The @NBA All-Star Game Expected to Increase Human Trafficking Activity in Chicago #NoRoomforTrafficking

On Friday, January 31, hotel industry officials, lawmakers, local partners, and leading experts are joining forces in Chicago during National Human Trafficking Awareness Month to rally against human trafficking ahead of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game. Large events, such as the NBA All-Star game, can lead to increased instances of human trafficking activity due to an influx of visitors traveling to a particular location for a short period of time.

As part of the No Room for Trafficking campaign,  The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association (IHLA) and the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) are convening Governor J.B. Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, state lawmakers and local hoteliers to expand on nationwide efforts. The event will feature a panel exploring the importance of coordination with law enforcement to eradicate exploitation as well as a training session hosted by ECPAT-USA for local hotel employees hosted at the Sheraton Grand Chicago.

WHO:

• Governor J.B. Pritzker
• Attorney General Kwame Raoul
• Mayor Lori Lightfoot
• State Representative Terra Costa-Howard
• AHLA President & CEO Chip Rogers
• IHLA President & CEO Michael Jacobson
• AAHOA President & CEO Cecil Staton

WHEN:  Friday, January 31, 2020 at 9:00AM CST

WHERE: Sheraton Grand Chicago - 301 E North Water St, Chicago, IL 60611

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Top 10 Criminal Crime Groups of 2019

Top 10 Criminal Crime Groups of 2019 (Click on Map to Enlarge)

GameChangers 2019: Latin America’s Top 10 Criminal Groups.

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The Making of the Mob: Chicago - Discover the Rise and Fall of Infamous Gangster Al Capone as He and His Successors in the Chicago Outfit Dominate the Chicago Underworld.

The Making of the Mob: Chicago, is an eight-episode docu-drama chronicling the rise and fall of iconic gangster Al Capone, as well as the story of his successors, collectively known as “The Chicago Outfit.”

Spanning the better part of a century, the series begins with Capone’s early days in New York and continues through his move to Chicago - to work with his childhood mentor in the underworld.

When Prohibition hits, battles break out as the city’s gangs rush to set up bootlegging operations and Capone decides to go up against his rivals.

As he consolidates power, he achieves legendary status for his ruthless tactics and over-the-top lifestyle that attracts the wrath of President Herbert Hoover.

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John Gotti III, Grandson of the "Dapper Don", Headlines CES MMA 60 @CESMMA #CES60

John Gotti III, the grandson of infamous New York crime family boss John Gotti, will headline a mixed martial arts event that airs on the UFC Fight Pass streaming service on Friday.

MMA CES 60 John Gotti III vs Marcos Lloreda

Gotti, 27, is a top welterweight prospect who has amassed an undefeated 4-0 record as a professional MMA fighter. He will fight Marcos Lloreda in Lincoln, R.I., at CES 60, the upcoming card for Classic Entertainment & Sports MMA.

To date, Gotti has won all of his professional bouts by first-round knockout, with an average fight time of just 97 seconds. Despite the dubious history associated with his last name, Gotti is focused on forging his own legacy in combat sports.

“I have the same name as my grandfather and my father, but I’m doing my own thing,” Gotti told the Boston Globe earlier this month. “I’m going down a different path than that other stuff.”

The Gotti family gained infamy in the New York City area due to their involvement with the Gambino organized crime syndicate. Gotti III’s grandfather, known as “the Teflon Don” for his ability to evade prosecution, was eventually convicted on federal criminal charges and died in prison in 2002. His father also served time in prison on racketeering charges.

Gotti was scheduled to fight Lloreda at CES 59 last October but he was forced to withdraw due to an injury. While the Gotti-Lloreda fight will air on UFC Fight Pass, the top-tier mixed martial arts organization’s streaming service, Gotti has yet to sign with a major fight promotion.

He told MMA Fighting last year that he plans to build up experience on the regional fight circuit before attempting to sign with a national organization.

“I’m looking to get as many fights as I can on the regional circuit here,” Gotti told the website. “Hopefully get some solid rounds in against some tough, tough competition, and when the time comes it will come. I’m a big believer in not rushing anything, staying patient, and everything will fall into place accordingly.”

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The Doctor Broad: A Mafia Love Story

There are people in the know who say that Barbara Roberts caused the downfall of the New England Mafia. She did this, not by killing someone, or sending someone to jail, but by keeping someone alive, and out of prison, for about a year too long.

The Doctor Broad: A Mafia Love Story, is the true story of a devout Catholic schoolgirl who grows up to be a physician, an atheist, feminist, anti-war activist – as well as a Mob doctor and Mob mistress. The man she keeps alive and out of prison is Raymond L. S. Patriarca, the long-time head of the New England Mafia.

Now in his early seventies, Patriarca is in poor health, although he tries to hide this. A long-time diabetic, he has known heart disease and has recently undergone a toe amputation when he is arrested on capital charges relating to an old murder, and taken to the Rhode Island State Police Barracks in Scituate. Barbara Roberts takes him on as a patient that night, and her world is forever changed.

Her testimony in various courts that he is too sick to stand trial earns her the enmity of police, FBI agents, the Providence Journal newspaper, and some of her fellow physicians. But the care of Raymond is not the only stressor in her life. The father of her youngest child is suing her in Family Court for common law divorce, palimony, and custody of their young daughter on the grounds that she is an unfit mother. Her oldest daughter suffers a nervous breakdown. She is fighting a trumped-up felony charge of breaking and entering. And less than a year after becoming Raymond’s physician and protector, she begins a clandestine affair with the alleged #3 man in the New England Mafia, Louis “Baby Shanks” Manocchio. Two years later he is convicted of accessory and conspiracy to murder and sentenced to two consecutive life years in prison, plus ten years.

This is not just a Mafia story. This memoir traces Barbara Roberts’ life story from a now vanished world almost to the present. Her commitment to feminism and medicine leads her into unexpected byways. She travels a path she never foresaw into moral dilemmas she never envisioned. It is the story of a woman born into one world who comes of age in another; who expects to live one life but finds herself ad-libbing something very different; who faces challenges undreamt of by her mother, while providing a new paradigm for her daughters.

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