Jersey and Acting Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel of the FBI’s Newark, New Jersey, Division made the announcement.

Julio Adalberto Orellana-Carranza, aka Player, 27, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler of the District of New Jersey, who scheduled sentencing for May 4, 2016.  Orellana-Carranza remains detained pending sentencing.

According to court documents, MS-13 is a national and international gang with branches or “cliques” operating throughout the United States, including in Plainfield.  In connection with his plea, Orellana-Carranza admitted that he was a member of the Plainfield Locos Salvatrucha (PLS) Clique of MS-13 for a period of time continuing through at least August 2011.  Orellana-Carranza admitted that in June 2011, he and other members of the PLS clique plotted to kill rival gang members in Plainfield.  Orellana-Carranza also admitted that after local authorities arrested him for that plot, he and other jailed MS-13 members hatched a plan to intimidate and/or kill individuals they believed were cooperating with law enforcement in the prosecution of MS-13 members.              

Eleven other members and associates of the PLS Clique are scheduled for trial in front of Judge Chesler on Feb. 9, 2016.  The charges include several counts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, extortion, witness retaliation and sexual assault.

Co-defendant Jose Romero-Aguirre, aka Conejo, pleaded guilty on Dec. 2, 2015.

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